Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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Homeschool Middle School

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Middle school, or junior high, is a transition time – between elementary and childhood, high school and college prep.

It’s awkward and gawky and uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally. For the kids and for me!

I loved teaching 8th grade, many years ago now. It was so exciting to see the kids change from the first day to the last day. And I love seeing my students all grown up and starting their own families and teaching their own classes!

Homeschooling was a huge switch for me. I went from teaching teens and adults to teaching a 5 year old, then my babies. As they grew, I became more comfortable. I grew with them, learned with them. We all adapted.

Having my kids reach middle school is so much fun for me. I tease them: you’re in my world now. I know this. I got this. We’re gonna do this right.

The kids know I was totally out of my element teaching preschool and elementary. We laugh about it now. I learned to love it, but I absolutely adore teaching middle and high school.

I love having my tweens and teens home with me. I love discussing history and literature and science and art and music, and even math. I love seeing the connections and assimilation going on from all the topics and travels and years I’ve taught them. I love still reading aloud to them.

I love the sudden fierce hugs. I love watching their bodies grow full and strong, giving me a glimpse into the adults they will soon be. I giggle that they’re all becoming taller than I am! I love hearing about their sports events and art and what they found in the woods. I love that they still show me rocks and flowers and worms and cicada shells.

They’re still so much children but they’re becoming so responsible and big. I desperately want to protect them while realizing I must fall back little by little and let them learn their own path.

I was horrified by a conversation I had the other day where a lady described her son’s harsh transition into middle school. He was suddenly completely responsible each day for turning in his work in the correct tray, completed, on time. There were no reminders or anything. I gave multiple reminders to my kids, even my college students! This is just ridiculous and sets kids up for failure. Her son’s As and Bs turned to Ds and Fs. Without an IEP, there was no assistance from the teacher or support from administrators. This is not the real world!

A master teacher, rather than pushing pupils toward independence, supplies them instead with generous offerings of assistance. A master teacher wants her students to think for themselves but knows the students cannot get there if she resists their dependence or chastises them for lacking maturity. Her students are free to lean on her without any sense of shame for their neediness.

Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté, MD

Middle school need not be a scary age to navigate or teach.

It’s important as parents, we understand the changes our kids go through at this age. We must be supportive and patient. We must remember what it was like for us at that age.

Adolescence is a critical time for brain growth. Thinking become less concrete and more abstract. Hormones and body changes are awkward. Critical thinking is more advanced. Short term memory may be compromised as everything tears down and redevelops.

I highly recommend the books by Louise Bates Ames. A good guide to follow is What Your 6th Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good First-Grade Education by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

I still read aloud every morning and evening. We go on lots of family hikes. We go out for ice cream and slushies a lot and this is a great time for conversation. We have dinner together at home as a family every night.

It becomes more and more difficult to find interesting and wholesome activities for older kids and teens in our society. It becomes narrower for homeschool kids. Even school kids mostly do sports.

Most states don’t allow paid employment until after age 14, and most of those jobs are pretty undesirable. We’ve found the minimum age for many volunteer opportunities is 15 or older.

The town library closes at 5 PM on Fridays and it’s a big joke in our family.

I constantly shift our priorities as interests change.

Our Middle School Curriculum

6th Grade

This is a huge transition year for most kids – in schools and with homeschooling. For us, dialectic work begins. There’s lots more writing, questions, critical thinking. My kids expand their interests: dug deeper and explored new things!

7th Grade

This is one of my favorite years. My kids constantly surprised me with their interests, abilities, and minds. Their intelligent, thought-provoking questions encouraged me to be more honest and authentic. We all made lifestyle changes for improvement.

8th Grade

My kids began to earn high school credits. We transition from dialectic level to rhetoric level work. It’s amazing to look back on the changes since 6th grade!

  • Videotext Algebra
  • Life of Fred Algebra
  • Tapestry of Grace Year 4 – history, geography, literature, government, philosophy
  • Notebooking
  • French or German
  • Latin, Greek, or Hebrew
  • Apologia Biology

These few years between elementary and high school are crucial to having a great relationship with my kids when they’re older teens and young adults.

You ought to give him a taste of freedom while he still thinks it’s yours to give. ~Outlander

I give them more space, freedom, privacy. I encourage discussion about academics, religion, sex and culture, current events, their interests, their lives.

I still remember them as rambunctious babies, toddlers, youngsters…and now they’re growing up into these wonderful young adults.

