December 19, 2019

Holding the Space Between Grace and Law in Parenting

December 19, 2019/ Erin Cox

If you love this topic, I GREATLY encourage a thorough reading of Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson. This book + many others of my favorites can be found on a FREE book list offered at the bottom of this post.

I'll openly admit that on the spectrum of parenting, my style tends toward the more authoritarian side, but with a nice dash of "wishy-washy" at times. I'll also admit to much confusion over the years in approaches, philosophies, and methods in parenting extremely different personalities while trying to "keep it simple" to avoid overwhelm.

Through my parenting journey, I've learned a couple of profound lessons that continue to mold my approach. The greatest lesson I've learned is that there is no guide to parenting worthy of standing upon outside of scripture.

My own greatest struggle has been the balance between authoritarian "obey the first time, immediately, or else" type parenting vs parenting from a place of misunderstood and misapplied grace that left my strong-willed (or rather weak-willed) children without clear boundaries or consistent consequences. I’ve slowly come to the realization that there is a proper Biblical balance between the law and grace.

December 15, 2019

20+ Books for the Jesus-Loving Homeschooling Mama (+ How to find time to read...)

December 15, 2019/ Erin Cox

“Do not let the endless succession of small things crowd great ideals out of sight and out of mind.” -Charlotte Mason

I have no idea how many books I’ve read in my life, but I can promise you that they have shaped who I am and the way I live- drastically. The way I speak to my husband, the way I teach or discipline my children, the way I pray and seek the Lord- have all been shaped by books.

Books are powerful because words and ideas are powerful. Allowing someone else’s ideas into the most intimate places in our heart is a precious thing- a thing we must always approach with discernment.

Charlotte Mason tells us that ideas build upon ideas. And so the ideas that we develop are often rooted in the ideas that we have received from others. We receive ideas through conversation, articles, books, music, movies, television shows, and even our social media feeds.

December 04, 2019

How do we make Godly decisions? (About homeschool, money, relationships...life?)

December 04, 2019/ Erin Cox

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. -1 Corinthians 3:10-14

We get to choose. We have this free gift of a solid, unshakeable, eternal, faithful foundation that can never be moved, and then we get to choose.

Whether it's who we marry, how we educate, how we parent and discipline, how we speak and serve and love, how we spend and earn our incomes--we have agency. And this freedom can be both liberating and simultaneously terrifying.

December 03, 2019

Thriving in Your Home (Instead of simply surviving...)

December 03, 2019/ Erin Cox

This is a guest post from my friend Jana! I love to read her practical encouragement and actionable wisdom. I hope it will bless you too!

The monotony of life at home can lull us into simply existing. We’ve all been there. But it doesn’t have to be so. Mama, you can thrive at home! Here are three strategies: make it beautiful, provide gracious order, and be a consistent presence.

MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL

Do you feel an internal tug for beauty? Perhaps you love an orange sunset or pink peonies. God created this world beautiful as a reflection of Himself, so I believe an innate pull to beauty is why we desire to create beautiful spaces in our homes. Beautiful spaces bring a deep sense of thriving.

November 25, 2019

Maintaining a "One Room Schoolhouse" with Teens in the Mix

November 25, 2019/ Erin Cox

This is a guest post from Kelly Hellmuth! I’m absolutely delighted to have a “peak behind the curtain” into Kelly’s home. Find more from Kelly at the bottom of this post.

“Maybe it’s the influence of the Little House on the Prairie, but I find the history of the one-room schoolhouse a little romantic.” - Denise M. Colby

Don’t we all? Most of us here are pursuing an educational path either with Charlotte Mason or Classical influences (or both!), and we know the value of educating our children together. There is an ease and even a necessity to discuss subjects such as history and science and fine arts as a family.

November 22, 2019

How to Wisely Anchor Your Homeschool Day

November 22, 2019/ Erin Cox

This is a guest post from Leah Hudson! It has amazing encouragement and wisdom. Find out how to hear more from Leah at the bottom of the post.

