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Orthodox Student Prayers

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Prayer of A Student Christ my Lord, the Giver of light and wisdom, who opened the eyes of the blind man and transformed the fishermen into wise heralds and teachers of the gospel through the coming of the Holy Spirit, shine also in my mind the light of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Grant me discernment, understanding and wisdom in learning. Enable me to complete my assignments and to abound in every good work, for to You I give honor and glory. Amen. Prayers Before Study Most blessed Lord, send the grace of Your Holy Spirit on me to strengthen me that I may learn well the subject I am about to study and by it become a better person for Your glory, the comfort of my family and the benefit of Your Church and our Nation. Amen. Christ, the true light, who enlightens and sanctifies every person coming into the world, let the light of Your countenance shine upon me (us) that I (we) may see Your unapproachable light; and guide my (our) steps in the way of Your commandments, t
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Sonlight and the Orthodox Homeschool Family

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Sonlight has been my homeschool staple for nearly all the 16 years we have been homeschooling. But, that doesn't mean I haven't used other stuff or been frustrated with Sonlight. Like everything, it has it's Pro's and Cons. Also, where you are in the season of your life and your own strengths and weaknesses and your children's needs and abilities all play a part in the curriculum you choose. First the Pros: Having a Christian curriculum from a Christian company is just really important to me. The more I feel the modern culture drifting from God the tighter I hold onto this need. I know in some ways this is a bit irrational. Intellectually I understand that secular curriculum can be well made and even excellent. But academics has never been my top priority with home education. The relationships with my children, an enriching environment and Christ - centered have always been my top priorities. The exceptional academics one can get from homeschooling has sort
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Choosing Curriculum for the Homeschool Orthodox Christian Family

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Depending on what method you use for your homeschool a basic academic outline of subjects to teach for elementary and middle school will look like this: English Literature Math History/Geography Science Fine Arts Computer/Technology/Keyboarding Physical Education/Health For high school it will depend on your state and if and what college your child will go to. First look at your state requirements and than look at a few requirements for colleges. You can also go to HSLDA website and get helpful information for high school subjects and transcripts. I am a fan of HSLDA, I support them and really appreciate what they do for homeschool families. I am very fortunate to have never needed their assistance but I am happy to be a member so that I can be helping other families during some pretty scary times if you have school officials or truant officers knocking on your door! Some people choose to also teach Latin. Not me, please don't feel you have to. There seems to be
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What Is An Orthodox Christian Homeschool?

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An Orthodox Christian Homeschool is a family that is Orthodox Christian and homeschools. Too simple? Yeah...probably... But, sometimes truths can be simple. The bible talks about how diverse the body of Christ is, so it would only make sense than that each Orthodox Christian Homeschool is going to be different. Just look at our churches, they are filled with all sorts of people. People with different strengths and different weaknesses. Our homeschool will be no different. However true this answer is, it's not going to completely help with the work of homeschool. Choosing curriculum, making schedules, planning lessons and than the actual teaching of your children. But, the answer above is still useful in terms of focus and not thinking that we have to be doing something entirely different than other homeschools because we are Orthodox Christians. In homeschool, life meets academics and mixes with each other in such a way that it can be challenging to see where one ends an
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Do We Need An Orthodox Homeschool Curriculum?......Yes....It Would Be Nice.

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We became Orthodox Christians when we had already been homeschooling for 7-8 years. It's now another 8 years after that. A total of 15-16 years we have been homeschooling. Back in the day as new converts, I was very anxious to get this " Orthodox Thing" right, for myself and my children. I was quite disappointed I couldn't just buy an Orthodox curriculum. Even now I do think it would have really helped me. I was so lost and overwhelmed with the liturgical year and all the church teachings and traditions. People kept telling me that it takes several years to learn the basics and while that is somewhat true, I also know how I learn. I learn by reading and by having some sort of map or broad overview laid out before me. For some, experiencing the church as it happens, as the liturgical year plays out and as the traditions and teachings are slowly engaged, can be exactly what they need or want. For me, it's like walking in a fog. My experience first coming to the chu
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2017 - 2018 Curriculum

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2017 -2018 Homeschool Curriculum My son is in 10th grade and my daughter is in 3rd grade. We use Sonlight as our main curriculum. I also made some  YouTube videos that give details on the Sonlight Instructor Guides and all the wonderful books we are using this year in our homeschool.  10th Grade Math- Teaching Textbooks Geometry Science - Engineering: Assortment of books and projects I put together myself English/Literature - Sonlight Classic Literature 230 History - Sonlight 20th Century World History 320 Logic - Art of Argument and Argument Builder by Classical Academic Press Language - Rosetta Stone Japanese 3rd Grade Math - Right Start Math Level B  and all the manipulatives. Science - Sonlight Science B and Apologia Botany  and notebook. English/Literature - Sonlght Language Arts 3 History - Sonlight HBL B Buying Sonlight in packages will save money. I have linked all the individual products so the cost would be cheaper if you buy
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Erin Condren Teacher Planner for Homeschool

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I love planners and this year I am trying out an Erin Condren Teacher Planner . I use the Erin Condren Monthly Deluxe Planner for home and life stuff. I also use the Erin Condren Life Planner for health and spiritual needs. I saw the beautiful Watercolor Apples cover for the Erin Condren Teacher Planner and just loved it! I watched several You Tube videos on the planner and decided to give it a try this year. Here are some pages from the Erin Condren Planner that I repurposed for Homeschool. This planner is intended for classroom teachers and so I used washi tape and sticker paper to cover up and make the pages my own, for use in our homeschool. Here is the 2 page monthly spread. Here are the lesson pages. Erin Condren has their planner set up so all the months are together before the lesson pages. You get 40 weeks worth of lesson pages. My lesson pages are not completely full yet, still working on how I want to use them. I also have a You tube vide
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