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Dear Jennifer,
I love all of the inspiration and resources I find on your website and hope to meet you in person one day. You are doing a great job. I know your husband is a doctor and can’t help but notice that many of your older children are also aspiring or accomplishing degrees in the medical field.
I am a mother of 6 almost 7 (due at Thanksgiving!) and my second child is extremely interested in becoming a cardiologist. I homeschool and I am lost on how to give her what she needs to become a doctor. My husband and I are engineers and have instilled in her how to work hard. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on extra books that I could put in her hands, or any camps, mission trips, volunteer opportunities she could attend and to keep her interest alive and growing?
She is currently 12 and about to enter into 8th grade work. We live in the Dallas area and often visit the Tyler area to camp or see an uncle, so any ideas in East Texas are also welcome. I appreciate all of your wealth of information. Thanks for being a voice for homeschooling mothers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Jen (as well)
I will likely publish some sort of response to this question on my blog, as it’s a good one, but thought I’d give you an off-the-top-of-my-head answer here.
All of our older kids have indeed gone into the medical field. #1 is an ICU nurse, #2 and #3 are dentists, #4 is an MD currently doing an anesthesia residency, #5 is preparing to take his MCAT, and #6 will be applying to nursing school in another semester or so.
We haven’t pressured any of our kids to pursue medicine, but I think the fact that they grew up with a father who is an anesthesiologist and who absolutely loves what he does probably played a big part in their deciding to pursue careers in similar fields.
All to say, we didn’t use any sort of formal “pre-med” preparatory program for any of these children. They were all homeschooled, and we did our best to teach them the basics and help them delve deeper into the things that interested them. We used Saxon for math and Apologia for science, both of which prepared them well for college course work (so far, all of them have majored in biology).
We also did a lot of reading together as a family and did our best to encourage independent reading, as well. Some of our kids enjoyed reading a lot more than others. Curiously, the son who is now an MD detested reading fiction when he was younger. He told me in junior high that he’d rather read four science books than one novel. He viewed fiction as a waste of time and begged me to alter his reading assignments accordingly, which I did.
In retrospect, that was probably a mistake. After our son missed passing a College Composition CLEP test by two points the first time he took it, his dad, who is a voracious reader of both fiction and non-fiction, told him the problem was the kind of books he was accustomed to reading. “You’re never going to lost in a science book the way you will in a good storyline. You need a book that will really pull you in and keep you turning pages.”
He was right. That son was a very slow, methodical reader who tried to memorize everything as he read — that’s not the way to pace yourself on a timed, standardized test! My husband required him to read a minimum of 2 chapters of fiction a day, starting with a few Louie L’Amour westerns (easy, action-packed reads), then some Lloyd Alexander (we love everything that man ever wrote), and then let him pick his own books after that, as long as they were fiction. Six months later and without any other preparation, he retook the test and passed with flying colors, improving his score by a whopping 25%.
There is SO MUCH reading that must be done in medical school, one of the best ways a student can prepare is to do a lot of reading now, including lots of fiction (and if your daughter hasn’t already read Ben Carson’s story, GIFTED HANDS, I’d highly recommend adding that one to her reading list).
Several of our kids participated in volunteer programs through our local hospital and/or shadowed various doctors/dentists in town to get a feel for what they do. A few of them went on medical mission trips, as well. If opportunities are available for your daughter to do either of those, you may want to take advantage of them.
Beyond reading and volunteering, my husband recommended my son do three things while he was in college with a view to becoming a better doctor later, and I imagine he’d give the same advice to your daughter:
1. Wait tables. Doctors, like waiters, must be willing to get their hands dirty; they need to know how to multitask, how to interact with a variety of cultures, personalities and backgrounds, and how to deal with an oftentimes demanding and unreasonable public (whether they’re sick or they’re hungry, people want to be taken care of fast and can be downright difficult until their physical needs have been addressed and their pain or hunger alleviated). Also in medicine, as in the food industry, one’s success or failure depends on a combination of both skill and personality. One must be both competent and courteous to do well.
2. Learn Spanish. Especially living in Texas, knowing how to speak Spanish is a huge plus in being able to communicate with many your patients. To that end, our son Samuel spent three months in Guatemala the summer before he started medical school and came home fluent in Spanish. He has since been in high demand as a translator at the hospitals where he did his clinicals. You might suggest your daughter give attention to her foreign language studies, especially if she hopes to practice in the South.
3. Do research. Even if your daughter isn’t interested in the academic side of medicine, a couple of summers spent in a research lab is something that will stand out on her CV and identify her as a serious student.
Just finished reading 25 Ways to Show Love to Your Wife by Doug Flanders. Loved it. Thank you so much for your words and Scripture references. I’ve recently struggled with the dangers of having female friends. It can certainly be a slippery slope and lead to hurt and damage in a marriage even without physical unfaithfulness. I fully intend to continue reading future books by both you and your wife. I’ve also purchased Jennifer’s book for my wife to read.
Thanks for the encouraging words, Rich. We’re so glad to hear you’re enjoying our books!
HI
I love your academic calendars. Do you happen to have one made for the 17-18 school year yet? Thank you!
Yes I do, Trish. You will find it right here: 2018 Calendars for Advanced Planning
My surname is Flanders, as well, but I’m black.
