Intentional Parents

On my bookshelf are some three-prong pocket folders that hold many memories. They are trip journals that my daughters created during a family vacation years ago. It took me about fifteen minutes to put them together and they cost about fifty cents each, but what they became is priceless.

Trip journals are a great way to incorporate “school work” into everyday life. The journals that we created combined geography, handwriting, composition, nature study, art, and math. Here’s how.

Grab a three-prong pocket folder for each child. Make some section title pages as outlined below and assemble the trip journals. Gather some colored pencils and you’re ready to go.

• The Route We Took

  In this section of the journal put a highway map of each state or province you will be traveling through. The kids can trace your route as you make your way down the roads.

• Neighbors We Saw

  Put a full country map in this section so the kids can locate and color in the states or provinces as they see those “neighbors’ ” license plates on the highways.

• My Trip Journal

  This section simply houses a lot of notebook paper and maybe some plain copy paper too. As you go through the day, encourage your child to write down what he observes and does along the trip. You may want to give him time to write as you make various stops along the way, or you might just want him to enter a day’s summary each evening. The plain paper can be used for sketching. Your child might sketch flowers or trees he discovers, or he might want to draw a landmark or building that interests him. Try to make sure he puts the date and location on each entry or sketch to help prompt his memory later. You can also use the pockets in the folders to hold ticket stubs, brochures, postcards, and other memorabilia.

• My Trip Budget

  Older children can have a section in their trip journals that helps them track their spending. Just insert a few simple ledger sheets on which your child can keep track of his starting balance, purchases along the way, and a running balance. If your child isn’t old enough to track his spending, just leave this section out.

• The Trip in Pictures

  Put plain copy paper in this section and be sure to take along a digital camera. Take a lot of photos on the trip, then when you get home, let the child select which ones he wants to include in his trip journal. He can add captions or short descriptions under the photos as he adds them to this section.

We gave each of the older children a trip journal and allowed them to create their own covers. If your child doesn’t put it on the cover, you might want to insert a title page at the front of the journal that tells who is going on the trip, the destination, and the dates.

Our youngest at the time was still in the scribble stage, so her trip journal was full of just plain copy paper. She could scribble all she wanted. We also gave her a package of those inexpensive star stickers (the kind that are shiny foil and come about 1,000 to a package). She could make designs with those stickers all over the pages of her journal during the trip, and we could still add photos in the back, just like all the other children, after we arrived home.

Trip journals can be as elaborate or as simple as you want them to be. You can use fancy paper and your computer printer to create the section title pages, or you can use copy paper and a felt-tip marker; it’s up to you. You can use the sections as outlined above or you can make up some of your own; it’s your call. However you make them, trip journals can be great fun and a great way to encourage practical “school” skills. Give them a try on your next trip.

If you would like to save a few minutes, you can download ready-made title and section pages for your trip journal on our sister site, Simply Charlotte Mason.

Saturday was Graduation Day for our oldest. Looking back on these past twelve years of homeschooling and eighteen years of parenting, it can seem overwhelming to think of all that was involved. The years have been filled with meals, laundry, lessons, discipline, prayer, reading, listening, dishes, decisions, driver education, . . . and on and on the list goes.

What’s even more daunting is to think that we’re not done yet. That list must continue into the future because we have three more children to go.

So how did we do it? And how can we continue to do it in the future? And how can you do it? Here’s a key concept: one at a time. Not everything at once. One at a time.

New Ideas

The ideas posted at Intentional Parents were collected and created one at a time over many years. We discovered a new idea, mulled it over, and gave it a try. If it worked well, we hung onto it and told others about it. Then in a little while we discovered another idea and added it to the mix. We didn’t do everything at once right from the beginning.

Maybe you like the idea of the Scripture Memory System, and the idea of the three levels of Bible study, plus the idea of encouraging creativity, oh! and the ideas of looking at great pictures and listening to great music and making music together as a family. And don’t forget the hobby notebooks and . . . .

If you try to start all of that tomorrow, you and your children will become overwhelmed very quickly. Take a lesson from the plate-spinner.

Have you ever seen a plate-spinner? He gets one plate spinning smoothly before he turns his attention to the next plate. Then he just keeps an eye on the plates already spinning while he adds another one to the mix.

When you discover new ideas, take them one at a time. Don’t try to implement them all at once. Get one in place, smoothly operating, then turn your attention to the next one.

New Habits

The same principle applies to forming new habits — whether in yourself or in your children. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming to think about all the good habits we as parents don’t have established yet in our own lives. How can we ever instill them in our children’s lives?

One at a time.

Pray and ask the Lord which habit He wants to cultivate in your life right now. Focus on that one habit until it is firmly in place (probably about six to eight weeks) then move to the next one.

Do the same for your children. Don’t pepper them with five new habits that you want them to start doing right now. Choose one to begin with and give it your full attention for six to eight weeks. Once it is in place, keep an eye on it, but move on to the next habit.

Each Day

Many times over the past eighteen years I remember thinking, “How am I ever going to be able to . . . ?” Fill in the blank. Most times I was worrying about something that was weeks away, or even years away. I was borrowing trouble from the future.

Borrowing trouble from the future leads only to stress and fatigue today. God has promised to give us strength for each day. He doesn’t want us to try to carry the demands and burdens of the next ten years (or even ten days) today.

Take each day one at a time.

Yes, think about the future and make prayerful, wise plans. But don’t allow yourself to get caught in the trap of worrying over the future. God’s grace will meet you at just the time you need it. Rest in that fact.

And remember that life has seasons. Some of you are in the season of life that is filled with diapers, interrupted nights, mounds of laundry, and constant messes. That is a season; take it one day at a time.

Some of you are in the season of life that contains potty training, perpetual motion, and constant conflict resolution. That, too, is a season; take it one day at a time. Things will change.

Some of you are in a season of doctor appointments, limitations, and uncertainty.

Some are in a season of prosperity, joy, and health.

Whatever season you are in now, take the days one at a time. Seasons change. God remains. Don’t borrow trouble from the future.

What do you need to take one at a time: new ideas, new habits, each day? Leave a comment and let us encourage one another — one at a time.