By Shari McMinn

It’s firecracker-hot July, a season some have termed “the dog days of summer.” Not only are dogs hot, tired, and panting, but parents and kids are probably also in a similar state! 

As a farm family for many years, July meant final preparations on 4-H projects before the county fair in early August. Each morning after breakfast, my children had to groom their goats, lambs, pigs, and steers, ending with a cool water hosing. This was often a fruitless attempt to keep the show animals from sweating off the prime body weight that we had worked so hard for months to put on them with measured rations. During the afternoons inside our unairconditioned farmhouse my kids, with my supervision (read: nagging), put the finishing touches in their 4-H record books. These included the final page titled, “My Story”, which told about their project, the struggles, and what they learned. 

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By Shari McMinn,

Whew! The traditional school calendar year is over, so let the real fun begin, right? Summer is the perfect time to relax and enjoy rebuilding relationships that lead to more effective learning during the coming school year. Why? Because when a child (or parent) is stressed or traumatized, their brain is “on fire,” therefore they can not effectively receive or recall information (or have much patience!). Parenting and education that is joy-filled and relationship-based (discipleship) is more effective and certainly more meaningful. 

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