A Challenge for you for 2012 - Commit to spending more time reading the Bible in 2012

I'd like to challenge YOU to commit to spending more time reading the Bible in 2012.  


I presented the same challenge January the 1st 2011.  I also offered a side challenge to commit to reading the Bible through, not necessarily all the way through in 2011, but however long it took.  Did you take up either challenge?  If so, how did you fair in meeting your challenge?  Are you still working on that goal?  If you struggled or gave up, don't knock yourself out for it.  Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get to it again.  You don't have to start right from the beginning again if you don't want to.  Start where you left off and keep going from there.


Last year I shared that in the past my kids and I have used a chart, something like this one http://www.matthewweathers.com/year2006/images/Bible_Reading_Record.pdf to help us work towards the goal of reading the Bible through.  Print it out, fold it and tuck it into your Bible and mark of the chapters as you read them.  No requirement to read a certain amount or in a certain order, just mark of each chapter as you read it.  You'll be able to see at a glance if there is something you haven't read yet and need to make a special effort to read.  You'll feel so proud of yourself when you finally have all the chapters marked off, even if it does take you years to do it.  :)


If you have an Iphone, Ipad, or just about any other smart phone or tablet you can download an app to help you track your Bible reading.  My favorite app is the YouVersion Bible app.  You can access the Bible in a number of different versions and you can also access a number of different Bible reading plans.  I like to use the Whole Bible plans because they actually take you through the whole Bible.  When you choose a plan to follow you are given a portion of scripture to read each day and as you finish each portion and click to proceed to the next portion the app checks off the portions you have read.  You can easily go slower or faster than suggested by simply reading more or less.


If all you have is a computer or laptop, you can also use YouVersion at http://www.youversion.com/.


If you are interested in learning more about how to use the appor site, I'd be glad to help with any questions you might have.  If you'd like someone to challenge you or hold you accountable to keeping going, I'd be happy to pray for you and encourage you.  I would love to help you get into the Word of God.


Since doing the Bible in 90 Days Challenge the summer of 2010, Bible reading has become even more of a normal part of my life than it was before.  I had been reading small portions of the Bible most every day before that but doing the challenge helped me realize that I could actually fit in reading bigger portions of the Bible every day.  I became so used to doing that that I continued reading bigger portions of the Bible in 2011 and actually made my way all the way through the Bible 3 times in 2011.  I did most of my Bible reading on my Iphone using the YouVersion Bible app following Bible reading plans available in the app. I went through the Bible In 90 Days Plan first, but it took me a little more than 90 Days to complete it.  I then did the Chronological Reading Plan, which was set up to be done in a year but I read more than one days allotted reading each day and completed it in about 4 months.  Then I did the Historical Reading Plan and did the same thing.  I've started following the Life Journal Reading Plan for the beginning of this year.


I sure hope you will commit to spending more time reading your Bible in 2012.  It is something that will change your live forever.

Trying out an iPad

My sister is visiting and I'm trying out her iPad. I like it!

Teacher Tipster

Came across a really neat site today - TeacherTipster.com. Great ideas explained with videos and sometimes including printables.  Here are some of my favourite:

Parts of a Story Song Video - Parts of a Story Poster

The Clock Song -  Clock Song Poster - Set The Clock Sheet (to be kept in a sheet protector so that it can be written on and whipped clean to use again and again

Lots  more videos with fun tips on the TeacherTipster Videos page and lots of great fun printables on the TeacherTipster Printables pages

As the TeacherTipster is a grade one teacher and Anna is presently working on grade one goals I intend to make good use of this site.

Grey Hair and Hair Colouring

Why do people stress so much about the colour of their hair?

I am getting more and more grey hair, but I don't care.  I never did care, but I've cared even less since the day, many moons ago, when my first girl told me that she liked the sparkling hairs that I had.  I didn't have many at all at that point but I loved how she described them.  Then I found this verse Proverbs 16:31 "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory".  I intend to wear my crown proudly when I finally receive it.  :)

I have never died my hair, and I don't think I ever will.  My hair is quite dark, but I see more and more light hairs showing up all the time.  It does not cause me one bit of stress.  My hair always has been and always will be it's natural colour. I have never understood why anyone would want to change their hair colour.  I've always been of the opinion that God knows best in that department and I'm not going to mess with it.

So, while others may sit around and lament about the grey hairs showing up, or their roots showing through, I rest easy and take things as they come.

My Baby is Reading!

She turns 6 this month and she's already a pretty confident reader.  I love it!  I've really enjoyed watching her learn.  I feel blessed that I have the privilege of homeschooling her and watching her learn.

