How to use these books for homeschool

Limits of the Books

The books we have will help you, but you will need support. Fortunately, you will find support. Find several homeschool groups on Facebook, MeWe, Gab, ChatDit, GETTR, USA.Life, and other social media. You can probably find at least one homeschool organization in your area with regular meetings and events for the students. These people can answer your specific questions. Join a few. You’ll find the most helpful groups. Your children are unique and each learns in ways unique to them. Some advice that works for another child may not fit your child. How you use the books from this site will vary based on your children’s individual learning styles. Reading books to children always has value.

Target Age

Reading to children, even before they can understand words, teaches them about love and affection. “How God Will Transform You” is written at the fifth-grade reading level. The other books are written at the seventh-grade reading level on average. They have sections that are much more demanding than the seventh-grade level. That increased difficulty is usually due to the terms that are required for the subjects the book is dealing with in those sections. In addition, the books aren’t about subjects that fit into the popular narrative of this fallen world. They’re going against the shouts of the crowd. They go directly against humanism and naturalism. They go against the philosophies of the so-called “Enlightenment” and the so-called “Age of Reason.” They go against the religion of scientism and evolutionism. These are the messages that are trumpeted from every place of influence, including most schools, newsrooms, museums, movies, and various forms of entertainment. There’s no light in the “Enlightenment.” There’s nothing reasonable in the “Age of Reason.” There’s nothing scientific about scientism. When these books go against messages like those, a battle is being waged. It’s being waged for your mind. It’s being waged for your student’s mind. That presents a challenge for teaching, and you should know that it may make things harder to understand sometimes. These may be new ideas for your student, and that makes it harder.

Not every Christian has a relationship with Christ. Not every Christian knows the leading of the Holy Spirit. Not every Christian is aware of the extreme weakness of the human intellect. These books invite your student to experience Jesus Christ in a very direct way, a way the lukewarm church seems to have forgotten.

All of this means you should consider the maturity of your student. You should consider their ability to comprehend. You should consider the extent to which you want to challenge your student. How much can your student handle? How much do you want them to stretch themselves and think?

Family Reading Time

It’s easier to start reading early. Although it’s harder if you wait until children are older, they’ll gradually get used to it if you persist. As with music, art, sports, or any other activity, children take a cue from their parents. If their parents are excited and understand the value, the children soon follow. If the parents are bored, the children will soon be bored. If the parents are divided, the children will be confused and insecure.

Bring them into pictures

Ask your students what the pictures mean. Print out the illustrations. Let them trace the elements of the illustration. Let them draw the illustration with crayons, colored pencils, paints, or markers. Ask them how they would change the drawing to make it easier to understand. Let them draw, paint, or color their creations.

Let them create

When you notice you’ve come across a concept or something that needs understanding, ask your students to explain it to you. Ask them what they think about it. Have them draw it or diagram it. It’s easier if you give them a way to diagram it. Maybe it’s a picture with watercolor. The next time, let them make a chart. Then, they might make an illustration. Mix it up and have fun with it.

Read every day

You have complete flexibility, but get a little read every day even if it’s just a paragraph and a short two-way conversation about the paragraph. When you have more time, you can do a page or more.

Let everyone have a turn at reading

If you have students who are skilled enough at reading, they can take a turn. Be aware of when they’re getting tired. Don’t force them to read, but have fun with it. Start by letting then read a paragraph. Expand from there as the Holy Spirit leads you.

You might be able to overcome the reading level for younger students

You can explain new words. You can ask, “That’s a funny word. What do you think it means? Can you guess?” This will expand your student’s vocabulary and make sure they understand what you’re reading.

Get a conversation going

Nothing is more fun than having a real conversation with your children. Let them talk. Start with questions, but listen to their answers carefully. Don’t judge but do guide. Rather than saying, “That’s not quite right” say something like “Have you thought about …” or “I wonder if …”

Be led by the Holy Spirit

Pray with your children for the Holy Spirit to lead you and give you the power to do the will of God. Don’t depend on yourself. Teach your children to be led and to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead by example. Begin each day of teaching by praying for the presence of Jesus Christ. Then, pray often during the day. That’s how children learn to pray.

Starter Questions:

These questions can be used for the entire book, or you can use these same questions for each section or chapter, depending on how you want to run your club, group, or class.

What Did You See?

What new things did you learn in this reading?

What did God seem to be saying directly to you as you read?

What is the most important point in what we read, and why is it important?

Edification, Encouragement, and Comfort

What was most comforting to you in this reading, and why is it comforting?

What did you find most edifying as you read, and why was it edifying?