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National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

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We had an incredible visit to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. I highly recommend it for all.

The 8,000-square-foot exhibit From Slavery to Freedom provides historical context about 300+ years of slavery from the Middle Passage up to the Civil War. Artifacts include the rope from which abolitionist John Brown was hanged to Frederick Douglass’ hat and trousers to first-edition copies of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Three pavilions celebrate courage, cooperation, and perseverance.

This humongous exhibit was very intense, full of lots of reading and historical artifacts.

It was so educational for me, who grew up in the South and had very skewed American history, even from Black teachers.

I love learning along with my children. This is very, very important history and I want the truth. Even if, especially if, it makes me uncomfortable.

In this age of information, there is no excuse to be ignorant.

We were literally exhausted and overwhelmed by the end of this exhibit. It was just so much to process. It was really hard.

Escape! Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad allows children and adults to play a game that gives them the perspective of a fugitive slave.

We’ve read lots of books about this, but seeing where escaped slaves could hide and how they traveled and were cared for was eye-opening.

It made us confront ourselves and the question of what would we have done?

Freedom’s flame continues to light the way, no matter the weather.

Muhammad Ali and first lady Laura Bush jointly lit the eternal flame of freedom when ground was broken for the center in 2002.

Poignant with a gorgeous view of Cincinnati and the Ohio River.

People knew once they crossed that river, they were mostly safe from slavery, but new laws kept cropping up that made it legal for them to be captured back into slavery.

Freedom’s Flame

The Hall of Everyday Heroes pays tribute to ordinary people who resist tyranny. Important history everywhere.

Again, what would we do?

What are we doing in the face of tyranny?

The Struggle Today examines the legacy of the Underground Railroad and contemporary freedom movements.

We actually did not do much more than peek inside this one. We were emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted at this point. We will have to gear ourselves up to return.

There are often new exhibits and we could barely process it all.

“Journeys I and II” is an ongoing piece created by artist Aminah Brenda Lynn.

The Slave Pen, the principal artifact at the Freedom Center, is a 21 by 30-foot, two-story log slave pen built in 1830. Originally owned by Captain John Anderson, it is “the only known surviving rural slave jail,” previously used to house slaves prior to their being shipped to auction. The structure was moved from a farm in Mason County, Kentucky, where a tobacco barn had been built around it.

This was especially horrific, with manacles still inside. It smelled evil.

Upwards of 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world, more than at any other time in human history.

Americans still won’t admit what our history did and is doing to our citizens.

Visit the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Tickets – Buy online.

Adults: $15
Seniors 60+: $13
Children ages 3-12: $10.50
Children under 3: FREE

Hours

Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday-Monday Noon to 5:00 p.m.
Tickets sold until 4:00 p.m.

Outside the museum, is a piece of the Berlin Wall.

A piece of the Berlin Wall

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Vegetable Soup

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Aaron’s mom had this famous busy day soup.

I first had it the weekend I met his parents.

Our kids beg for it – even in summer!

Sometimes, I deviate from the original recipe, but it’s really perfect the way it is.

Directions:

Sometimes, I saute fresh veggies like mirepoix or mushrooms in butter and make my own cream sauces as a base.

Check out our veggie-packed cream soup recipe.

But I’ve found great canned cream soups that are healthier and organic so I just buy those now.

I usually use ground beef, the cheapest I can find.

Then I literally dump everything in and simmer for about 30 minutes. You could use a slow cooker too.

This soup is just perfect for a busy day. You can fix it and forget it and throw it together last minute.

I really like Lima beans, so I usually add those also. You can do just peas and carrots or the medley. It’s up to you!

I sometimes use barley, but I don’t really like it.

I’ve done little noodles before too, but you don’t want those left in the broth or they get soggy for leftovers.

We like to serve it with toast.

Print

Vegetable Soup

Course Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground meat
  • 1 pack dry onion soup mix
  • 48 oz V8
  • 1 can cream of celery
  • 1 can cream of mushroom
  • 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
  • 1 cup cooked barley
  • 2 peeled and diced potatoes
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • salt, pepper, garlic to taste

Instructions

  1. Brown the meat and drain the fat.

  2. Boil and drain the barley.

  3. Peel and dice the potatoes.

  4. Combine all ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes.

  5. Serve with toast!

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Ohio Caverns

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We visited Ohio Caverns in May 2019. We chose the Natural Wonder Tour.

