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Coming home

September 29th, 2006 at 11:03 pm. Posted in unit studies.

In my last post I talked about the latest turn in my journey. I am venturing into unit studies and already I am more at home than I have ever been as a home educator. I have come home in more ways than one.

You may be surprised to learn about the topic of my first unit study. It is home keeping. You read right. (It is called home education, right?) That may seem a strange place to start, but you haven’t been to my house. It is a struggle for all of us to stay organized and orderly and it stops here. Now. Here is a snapshot of how this will work at our house.

We will begin with God’s design for women, using a concordance and Webster’s 1828 dictionary. We will also see how God intends for us to live, as children of God. We will note principles, such as God’s orderly nature, God’s Principle of Individuality and Christian self-government. These principles will be the over-arching themes throughout this study. They will reason from God’s Word for themselves what their unique roles as children and as young women are, liberating them to be what God intended.

Once the foundation has been laid and they know why we need to keep a neat home, we will move to the how. This will be things like the history of cleaning around the world, lots of children’s books (fiction and non-fiction) about the topic, samples from literature like Little House on the Prairie. We will mix our own kid-safe cleaning solutions, sew aprons, create charts, estimate task times, and by the end of the month we will have created a chart to keep a neat home together.

After this month is done, we will continue this training. Each Monday will be a sort of “Home Economics” day. We will learn all the things it takes to manage a home well, and do it with Joy. This will include meal preparation and food safety, sewing, cleaning skills, budgeting, shopping and making menus and time management. The other four days will fall into our usual lesson routine. As my son grows older we will teach him these things as well, along with some “manly things” that he will need to know.

It seems strange to say, but I am so excited to realize that it’s okay to teach my kids what I think they should know in this area, and that it can be a part of learning, just as math or history. So I feel the liberty to learn along with them as we start this new life–at home. I hope you will follow along and offer any insight you may have.

7 Comments ( Reply )

Deidra
Sep 30, 2006 @ 9:02 am

Hey!! Sounds wonderful!!! I’m glad u are feeling like u are coming into your own and where God wants u…isn’t that a wonderful feeling?? Like toasty, warm, comfortable, ‘you-know-it’s-right’ feeling kind of feeling….yea I’m still alive and kicking!! Thanks for sharing your other post in your pingback…I do keep abreast of what’s going on here and on the lists..it just seems like I have little to no time to respond…

So keep keeping on! Your study sounds wonderful. Most weeks we have home-ec day also…just a day for ‘blessing’ the house…definition of bless from Webster-To make happy; to make successful; to prosper in temporal concerns; as, we are blest with peace and plenty

I figure our houses (and us and God) are not ‘happy’ when it is ladened down with dirt, disorganization, debris, and ourtight chaos…so to bless our houses means(to me) to free it and deliver it from clutter and dirt and the rest of the above mentioned items….:-)

I tell my children that when it is time to clean…”Go make your room happy!” “Your room is not happy with toys and clothes all over it and the house feels the same way!”

How can we bless God with the praises of our mouths and not care for His creation and the things He has given us stewardship over?…Keeping house is part of our worship…

I got this idea of saying ‘blessing’ the house from http://www.Flylady.com. I liked it.

You might can get some tips or ideas that will help in your unit. Go for it girl!!!!
Mandi
Sep 30, 2006 @ 4:24 pm

I think this is a great topic to begin with- have you looked at Pearables ‘Home Economics’set? Next quarter we will begin using those for our Friday Fun Days.
Anna-Marie
Sep 30, 2006 @ 5:10 pm

Dee,

I love that definition of blessing. I also love calling it that. The kids could really enjoy something like “make your room happy” I think. I am not too sure about FlyLady, but some of her stuff is really great.

And that is so true. I realized taking dominion begins at home. It is worship, like you said. Everything we do is worship, or it should be.

Thanks for the kind words. You are always so encouraging.
Dana
Oct 01, 2006 @ 12:23 am

Congratulations and welcome home! I should be posting about our little unit study soon. I keep putting it off, but I’ll get there!
Diane
Oct 01, 2006 @ 2:30 pm

I’m glad to see where you are. Now that my children are getting older I realize the bad habits they have picked up were from MY model. So much for self-government. My poor excuse was school.

I pray God’s blessing upon your home as you seek His direction.

Diane
Jennifer
Oct 02, 2006 @ 3:43 pm

This sounds delightful. And this is exactly how we like to “do school.” My daughters would love something like this.
KimW.
Oct 03, 2006 @ 5:09 pm

Sounds, absolutely wonderful! Can I come over for lessons? (The making aprons and kid-safe solutions especially!)

Doesn’t it feel so good to be home?