That’s funny, JC. Interestingly, I have a little West African blood myself, and my initials were JC when I met my husband. Of course, I only came by the Flanders surname through marriage. My husband came by it through adoption. As far as we know, all his biological ancestors were Norwegian on his mother’s side and German on his father’s.
I am a graphic designer that works at a marketing agency. Wondering if your scripture coloring printables are your originals and if you ever sell usage of them for printing? I just recently designed a book that will be printed and could have really used the Fruit of the Spirit one, but ended up creating something else. However, I may run across a need for this in the future again. Please let me know for future consideration.
Brenda
All of our hand-drawn coloring pages, including the fruit of the spirit, are my own original designs. If you run across a need for one in the future, I’d be happy to discuss usage terms. Thanks!
Hello! You have an amazing website here and I have enjoyed looking through everything. I am in need of some help. I am a high school teacher and need a good academic calendar for 2017-2018. The ones you have on this site are exactly what I need but you don’t have one for 17-18 yet. Could you please direct me to where you found your as I have spent probably three hours searching the internet for one that fits my needs. Thank you so much and God bless!
Thanks so much for your kind comments, Garrett. I designed the calendars myself, but you should find the one you’re looking for here: https://www.flandersfamily.info/web/2018-calendars-for-advanced-planning/
I just wanted to say thank you your med charts were just what I needed. I am helping out the local homeless shelter and the clients there have a lot of medications to keep track of this will help them…
So glad to be of service, Jen. May God bless your work with the homeless.
I love reading your articles in the Tyler newspaper! I made your minestrone soup today and wanted you to know we absolutely loved it! I added a cup of uncooked macaroni the last 15 minutes which we thought made it even better! Thanks for sharing your great ideas. May God richly bless you and your family.
Thanks, Mary. I’m glad you enjoyed the minestrone. I’ll bet it did taste even better with a little pasta added.
I’m also happy to hear you like reading my column. I’ve appreciated the opportunity to write for the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
In addition to writing for them or for this website, you can also find me blogging at Loving Life at Home or posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Thanks for reaching out to connect!
Hi Jennifer!! Just found your site when looking for a 2017-2018 school calendar.. yours is the prettiest I’ve seen and am wondering what program you use for making them? I really would like to be able to make several different ones for different purposes. If you’d rather not reveal this… can you make the 2017-2018 as soon as you get time?? I’m planning this week and it would be great to have yours to use 🙂 I look forward to taking the time to look through your site and see all you have… Thanks so much, Michelle
I plan early, too, Michelle. I’m glad you like my calendars. I just used Microsoft Word to create them years ago. The originals took a while to get right, but now I just go through and change the dates on everything, so it’s super quick to get the new ones ready. You’ll can find the 2018 calendars here.
Found your site while searching for Christmas games for our annual church dinner. Love your blog and all of your great stuff! Thank you for being willing to share with the world!
Hey guys, I just wanted to share with you how much I appreciate your website. My daughter just started college and came running downstairs in a panic.
“Mom! I have to have graph paper! I forgot about an assignment and have to scan it and have it turned in by midnight tonight!” She yammered.
I don’t have graph paper just laying around and the nearest store to us is about 20 miles away. It was already going on 9pm and everyone was in their pjs and getting ready for bed, not to mention that I can’t see to drive at night.
I went on your site hoping beyond hope that you had something of this nature on there. Of course, it was Jennifer and her husband to the rescue once again!! I printed off 6 sheets for her and her assignment was completed and turned in by 11:23pm.
So, once again, thank yall so very much!! You are appreciated!
Lisa Ford
Thanks, Lisa. So glad it all worked out, and that we could help!
I haven’t received these 2 books that I ordered yet. Tracking (for order #13822042) doesn’t show that they have shipped. Please advise! thanks, karla
Hi, Karla.
I tried emailing you directly, but it bounced back, so I’m answering here in hopes you will see it. I’m so sorry your books have been delayed. They were supposed to have shipped directly from Amazon. I will investigate and, if they can’t find the order, will send you copies from the stash I have at home. I’d love to include another of our books for free with the shipment, to make up for all the trouble. Is there any particular Prescott Publishing title you’d like, or shall I just surprise you? Please message me your shipping address, and I’ll drop those in the mail to you ASAP!
Thank you so very much for already having the 2017 yearly calendars available. Thank you for making them.
You are more than welcome, Carol. I like to plan early, too, so I always post them as soon as I have them ready. My 2018 calendars should be up before the end of the year, so be sure to check back for those in January.
i found your site on accident today and i love it! i am looking for Scripture copywork in print rather than cursive. is this something i am not finding on your site? thank you!
I haven’t posted any Scripture copywork in manuscript to our website yet, although I’ve been thinking about adding some. Your message was just the motivation I needed to follow through. I’ll be uploading a manuscript version of my cursive copywork series soon, but I just emailed you the first two sets directly, so you won’t have to wait. Hope that helps!
I recently stumbled upon your site and am loving it. This morning I received your lastest email and was encouraged to hear that your family does not own a TV. We have not owned a TV since 2004 nor do we go to the movie theater. But for awhile it seemed like we were alone in this decision and we have nothing in common with others who do watch TV and go to the movies. Which was discouraging for with thinking about my children and their future. I cannot wait to read all of your articles! Thank you.
