Value Tales: Then and Now

When I was growing up, every Sunday I would check a Value Tales storybook out of our church library. The books were about historical figures like Louis Pasteur and Helen Keller. I loved them. Each story had a "value" that the person exemplified. Helen Keller was the value of Determination. My favorite was actually Elizabeth Fry, who was the Value of Kindness. When I was becoming a teacher, I found a collection of the books and bought them. I've held onto them with the hope that my children would someday enjoy them. And they do.

A new treasury of these stories has been published. I was very excited to read it. I read the first story and then put it down. I've posted a short review on Amazon about the book. Basically, the old stories each feature an imaginary friend that encourages the main character to pursue their dreams and care about others. In the new treasury,A ValueTales Treasury: Stories for Growing Good People each of their characters is pointed to their "inner voice". Confucius was among the first five picked to update in this volume. It concerned me that this book was about pointing children to themselves, rather than to God as having the answers. Someone commented on my review and said that people don't need religion to be of good character. The quote below is my response. I wanted to post this in case anyone else enjoyed the Value Tales books as a child. The new stories are very different.

"Without a belief in God, then there is no way to delineate what is right and what is wrong. It all becomes relative--each decides what is right in their own eyes. Yes, there is much debate about what "truth" is, but for me and my family, we believe that Jesus came and died on the cross for our sins. I believe in the Bible. I am not arguing that someone cannot have "good character" without a belief in God. But, I am one of those people that believes we are sinners and that we need God. I was a good kid and a perfect straight A student growing up, but I couldn't get rid of the anger and bitterness in my heart on my own. I couldn't live a "good" life on my own. That anger and bitterness seeped into my whole life, though many would deny that it does. When I surrendered to the Lord and believed, my heart was changed. We can try and do good things on our own, but there's a very important piece, or rather peace, that is missing when God isn't a part of the picture. And I want my children to know that."

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story. My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard. Am I questioning too much? Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way. But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them. Recently, I read a book that troubled me. The book I finished reading was Guiltless Living by Ginger Hubbard. When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...

listening or rather not listening to directions...

This week has been very eye opening. I am observing and noticing what I need to learn in order to be a better homeschooling mom and teacher and what my daughter needs to learn to be a good homeschooling student. My weakness when I was a teacher in a first grade classroom was not understanding how small concepts had to be broken down--and I lost my patience very quickly. This week, in particular today, I am seeing how detailed my directions need to be. I am going to be working very consciously and deliberately on this. On the other hand, I realized that my daughter does not listen! Wowsers! In a classroom, Autumn listens very well. She is a compliant child and very influenced by peer pressure and conformity. So, she listens along with everyone else and follows directions. But, at home, it's just Autumn and maybe Sami and Mommy. Very, very different! I had forgotten that most of kindergarten in the public schools is not focused on teaching students academic and learning co...

Writing A Homeschool Teacher Resume

I'm helping a friend who's switching jobs write a resume. She hasn't written one in years, so this is something new. I began working on her resume, but then stopped to write my own because I thought it might be helpful. Being a homeschool teacher may not seem to many like an occupation or career, but it is. I used the combined form of resume for myself. I began with the basic information, then moved on to strengths (the combined skills/experience part), education, Occupational Experience, then Related Experience, Certifications, Computer Skills, and mentioned at the end... References Available Upon Request. Sometimes homeschooling parents have to reenter the workplace because of family changes and needs. How could you express what you've been doing in a way that's acceptable for a resume? Well, here's my take on it... Teacher, Homeschool ...

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