I recommend wearing raincoats and boots. The guides do provide ponchos.

We loved the rock formations and colors from the minerals.

Lots of water down there. There were water lines from past floods.

Visit Ohio Caverns.

Natural Wonder Tour Info

Historic Tour Info

Ohio Caverns is Open All Year.  We only close on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Hours

Summer Session (May 1 – September 30) : 9 am to 5 pm (Last tour starts at 5 pm)
Winter Session (January 1 – April 30; October 1 – December 31) : 10 am to 4 pm (Last tour starts at 4 pm)

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The Best Gravy

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I want my kids to know how to make the Five Mother Sauces.

We make a pretty good marinara. We do a nice blender Hollandaise.

Gravy is a necessity to learn how to make well.

It’s very versatile. It goes with meats, starches, even a soup/stew base.

Our basic easy recipe is a great starter for a flavorful gravy.

You can add herbs, wine, beer, or other ingredients to make it unique to your tastes.

I do use pan drippings from a roast meat with a fat separator, but otherwise I use good quality stock in a neat little box.

Directions:

Begin with a roux of melted fat and flour until dry and almost crispy.

Add ketchup, mustard (preferably Dijon), Worcestershire. Trust me.

Quickly add stock and whisk – or beer, wine, whatever liquid you’re making that goes with your meal. You really don’t need more than a total of 2 cups.

For a nice brown gravy, I use 1 cup beef stock and 1/2 cup chicken stock.

For poultry gravy, I use all chicken or turkey stock. I usually add some half and half to this one.

Add more liquid if it gets too thick too quickly.

The key to shiny gorgeous gravy is whisking well over low heat until thick then straining out solids and adding just a pat of butter to melt before serving.

As you become more confident, you can experiment with what works and tastes good to you.

Print

Gravy

Ingredients

  • 4 T unsalted butter or fat of choice
  • 1/4 c AP flour
  • 1 1/2 c stock beef, chicken, turkey, veal, veggie
  • 1 T ketchup
  • 2 t Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 t Dijon mustard
  • garlic powder to taste
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Melt butter or fat in pan.

  2. Whisk in flour until browned a bit.

  3. Whisk in stock.

  4. Whisk in ketchup, Worcestershire, mustard, and spice.

  5. Bring to boil until thickened.

  6. Add cream, milk, more stock if it becomes too thick.

  7. Strain with fine mesh sieve to remove lumps. Press with spatula to get the good stuff.

  8. Add a pat of butter for a nice shine.

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Golden Spike

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When we first arrived in Utah, we traveled to the Golden Spike national park for a re-enactment.

It was hot and dry and out in the middle of nowhere.

The kids were young, but we’ve shown them the pictures each history cycle since to refresh their memories as we learn about American history.

And then there’s an interesting story.

Golden Spike National Historic Site is open year round and receives nearly 60,000 visitors a year. Visitors come to explore the site and connect with one of the most transformational moments in our nation’s history. The most popular attractions include stepping out to the site where history was made, viewing the site’s replica steam locomotives, participating in historic re-enactments of the famous “Last Spike” ceremony and exploring the nearly 150 year-old railroad grade on the auto tours and hiking trail.

Learn more.

Hours and Re-enactments.

150th anniversary events on May 10, 2019.

The girls got their Junior Ranger badges. It’s a great way to get kids interested in history and learning.

We like hands-on history.

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Celebrating Lammas Day

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Lammastide or Lughnasadh/Lughnasa falls at the halfway point between the Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox.

Lammas means “loaf-mass” in Anglo-Saxon.

The focus was on either the early harvest aspect or the celebration of the Celtic god Lugh.

August 1 is a festival to mark the annual wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year. On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop, which just began to be harvested.

After the grain is harvested, it is milled and baked into bread, which is then consumed. It is the cycle of the harvest come full circle.

The grain dies so that the people might live. Eating this bread, the bread of the gods, gives us life. If all this sounds vaguely Christian, it should be. In the sacrament of Communion, bread is blessed, becomes the body of God and is eaten to nourish the faithful. This Christian Mystery echoes the pagan Mystery of the Grain God. 

Lammas coincides with the feast of St. Peter in Chains, commemorating St. Peter’s miraculous deliverance from prison.