I’m glad to hear my blog has been an encouragement to you, JS. Our family hasn’t had any kind of television reception since sometime around 1992. We had a TV before that, but found that we ended up watching way too much when it was available, so when that set died (it actually blew up — smoke and everything — possibly from overuse — ha!), we just never replaced it. To be perfectly honest, though, we do still occasionally go to the movie theater or rent movies through Amazon. We are able to have a little more control over what our kids see that way. But of course, even “good” programs cut into time that might be better spent doing other things. There really has to be a balance. We don’t want to fritter our lives away staring at a screen, but we do enjoy watching and discussing films from time to time and can see some benefit from doing that, in moderation.
Hi!
I found your website and love the printables! I was printing out the Fun Family Traditions and there seems to be only one page going through June. I didn’t see a second page going through December. Is there any way to get the second page? Thank you for what you are doing and sharing your gifts with others. Blessings to you and your beautiful family.
Thanks, Kristina. I’m glad you found us. If you will click on the following link, you’ll be able to print both pages at once (scroll down on the PDF to see the second, July-December page): Fun Family Traditions
I was simply searching for printable sheets for my four boys to color on rainy days (since we seem to be having so many rainy days here in North Louisiana lately) and I found a link to your blog on Pinterest!
I found so many things on your blog that are amazing! While I’m sitting here looking at all of these amazing things I really should be finishing the plans and details for our little weekend getaway coming up in June. This will be our 3rd year in a row to take a “mini vacay” to Tyler, Texas with the boys. Then I come across your link to all the things to do in Tyler, Texas. We go to several of the places on your list and I am so glad I found this link because now I can add a couple more things to our list of places to go while we are there!!!
We tried to talk the boys into going to Hot Springs this year, but they want no part of anywhere but Tyler!!
That sounds wonderful, Linda. We used to take mini-vacations to Tyler when we lived in Dallas. We eventually grew to love it so much, we just moved here. I’m glad you found the page about finding family fun in Tyler. If you haven’t already seen it, I also have a listing of all the restaurants in Tyler where kids eat free. You might want to check that one out before you come, if you plan to do much eating out while you are here.
Hot Springs was another of our favorite vacation spots when my husband was in school. It was just four hours from Dallas, so we’d go whenever he had a long weekend. I keep thinking I should publish a listing of all our favorite things to do there, too, but haven’t gotten around to doing so yet.
I am wondering how you manage your laundry and laundry room. I am Michelle, wife to my loving husband Kenny, mom to our five kids. Lots of laundry 🙂 . Also I had written to you before but not sure if the message didn’t go through, I am wondering about how much time would you say you dedicate to household management and office type work. Thank you so much. I love your site and generosity of time and skills.
Since laundry is something all moms have to deal with, Michelle, I devoted an entire post to answering this question. You can read it here. The household management/ office work question is a little harder, as there are a lot of tasks that would probably fall into that category — things that I do related to book writing and blogging that overlap a little with stuff I do for personal/ household organization and homeschooling. And all those projects fluctuate as seasons of my life change, too. I’m not sure I could assign a very accurate number to the percentage of time I spend on any one of them.
I am in the process of writing a book on Titus 2 for teen girls and I would love to include your age appropriate chore chart in the Love Your Children chapter. Would I have your permission to include it?
I’d be happy for you to include our chore chart in your Titus 2 book, provided you cite us as your source and let readers know they can download a free printable version on our website (https://www.flandersfamily.info/web/age-appropriate-chores-for-children/). Thanks so much for checking!
Hello Jennifer. I had a chance to see you on AL Jazeera tv. I liked everything about you and your family. This reminds me of my own family of thirteen children of my mother. I’m the 10th. What is surprising God is keeping us alive and we all educated to collage level. I love the way you are original when it come wife and husband life. This is lost in today’s America and world. Well I support people having kids they can afford to take care of but it doesn’t mean we think better than God. Please continue doing this great work. And greeting to your family. God bless you all.
Hello Jennifer, I am enjoying your website. I particularly like the maria montessori chore chart. Are you the person I would contact to ask permission to reprint that in my manual? I am a teacher and writing a little handbook for parents to give suggestions to help their children.
Yes, Mia. I created that chart and would be happy if you included it in your handbook, provided you include my name and the url of our website on the page where you use it. Thanks so much for asking!
THANK YOU!!!!!!
Hi Jennifer, I love your printable calendars and I am wondering if you are going to do 2016 scrapbook calendar printables?
They’re already done. I just haven’t added them to my printables page yet. Thanks for the reminder to do that! Until then, you can access them here: https://www.flandersfamily.info/web/mailbag-scrapbooking-calendar-for-2016/
I want to thank you for your wonderful book “Love Your Husband, Love Yourself” I am a Traditional Catholic mother of 8, and I will recommend this book to all the mothers that I know and let my daughters read it (I have 6 of them!) before they enter into the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. I just cannot say thank you enough for your book. It made me really think, and pray and desire to change the way I relate to the wonderful man our Lord gave me. I also really appreciate the focus on being open to life in our marriages. My baby is only 4 moths old, but it really made me thankful again for our Lords blessing of fertility. Your book also made me laugh. I feel like I could really enjoy a cup of coffee with you Jennifer!
