Half a Hundred Acre Wood

Christian homeschooling integrating Classical and Charlotte Mason principles

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My heart’s desire is that there will be more of Him and less of me.  But how often I fail at that!

I offer this crazy list, first, because… I need it.  I constantly need to remind myself of things ETERNAL. And re-focusing on how we will make God our top priority helps me to sort out all the junk that crowds my mind.

I offer this, second, because…. if you are anything like me when I was first starting out in parenting (or homeschooling) – totally overwhelmed with how to really train my children up in the way they should go, or if you are like me now – letting Bible study somehow slide out of your routine time and again, it helps to have something to start from.  (And it helps me to have something to keep coming back to.)

The Word of God is rich.  It provides wisdom beyond that which we study. And it sets my (not just my children’s!) heart and mind aright so that we can enjoy learning and just being together. And despite my shortcomings, I continue to rest in God’s promise that “he that began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

We have used and enjoyed almost all of these resources in some way or another (but in a hodge-podge sort of way). First, I start with a few resources we have used that are NOT free:

Now for the freebies…

  • We also really enjoyed Monster Manners, which has provided a very easy way for our youngest children to remember to “put on” their “good-mannered monsters” when we are at the grocery store.  In fact, one of the most profound quotes by our then 5-year-old stemmed from playing this game:

“Good-mannered monsters are in my mind, but sometimes the bad-mannered monsters fight with them.”  -David

I totally understand, son.  I have the same problem.

For prayer time, check out our Pocketful of Prayers, along with the Praying in Victory booklet from PrayingScriptures.com.  And Biblestoryprintables has a file folder game for memorizing the Lord’s Prayer!

Homeschoolshare’s Character Lapbook.  My FAVORITE PART about these are the Who’s Who Sorting templates.  The boys have re-visited this completed lapbook to sort through them over and over again.  Stephen reads them, and David gives a thumbs up or thumbs down depending on which kids are choosing to do what’s RIGHT and which kids are choosing to do what’s WRONG.  If you don’t have the time to do a lapbook, you  might just try out the Who’s Who Sorting templates for each character quality.  It’d make a good little File Folder Game…

Character Journal is an extensive site that provides project ideas, hymns, Bible stories, scripture verses, and “I will” statements for over 30 character qualities. Book of Virtue (BOV) Project, which incorporates readings from William Bennett’s Children’s Book of Virtues, copywork, lapbooking, notebooking, and worksheets.  The BOV Project is a 900-page resource that contains detailed lesson plans, worksheets, and corresponding scripture memory verses.  (But don’t let the fact that it is a 900-page resource intimidate you.  Simply print the character journal pages or the discussion questions or the copywork pages – whatever you’d like to use to reinforce character in your children. The link will take you to mediafire.  Click on the green download button.

Notebooking Pages & More - Productive Homeschooling

If you’re new to studying the Bible as a family, simply choose a method that will work best for you.  You can complete Bible studies using a “through-the-Bible” approach, or focus on certain stories through the Old or New Testaments, or choose to do topical or character studies.  In previous years, we’ve used a through-the-Bible format focusing primarily on the New Testament.  We’ve also focused on Character Unit Studies with several opportunities to play the silly games that re-inforce those character traits. For the coming year, we will be using Seeds Family Worship and We Choose Virtues, though I have not yet decided how I will be using them – and whether or not we will include some of the other programs I have listed here.

It’s not possible to do ALL of this stuff, but it is possible to select just one thing – and in some cases, whatever’s easiest – just to get started.  And, for me, reading a verse out of the Bible during breakfast is one of the best ways to make sure we are focused each morning, even if I don’t do anything else on this verbose list of ideas.Do you have a favorite Bible curriculum or resource to share?  Please let us know in the comments!  [And if you come across broken link, we’ll appreciate it if you let us know!]

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