Everything Changes…
Buildings rise..
…fall into disrepair
…get built anew
…or are torn down.
Stone and mortar…
…crumble and crack
…are filled and stacked again
…or wash away with the rain.
But God never changes.
Everything changes…
People come…
…gather together
…move away
…come back.
People change…
…the young grow to adult
…adults have children
…the old pass away.
But God never changes.
Everything changes…
Towns begin…
…business springs up
…it booms and thrives
…then it declines and sleeps.
Corporate vision…
…gets moved along
…great things happen
…or leaders change and the vision dies.
But God never changes.
Everything changes…
Christians…
…cling to the vision of Christ
…press in and grow
…become discouraged and distracted.
Families…
…come to know Christ
…teach their children
…or forget and children suffer and wander
…then return when they hear God calling them.
Because God never changes.
God is always…
…loving us
…forgiving us
…calling us
…hearing us…
God is the same…
…yesterday
…today
…forever.
Everything changes…
…Kingdoms rise and fall
…Churches are built and crumble
…People are born and die
…Faith waxes and wanes.
But God…
…Never changes.
By Sheila Gilmore
@2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Never Too Old to Learn
Never Too Late to Learn
“Let self-education be an integral part of the education of your students.”
Andrew Campbell
The Latin Centered Curriculum
We’ve started another school year in the Gilmore house; and, like each preceding year, this one is different from the last. It seems like each time we start up again, we are starting a whole new routine.
Deanna sat at her desk pouring over her three books laid out on the top. Her pencil was going furiously as she copied, translated and diagramed the Latin sentences from her book. I noticed a couple of new index cards with grammar rules written on them next to the Latin grammar book.
Mikayla was also sitting at her desk with pencil in hand writing figures on her white-board slate. We had just finished our Latin recitation and she was trying to finish up her Math before we did History. Area and Volume were the item of the day and she was thrilled that she was getting it all down pat.
Leilani was hunched over her work space right across from me working on something. When I looked over, I realized that it was a drawing on her Math slate and that she was not doing her Math page as she should have been. She looked up and caught my eye. I gave her one of those what-are-you-doing- looks and she erased her board and went back to her Math.
It was about 10 a.m. and Terence had left for school at the local high school. I’d been up since 7 a.m. so that I could pray with him before he left. I’m still having a hard time with him being at the high school instead of at home. But, there have been some benefits: for instance, he likes his Math teacher and has had an improved attitude about Math recently. We’ll see how it goes and Ralph and I continue to pray that God will protect him in that place.
Adrian is living in Illinois with his mother, Anita, and going to school at a public school there. We keep in touch on MySpace and e-mail and he seems to be doing pretty well. He just told us today that his Video Technology teacher is a Christian and the friends that he has are Christians, too. We can see that God is working to bless him and we’re so thankful. So, he isn’t at home either.
Math papers were done and we did our History timeline recitation and talked a little bit about the first colonies started in the United States and how some of the explorers and colonists were Christians and wanted to win the “Indians” to Christ. Deanna worked busily on her Math as we did our lesson. Occasionally, she would interrupt with a question about the algebra equation she was working.
We took a break and Mikayla and Leilani helped me with our Postcard Wall. We have been putting up all of the postcards that we have collected over the years. They frame a map of the world on which we have stuck pins - different colors to indicate who has been where: blue for Dad, green for Grandma, red for the whole family, etc. It is really interesting to see the pins marking all of the states we’ve visited. This is really a Geography lesson but I’m not going to tell the girls that because they wanted a break from “school”.
We usually do our lessons in Greek earlier, but today they came later because we’d started with Latin instead. Deanna had already been halfway into her Latin exercises when we’d finished breakfast. It’s been really fun learning the Greek alphabet because we can transliterate English words using the Greek letters and it looks like code. We’ve all been having fun getting used to the sounds that way. So, we reviewed our letters and diphthongs and then set about learning some vocabulary and the first verb conjugation. We’re all amazed at how similar it is to Latin.
At lunch time, I set the girls to doing their kitchen chores while I re-heated leftovers from the night before and made a salad. The dogs sat at the edge of the carpet just outside the kitchen and watched us expectantly, hoping to get a few morsels thrown their way. When there is no food involved, they sit under my desk and generally get in the way.