It makes me so happy to hear that you enjoyed my book, Stacia. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but I’d love to share a cup of tea with you! 🙂
Hi, Jennifer and Doug,
Your page is a great find and resource for other parents! Thanks for sharing, including the free printables. Question — would it be okay for my non-profit organization, Parent Talk, to post your free printable Chore Chart on its blog page to share with our members? I see that the chart is copyrighted, so I definitely wanted to ask before doing that. If you want to check us out, the Parent Talk Matter blog is at: http://parenttalkmatters.blogspot.com/ and the organization home page is at http://www.parenttalk.info/
Thanks!
Darlene
We would be happy for you to post our children’s chore chart on the Parent Talk blog, Darlene, and only ask that you include a link back to our original post (https://www.flandersfamily.info/web/age-appropriate-chores-for-children/ ), so that any parents who wish to print it out may do so from there. Please do not link directly to the PDF printable file or upload that file to your own site. Thanks for checking — and for sharing!
Hi Flanders, I saw a video on how to raise squirrels. My kiddos and I found that one of ours cats, believe it or not, that she had found these 2 babies in or out around our backyard after a hard rain one day. I am guessing that her motherly instincts kicked in and she brought them to the back porch for us to find. We took them to a local vet but they said that they are considered wild life and they did not deal with them. I really have no idea on how to care for them. I will try to get as much info off of youtube but was hoping you might share anything you can with this matter. My kids have become so attached to them and we want to do everything we can to help them have a shot at a good life. Thank you so much for your time folks.
(By the way. I hope you guys are one in the same Flanders that put the youtube video on how to raise a squirrel. If not sorry about the mix up.)
Hi, Marc. You’ve got the right Flanders family, alright! You’ll find everything we know about raising squirrels in this post, including links to the sites we found most helpful when raising ours.
I have struggled for years to pray consistently for my husband and children. I have the desire, but I ALWAYS get distracted in the process. Thank you for the “Praying for Your Husband Head to Toe” and the Praying for Your Children one as well! I am a visual person so the guide has helped me immensely!! I appreciate you making this available on your website and I would encourage others to use this wonderful resource as well! BTW, I gave a copy of the Praying For Your Wife…to my husband and told him how much I need his prayers :).
You are so welcome, Natalie. It makes me happy to think those guides are being put to good use!
Yes! It absolutely is worth it! Hang in there, sister! I understand from experience the loneliness and the doubt, even, that come with long waiting. I understand the sometime disorientation that comes as you try to figure out how to be a Godly single woman when all your training, role models, and deepest desires pointed you toward being a Godly wife. Your essay spoke so strongly to me that I wanted to hug you and sit down for a nice long chat as I would my sisters or best friends. If you ever feel like striking up a friendship with a complete stranger, please pick me! But even if you don’t, and you just need one more friendly reassurance from someone who understands, to help you keep going when the journey gets long, please hear me say once again that following God’s plan is always worth it. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, the things which God hath prepared for them which love him (1 Cor 2:9)–and loving means living it as he said to live it (John 14:15)!
Blessings,
Rosemary
WOW! I found your blog by doing a search for blood sugar logs. My three children all have type 1 diabetes. The older two wear pumps and CGMs and we haven’t kept a traditional log for years. However, our youngest was diagnosed super early through TrialNet and just started on insulin today, 4 months after dx. I quickly needed a log that made sense for us and yours seems to be the best one I’ve found for what I want to track! Thank you for sharing it! BTW, we are also homeschoolers. 🙂
So glad they caught it early, Wendy. We do Trial Net, too. I’ve actually updated those files recently. You can find our new diabetes logs here.
I am a teacher and would like to print our the age appropriate chores to give to parents. Do you grant permission for copying?
Sure, Carolyn. I’d be happy for you to share our chore chart with the parents of your students. You can download the printable version here.
Hi Jennifer, I love your printable calendars and I am anxiously waiting for a 2015-2016 Academic calendar!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing all these great printables!
You can now find what you’re looking for here. Happy planning!
I can’t remember if I thanked you for posting the free printable of the Children’s Keepsake Record. I was the one who inquired about it so thank you. I haven’t used it yet but I plan to. That leads me to another question for you. I read that you do a scrapbook for each of your kids. That’s a lot of scrapbooks :)! Would you mind explaining how you do it? I have 3 small boys and need to also catch up on my scrapbooking but I want to figure out how I am going to do it first. I know I want to do a first year book for each of them but after that I can’t decide if I want to just do one family album with significant events chronologically throughout the year in one book. I realize that will be a problem when I am dead and gone because who will gets the books. I just want to have all my ducks in a row before I get going on all my pages and have a plan before it is too late and I need to back track and make more albums.
Thanks for your advice.
I did a whole series to answer this question, Heather. You’ll find a detailed explanation of how I scrapbook right here.
Hi I just viewed your printable report card and I really like it however I have a middle school student and the reading and handwriting topics subjects dont apply anymore. Do have a similar version for jr. high? Or a downloadable version where I can fill in our own subjects? Thanks so much. Stephanie
Sorry it’s taken me so long to complete this request, but you can now find what you were looking for here. Hope that helps! Thanks for writing.
Jennifer,
I love your website and everything about your family! You are indeed a Proverbs 31 woman :-). I was wondering where did you get the pictures ypou ahve on your printables, the one with children, the husband and the wife. I would like to ask your permission to translate them into my native language and mail them to my family, and I would like to add the pictures to them.
