“Don’t be over self-confident with your first impressions of people.” -Chinese Proverb

It’s easy to compare ourselves to our impressions of others. We tend to compare the “macro” view we see in ourselves to the “micro” view we see in others. Then we inflate the micro view into a macro perception of them.

In other words, we only see little glimpses into other people’s lives but we tend to believe that the little we see when people are at their best is the way they are all the time. We take this view and compare it to the big picture of our own lives. Often times, it is not a fair comparison.

I hate hearing someone tell us they are discouraged with their family after they have been around my family. I know that they are comparing their family to what they saw when we were at our best. What they don’t see is the days (or weeks) that our family operates like a run away freight train. It is not fair to their family to be held to those standards.

It is good to set high standards for our families and to find others that we admire and respect to push us to higher levels. But we do need to be careful not to elevate each other beyond reality.

Newly Updated

The Art of Argument is one of my favorite logic curriculums. This text does not really teach one to argue but rather the logic behind the argument. There are twenty-eight informal fallicies presented and over sixty advertisments for items like blue jeans and pick-up trucks for sudents to apply the fallicies to.

This is a great course and I would highly recommend it. Click here for more info!

The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

Being able to set goals and achieve them is an extremely valuable skill to learn. Studies show that those who set goals achieve far more than those who don’t. One way to teach our children to be goal oriented it through the use of a simple goal sheet.

Pictured here, we are pleased to offer this printable goal sheet: goals_sheet_pdf.pdf

Instructions for Use:

1. Click on file, print sheet, and fold in half.  This should cover 2 weeks, front and back.

2. Across the top of the sheet, write the child’s name and the beginning (Monday’s) date.

3. Write the subject your child is currently working on in the light blue boxes, ie Math, Eng, Soc, Sci, etc.

4. For each day of the week, in the gray shaded area, under the corresponding day of the week, write the page numbers that need to be completed. For instance, on Monday put pages 1-3, on Tuesday put pages 4-6, on Wednesday put pages 7-9, etc.

5. At the start of each day, your student simple begins working on the goals for set for that day. Once a goal is completed your student simply puts a check in the box or crosses the goal off completely.

For PDF File: goals_sheet_pdf.pdf. 

Please feel free to post any questions or comments by clicking on the “comments” link below.

Prioritize Your Task List

One day, Ivy Lee a management consultant called on Charles M. Schwab of the Bethlehem Steel Company. In that meeting, Lee gave Schwab an idea to make his company more efficient and told him to try it for one month and when the month was over, Schwab was to send Lee a check for whatever he felt the idea was worth. Schwab had the know-how, he just needed more time in a day to get it all done.

At the end of the month, Ivy Lee received a check for $25,000, an enormous amount of money in the early 1900s. Charles Schwab said that it was the best idea he ever received. The idea:

1. Write down on a sheet of paper the six most important things you need to do tomorrow.

2. Prioritize the list and order them from most important to least important.

3. First thing tomorrow, look at the first item on the list and work on it until it is completed.

4. When the first item is finished, then move onto the second item and work on that item until it is completed, and so on.

5. At the end of the day, make another list for the next day, and do the same.

Don’t worry if you only finish two or three tasks in a day. You are finishing the most important tasks and not getting distracted by the insignificant ones. By doing this simple prioritization of your tasks, even if only mentally, you will be amazed at how much more you can get done.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments by clicking on the “comments” link below.

Education = Privilege

Our Homeschool group visited the Buffalo Naval Park this week. We toured three World War II vessels. The USS Little Rock (Cruiser - pictured), the USS The Sullivans (Destroyer), and the USS Croaker (submarine). It truly was a great field trip.

The most valuable thing I took away from the experience is just how much privilege and education go hand-in-hand. Touring these ships, I could only imagine what the enlisted men went through living and fighting on these ships. As we made our way to the top of the ship we could see the privileges the officers had over the enlisted men. The more rank and education, the better the accommodations and privileges.

As a life application, I don’t care if my children choose to be in the “engine room” powering the ship or in the “pilot house” commanding it, but I do want it to be their choice. They can choose to decline privilege if they like, but it is not going to be because I neglected to give them an education. It really helps affirm the importance of setting high moral, social, and academic standards for our Homeschools.

Homeschooling has changed a lot over the years. Today there are many excellent tools and resources available to help Homeschoolers succeed. If we can be of any assistance in your endeavor to provide an excellent Homeschool experience for your children, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments by clicking on the “comments” link below.

The success of this family depends on everyone doing their part.

A few years back our family took a Homeschool field trip to the Genesee Country Village, a living museum. The home that stood out most was this little pioneer homestead (pictured). To our amazement, there were 10 children raised in this little one room cabin.

The woman pretending to live in the house was telling us the history of the house and the family that lived there. The husband’s first wife died and the oldest daughter had to step in and become mom to her seven siblings. As we talked about the hardships they had to endure, she commented, “the success of this family, and ultimately their survival depended upon every member of the family working together and doing their share”.

That comment stuck and we immediately implemented it with our family. With eight children, Homeschooling, operating Pennywise Learning, and other outside responsibilities there is no way mom and dad can do it all. We need every member of our household working together to do their share. Our success and survival depends on it.

Besides cleaning up after themselves, everyone in our house has daily/weekly chores. All of our older children can cook meals, clean, do laundry, change diapers, etc, etc. No one person has to shoulder the load by themselves but everyone is expected to do their part.

Occasionally, we have to sit down as a family and remind everyone that we do actually intend to live by this philosophy and that they are expected to participate but for the most part it really does work well. I highly recommend implementing it in your home if you haven’t already.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments by clicking on the “comments” link below.

You Teach What You Tolerate

I love this simple statement because it is so true, especially when it comes to our children and Homeschooling. 

For example, if my wife and I tolerate having our school room in a perpetual state of trashiness, then I have taught my children that it is okay have a trashed school room. I can pretty much count on the fact that my kids will leave it trashed. Whereas if I do not tolerate it and I require of them what I can tolerate (a clean school room), then I am teaching them to keep the school room clean.

This philosophy applies to so many areas of our lives.  Chances are, if someone around us is doing something that we don’t like, we have taught them that it is okay to do it because we continue to tolerate it.

Everything I experience today is the result of something I thought, said, or did yesterday. If I don’t like what I am experiencing today, then I need to change today, the things I thought, said, or did yesterday so tomorrow will be better.

While I suppose there are exceptions to this rule, I use it a lot, especially when it comes to Homeschooling my children. If they are falling behind academically, missing the mark spiritually, lacking manners or etiquette, then I am responsible to determine what I have done to contribute and what I can do to ensure the results I experience tomorrow are better than what I got today.

Likewise, when I see them maturing into the awesome individuals that God created them to be, then I can be assured that as their father, what I did yesterday is what I should be doing today, so I will get similar results tomorrow.

As we begin a new school year, I am reminded to hold myself accountable to the goals that I have for my family. If I don’t like the results I am getting, then I must accept responsibility, determine what it is that I am saying, doing, or thinking that is producing the undesirable outcome, and make the necessary changes.

May God grant us the wisdom to see the right, the will to choose it and the strength to make it endure.