videos

Training Children to Use Facebook for God's Glory

Facebook Training for Kids from Puritan Reformed on Vimeo.

Many homeschool families do not have an issue with facebook. Their teens don’t care much for it so there’s no problem. But not all homeschoolers are like this. Some homeschool families are very much into technology and social media.

However if, like me, you are going to allow your teens to be involved on facebook, this video gives some very helpful and practical tips for parents.

We have applied the advice he gives in the video. And no, my teens are not perfect and they probably have made a few mistakes. But I am there to see it and guide them through it. For us, this is a much better approach than total avoidance. But that’s us. You might be different.

How about you? Are you ‘friends’ with your teens on Facebook? Do you interact with them on their wall?

Oh! While we’re talking about Facebook, have you ‘liked’ my susanpriolo.com facebook page yet? I post lots of Scripture and interesting links and tid bits to it a few times per week.

Creativity Takes Time…

Two minutes and 7 seconds. Go on, you’ve got time to watch this. If you are a mum, dad or a teacher, you need to watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQhSXcyDHLA

Thanks to Louise, who originally posted this on Facebook.

Learn The Bible In 24 Hours – fantastic overview!

Learn the Bible in 24 Hours is presented by Dr. Chuck Missler of Koinonia House. The series consists of 24 one-hour videos. This would make an excellent semester series for a middle – high schooler. I have read the book and it’s worth reading… but these videos will give you an audio/visual review of the entire Bible and its design. I recommend it!

Hour 1 – Introduction
Hour 2 – Creation And The Fall Of Man
Hour 3 – The Pre-Historical Period
Hour 4 – The Patriarchs
Hour 5 – The Birth Of The Nation
Hour 6 – In The Land
Hour 7 – The Monarchy
Hour 8 – The Poetical Books
Hour 9 – The Book Of Daniel
Hour 10 – Post-Exile History
Hour 11 – The Major Prophets
Hour 12 – The Minor Prophets
Hour 13 – How Sure Can We Be
Hour 14 – The New Testament
Hour 15 – The Gospels
Hour 16 – The Last Week
Hour 17 – The Book Of Acts
Hour 18 – Romans
Hour 19 – The Church Epistles
Hour 20 – The Hebrew Christian Epistles
Hour 21 – Eschatologicial Summary
Hour 22 – Revelation 1-3
Hour 23 – Revelation 4-22
Hour 24 – Conclusion

If you were using this for your middle/high schooler, you could add in some living books, the Bible readings and you would have a full course for an entire semester!

If you added English lessons (copywork, dictation, grammar, etc) as well as historical fiction you could use this as a full year course.

Fantastic free resource! Do consider adding this to your family bible study.

 

 

Divided: the movie

As you look on the church landscape, youth are leaving the faith in droves. The modern church, overall, is struggling to reach the next generation with the gospel. What has happened? Whether for good or bad, men, for many years, have been inventing solutions or brainstorming ideas without fully relying upon the foundation of God’s Word. God, however, is greater than man, and as the heavens are above the earth, so are His ways higher than ours and His thoughts than our thoughts (Is. 55:8-9). We have substituted the greater for the lesser – God’s wisdom for man’s ideas. Jesus said that he who hears His Word and does it, is like a man that built his house upon a rock, and when the storm came, it stood firm. On the other hand, he who rejects His Word, is like a man who built on the sand and when the storm came, the house fell (Matt. 7:24-25). Shouldn’t the church, as a whole, abandon the sandy ideas of man and shamelessly return to the firm rock of the Word of God? God’s Word sufficiently identifies how youth are to be reached.

For more information on this issue, please see the film Divided, which is a documentary on age-segregated youth ministry in America. Watch it for free (for a limited time) at www.dividedthemovie.com.

This message is not new. John and I have been of this train of thought for over 15 years. However, this was pre Internet time. Nowadays ideas like this move quickly, due to widespread Internet usage. Do we agree with everything in the movie? No. Do we agree with all the ideas ad methodology of Family Integrated movements? No way! Does the movie have a bias and a definite point? You bet! However, there is a of of truth and validity to be found here. It asks good questions. It raises some interesting issues. Questions and issues that are worth discussing and searching the Scripture about. If this info-docu sends you to God’s word for answers then I will rejoice in that. The Bible can stand up to it. All I would caution is to diligently study the scriptures rather than studying blog posts on the issues.

I’ll warn you though: this movie, this train of thought has its enemies or those that do not agree. It is quite controversial on the interwebs. Rather than listen to every argument or blog post written on the movie, why don’t you watch it… then search the Scriptures with ears listening for the heart of God.