Thank you,
Simona
Hi, Simona. That clipart is from a huge collection of clipart my husband bought for me about 20 years ago. He got it just because he thought it was something cool for a great price. At the time, I wondered what in the world I would ever do with it, but I hung onto the CD’s and now, so many years later, I used them all the time, not only on my website and printables, but also in the books I’ve published. If you want to send me the translations, I’ll try to add the art and mail the PDFs back to you. If you can figure out a way to use the graphics yourself, I’d love for you to send me PDFs to include on our website for others who speak your language, as we have readers all over the world.
Thanks,
Jennifer
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that there seems to be a broken link to the sample Daily “To Do” list in the Free Printables section. I love your website and organization tips and printables. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks for letting me know, Lisa. I had accidentally typed a colon instead of a quotation mark in my HTML code for that entry, and it totally goofed everything up. It’s fixed now. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you find any other bad links. Blessings!
Hi Jennifer, what a good surprise, thank you for this msg in portuguese!!! *.* Was a blessy for me. with love, Ana
Olá!
Jennifer , encontrar seu site foi um oasis no deserto para mim… Sou mãe de duas gemeas de 4 anos e duas gemeas de 1 ano… E encontrei seu site num tempo de desespero… Ja desistindo de acreditar que posso ser uma mãe boa e que ajuda os filhos a serem melhores… Sei que você deve ter muitas pessoas escrevendo e pedindo coisas o tempo inteiro e não sei se conseguirá ler ou responder minha mensagem…
Vou ler e reler seu site e tentar adaptar-me a instruções, mas meu cansaço e desânimo é tão grande que não consigo ao menos pensar direito… Tem sido um tempo de muitas adaptações e frustrações… Mas acredito que seu site me ajudará muito!
Ver e ler sobre sua família é muito encorajador!!!
Obrigada pela disposição de manter um site que abençoa, encoraja e ajuda tanta gente!
Grande abraço! Desejo muitas bençãos!!!
Pri.
Caro Pri .
Por favor, não desanime. Eu acho que o momento mais difícil para mim, como uma mãe foi quando eu tinha quatro. O mais velho tinha seis anos. Minhas mãos estavam muito cheio, e eu estava cansado o tempo todo ! Mas isso foi só com partos simples. Eu imagino que seria ainda mais difícil, com dois pares de gêmeos !
Convido você a relaxar seus padrões um pouco durante esta temporada muito ocupado. Não se preocupe muito sobre como fazer as refeições extravagantes ou manter a sua casa impecável. Basta tentar gostar de passar tempo com seus filhos e cuidar deles … lendo muitos livros bons e jogos juntos. Além disso, tente reservar um pouco de energia para o seu marido. Às vezes, é tentador para negligenciar o seu casamento quando você está tão ocupado com os pequeninos, mas é importante dedicar tempo e energia para o seu relacionamento com o seu marido, não só para o seu e sua causa, mas também para os seus filhos.
Os minutos passam lentamente , mas os anos voam. Eles vão crescer antes que você perceba, e seu trabalho como mãe vai ficar mais fácil e mais fácil maiores eles ficam . Apenas ame e treiná-los bem agora, e você vai colher a recompensa no futuro.
Bênçãos ,
Jennifer
PS. Eu estou esperando que essa tradução faz sentido para você . Eu não sei Português , por isso não pode verificar a ortografia , gramática, ou palavra escolha 🙂
Thank you so much for answer me back. *.* God bless you.
Hello dear Flanders!
I have a group of mothers here in my city and we are using the 25 Ways to Show Respect.
I would like to ask about my son. He is one year old little boy. (1 year and 6 months)
Sometimes I don’t know if I have to discipline him or no.
Let me give an example:
Today I was in the supermarket and I didn’t do it what he wanted.
He started to cry and jump in the floor. He tried to bite me, too.
You guys have some good tips for this age?
I appreciate so much if you guys could help me.
Thank you so much.
Ana, if you want to keep your little one from throwing tantrums like that in the future, you must make certain you do not reward him for doing it today. Too often when children make such scenes in public, their parents try to minimize their own embarrassment by doing whatever it takes to appease the child quickly (like buying the candy bar he’s whining for and letting him eat it while the checker rings up the rest of the groceries). You must resist the urge to do this — otherwise, you are simply teaching your child that throwing fits are the way to get what he wants. You’ll find more suggestions on stopping the tantrum pitching here: What to Do about Whining
Hello Flanders Family!
I am new to your website and have also fairly recently been saved. What an amazing God we have!!
I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the two articles about respecting the other spouse. My husband is so very close to yielding himself to God and I really believe those articles brought him a little closer to what I know will be an amazing moment. So I just wanted to say thank you! You have so much good information to share about all aspects of our lives, and every single one of them is God driven. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I own a cleaning business in London, ON and would love to have your permission to leave a copy of your chores list with my clients and when my website is up and running, include with with the URL on my site. I’ve signed up for your newsletters and look forward to receiving them. Warmest regards
I’d be happy for you to do both those things, Peggy. Blessings on your business!
Was wondering if we could share your age-appropriate chores for children image on Montessori Unlimited’s Facebook and Twitter page.
Let us know if that would be okay.
Thanks!
Hi, Mallory. I would be happy for you are to share it wherever you wish, provided you link it back to our site. Thank you for asking. Hope you have a wonderful week!
