Eyes 2 Jesus

Planner University - Home School

The next divider should be labeled 'homeschool.' If your children are grown, you don't have any, or don't home school, then you may still find this section interesting to read about, but take this time to set this section up as something else; whatever you need.

I am going to show you a simple way to keep a homeschool plan. Some states require you to keep strict records, in which case, you may want to keep those in a separate notebook or in a folder. In the homeschool section in your planner, we are going to focus on who is doing what, when, for the home school.

If you feel like a slave to daily lesson planning, then you may want try this alternate option, as described in this article, in setting up the homeschool section...

The Curriculum Chart

The first page should be your curriculum chart for the academic year. You can draw a table, and write in it to fill it in, or you can design something on your computer, and print it out on half sheets of paper, punch the paper, and put it into your planner. Do which ever you prefer.

A homeschool curriculum chart shows what subjects you are teaching for the year, along with what you are using, etc. Putting together a new curriculum chart each year can be the crux of homeschool planning.

1) Make a list of all the subjects you (and possibly your husband) will be teaching for the home school year. If you teach via the Trivium (we use an altered version of the Trivium), then your subjects may be the following:

Homeschool Subjects

Bible

Math

Grammar, Writing, Spelling

Copy Work

Cursive and Penmanship

History, Geography

Science

Latin

Logic

Reading

Music and Art

Family Read Aloud

Government, Automotive Mechanics, Computers, Electronics, etc.

P.E.

2) List the subjects in the first column in your curriculum chart.

3) Next to the subject, type/write down the grade level of each child, and what books and materials they will be using for that year.

4) If you have multiple children to home school, then you may combine some grade levels. For example, you may choose to use one history book for all of the children, and teach all of your children at the same time from that, giving only one history lesson.

5) Take a look at the books you will be using for the year, and determine how many pages/lessons will need to be done from each book per week or day, in order to finish the book during your home schooling year.

6) In a third column, next to the subject (first column) and the books/materials (second column), write down how many pages or lessons will need to be completed from each subject's book, per day or week.

7) Now you have the whole school year planned, and it's all on an easy to view chart. Each afternoon or evening, when you are grading that day's school work, simply circle the pages/lessons that need to be done by the child the next day. Also, take this time to skim over any reading material they will be going over, etc.

Mom's Quick Reference Page

Obviously, there will be some preparation that will need to be done each day, before the next day's school. You will need to skim over the next day's lessons, and circle the pages/lessons each child is supposed to do.

NOTE: I have a little set of shelves for my children, in our home schooling area. Each child knows which shelf is for them. Each afternoon, when I am setting up for the next day's school, after I've looked over the up and coming lessons and circled pages/lessons, I place the next day's books and pages into their shelf. The next morning, the child grabs their work from their shelf, and each work book or paper is returned to the shelf when they are done, and stays there, until it's time for me to grade, later that day.

The next page, after your homeschool curriculum chart, should be a quick reference page for you. This is just a list of which subjects you are teaching on which day, so that you know which lessons to skim through, and which you don't have to, yet, etc. Also use this page to put on any other prep notes you may find handy.

Copy Work and Reading Lists

Copy work is simply as it sounds: stuff you have your children copy onto paper or into notebooks, that they copy off of the white/chalk board, or from a book/piece of paper. If you teach via the Trivium, or similar method, then your children will be doing copy work anywhere from twice a week, to every school day.

This is where you have them copy stuff down that you want them to memorize/internalize. The next page in your planner should therefore be a copy work list. Make a long list of any Scriptures you would like your children to copy into their notebooks, along with other things, such as perhaps your address, your and your husband's cell phone numbers, spelling lists and specific vocabulary words, etc.

I have stuff from all subjects in our copy work list, in addition to plenty of scriptures. Consider using something like a Post-It arrow to mark your place on the list. If the list is completed before the school year is over, then start over, and go through the list again.

The next page should be your children's reading lists. Include books you want them to read, books that have to do with the subjects and specific topics being taught, and some fun classic fiction, such as Treasure Island, Robinson Caruso, etc.

I always try to make my children's reading lists longer than I think they can finish for the year. There have been a few times when they've surprised me and finished the list before the year was up, though. If this happens, just quickly think up a few more books to put on the list.

Generally, though, I make the lists long enough that they are rarely finished during the school year. Then, the books not yet read are moved to the top of the reading list for the next school year.

For the rest of the homeschool section, just have some blank or lined filler paper in there, for when/if you need to take down notes, or track things.