 

 

The Shocking Youth Message

I have previously linked and recommended an online sermon by Paul Washer… called the Shocking Youth Message (called such by others, not by Mr. Washer).

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cncEhCvrVgQ&feature=video_response

But I think it’s also really good to watch this short video which explains the background setting of that sermon.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrCvO8Elsis

If you enjoy messages such as these, head over to HeartCryMissionary to hear and read more!

In But Not Of

Be in it but not of it.

It is 10min long but grab a cuppa and be prepared!

Stop the excuses… Just Do It

A few years ago, when I was  doing Heart of Wisdom Unit studies and helping others to start homeschooling I found myself repeating the same phrase over again.

Just Do It

I know that a blogging friend also likes and uses the same catchphrase so I guess I’m in good company. 😉

Children… oh my dear children are you reading this? Maybe not, I’ll post it on Facebook for them to watch.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obdd31Q9PqA&feature=player_embedded

Joshua Harris: Proverbs 3:7

Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” Joshua Harris uses a beanbag chair to illustrate how we often fail to “turn away from evil.”

As analogies go, it isn’t perfect in its illustration but the point is still real and valid.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY1iWVBszV0

We Argued Over Fireproof

I’m probably the last Christian in Australia to see the movie but finally… I watched it! Fireproof, that is.

Funny story with it though. I had told Miss A that I wanted to watch it one day when it came out on DVD. So, for an anniversary (in late June) present she bought it for John and I. she also purchased the book, The Love Dare and gave it to us as a gift. I didn’t want to watch the movie too late at night as I’m not real coherent at night. I didn’t want to stuff the movie into a 2 hour time slot in between softball and housework…I wanted to watch the movie and savour it. John however didn’t show an overwhelming interest in watching it- in fact he didn’t even bother to read the blurb on the back! Whenever we wanted to watch a movie and I would suggest it… he would always find an alternative. I don’t know why, it just was that way.

The months went by and it sat in the tv hutch, unopened.

One morning over a cup of coffee, John started telling me that he watched the last half hour of a really good movie the night the before. It was on Foxtel…He said that we should watch it together or as a family. He started telling me the story line and seemed quite taken with the movie. By now the storyline was starting to sound familiar so I asked what the name of the movie was. He couldn’t remember so looked it up on the tv guide. What do you think it was? Yup, you were right!

Fireproof!

Boy oh boy, was I mad? I was livid! I was so hurt, so frustrated, so downright angry! I didn’t say a word but just glared at him. Miss A couldn’t believe it…she couldn’t believe the irony of it all and she burst out into tears.  Tears… of laughter!! Poor John had no idea what had just happened as his wife just stood there, shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

I was so cross I couldn’t speak so I just stormed off to the bathroom. John tried to follow and ask what the problem was but I was too mad to respond sweetly so I just shushed my mouth, but inside I was seething.

Eventually he gave up trying to find out what the issue was and went back out to the lounge room whereby Miss A retrieved the unopened DVD from the hutch and asked him if that looked like the movie. N o  w … he got it! At that moment, he understood.

I emerged from the bathroom eventually…to be greeted by my sweet husband who had a sheepish grin on his face. Of course we kissed and made up. Over time I put it out of my mind and ‘gave it up’. I wasn’t going to watch the movie alone so I ‘gave it over to the Lord’.

Several months later … on holidays

John often takes a few days or weeks to ‘leave work’ and get into holiday mode but this year I think he got into holiday mode before he even finished work! It was great. Having no plans one day, we decided to watch a movie. I handed a few movies to the family and the consensus was “Fireproof”. So Fireproof it was!

It was great! We all loved it. Sometimes Christian movies are lacking in various areas but I thought that this was really well done. I found it to be a powerful, thought-provoking, attitude-changing movie. Not one that most non believers would watch but certainly one that a lot of Christians would view. It was fantastic for the children to watch too- even at their different ages of 12, 14 and 18years old.

I’ve done quite a few ‘marriage’ and womanhood courses in our 22 years of marriage. Some of the were good, some were unbalanced. This movie though, was  pretty spot on!

I think it’s quite funny (in a sad, ironic, weird way) that we had an argument/misunderstanding over Fireproof. The movie revealed things to us even in its unopened state. My old fleshly nature, my pride… me, me, me! I was revealed throughout the whole event.