Sure thing, I noticed that your chart has your copyright and your web url on it already, so I will mention your site in the short article I will write, is that good?
That sounds great, Jacqueline. Thanks, again.
How do you do haircuts? Do you cut their hair or does anyone get their haircut elsewhere? I have five kids and would like to save all the money I can.
I’ve always cut the kids’ hair myself, Rebecca. You’ll find details about how I do this — and how much money it saves! — in this post. Thanks for the great question!
Would it be possible to include your age appropriate chore chart in my next newsletter? I send it out to families and educators of children with special needs and the agencies that serve them and I think your chart is very helpful. I thank you for your consideration. JL Howley
I’m happy for you to include it, Jacqueline, as long as you credit me and provide a link (or the url) to my website. Thanks!
Jennifer,
You are amazing inspiration to me. I thank God for you and I wish I could meet you and chat over tea!! I could listen to your wisdom for hours. Thank you.
That’s the great thing about the written word, isn’t it? You can visit with brothers and sisters who are miles and/or years away from you, yet feel such a kinship and connection. That’s one of my favorite things about reading (and writing). Thanks for taking time to send such sweet words to me. Look us up if ever you pass through Tyler, Texas, and maybe we can share that cup of tea in real time!
Jennifer, Someone posted your chore list on FB & it is great. Too many children today have no responsibility in their home. We have adopted two boys who are now 18 & 22. Boy 1 is severely visually impaired (blind) & has numerous health issues. He’s been doing his own laundry since he was 12. We marked the washer/dryer with Braille. Boy 2 has Down Syndrome. Both of them have been helping us with the mowing for the past two summers. The youngest when asked what he did to help said, “mow”. Well, of course the person he told was very upset. Then this acquaintance discovered the oldest was also mowing. Either hubby or I walk beside them & they provide the pushing power. They are so thrilled to be able to mow & want summer to come back soon. All our children did chores & were not slaves & all are productive citizens. Diann
Hi, just stumbled upon your website and I want to say I’m inspired and encouraged by your parenting skills. I am a challenged full time mom of a two-year old kid who’s eager to learn so I could properly teach my child. Though I’m a teacher by profession but still, there are a lot of things to be learned. Thanks and God bless you! =)
Hi Jennifer. What a wonderful website, full of fantastic tips! I have a question in regards to chores; what consequences do you set if chores, whether daily or bigger weekly, are not done?
Our daily chores are unpaid, so if the kids don’t do them in a timely fashion, they normally lose privileges (like computer time or permission to play with outdoors). Bigger weekly chores are paid chores (our kids don’t get automatic allowances), so if those aren’t done, they won’t have spending money.
The most effective way I’ve found to get the kids excited about doing their chores, however, is not by threatening punishment if they aren’t completed, but by promising a reward once they are: “If everybody finishes their chores/schoolwork by ______ (1:00, 4:00, tomorrow morning, Saturday afternoon), we will _______ (play a game, go to the library, bake cookies, drive to Dallas, watch a movie).” This works very well and even motivates our big ones to help and encourage our little ones get their work done, too. We put on the music, everybody works together, and before you know it, the chores are done. It’s fun!
Jennifer,
I just happened to stumble across your blog today and I am LOVING everything! Thank you for sharing your wisdom with the world! I read your biography and feel that you have possibly been in a similar situation as I am currently so I wanted to ask for any advice you might have, if you have the time.
My situation: I am in my very late 20s and literally weeks away from completing my masters degree. Through the journey of getting a Chemistry degree and now an MBA I have found my calling in staying home and starting a family (currently we have no children and have been married ~5 years). What is your advice (besides get the student loan debt under control) for a women who is torn between the pressure to continue being a professional workaholic MBA and wanting to pursue the calling of staying home and starting a family. I have my husband’s support no matter what I decide! Have you written any blogs about this topic by chance? Anything would help, I am so confused right now…and I feel like I just wasted 8 years of my life and lots of money to figure out that I didn’t NEED any of it to just be a wife and mom!
I don’t think education is ever wasted, Emily, but if you are feeling the tug to start your family and your husband is supportive of that decision, I (obviously) would lean toward listening to that ticking biological clock rather than society’s insistence that you need a career.
I’ve touched on this topic on my other blog, Loving Life at Home, in posts like this and this, but if you want a full dose of encouragement in this vein, I’d recommend reading Start Your Family by Candice Watters or What Our Mothers Didn’t Tell Us by Danielle Crittenden.
and so I stumbled across your website and WOW!!! and then – where do I start??? I will be visiting your website a lot this year hoping to make some positive changes in my own family environment – although I only have a quarter of your amount of kids the issues stays the same I guess..
I have tried my own ideas in the past but with not a lot of success, so I truely hope to find some useful hints and advice in your pages..
today I just feel a bit overwhelmed by it all…so just WOW again!!!
You’re right, Amanda. The basic issues do stay the same. Parenting can feel overwhelming at times for all of us, but remember that the God who gave you the children will also give you the strength and stamina and wisdom to raise them, if only you will ask that of Him. Blessings on your home and family this year! Thanks for writing.
Dear Jennifer,
I love your website and your philosophy of life. Would you please give me permission to include your articles in a newsletter that I send to women in all fifty states and around the world, as well as post them on a corresponding blog, with your name, link, and any other credit you prefer?
God bless you!
Lois
Hi, Lois.