When I started homeschooling my oldest, I compared the anticipation to jumping off a cliff into a vast ocean. From my pre-homeschool vantage point, I could see countless other women bobbing up and down in the waves - obviously keeping afloat. Some had even fashioned together trim little boats for their crews. Their success gave me encouragement to take the plunge.

I dived in.

Who knew kindergarten could be so overwhelming? Who knew adjusting to new routines would prove so difficult? I needed to get my sea legs FAST!

November 19, 2019

Making Our Homeschool Days Work for Us (A Day in the Life)

November 19, 2019/ Erin Cox

This is a guest post from DJ! I love her perspective of making things work well for her family. Find her details at the bottom of the post.

Hey y’all! I’m DJ from thebookishden.com and I’m so excited to have the opportunity to share with you what a typical homeschool day looks like for our family. I’m sort of fan-girling over here, as Erin’s blog is one I’ve followed for ages!

We’re a family hanging out in a small town right outside of Charlotte, NC. We have 5 kiddos ages, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. I wish I could say that those stair step ages were our plan, but that was all Jesus!

Our family started this wonderful world of homeschooling about 5 years ago and man…there’s been a serious learning curve! We’ve been experimenting with how we do school since the beginning, and with each child coming to school age-each year looks a little different.

November 15, 2019

A Day in Our Gentle, Classical Homeschool

November 15, 2019/ Erin Cox

This fabulous guest post was written by my friend Lydia who does a fabulous job of sharing her adventures with her three littles utilizing The Gentle + Classical Preschool. Find more info about Lydia at the bottom of the post.

To the homeschool mamas reading this who are simultaneously changing a diaper, wrangling a toddler away from near disaster, and mitigating the uproarious queries of a preschooler bouncing on the couch — you are my people.

With three very little littles (ages 4, 2.5, and 1), I would be lying if I told you we regularly had beautifully structured homeschool days. Far from it! But homeschooling has brought its own rhythm to our home, adding an invaluable richness to our lives and family culture. I want to share with you a example of what I consider a very good day.

November 08, 2019

When God Changes Your Homeschool Plans

November 08, 2019/ Amy Redelsperger

The alarm labeled “Its Co-op Day!” goes off at 6:00 am. Thankfully, the coffee pot also automatically starts at 6:00am. I’m not a morning person, so, in all honesty, the next step in my morning routine is hitting the snooze button. Lunches have been packed the night before and the kids are old enough to get themselves breakfast, so as I grab that first cup of coffee I take a moment to sit in the dark, pray over the day ahead, get snuggles from my dog and let my brain wake up a bit.

Then we hit the day running. Everyone out the door by 7:35am to be on time.

If previously you had told me this would be my norm this year, I would have scoffed. I love sleeping in and cozy mornings reading on the couch with my kids. It’s why I homeschool. The packing of lunches, the hustle to get out the door, the stress over “did you remember this or that” is something I have avoided like the plague.

November 06, 2019

Why Yelling Just Doesn't Work... (Restoring Children with a Gentle Spirit)

November 06, 2019/ Amber Palmer

This post was contributed to Life, Abundantly by the talented Amber Palmer. See her full bio below. I hope you’ll be as encouraged and convicted as I was!

The intense yelling coming from the other side of the house floated down the hall to where I was putting laundry away in my room. “Oh, not again, I can’t do this again…” I thought to myself as my children’s yells and cries got louder. This was the third time within thirty minutes that I was interrupted while trying to put the pile (ok, mountain) of laundry away.

Anger poured over me and through me and all around me as I marched down the hall toward the sibling fight. Huffing and puffing, mumbling and complaining, I hustled to the fire I was desperate to put out for good.

Marching over to them, I matched their loud screams with, “Why are you always yelling at each other!” I felt pain rip through my throat and a voice come out that I wasn’t even familiar with myself.