14. I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself – after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison.
15. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.
16. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help!
18. I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it.
19. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.
20. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
21. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
22. I truly delight in God’s commands,
23. but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
24. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?
25. The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

Romans 7: 14-25

Have you watched FireProof? What did you think of it? Have you ever had an argument or acted out in the flesh over something that was supposed to spiritually edifying?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5lSu6GkC2k

Perpetuum Jazzile: vocal ecstasy

The video below is a lovely feast of rich sounds. From their website:

The stage is our canvas, our voices are our colours. We blend and unite them to create masterpieces. Happy faces give us energy and confirm that we are devoted to what we do with our hearts and souls.Perpetuum Jazzile is Slovenia’s only jazz choir, conducted Tomaž Kozlevčar who is also its art director. It thrills its audience with a colourful programme, extraordinary singing and unique joy.

Watch it with the children a few times throughout the day. Music appreciation? You bet!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjbpwlqp5Qw

The Animal School – A Parable

animalschool

An old story tells of the creation of a school for the animals. In this school, everybody took the same four courses: flying, swimming, climbing, and running. Among the students were a duck, a flying squirrel, a fox, and an elephant. These four were highly motivated, and wanted to get good grades, so they all tried very hard.

The duck did fantastically well in swimming and flying, but he lagged behind his classmates in climbing and running, so focused special attention on those two subjects. However, his feet became so sore from trying to run and his wings were so bedraggled from trying to climb that by the end of the year he not only failed both those subjects, but made C’s in swimming and flying, which had once been his two best subjects.

At the beginning of the school year, the squirrel was first in his class in climbing and running and was second only to the duck at flying. But as the months wore on, he missed so much school from catching pneumonia in his swimming class that he failed everything.

To make matters even worse, because the squirrel constantly squirmed and chattered in class, and had difficulty paying attention, he was diagnosed with a learning disorder. The squirrel eventually was placed in remedial classes and had to be medicated in order to continue with his school work.

The fox was a natural in his running class and scored well in climbing and swimming, but became so frustrated at his inability to get good Grades in flying that he began assaulting his classmates. He even tried to eat the duck. His behavior was so disruptive he was expelled from school. He fell in with a rough crowd and eventually wound up in a center for animal delinquents.

The elephant, meanwhile, developed low self-esteem because he couldn’t do well in any of the subjects. When he sank into clinical depression, his therapist persuaded him to try a different school that focused on subjects such as lifting and carrying. The elephant was disappointed, because careers in lifting and carrying were not as prestigious as careers in flying, swimming, climbing, or running. Even though he always felt inferior, he managed to make a decent living and support his family.

Our Children are Individuals

The point of this silly story about a school for the animals is that modern education sends every child through a program of study that is targeted toward a “generic” child. It expects every student to be able to follow the same course of study in the same sequence, without considering innate aptitudes or individual differences that are crucial to children’s abilities to learn. Schooling does not take into account differing personality types or temperaments.

Parents who understand learning differences can be more sympathetic with the frustrations their children face in school and more helpful in finding alternative approaches. The two major learning differences among children have to do with learning styles and learning readiness.

Article used with permission from Homeschool MarketPlace
Any article appearing on this website may be copied or forwarded electronically provided that proper credit is given and that the article is not substantively modified. No article may appear in whole or in part in a publication sold for profit or as part of any commercial endeavor without the written consent of Home School Marketplace.
© Copyright 2006. Home School Marketplace, 1053 Eldridge Loop, Crossville, TN 38571.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN7QfjIcVvA

Impromptu performances: ImprovEverywhere

Imagine being a bystander and watching this in real life. I sat here and watched it, full of glee, clapping my hands. Loved it! The Sound of Music is a long time family favourite yet I love what they did to modernise the soundtrack.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k

More than 200 dancers were performing their version of “Do Re Mi”, in the Central Station of Antwerp, with just 2 rehearsals they created this amazing stunt! You can see more at their youtube page here or visit their website.

Fair Go for Homeschool Copyright

Part of this post is from a previous writing, but is still relevant today. Will you take three minutes to view this video?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJmWKb0_aXw

Years ago, like many homeschoolers, I looked for ways to be frugal in our homeschooling. I learned to use the library a lot. They have some great selections of video’s, DVD’s, and CD’s. Sometimes we wouldn’t get around to watching or listening to them so I came upon the idea of making a copy before returning it to the library. I even felt quite frugal while doing so. After all, if I had to buy that CD I would need to have spent about $40. But now I had saved that. Before long, I ended up with a stack of things that I don’t think I would have needed or used, but as they were free I might as well have them on the shelf, just in case. I had even lent out my resources, feeling fairly sure that the person was going to make their own copy! Thing is, I honestly didn’t even think that this might have been wrong or illegal. I know that sounds terribly naive, but it’s true. I didn’t think anything of it except congratulating myself on being frugal and saving my husband’s hard earned money. I certainly didn’t see how I was hurting anyone else!