After lunch, we sat on the sofa and I read aloud - the Iliad - while Deanna followed along in her book and the others listened. Agamemnon had just suffered huge losses in his battle with the Trojans and Achilles has refused to fight because Agamemnon had taken Breseis away from him. It’s an exciting story, but a bit difficult to read aloud so I am challenged. Deanna corrects me every now and then when my eyes get faster than my mouth.
Now, it is copy work and recitation from the Bible. Each of them are memorizing a chapter over the next two months - so they have to use their chapter for copying and read it over every day.
When each of them have read some of their verses to me, I open up the computer and select the song that we are learning from the Library. It’s one of my favorites and the girls are really enjoying it, too: Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant us peace). They are learning to sing it in a round and it sounds great.
As so often happens, the day passes by too quickly to get to everything. So, I put the History of Rome and Greek Mythology on the list for tomorrow and send them off to practice their piano. Deanna gets out her Logic and we go over the next lesson and discuss it -- she thinks it is the most boring subject of all.
This year is the most structured of all of our years home schooling. Instead of 5 or 6, I only have 3 at home all day. For me it is quite a change and it is easier to be a bit more structured. However, it is also a testament to what I’ve learned over the years: how to take each subject a little at a time and integrate it with the other subjects. It is amazing the way we get to grow, learn and change with our children and I’ve loved every minute of it.
We’re learning Greek because I want to learn Greek. We are delving into Roman History because I’ve always wanted to learn more about it. We are reading Greek and Roman Mythology because I want to really understand John Milton’s Paradise Lost. We are singing Latin songs because I love learning the music. We’re reading the Illiad because I want to read it (especially after seeing the movie Troy). We will probably do a lot of other things this year because I’ve wanted to do them myself.
I had a very wise friend once tell me “As you learn, bring what you learn to your children. You will learn it even better and they can see that you are learning, too.” I’ve tried to take that to heart and have benefited greatly from it.
Our greatest blessing this year has been that Dad has taken up the call to “teach what you learn and learn what you teach” as well. He read the book Epic by John Eldridge and enjoyed it so much that he read it aloud to us during our family worship times. Even though it was a little over the heads of the younger ones (as is the Illiad), we all enjoyed his reading aloud and it was a welcome change from Mom. We’re looking forward to more teaching of the Word from Dad as we go through this year.
I’m learning more and more that I don’t have to know it all to teach. I just have to have a desire to learn it. As long as I understand it just a little bit more than my children, there is success and we all learn.
Above all, God is blessing us every day with a desire to see things through His eyes. If I can learn anything more, I want to learn to see things the way that He sees them and then teach my children to do that, too.
“Let self-education be an integral part of the education of your students.”
Andrew Campbell
The Latin Centered Curriculum
We’ve started another school year in the Gilmore house; and, like each preceding year, this one is different from the last. It seems like each time we start up again, we are starting a whole new routine.
Deanna sat at her desk pouring over her three books laid out on the top. Her pencil was going furiously as she copied, translated and diagramed the Latin sentences from her book. I noticed a couple of new index cards with grammar rules written on them next to the Latin grammar book.
Mikayla was also sitting at her desk with pencil in hand writing figures on her white-board slate. We had just finished our Latin recitation and she was trying to finish up her Math before we did History. Area and Volume were the item of the day and she was thrilled that she was getting it all down pat.
Leilani was hunched over her work space right across from me working on something. When I looked over, I realized that it was a drawing on her Math slate and that she was not doing her Math page as she should have been. She looked up and caught my eye. I gave her one of those what-are-you-doing- looks and she erased her board and went back to her Math.
It was about 10 a.m. and Terence had left for school at the local high school. I’d been up since 7 a.m. so that I could pray with him before he left. I’m still having a hard time with him being at the high school instead of at home. But, there have been some benefits: for instance, he likes his Math teacher and has had an improved attitude about Math recently. We’ll see how it goes and Ralph and I continue to pray that God will protect him in that place.
Adrian is living in Illinois with his mother, Anita, and going to school at a public school there. We keep in touch on MySpace and e-mail and he seems to be doing pretty well. He just told us today that his Video Technology teacher is a Christian and the friends that he has are Christians, too. We can see that God is working to bless him and we’re so thankful. So, he isn’t at home either.
