standard – Nancy Tart: Writing for Life

December 14, 2019

Choosing to Rest

The busyness of life can overwhelm us if we allow it.

Especially when your heart is troubled.

Anybody relate?

This is the first Christmas season where all the kids have been shopping and I haven’t gone with any of them. My Daddy passed away one year ago the tenth. My little tradition of carefully penning the newest addition’s name in glitter glue on a silly felt stocking and adding it to our collection to hang was done by one the of girls this year. I almost found myself feeling unimportant and stressing out because I wanted to be there…

I’m standing on the floor beam and use my standard line when my gym girls are racing. On beam that means they end up wobbling and the exercise doesn’t look pretty when you are bouncing and wobbling. “…don’t race. If you feel wobbly…” I demonstrate so they will laugh and pay attention, doing one passé step and wobbling as I come down “…pause…” I stop with both feet firmly planted “…take a breath to steady you…” I take a deep breath “…and now go on.” I start doing the steps again without the wobble.

This works great for my excited littles at gym. Sometimes they race because they want to do more and more and more, but really they just need to focus on the task at hand. They need to control the landing of their foot on the beam so the direction is perfect and they land with confidence.

—BAM—

Life.

It’s the same as walking the beam.

Don’t race. That one hit me; don’t we all race when we feel wobbly (overwhelmed)?

Pause. REST IN JESUS!

Both feet firmly planted. In the Word – while I’m pausing, I’m resetting by “planting my feet firmly” in the Word.

Take a deep breath. Worship and pray.

Then you can go on without the wobble. (Worry, feeling of drowning, feeling of uselessness, etc)

Now we take our life and everything whirling around us one step at a time, focusing on each day as it exists, allowing God to control our steps, and we will walk with confidence!

Oversimplified? Maybe, but that mental picture that God gave me as I was coaching certainly is helping me rest and enjoy this season instead of feel “wobbly” with worry and feeling useless!

Thank you, Jesus for planting cool visions in my head from sometimes the simplest of things… God uses the simple to confound the wise!

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

April 14, 2018

Any Book is Curriculum

In our homeschool curriculum, we have base books that everyone has to go through. These are standards like Arithmetic and Language Arts.

I add vocabulary workbooks to teach etymology. Once etymology is learned, the student usually finds spelling and vocabulary far easier so only some use vocabulary or spelling workbooks. The main way students continue learning spelling and vocabulary is along with writing assignments.

We have a base of standard History. After the first book, we move to whatever textbook teaches a section in which they have an interest. Any history book is accompanied by writing assignments at the end of each unit, chapter, or small book to recount what has been learned and how it compares with other texts.

Literature study usually coincides with history of an era or region. I find it fun to teach history as a story of the people; which includes their writings, lifestyle, scientific achievements or lack thereof, and culture.

Basic science is usually learned hands-on in our house through the chemistry that can be found in the kitchen, biology learned from our animals, and physics discussed when someone trips on something or while building a new project. Our final science books require a command of Algebra; these Biology, Chemistry, and Physics books set the foundation for and help with the transition into college learning.

But any book can be a part of a curriculum!

We’ve used novels and storybooks to write about and study culture. We’ve used classic literature to teach etymology and practice translation. We’ve used history books to build Lego cities. We’ve used Lego sets to cross into history books and study culture. We’ve used cookbooks to teach fractions, chemistry, and time management. Any book a student reads can be turned into a book report, which requires practicing the skills of writing, grammar, and comprehension.

Therefore, we’ve discovered that any book can be incorporated into our home school curriculum with positive encouraging results!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Tag: standard

Choosing to Rest

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Any Book is Curriculum

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