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1.3.19), it is observed of Juliet, “Come Lammas Eve at night shall she [Juliet] be fourteen.” Since Juliet was born Lammas eve, she came before the harvest festival, which is significant since her life ended before she could reap what she had sown and enjoy the bounty of the harvest, in this case full consummation and enjoyment of her love with Romeo.

We especially enjoyed visiting the Trier Cathedral Harvest Festival. Many churches in Europe and the UK have lovely harvest altars, thanking God for His bounty.

Lammas is a festival of regrets and farewells, of harvest and preserves.

  • Reflect on the year in your journal or share with others around a bonfire. Lughnasa is one of the great Celtic fire-festivals.
  • Look up the myths of any of the grain Gods and Goddesses and discuss with your family and friends. 
  • Go to a county fair to celebrate the end of summer, school beginning, harvest.
  • Make corn dollies, herb wreaths or garlands, bake bread. Cute kids crafts here.
  • Go on a nature walk and look at the changes.
  • Sing songs and roast food over the fire.

Robert Burns published the poem John Barleycorn in 1782, and there are various modern versions:

There were three men come out of the west, their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow, John Barleycorn would die
They’ve ploughed, they’ve sown, they’ve harrowed, thrown clods upon his head
Till these three men were satisfied John Barleycorn was dead

Refrain: There’s beer all in the barrel and brandy in the glass
But little Sir John, with his nut-brown bowl, proved the strongest man at last

They’ve let him lie for a long long time till the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprang up his head and so amazed them all
They’ve let him stand till midsummer’s day and he looks both pale and wan
Then little Sir John’s grown a long long beard and so become a man

{Refrain}

They’ve hired men with the sharp-edged scythes to cut him off at the knee
They’ve rolled him and tied him around the waist, treated him most barbarously
They’ve hired men with the sharp-edged forks to prick him to the heart
And the loader has served him worse than that for he’s bound him to the cart
So they’ve wheeled him around and around the field till they’ve come unto a barn
And here they’ve kept their solemn word concerning Barleycorn
They’ve hired men with the crab tree sticks to split him skin from bone
And the miller has served him worse than that for he’s ground him between two stones

And the huntsman he can’t hunt the fox nor loudly blow his horn
And the tinker he can’t mend his pots without John Barleycorn

Regrets

Think of the things you meant to do this summer or this year that did not come to fruition. You can project your regrets onto natural objects like pine cones, corn husks, or paper and throw them into the fire, releasing them.

Farewells

What or who is passing away from your life? What is over or completed? Say goodbye to it. As with regrets, you can find visual symbols and throw them into the fire. You can also bury them in the ground, perhaps in the form of flower bulbs which will manifest in a new form next spring.

Harvest

What have you harvested this year? What seeds did you plant that are sprouting? Find a visual way to represent these, perhaps creating a decoration in your house or garden to represent this harvest to you. Make a corn dolly or learn to weave grain or grass into artistic designs.

Preserves

This is also a good time for making preserves, either literally or symbolically. As you turn the summer’s fruit into jams, jellies, and chutneys for later, think about the fruits that you have gathered this year and how you can hold onto them. How can you keep them sweet in the stores of your memory?

How do you prepare your hearts for the change in season?

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Johnston Farm and Indian Agency

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One of our favorite field trips this year was Johnston Farm. We enjoyed the museum and canal boat ride.

Johnston Farm Museum

Exhibits trace the story of the Eastern Woodland Indians of Ohio and the Pickawillany village site.

We loved learning about the Native Americans of the area.

The exhibits were very respectful of and educational about how Europeans exploited the Natives.

There were several sections about Indian stereotypes throughout history and how we still exploit them today in sports and advertising. It’s so infuriating.

We learned all about Ohio canals. Then we got to ride in one!

General Harrison Canal Boat

A replica 70-foot-long canal boat used for transportation of passengers and cargo in the 19th century.

Adena Indian Mound and Earthwork

Other Sites

  • Farmhouse – 1815
  • Double Pen Barn – 1808
  • Springhouse – 1815
  • Cider House – 1828

Visit Johnston Farm and Indian Agency.

Hours of Operation

April, May and September, October:  9 AM to 2 PM — Monday – Friday
June, July, and August:  10 AM to 5 PM — Thursday and Friday
and Noon to 5 PM — Saturday and Sunday
Closed Holidays and November through March

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Nonviolence Unit Study

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We see a lot of violence on the news: in print media, on TV, online, and on social media.

