Homeschooling CD Giveaway

Ladies Against Feminism is generously giving away 10 MP3 copies of Victoria Botkin's new CD set of Curriculum Advice. Mrs. Botkin's daughters, Anna Sophia and Elizabeth, have written about these CDs on their website.

"After much demand, our dear mother has just produced two CDs containing her top homeschooling tips. For the last 20 years Mother has been ministering to young homeschooling mommies around the world, giving them confidence, enthusiasm, and a vision for the importance of their labors. Now, for the first time, her pearls of wisdom are available to all." Click here to read more.

And Jennie Chancey wrote of these wonderful CDs;

"Yesterday evening I received previews of two new messages Victoria has recorded for home educating mothers (augmented by sections recorded by her husband and children). Titled simply "Curriculum Advice," these two messages are absolutely chock-full of practical, simple, breathe-easy guidance to help you create an atmosphere of learning in your home and lead your children to read, think, and communicate. Victoria explains things so clearly that you might begin to think, "This sounds too simple." Don't be deceived: It is simple. While training and teaching children is a lot of work and requires a great deal of sacrifice, it does not have to be stressful or difficult. Victoria demonstrates that we make it so when we load ourselves and our children down with textbooks and "methods" that we haven't carefully examined or sifted through.

Perhaps the most commonly overlooked first step of home education is for parents to educate themselves and really learn to know their children, discovering their unique facets. My parents had three very different children who benefited from the attention of parents who were tuned into us and knew our eccentricities. Victoria discusses this at some length, all the while assuring us that we can instruct the "difficult" child if we will simply be patient and encouraging. Our tone of voice can often make or break our work with a particular child. Frustration or impatience in a mother's voice will open the doors wide for the same emotions in the child. The keywords for these messages stand out so plainly:

Relax
Enjoy
Speak with the "law of kindness"
Practice patience
Love
Be as eager to learn as your children are

You don't need a fancy curriculum, Victoria assures us. In fact, you're better off without the bells and whistles, because you can then take the time to focus on the child instead of the "method." At one point, Victoria shares a story about standardized tests. She and her husband hadn't been teaching their children to pass tests, and she began to feel anxious about their ability to pass them if it became necessary in the future. So she gave them a test without any preparation just to see how they'd do. They all scored in the 90th percentile, so she stopped worrying about "teaching to the test" and just went on with what she and her husband had planned for their children.

One thing I love about the relaxed approach advocated by the Botkins is that it involves a lot of time simply sitting and cuddling with your children while reading aloud and talking. The only "method" that you need comes from Deuteronomy 6: "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." It's an all-day thing that should flow just as naturally as breathing. Talk to your children. Talk to them some more. Encourage them to ask questions. When you don't know the answers, find them with your children."

I am looking forward to listening to these CDs with eager anticipation. I feel so blessed to be able to glean from the wisdom of such Godly women while my children are still so young! This is the beauty of Titus 2:3-5, we get to learn from older women in the faith, to share in the knowledge and wisdom that God has blessed them with.

So head over to Ladies Against Feminism and enter the giveaway! You can enter from now until October 11th. If you don't have a blog, never fear; Mrs. Chancey has given you the opportunity to enter the giveaway through email. If you can't wait to get a copy of these CDs, you can purchase them (in CD or MP3 form) directly from First Pacific Media.

"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." -Titus 2:3-5