Oi voi!

Praise God! He taught me the error of my ways. He did not allow me to stay at that place. He showed me my sin. I was convicted of my wrongdoing. I set apart searching for every little bit of illegal stuff in my house and then we burnt it all. It was a whole family affair. Something started fairly innocently. I did not set out to steal or deceive. I just wanted to save a few pennies…but the fallen nature of man, and the enemy that seeks to devour worked and saw me down a path that I hardly recognised…a path I didn’t set out to take, but ended up there anyway. Thank God that He rescued me from that path and put me on the straight and narrow.

As is often the case with reformed drinkers or smokers, I developed a hot spot (a bug-bear, a passion) for copyright protection and violations. I now stringently try to protect the lawful copyright owner and go to great lengths to ensure that everything I do is above board. I encourage others to always check out the law and consider the use of a Fair Use Policy. Copyright is far more than a list of black and white words- it is legal, ethical, moral and Biblical values.

Do you want to homeschool for FREE? Make sure your free materials aren’t breaking the law. HomeschoolCopyright.com

Jesus Died!

Listen to this short presentation today or tomorrow. Watch it with your children, your husband. Pass it on to others. It is about the fulfillment of the Passover…it is The Easter Story.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a11ASw5NRUw

Are You Really Saved?

This will only take 5 minutes but it’s good to listen to…and assess exactly what we teach our children. Are we teaching good manners, good behaviour? Are we trying to teach good fruit? We can’t! We can’t present the gospel message to our children…ask them to repeat the sinner’s prayer after you and then think they are saved.

When I listen to messages it affects every aspect of my life – my own spiritual life but also how I interact with others, including my children. My husband has often said, “We have nothing to do with our own salvation. We aren’t saved because of any decision we made…if we do, ooohhh, we’re on shaky ground” . This short message by Paul Washer goes into that a little further.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc5lY9YP_bE

Have I Been Educated?

Only takes about 3 minutes. I read this poem many years ago and it encapsulated our thoughts of educational philosophy.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZEMJubS8ac

Lost Generation

Have you got 1 minute and 44 seconds to watch this quick message?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Hat Tip: Theresa

Satan's Meeting

In similar vein to the Screwtape Letters, watch this and see if anything applies.

httpv://au.youtube.com/watch?v=DgJ-w5GSaYo

Feed on RSS

“What Is RSS?

What do those orange RSS or XML buttons that abound on sites mean?
They are the latest rage…but more than that they are incredibly handy and a great time saver- perfect for the busy homeschool mum! You can receive newsfeeds or feeds from many sites including news, movies, blogs and ecommerce stores and more! It’s also a great feature for those on dial-up connection as you don’t have to surf the Internet for updates…the information that you want, comes to you!
rss-icon-collection
RSS” means “Really Simple Syndication.” What it means to you is that when you subscribe to a site that has an RSS feed, you can keep up-to-date without having to check the site every day or week.

Most people are interested in many web sites whose content changes on an unpredictable basis, like this site. Repeatedly checking each site to see if there’s any new content can be time consuming. RSS is a great way to be notified of new and changed information. Notifications of changes to multiple web sites are handled easily, and the results are presented to you in a well organised format. You may have seen the RSS icon on various web sites or blogs (this one included). This icon lets you know that there’s content to which you can subscribe and view using an RSS reader.

You might have seen some of the little icons on various sites…if so, you might also have been confused by them! I hope to simplify the mystery a little for you and enable you to get started with RSS feeds.

How do you get started? It’s fairly easy!

With an RSS reader you can subscribe to many feeds and read the new entries all in one place, without having to visit individual Web sites to find out what’s new.

There are several different kinds of RSS readers. Some are dedicated programs for viewing RSS feeds, but they cost money and most homeschool mums would rather spend their money on books, especially when there are some great free feed readers available.

You can also view RSS feeds through web sites such as My Yahoo!, or my personal favourite, Bloglines.

Many web browsers also have built-in RSS support – Firefox, by “Live Bookmarks”, Safari has a built in RSS reader and even IE 7 will (although beta) support RSS.Windows — RssReader and Google Reader are popular online feed readers available for download. Need more information? Here is a short video that explains the concept…

Below is a short, 3.5min video which explains it very well. If you are confused about using RSS feeds but want to know more, this video is for you. The short video will teach you why feeds are good and how to set one up. This video will teach you, the homeschool mum, how to make the most of your time. Let me know if you find this sort of information helpful.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU

There! You should be set to receive the information that you want, while saving time to get on with the things that you want to do.

Why don’t you subscribe to my blog and receive post and comments via RSS?