We might be desensitized to violence since we’ve been viewing it all our lives. But our kids might and should be disturbed by it.

It’s too often we see news about a school shooting.

It’s too frequently we hear about immigrants being incarcerated.

The jails are flooded with minor infractions.

It’s too much to hear about the many women and children assaulted.

Workers being exploited for too little pay.

Civil rights being violated.

I think the really significant part of it for us, for the western world, is we have a lot to gain from the Tibetans – there are certain lessons that are within Tibetan culture. I mean understandings of compassion and of nonviolence that are things that we really lack in our society.

~Adam Yauch

We have to expand our learning and our teaching about nonviolence and human rights. It’s a huge problem when nothing improves or changes. Statistics show that many people don’t view rape as assault or crime. That’s scary.

We have to talk to our kids about consent and violence and guns.

Don’t mistreat someone who has mistreated you. But try to earn the respect of others, and do your best to live at peace with everyone.

Romans 12:17-18

What do we teach our children about violence, protest, and injustice?

Do we have a voice, power, desire to make a difference?

It’s important that we teach our kids nonviolence in a fallen world.

We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.

~Alice Walker

I love the movies and books about aliens or supernatural forces wanting to communicate peace to us, the lame and broken humans.

God blesses those people who make peace.

Matthew 5:9

Sometimes, it takes fiction to make us realize how much we’re hurting each other.

It’s never us/them, either/or, other, or any other duality thinking. We’re all in this together.

It can be both/and.

Christian nonviolence must be embodied in a community that is an alternative to the world’s violence.

~Stanley Hauerwas

Nonviolence starts with our parenting and teaching styles.

Don’t tell me to “do my research” or that I’m a victim because I am anti-gun.

My eldest daughter earned her sharpshooter award in Civil Air Patrol.

My husband earned expert in his weapons qualification with the Air Force.

I have gone to multiple gun ranges indoor and outdoor and used different weapons.

I know what it feels like. I know the thrill and exhilaration and power that rushes through the body as the gun fires off rounds at a paper target.

That scares me. I never want to own a weapon with that kind of power. I never want to point a weapon at another human.

We stress cooperation, kindness, patience, love, and compromise in our home.

We teach respect and dignity for everyone.

Love your enemies, and be good to everyone who hates you. Ask God to bless anyone who curses you, and pray for everyone who is cruel to you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, don’t stop that person from slapping you on the other cheek. If someone wants to take your coat, don’t try to keep back your shirt. Give to everyone who asks and don’t ask people to return what they have taken from you. Treat others just as you want to be treated.

Luke 6: 27-31

What is nonviolence?

When the hyphen is not used, it often signifies the mere absence of physical violence, or “strategic nonviolence” in contrast to what is called “principled nonviolence”— the presence of concern for the opponent as person.

“Nonviolence” is almost a translation of the Sanskrit term ahimsa. The actual translation of ahimsa would be more like “the power that comes into effect when the desire to harm is eliminated.”

Pacifism: the belief that any violence, including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstances, and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means.

People use the term “nonviolence” in three different ways:

  1. The mere absence of physical violence. In this usage, even passively allowing oneself to be abused can be called “non-violence,” while Gandhi actually considered it a form of violence! This leads to a lot of confusion (“nonviolence didn’t work against Hitler”).
  2. The avoidance of recourse to physical violence as a strategy, without reference to a philosophical or spiritual foundation for that avoidance. Often this nonviolence will then 3 be conditional (“If it doesn’t work we can go back to violence.”) The Concise OED is referring to passivity or strategic nonviolence when it defines “nonviolent” as “not using violence.”
  3. A positive desire for the well-being of others, even — or especially — when opposing their actions and policies. Just as peace is more than the absence of war, principled nonviolence is more than the refusal to use physical violence. Indeed it has much more to do with a vision of what one will do, namely “cooperate with good” and bring creative forces into play. It is this principled nonviolence that was lived and used by such role models as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, and many others. Gandhi felt that there is no situation in which, when used well, it would not help to resolve the situation at hand and in the process build a better world. ~Metta Center

I just think that if one is going to preach nonviolence and one is going to advocate for nonviolence, one’s standard should be consistent.

~ Ta-Nehisi Coates

Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote that the philosophy and practice of nonviolence has six basic elements.