Math papers were done and we did our History timeline recitation and talked a little bit about the first colonies started in the United States and how some of the explorers and colonists were Christians and wanted to win the “Indians” to Christ. Deanna worked busily on her Math as we did our lesson. Occasionally, she would interrupt with a question about the algebra equation she was working.
We took a break and Mikayla and Leilani helped me with our Postcard Wall. We have been putting up all of the postcards that we have collected over the years. They frame a map of the world on which we have stuck pins - different colors to indicate who has been where: blue for Dad, green for Grandma, red for the whole family, etc. It is really interesting to see the pins marking all of the states we’ve visited. This is really a Geography lesson but I’m not going to tell the girls that because they wanted a break from “school”.
We usually do our lessons in Greek earlier, but today they came later because we’d started with Latin instead. Deanna had already been halfway into her Latin exercises when we’d finished breakfast. It’s been really fun learning the Greek alphabet because we can transliterate English words using the Greek letters and it looks like code. We’ve all been having fun getting used to the sounds that way. So, we reviewed our letters and diphthongs and then set about learning some vocabulary and the first verb conjugation. We’re all amazed at how similar it is to Latin.
At lunch time, I set the girls to doing their kitchen chores while I re-heated leftovers from the night before and made a salad. The dogs sat at the edge of the carpet just outside the kitchen and watched us expectantly, hoping to get a few morsels thrown their way. When there is no food involved, they sit under my desk and generally get in the way.
After lunch, we sat on the sofa and I read aloud - the Iliad - while Deanna followed along in her book and the others listened. Agamemnon had just suffered huge losses in his battle with the Trojans and Achilles has refused to fight because Agamemnon had taken Breseis away from him. It’s an exciting story, but a bit difficult to read aloud so I am challenged. Deanna corrects me every now and then when my eyes get faster than my mouth.
Now, it is copy work and recitation from the Bible. Each of them are memorizing a chapter over the next two months - so they have to use their chapter for copying and read it over every day.
When each of them have read some of their verses to me, I open up the computer and select the song that we are learning from the Library. It’s one of my favorites and the girls are really enjoying it, too: Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant us peace). They are learning to sing it in a round and it sounds great.
As so often happens, the day passes by too quickly to get to everything. So, I put the History of Rome and Greek Mythology on the list for tomorrow and send them off to practice their piano. Deanna gets out her Logic and we go over the next lesson and discuss it -- she thinks it is the most boring subject of all.
This year is the most structured of all of our years home schooling. Instead of 5 or 6, I only have 3 at home all day. For me it is quite a change and it is easier to be a bit more structured. However, it is also a testament to what I’ve learned over the years: how to take each subject a little at a time and integrate it with the other subjects. It is amazing the way we get to grow, learn and change with our children and I’ve loved every minute of it.
We’re learning Greek because I want to learn Greek. We are delving into Roman History because I’ve always wanted to learn more about it. We are reading Greek and Roman Mythology because I want to really understand John Milton’s Paradise Lost. We are singing Latin songs because I love learning the music. We’re reading the Illiad because I want to read it (especially after seeing the movie Troy). We will probably do a lot of other things this year because I’ve wanted to do them myself.
I had a very wise friend once tell me “As you learn, bring what you learn to your children. You will learn it even better and they can see that you are learning, too.” I’ve tried to take that to heart and have benefited greatly from it.
Our greatest blessing this year has been that Dad has taken up the call to “teach what you learn and learn what you teach” as well. He read the book Epic by John Eldridge and enjoyed it so much that he read it aloud to us during our family worship times. Even though it was a little over the heads of the younger ones (as is the Illiad), we all enjoyed his reading aloud and it was a welcome change from Mom. We’re looking forward to more teaching of the Word from Dad as we go through this year.
I’m learning more and more that I don’t have to know it all to teach. I just have to have a desire to learn it. As long as I understand it just a little bit more than my children, there is success and we all learn.
Above all, God is blessing us every day with a desire to see things through His eyes. If I can learn anything more, I want to learn to see things the way that He sees them and then teach my children to do that, too.
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