What part of this reading was most encouraging or strengthening to you, and why did you find it strengthening or encouraging?

Going Forward

How do feel you’ll be able to apply this reading in your life going forward?

What do you see as the hardest part of applying this reading to your life?

What do you see as the key to applying this reading to your life?

What questions do you still have? What points are still confusing?

What truth can you add to what was in the book?

Where do you think God is leading you based on what you read?

Example:

You may read a longer section like the following.

Some Christians and non-Christians have falsely told us faith is a belief based on nothing at all. This implies humans originate or manufacture faith.

Others have falsely told us we base faith on physical evidence. They claim true faith comes when we examine physical evidence and draw a conclusion. It seems as if they think faith is a product of the human intellect.

Some of those who think faith comes by looking at physical evidence take Romans 1:20 out of its context and use it to make their point. This verse does say the invisible things of God are clearly seen through what He made. However, it doesn’t say faith cometh by examining the physical evidence and reasoning to a conclusion. And they leave out verse 19. Verse 19 says “what can be known about God is plain to them because God has revealed it to them.” God speaks through His creation, but we must learn to discern His voice from all others.

Atheists and Christians both use the same physical evidence. Christians see a creator God. Atheists see naturalism, materialism, and uniformitarianism. For atheists, the evidence confirms God doesn’t exist or can’t be known. And they interpret the physical evidence as confirming their atheistic belief system. God speaks to both Christians and atheists through the physical evidence. He speaks through what He has created. Atheists refuse to acknowledge Him and glorify Him, but Christians recognize the voice of their Creator God.

The Christians who teach physical-proof-based faith use Acts 1:3, which says “Jesus showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs.” However, Acts 1:3 doesn’t say these proofs were the source or the basis of anyone’s faith. We can be certain the Father drew those who believed, and their faith came by God’s utterance. Often, God speaks to us through seeing a miracle or hearing someone speaking by the Spirit of God. In this case, they saw the miracle of the resurrected Lord and heard Him as He spoke by the Holy Spirit. No real faith ever originated in the human intellect.

So, we’ve looked at the two main ways of defining “faith” incorrectly. Some people say faith is belief without evidence. Others say faith is based on physical evidence. Both are wrong. The amazing thing is those who sincerely confess Jesus Christ is Lord have real faith even if they philosophize about faith in these ways. No one can confess Jesus Christ is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Some of those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord just don’t realize how they have this faith. For God’s wonderful gifts, we don’t need to understand them fully to apply them. However, by teaching wrong ideas about faith, some teachers hurt themselves. And they hurt those who listen to their false definitions.

Real faith has power. Real faith builds our understanding of reality on a firm foundation. But fake faith is powerless and worthless. If we substitute this powerless faith for real faith, we walk away from Jesus Christ and lose His leading and blessing.

You might ask the following questions after that reading.

What is a Christian?

What is a non-Christian?

What is faith?

Where do you think faith comes from?

You believe Jesus is your savior. How do you know?

This section started with the statement, “Some Christians and non-Christians have falsely told us faith is a belief based on nothing at all. This implies humans originate or manufacture faith.”

As you read that, what thoughts came to mind?

If humans don’t manufacture faith, where does real faith come from?

People do manufacture a kind of faith. It’s not the faith the Bible talks about. People believe a lot of things that aren’t true. What do you suppose causes that?

After a conversation with your student that started with questions like the ones above, suppose your student knows Scripture and says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God.” Since you’ve read ahead, you know that Faith comes by hearing God’s utterance. “Word” means utterance. So you discuss this with your student. You ask your student how God leads him or her, and they share some of the times they knew what to do. They just knew it was the right thing to do. They mention a time God let them know they had been wrong in something they did. You share some of the same types of experiences from your life. Now, you’re ready for an activity.

You might do the following activities after that reading.

Your student may have some ideas about what kind of activity is best.

Perhaps it’s a watercolor painting showing a man being led by a light and walking away from darkness and despair.

Perhaps it’s writing a poem.

It might be making a diagram that shows God leading and faith comes using a block diagram. You may use this exercise to teach your learner some new ways to represent ideas graphically.

Tell your student, “Draw a picture of yourself and faith.” This could be in any media. It could be a collage or a felt board with pieces of felt on which you have written words like faith and God. You might have prepared a felt character to represent your student.

Sing a song like “I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” Add a verse, “I’ve got the faith of Jesus down in my heart,” and “The Holy Spirit leads me down in my heart.”

The most exciting exercise might be to look to the Holy Spirit to lead you in activities. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in your planning. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you during the activities you planned, and let Him redirect you to activities you didn’t plan if He wants to.