How did she learn?  We didn't follow a structured reading program but instead we took advantage of all kinds of different things that came our way.

We read together lots. And lots.  We made regular visits to the library to stock up on books.  We read all different kinds of books. Sometimes I'd point out the words as I read.  If there were repeated phrases I would encourage Anna to help me "read" those repeated phrases.  Sometimes we'd read picture books with just a word or two a page and Anna would practice "reading" them after we'd read them together a few times.  I was always quick to help her if she forgot a word.

Anna loved playing on Starfall.com.  I let her wonder around the site as much as she wanted and she became more aware of the sounds of letters.  We printed off some of the booklets for some of the stories on the site and she practiced "reading" them after we had read them with the computer and on our own lots.

Gradually I watched her grow more interested in words and she would point out words that she recognized.  I decided it was time for her to try reading a Young Readers Bible that we had in our shelves.  Each story was 6 pages long with a few sentences on each page.  I'd read her a story one day and the next day she'd read that story to me, with me quickly supplying any word that she didn't immediately recognize.  I had to help her less and less as we worked our way through her special Bible.  She actually finished reading the whole book this month and she is so proud of herself.

All the while we continued to read lots of different books together.  As I noticed that she was gaining more confidence and recognizing more words I started making sure that some of the library books we brought home were ones that she could easily learn to read on her own - some picture books with a few words per page, some easy readers, etc.  I always read a book to her at least once before I asked her to read it to me and I was always quick to supply any word that she didn't immediately recognize.  She didn't realize it but she was reading more and more on her own and needing less and less help.

When she was really comfortable with a book I encouraged her to read to her dad and her older siblings, to show how good she could read and also to share some of the fun books we were reading.  This helped build her confidence even more.

She finally realized she could read one weekend when we had friends over and she came running out of the room exclaiming to us that she had just read a book to her friend in her room.  Her friend, who's a couple of years younger than her, was pretty proud of her too.  It was so fun to see her exclaim that she could read!  She'd been reading for quite a while, but she didn't realize it until then.

I've been keeping a list of library books that she's learned to read on her own and she now has over 20 books on that list.

What a joy to have been able to witness this accomplishment in her life!

How Do Homeschool Graduates Fare?

That's what's been on my mind lately. Part of the reason it's been on my mind so much is because I've been reading glowing reports from homeschooling friends on Facebook.  Homeschooling friends from right here in my province.

One friend just attended a convocation service where her child received a Master's of History degree.  Another friend just attended her child's White Coat ceremony, celebrating acceptance into med school.  Another friend reported that her child received a $1000 scholarship from his college.

These children were all homeschooled right here in my province.

Just like public school graduates, not all the homeschooled graduates traveled the academic route.  One homeschooled graduate has traveled the world on modeling contracts.  Another has traveled the world on music related contracts.  Another is a professional fire fighter.

All these children are from different homeschooling families in my province.

I'd say homeschool graduates, for the most part, fare just fine.

Of course, like public school graduates, there are those that have their struggles.  After all, homeschooled graduates are humans, just like public school graduates.

Resuscitation Attempt

It's been a while...a long, long while.  I was starting to wonder if there would ever be life here again, but, inspired by Alex's NaBloPoMo post I am making a resuscitation attempt, I guess we'll see how successful it is.

While I haven't posted in a while, I have written many posts in my head, most of them offering reasons, excuses, contributing factors for the lack of posts.  There are many factors.  We finally moved in August.  We had been anticipating the move since November and it finally happened in August.  I felt like my life was kind of in limbo from November to August waiting for the move to happen.  August was taken up with packing and moving finally.  In the process, my laptop crashed again and this time my attempts at reviving it failed.  I was so busy with moving that I didn't really have much time to think about it but when we finally settled in our new place I started to miss my laptop.  I finally got a desk top set up but I don't like the set up.  It's very uncomfortable so I spend as little time as possible at it.  Those are some of the reasons for my absence.

I really started thinking about blogging, and writing in general, again as November approached.  Like Alex, I have participated in NaNoWriMo in the past and I was hoping to do it again this year but the horrible set up for computing was keeping me from committing.  Still, I couldn't quite give up on the thought.  When I read Alex's post I decided to follow her example and skip NaNoWriMo this year but to give the NaBloPoMo a try, sort of.  I've only quickly perused the NaBloPoMo site and from what I can gather they give you a daily prompt to post about.  I doubt I will be using the daily prompts, though I may from time to time.  My goal is simply to try to get back into the habit of blogging by posting every day during the month.

So, let's see what happens with this resuscitation attempt.  Let's see if I can bring life back into this blog.