For Aslan!

We always try to sit down on New Years Eve and Catch a series of movies. This year we watched The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Movie. Then we searched the house thinking that we owned Prince Caspian. In the end we didn't own it and we couldn't find in to rent at 9 p.m. on New Years Eve. The next day after the Holiday J and I had to visit the store and while there picked up the next movie. We all sat down again and fell in love with the fantasy and excitement. While watching the movies this time I kept my lap-top out and started sharing with the children all the references to the Christian Faith that are hidden in these stories. This really got us all thinking and it was agreed that we would watch both movies again when it got close to the release of the third movie, due out December of 2010.

Then the Holidays ended and it was time to for us the buckle down and get back to our school work. This is not an easy task considering how busy we were before the Holidays. We had so many life lessons that our hearts still ache from the death and the people we miss. You can only let that get to you for so long when you just need to move on, but how. It is hard to create order when you FEEL nothing but unrest and disorder in your soul. A trick I learned years ago that always helps this home schooling family get back on track is to pick one great story and start reading it aloud. I love how this gives the family something to rally behind. The pain and growth might mirror our lives but it isn’t ours. We can close the book when we need to. This does inspire the other order and learning. It always follows a good read. I don’t know why but I have learned to trust it.

So I was packing books up to take to the resale shop and the collection of Narnia books fell out. They are too old to resale. They are falling apart. It seams like divine providence though. We wanted to read the series before December and the Third Movie. We are very Narnia inspired right now due to viewing of the two movies over our New Year Holiday. We were looking for the right book to ease us back into “real” school work. I also started the other blog where I was reading all about the Creation of Earth and the Fall of Man. (Perfect correlation to the Magician’s Nephew.) We needed a story that would appeal to mom, so I would keep interested, the older kiddos, the middle age kiddos and even the young ones. This is a hard role to fill and the perfect books were handed to us, or fell out at us.

So we grabbed the books, I did a little research, printed off appropriate free coloring pages and worksheets. Monday morning came around the week after New Year and even though we were not quit ready to get started 100% we did start with a read aloud with some coloring sheets. Having previous knowledge of Narnia and the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe we decided to start our read with the Magician’s Nephew. As the week went on and our reading during the early morning of what would become school time encouraged us all. Reading books aloud tends to unite the family. I love that.

I admit that it worked so much better than I ever could have imagined. A few days later we added handwriting and phonograms for the younger kiddos right back in. As the weeks go on we continue to add another subject back to the daily grind. So If you are looking for something that can unite and inspire the kiddo to buckle down and get back to work try a read a loud and if you really want to get them moving try CS Lewis’s series of the Chronicles of Narnia. Your faith with be inspired, the desire to read will be ignited in your children, and your soul will be filled with the wonder and hope that come from this series.