Deanna Rabe

I found this book 19 years ago and it changed the way I educated my kids forever! In the years since then I have become friends with Karen Andreola and her family.  Her writings on Charlotte Mason's method of education have been a gift to the homeschool community.  Karen's "Gentle Art of Learning" opened my eyes to see a new way for us to learn at home.  School no longer was a drudgery, but interesting and geared for real learning. If you've never read this book, I highly recommend it.

I bought this map set   at our homeschool convention last May.  I finally dug into it this week.  I bought it because we have been studying the medieval time period for history and I knew it would add a fun layer of learning.   We really like it!  Sarah and Kyle both got into pinning the country flags onto the board, and we are becoming familiar with where the countries are on the European continent! These maps come with most of the items you need to make the flag pins, capital city pins, waterway pins, etc.  But you do have to put the pins together! I did all the country flags by myself but I am going to get the kids involved with the other ones!  I think they'll be motivated to help (at ages 14 and 11) because they really enjoyed doing this activity. I certainly hope that Pin It Maps  will be at our convention again, so we can buy another one for next year! ps - When you buy your map, you go to their website to download th...

I had some conversation with my niece yesterday regarding child training, and I want to encourage you with a few thoughts. First off, God is not surprised when our children sin, but we often are!  I remember so clearly how at times, I did be like "I can't believe that you did this!", to one of my kids.  In the middle of an issue like this one day, God spoke to me by a thought coming into my head and said, "Really?  They are sinners, just like you.  Why are you surprised?" I have to tell you that moment changed the way I viewed my children.  They were predisposed to sin, because of Adam and Eve, and that we were in the training phase of their lives.  They could learn to obey, make good choices and all the rest, but it wasn't necessarily going to be their first inclination. Now, some kids are easier than others.  Some are more compliant based on their personalities.  This does not mean that they don't have an inner dialogue going on about w...

This is a post I wrote a few years ago.  It's still very applicable! I was texting with one of my sweet nieces last night.  She has young boys and is teaching them at home.  They are learning so much, and having good times together, but this sweet Mama is sometimes overwhelmed with all of the training and teaching, and home keeping duties. If you find that you are feeling the same way remember this: "You are in the tough years.  Not enough sleep, constant training, making sacrifices of "you time" in order to meet their needs.  But you must remember that it is a season of life - one that does not last forever!" As a Mom of six kids who all have been only home educated, I can attest to this fact.  I thought those days would never end, but guess what? They do!  My oldest is now 25 years old, is a Dad and works full time.  My second child is 23 and married.  She works full time too!  The third child is  almost  21 and a full ...

Today, I am sharing a link with you to my personal blog. The post there is regarding the new Anne of Green Gables series on Netflix.  I don't normally do this, but I felt this was an important warning for you all! Creekside Cottage Please make sure you pass this warning along to other parents!

Several years ago, my husband and I went to a prayer conference, which is something we’d never done before.   I took many things away from that short weekend, that have helped me to focus on Him in my daily life.  The biggest thing is that He wants to be known by us.  He wants to show us how he delights in our faith in Him. Our good God will wield all things in order to teach us what He has for us to learn.   Everyday I must seek Him, and yet that can be easier said than done, when we are so busy with our families. How can I possibly spend focused time on Him, when I have young children in the home and we are educating them as well?   Not to mention the  meals, cleaning, laundry, and hospitality.   I believe that we all have many more hours in the day than we think we do.  We can find the time for the things that are a priority to us.  I admit that this area is a struggle for me. To sit before the Lord with my Bi...

I have a motto about reading - "If you can teach your child to read, they can teach themselves anything."  The foundation to building readers is reading aloud to them. As parents we all spend many hours reading books to our children while they are young, some books are read over and over again. (smile) How many of us, continue to read aloud once our children become readers? source In the early years of homeschooling, I began to have all of our children do as many subjects together as possible.  That meant everything other than math, and writing, for many years.  How did we do it?  By reading aloud.  I read our history, science, health, Bible.  We read books about composers and artists. I'm still reading aloud to my 9th grader and 6th grader.  At their ages they are doing more and more work on their own but we still do history and science together and Bible.  We also read books aloud as a family that are not school related.  When...

I home educate using the method laid out by Charlotte Mason, with a few tweaks that work for our family. Its a wonderful way to grow and learn together, recognizing that our children are not empty vessels for us to fill, but come into the world as whole  persons. I read a wonderful article yesterday and wanted to share it here. Personal Initiative: The Most Powerful Habit   It is written by Evelyn Hoey. Here's an excerpt -  Mason believed that parents and teachers should practice what she called "Masterly Inactivity" - the art of keeping in the background, ready with a guiding or restraining hand only when these are badly wanted. Parents are to assume this attitude from the beginning. She went on to point out how much a child learns without formal education in the first two years of life, and how we run the risk of supplanting nature and of depriving her of her space and time to do her own work in her own way in our children.    I hope you'll read t...

My name is Deanna Rabe and I am happy you are here.  I'd love to tell you a little about myself. I have been homeschooling my kids for 23years, that's along time isn't it?  I have been married for 29 years and am the mother of six kids ages 27, 25, 23, 17, 14 and 11. I've graduated four of my kids and have two still schooling at home.  Sarah is finishing 9th grade and Kyle 6th, so I have a few years left and I am glad!   It's become a way of life for us, and over the years I have found my teaching style, and I work with my kids trying to teach them according to the way they learn. It wasn't always this way however and many days, in the beginning, my son would be in tears and so would I!  I had so much to learn and learn we did.  Some through trial and error, and some through experienced moms who were an encouragement to me.  We do a Charlotte Mason style education at our home, but I've tweaked it over the years to suit our family. The best ad...