Build Your Foundation on the Rock of Salvation

The terms "Christian" and "personal relationship with Jesus Christ" have been thrown around so much, that for many people, they have lost their original savor. What is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it going to church? Is it being a "good person?" Is it via doing certain rituals, or following certain traditions? No, it is so much simpler than that.

"Look! I’m standing at the door and knocking. If any hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to be with them, and will have dinner with them, and they will have dinner with me." -Revelation 3:20 CEB

Let Jesus into your heart and life. Put your faith and trust in Him, and in Him alone.

Why did Jesus Christ come to this earth? He came to pay for our sins. Have you ever broken any of the Ten Commandments? Did you know that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that just looking at someone with lust in your heart is the same thing as committing adultery in your heart?

Many people will say I'm a good person. Sure, I've stolen a few paper clips in my time, and I've told some lies, but I've never killed anyone, so I'm good enough for heaven. Don't be so sure. Have you ever felt hatred toward someone? If so, then you are guilty of committing murder in your heart:

"Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them." -1 John 3:15 CEB

If you have stolen, lied, lusted after someone, hated someone, loved someone or something more than God, etc., then you have broken at least 5 of the Ten Commandments. Do you really think you'd make it to heaven? Not according to God's Word:

"Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom." -1 Corinthians 6:9-10 CEB

"That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." -1 Corinthians 6:11 CEB

Even Mary, the woman chosen by God to be a vessel that would carry Jesus in her womb, was a sinner, and in need of a Savior:

"In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior." - Mary said this in Luke 1:47 (CEB). Only sinners need a Savior, and Mary also accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior.

"This is the message that we have heard from him and announce to you: “God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.” If we claim, “We have fellowship with him,” and live in the darkness, we are lying and do not act truthfully. But if we live in the light in the same way as he is in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we claim, “We don’t have any sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." -1 John 1:5-8 CEB

The blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses us from all sins. Jesus came to this earth to die to pay for our sins. You see, Leviticus tells us that 'the life is in the blood,' and that it takes spilt blood to atone for sin.

When we choose to truly believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and to live our lives for Christ, then Christ's spilt blood cleanses us from our sins:

"Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool." -Isaiah 1:18 CEB

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son." - Jesus said this, in John 3:16-18 (CEB)

"Because if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Trusting with the heart leads to righteousness, and confessing with the mouth leads to salvation. The scripture says, All who have faith in him won’t be put to shame." -Romans 10:9-11 CEB

"There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the human Christ Jesus" -1 Timothy 2:5 CEB

"Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin." -Hebrews 4:14-15 CEB

"Jesus replied, “Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you?" -Matthew 15:3 CEB

"Without question, the mystery of godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory." -1 Timothy 3:16 CEB

If Jesus isn't the Lord of your life, then I hope that you will let Him into your heart and life this very moment.

"But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8 CEB

Jesus is the way. If you would like to receive Jesus into your heart and life, then let Him know. Pray to the Lord, telling Him that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and that you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sins. Tell this to God in your own words, from your heart.

"The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:23 CEB

"You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ." -Ephesians 1:13 CEB

When you believe on Jesus Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit. You are sealed as a child of God.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior, and you believe that Jesus died on the cross in your place, to pay the death penalty for your sins, and that Christ rose from the dead three days later, and you are ready to let Him lead your life, and you will live for Him, then you are saved, and born again.

You are now a saved Child of God, with the Holy Spirit living within you. Dedicate your life to the Lord, and live for Him. Please get a Bible (I suggest the Common English Bible - CEB) and turn to the Gospel of John. That is the fourth book in the New Testament. If you don't have a Bible, then you can read it for free, online - here.

After you've read the Gospel of John, go on to read Acts, and then Romans. These three books will bring you through the Gospel, the early church, and basic Christian doctrine. After you've read these three, then turn to the beginning of the New Testament, and read it all the way through. After that, read both the Old and New Testaments.

You should also follow the Lord and get baptized in water. A Believer's Baptism doesn't save you. Only faith in Christ saves you. A Believer's Baptism is an outward showing of your salvation. It symbolizes you being born again. When you are lowered under the water, it shows you dying to your old self, and when you are raised up out of the water, it symbolizes you being born again, as a new creature in Christ. This is called a Believer's Baptism, because, according to the Bible, a person is supposed to get baptized after they have believed on Christ. Anyone who was "baptized" before having faith in Christ just got wet - nothing more. You don't need to find a church to get baptized in. Any born again Christian can baptize you in any acceptable body of water - even a public swimming pool.

Find a good, local church congregation to attend. Search in your area for a Nazarene church, Foursquare church, or non-denominational Full-Gospel church.

Immerse yourself in the Bible. The Bible is God's love letter to you. It is also your Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.