Thank you for wanting to share my articles with your readers. As long as you are not charging a subscription fee for your newsletters, you are welcome to include any of my articles, provided you print the article in its entirety, credit me as the author of each article you reprint, and include the web address for my site with each article you share. As for posting my articles to your website, I would ask that you post only the first few paragraphs with a live link to my site that readers can follow to read the remainder of the article. Hope your readers enjoy them! Blessings!
Hi Jennifer –
Just found your website and passed it on to my daughter who aspires to be a stay-at-home mother. I saw that one of Doug’s pastimes is “taking things to Goodwill” and wanted to pass some information on to you.
I recently read that Goodwill is not the non-profit that it used to be. The organization was sold a few years ago and now it’s CEO makes millions of dollars each year as people aren’t aware of this. I don’t donate any longer to Goodwill… instead, I give everything to the Salvation Army.
Blessings to you and your family –
Kerri
Thanks for letting me know that, Kerri. Bethesda Health Clinic is a local, very well-respected charity that just opened a resale shop in town. We plan to start taking all our donations there now.
I have been blessed by your website and also the families in the Southwestern Diocese of the Churh of Christ (Holiness) USA.
THIS WEBSITE IS THE ANSWER TO MY PRAYERS. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Greetings,
My name is Mick Mergens. My wife and I homeschooled our son until the day he started college, at age 16! At that point, his math skills were so strong, he was hired on as one of the College Math Tutors. He went on earn three college degrees and today he is a full time engineer.
My wife had her own unique way of teaching math and when I saw how well it worked for our son, I encouraged her to write her entire method in a series of books. I told her to write a curriculum so everyone could teach math the way she did.
In 2010 my wife, JK Mergens, unveiled her math program and we named it the *Learn Math Fast System*. Since then, it has sold in all 50 US States and 8 other countries, and oh my word! You would not believe the feedback we are getting! People from across the globe are sending emails thanking her for this system!
Children who were lost and in tears over math are now enjoying and
understanding it for the first time. They tell how they have tried many other curricula, but none of them have worked until the *Learn Math Fast System*. Search the Internet for independent reviews!
I’m reaching out to as many educators and homeschoolers as I can to let them know about this program. We know a lot of budgets are tight, so we have a “No questions asked, 60-day money back guarantee.” A placement test, sample pages, and full details are available on our website. These books cover 1st to 11th grade math, in a way you’ve never seen before.
If your group is looking for a fundraising opportunity, we have a Promo Code Program for that too! Just contact us for the details.
Also, be sure to read my wife, JK Mergens’ article, “Unlock Your Fidgety Child’s Ability to Learn and Focus” in “The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Annual Print Issue.”
Thank you for your time,
~Mick Mergens
LearnMathFastBooks.com
I would like to say I really enjoy your website, it is most helpful. God bless you
Thank you, Sharon. I’m glad you’ve found it so. Blessings to you, too!
Hey Jennifer, I think I read that you have a child with Type 1 Diabetes? My daughter,age 6, was diagnosed three years ago. Do you have any tips on how to manage this along with the hundred other things moms do during the day? I rarely feel on top of managing her glucose levels. I dread going to the endo, as I know I could/ should be doing better.
Just wondering if you have any tips?
Yes, Beth, you are remembering correctly. We actually have THREE children with Type 1 Diabetes. Our firstborn, now 25, was diagnosed just a few weeks before his second birthday. Then two years ago, we had two more sons test positive for diabetes. Those sons are now 7 and 15.
All to say, I can really sympathize with you. Dealing with diabetes in children is never easy, but is a particular challenge when those children are very young. I guess the advantage is that when they are diagnosed so very young, like your daughter, they don’t remember much about life before diabetes.
Way back when our first was diagnosed, standard therapy involved giving mixed doses of insulin, such that we were covering what (we thought) our child would eat for lunch four hours before time to eat it. That was such a headache, as trying to predict what a two year old would or wouldn’t eat at any given time was a bit of a gamble. Talk about being embarrassed to go to the endo! His blood sugars were all over the place for the first several years. We eventually went to giving four shots a day immediately before his meals (plus a longer acting insulin at bedtime), and he has done MUCH better with that. We’ve used that same system with our next two with good results, although our older boys much more even readings than their little brother.
Trying to get a six or seven year-old to give his own shots and to be responsible about keeping up with his kit has been a challenge, too. You’ll find some charts on our free printables page that we’ve used for positive reinforcement in those areas.
In the meantime, don’t get discouraged. Diabetes never goes away, but it doesn’t have to dominate your life, and it need not define your daughter or limit her potential. With the wonderful tools and insulins and monitoring aids available to us today, it is possible for our kids to lead very active, healthy lives.
My grandmother-in-law was Delores Westmoreland and I believe you’re a family she always bragged about. Whenever we talked about how we wanted to homeschool our children, she always used your family as an example of how wonderful homeschooling is. You really made an impression on her. We are homeschooling now; our son is in first grade.
Thanks for writing, Brandi. I remember Delores. She was a good friend of my mother’s. They attended church together for as long as I can remember.
My name is Rosemary, and I am team leader for Family Ministry for the Southwestern Diocese, Church of Christ Holiness. I Would like permission to share some of your materials with the families of our church. Your name and website will appear an all materials. Please let me know if I may share this Information. Thanks so much and God bless.