Principle One: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people

  • It is active nonviolent resistance to evil.
  • It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
  • It is always persuading the opponent of the righteousness of your cause.
  • It is only passive in its non-aggression toward its enemy.

Principle Two: Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding

  • The end of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation.
  • The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of The Beloved Community.

Principle Three: Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people

  • Nonviolence recognizes that evil doers are also victims and are not evil people.
  • The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil not people.

Principle Four: Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform

  • Nonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation.
  • Nonviolence accepts violence if necessary, but will never inflict it.
  • Nonviolence willingly accepts the consequences of its act.
  • Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous education and transforming possibilities.
  • Suffering has the power to convert the enemy when reason fails.

Principle Five: Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate

  • Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as the body.
  • Nonviolent love is spontaneous, unmotivated, unselfish and creative.
  • Nonviolent love gives willingly knowing that the return might be hostility.
  • Nonviolent love is active, not passive.
  • Nonviolent love is unending in its ability to forgive in order to restore community.
  • Nonviolent love does not sink to the level of the hater.
  • Love for the enemy is how we demonstrate love for ourselves.
  • Love restores community and resists injustice.
  • Nonviolence recognizes the fact that all life is interrelated.

Principle Six: Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice

  • The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win
  • Nonviolence believes that God is a God of justice.

excerpt from The Banality of Good and Evil: Moral Lessons from the Shoah and Jewish Tradition.

Try to live at peace with everyone! Live a clean life. If you don’t, you will never see the Lord. Make sure that no one misses out on God’s wonderful kindness.

Hebrews 12:14-15

Nonviolence is pretty ballsy, pretty advanced weaponry. 

~Ava DuVernay

We use lots of books and videos, followed by discussion. I love the questions and conversations sparked by great authors and movies.

We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.

~Mahatma Gandhi

If you are a Christian and own guns or believe that Christians should and can own guns and use them against humans, how do you reconcile that? How do you explain this decision to your young children?

“You cannot be both a Christian and participate in a gun culture,” according to James E. Atwood, pastor emeritus of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Va., and author of America and Its Guns: A Theological Exposé.

Nonviolence Unit Study

Noteable Topics

  • Quakers
  • Sophie Scholl
  • Mahatma Gandhi
  • Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Nelson Mandela
  • Mother Teresa
  • Walter Wink
  • Tank Man (Tiananmen Square Massacre)
  • Joan Baez
  • Helen Prejean
  • Shane Claiborne
  • A great list of pacifists
  • War
  • Nuclear weapons
  • Abortion
  • Incarceration
  • Death penalty/capital punishment
  • Gun control
  • Racism
  • Immigration

Books

Movies

Activities and Resources

It’s important to understand history and the effects of violence.

We’ve visited Flanders. We’ve visited Dachau. We’ve gone to the Freedom Museum.

If we don’t know or understand history, how can we make changes?

Essential Question:

Is it possible for nonviolent direct action to transform a community?

Try to get along and live peacefully with each other.

2 Corinthians 13:11

It’s important to teach kids in an age-appropriate way about human dignity, immigration, death penalty laws, incarceration laws and regulations, sexual assault, peaceful protest, injustice, racism, sexism, childism, ageism, discrimination.

Raise kids to be world changers.

We all are connected. I am mentally exhausted from all the death and destruction.

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. ~Obi Wan Kenobi

“Put away your [gun],” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the [gun].”

Matthew 26:52

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Our Curriculum for 2019-2020

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Productive Homeschooling - Printables and Tools for every homeschool

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I have reached the apex of homeschooling where my kids are pretty much independent learners!

I highly recommend the books by Louise Bates Ames. A good guide to follow are the What Your ?-Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

I don’t have little kids anymore!

More and more, I just stand back in awe and watch them create and perform.

We love learning and exploring together!

My eldest daughter is 18 and beginning her first official year of college! She has a part time job as a bank teller.

My middle girls are doing 8th grade work.

Tori is 13 and doing Greek 2 and Katie is 12 and is continuing German.

We’re looking into private art lessons for Katie. She does fall soccer. She loves to cook and draw and create.

Tori practices weekly aerial arts at a local gym.

My son is doing 5th grade work.

Alex is 9 and does fall and spring baseball and weekly ninja classes. He won 3rd place recently in a ninja competition!

We’re in year 4 of our history cycle.

We still do lots of morning read alouds together for Bible, church history, natural history, Life of Fred, world and American history, and literature.

I can’t believe how time has flown!

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