I am home..., Missed you!

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:05 pm

my3sons wrote: What age do you think is a good age to begin doing The 24 Family Ways? I've looked at it so many times, but always thought it might be above my dc's heads. Do you do it with all of the children, or just the oldest? Do you plan on doing it again then when the younger children are older? Do you try to do this with dh too? And also, how long does this take to do, and do you do this daily? Any of your thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Mary & Julie -

We used Our 24 Family Ways this last year...starting in maybe October? Our kiddos were 7, 3, &1. My dh led our family devotion time, and we almost always did them right after breakfast. My husband always has some kind of chores to do in the morning, and then joins us for breakfast at about 8 (or 9...or 10

my handy little schedule was thrown out the window many times...but I'm learning to be patient). Anyway, we're all together then, so it worked best for our family because daddy isn't always home before bed time, or the kids are ready to wrestle then.

I thought that the 24 family ways were applicable to me, and I know my 7 yr old got a lot out of them. The 4 yr old was able to understand and participate, too. We just made sure to give her a chance to answer the question first (my oldest would not give anyone a chance to talk if we didn't stop him

). By this spring our almost 2 yr old, was really wanting to take his turn praying, too. Usually though I just tried to keep him quiet.

This year we were thinking we'd follow the general outline...ask a question, read scripture, talk about application, pray...using our own topics. We have a book called Parenting with Scripture that has lots of verses listed topically. (We've joked about using Way #3 forever...the one about obedience...and with the age of our kids, we're not done talking about that for awhile.

)

We usually spent about 15 minutes on it. And, we do plan to go through it again in a year or 2. It worked really well for our family. My dh really liked what the author said at the beginning of the book...take what works for your family, but if it doesn't, change it. He said that it was nice to see that this guy didn't think that his book was the "perfect" thing for everyone, and just wanted families to spend time in God's Word.

Kathleen

MamaMary · Post by **MamaMary** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:07 pm

Thanks girls! Did you all use the coloring books? I bought them. I was wondering if that would help bring down the comprehension level? Thank YOU for all your help

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:16 pm

We did some...but not every week. If you have them, I say go for it! I think they'd help them remember the key points.

We looked at the picture in the guide every day to remember "what's going on in the picture that tells us how God wants us to act"?

I think having the pictures will help the concepts stick...my little guy calls that book "Our 4-wheeler book" because there's a picture of a 4 wheeler in one of the later ways and once we got to that one, he couldn't wait to open the book after breakfast and see the 4-wheeler.

Kathleen

MamaMary · Post by **MamaMary** » Mon May 26, 2008 5:51 pm

Thanks Kathleen! This was very helpful. (((Big Appreciative Hugs)))

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Mon May 26, 2008 6:48 pm

Martha and Kathleen (and Mary and w2w and Carrie too) -
O.k. since all of you use the 24 Family Ways and I respect your opinion so much, I do believe I need to do that in the summer. I think the Bible in HOD is enough normally, but it would be would be great to do something in the summer too.

Kathleen - I've been looking for something more in my own Bible time. Thanks for sharing that you've found it personally fulfilling. I finished reading the Bible in January, and I started again with a great read-through-the-Bible devotional, but I want something family-wise that we can do too that I can also grow from. This may the answer.

Martha - Thanks for your wise words here! We have similar-aged children, and it was great to hear your perspective on how to go about doing this. I have a similar prayer for my dh - I understand this. Blessings to you as you homeschool your dc! Please keep sharing here. Your opinion is valued and needed here!

In Christ,
Julie

Post by **Carrie** » Mon May 26, 2008 8:16 pm

Mary,

I'm just chiming in to say that it's good to have you back, I can see the smiley's all around!

Martha,

I'm glad to see you posting too. Before this board, I never posted anywhere! However, I am enjoying it more than I thought I would (mainly due to all of you wonderful ladies who frequent the board here)!

Blessings,
Carrie

crlacey · Post by **crlacey** » Tue May 27, 2008 5:21 am

Mary- Great to have you back. Sounds like the conference and talk went well.

I too have 24 Family Ways. Though I must admit, we tried the first one and my DD seems to not get it much at the time. (She was 4.5 yrs) So we'll probably try again in a few months now that I see her growing so much. We did get the coloring book which did help some. I've heard people just copy the opening picture to let the kids color if you didn't get the coloring book.

I've looked at MOTH so many times that I feel like own the book. Let me know if it was worth the purchase.

I love the look of the binder. I do a similar type binder. I have a section for all that important info about the doctor's, dentist, etc. I have my weekly section which breaks down my chores into a daily list. That's where I also list other items to do. But I'll need to add that great filing section. I love the idea of having my thoughts organized somewhere other than in my forgetful brain.