Yes, Rosemary, you are welcome to share all those materials provided you leave my copyright and web address in place.
Hi my name is Charity Flanders sooo r we related?
It’s possible, although I’ve never heard of a Charity that is very closely related. There aren’t many branches on my husband’s limb of the family tree until it gets to our immediate family 🙂
May God richly bless you, your family, and everything you have been called to do, We may not be biological relatives, but we are certainly God-kin! Blessings on both Flanders families, and all in the family of Christ!
Thank you for providing free, printable tracts. May God richly bless the Flanders family!
I just discovered you guys, your website and blog through a pin on Pinterest. I’m a reluctant home schooling missionary mom to 3 active kids. We live in Madagascar and because of a lack of educational options, we home school. I was home schooled my whole life (thanks mom for the sacrifice), but I looked forward to sending my kids away to school. God had different plans. Anyway, I’m finding your advice on home schooling very helpful and interesting, although I doubt I’ll have any early graduates as you do (unfortunately no math genius DNA here!). I also find your large family reassuring. We are surrounded by people who feel that 2 is the perfect number. Thank you for a great website!
Dear Jennifer, I would love to print off your 2012-2013 academic calendar, but there’s two small problems: October and November are misspelled. Would it be possible for you to correct this and send me a copy? This calendar will be posted where my students can view it, so I would like it to be correct. Love your website. So glad I found it. Thanks
Peggy Bell [email protected]
So sorry! Thought I’d already fixed that, but obviously not. You should find them in good order now, if you want to try printing again. Thanks for alerting me to my mistake. My eyesight’s not what it used to be!
I was so blessed and impressed with your family and your website. I pray the Lord motivates me the way he has motivated you! I’m a mother of only 4 and a grandmother to two, soon to be three. I truly feel inspired by your remarkable life!
May the Lord continue to bless you all your days!
Valerie
Hi Jennifer is there an email that it would be okay to write you on?
Loving your book.
You can reach me directly at flandersfamily(at)flandersfamily(dot)info. So glad to hear that you are enjoying the book.
Wonder if we are related? We orginiated from Greenville, SC, and currently live in Charlotte, NC. Give me a line at [email protected]
Hi, Abby.
We haven’t done much research on my husband’s ancestry, but I can tell you that his father’s father was named Ralph Flanders and was from Albany, NY. Does that ring any bells? We love the Carolinas, but don’t know of any kinfolk out your way. We do have an Abby Flanders in the family though — our 12th-born is named Abigail Rose.
Blessings,
Jennifer
Hi,
I have enjoyed reading over your site. I have to say thank you first because your husband gave me an epidural during my first pregnancy when I had nothing but back labor! He talked about you and your children. He said he never had to administer an epidural to you and I thought then how strong of a woman you must have been. Then he told me how many children you had and I was again amazed at your strength. I now see it comes from your strong faith. I just started homeschooling my two boys which are 11 and 10, 6th and 4th respectively. My question to you is do you have some suggestions on curriculum. I know all children are different and that what you may use might not work for mine. My main concern would be math, science and language arts. I want to make sure they are not going to just get by but excel in these areas. I have been reading and everyone has a suggestion, when I started reading about your children and your math degree I thought you would be an expert in this field. Could you please share with me your suggestions for curriculum? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi, Tonia. We use Saxon for math and Apologia for science. We’ve been thoroughly pleased with both and have found them to prepare our kids well for CLEP exams and college level work. For Language Art, we’ve done different things at different times. For early readers, I’ve used Pathway readers along with the corresponding workbooks. In middle elementary, I’ve used Easy Grammar and Daily Grams. On the years we’ve done Sonlight, our Language Arts was fully integrated and we’ve just done that. I also like Learning Language Arts through Literature and have used that program some years. For spelling, I’ve tried lots of different things, too, but my absolute favorite is Sequential Spelling. I’ve had lots of questions like yours and hope to put up a more detailed list, so check back later for a “Recommended Curriculum” page under our homeschooling tab. Blessings on your school year! I wish you much success and family togetherness as a result 🙂
My husband has read your love yourself book and LOVED it! I know it seems odd, but we have a great marriage and are preparing to do a marriage talk to homeschoolers and since I didn’t have time to read it and get ideas on what to use from it i asked him to read it. I hope to read it soon. I wanted to see what your top tips would be if you were speaking to homeschool couples. I know there is alot of info that is great, but we need to do the best there is for 2 1 1/2 hour sessions.
Thanks!
I’m sorry I did not see this message earlier, Jeanette, but we were out of town for a couple of weeks in late August, and I’m just now getting caught up. My top marriage tips for homeschooling couples? For wives, I recommend that you (1) don’t allow teaching responsibilities to so consume your time and energy that you have nothing left with which to nurture your marriage, (2) make intimacy a priority and don’t wait until you are “in the mood,” (3) don’t inundate your husband with discipline problems the moment he arrives home from work, but wait to discuss until you are both more rested and refreshed, and (4) do your best to instill in your children a sense of gratitude and respect for their father and all he does to make homeschooling possible. For husbands, I recommend that you (1) schedule regular “couple time” away from the kids, (2) ask your wife how you can best help and support her homeschooling efforts, then follow through, and (3) hash out any concerns about educational objectives and progress in private, so that the two of you present a united front before the children on such matters.
Very practical, wise tips! Thank you!!!