DTR TIPS! No.2
FSM 206 (FN 315) DO
Copyrighted Feb.1992, by Family Services, Zurich, Switzerland
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."--Psa.138:8a.
CONTENTS:
TIPS ON WORD TIME!
2
TIPS ON ORGANISATION & SCHEDULING!
5
GET-OUT TIPS!
8
TIPS ON ORGANISING SCHOLASTICS!
9
Catching Up on Scholastics
11
TIPS ON HOME SCHOOLING
12
TIPS ON TEACHING LOCAL LANGUAGES
13
The Wonderful, Life-Changing Effects of the DTR!
14
Dear Family,
GBY! The Lord has been so good to us in bringing many wonderful changes through the DTR--deeper heartfelt dedication, more unity, greater organisation, advances in the schooling of our younger ones, & in general the whole Family receiving more care & closer shepherding! Some Home Shepherds shared the following about the fruits of the DTR:
"The DTR has been super challenging & thrilling! The JETTs have had very heart-felt, sincere reactions showing real maturity & an eagerness to become real 100% disciples! It has also provoked all of us adults to forsake all & take up our cross daily & follow closely. TYJ! We've held Home meetings for united Home discipline standards & discipleship standards, as well as having more united Word Time, reading Letters to help us overcome & fight our NWOs & hindrances. It's been very unifying & life-changing for all of us! We feel the inspiration level of the whole Home is rising, the more we learn to grow & fight together!" (From Michael, Crystal & Joy, North America)
"For the Teens, the DTR has been a chance to freely talk or write about things that some had been scared to write about before. We were also able to make the Home more exciting with more inspirations & skits, etc. A lot of the Teens have commented on how they have felt so much love & understanding from Mama through her Letters & really appreciated her spending so much time on this new revolution." (From Jay & Rose, Teen Combo, North America)
"Before the DTR, a lot of the adults were still struggling with longstanding NWOs in areas of independence, lack of Acts 2:44-45 & not really living the Letters we were reading, but there have now been quite a few major victories in people's personal lives, among the adults especially!" (From a Home in Europe)
"The DTR Letters have united the Home towards common goals. Having weekly childcare meetings & working unitedly on the discipline standard has also helped us to strive for greater understanding of the kids' spiritual needs. We are very thankful for your concern to reach into every Home like this to help us with our shepherding. We wanted to let you know of our appreciation & of the good fruit that has already been borne through the DTR, & we feel with anticipation that it's just the beginning!" (From Jordan & Maria, Jonathan & Mercy, South America)
TTL for the good fruit which He has brought forth! In our continuing series on the DTR, we are presenting more tips & suggestions from Shepherds & Homes all around the World, to aid you in your implementation of this Discipleship Training Revolution. We pray these points will be a help & blessing to you, as you seek the Lord's help & wisdom in applying them to your situation!
Thank you so much for all you are doing to make this exciting push such a life-changer for all of our Family! WLY!
TIPS ON WORD TIME!
* We started united JETT/Teen/Adult Word Time two to three times per week, & this has been a real inspiration for us all. However, we are seeing the importance of keeping this time exciting & alive, so we are praying about different ways to "surprise" everyone with skits, songs, & different ways of doing it.--Sunny & Charity, Europe
* It's lots of fun to read the "Bible for You" GNs together with the whole Home unitedly. We appointed one person to read Grandpa, one David, & one Techi, & switch each day. We noticed that the Teens are a real sample in their eagerness to delve into the Bible, sharpen their swords & look up verses!--Shepherds in South America
* The DTR has opened the road to different areas in our shepherding, & helped us get more tuned in to the Teens' needs. One was some Teens' need for extra Word Time, above the two hours of Word Time every day. We found that for Teens who are either newly graduated from the Victor Program, going through some trial, or having a difficult time in their lives, it takes a little more time in the Word, pow-wowing, & personal question & answer time in order to help them gain victories during these periods.
We have been able to add some hours of Word to their schedule by having early Word Time immediately after Home reveille, when some EAs & older Teens read with the Victor graduates or younger Teens. We usually assign them a certain Letter & they read & discuss it together. Our younger Teens have expressed how this special personal Word Time has helped them gain victories in their lives & they depend very much on it. So adding another hour of Word to their schedules has been a tremendous blessing.--SEA
* Knowing your memory work as the ticket to video night always seems to be a good incentive! In our Home, each adult is supposed to memorise at least three verses a week & they need to have their ticket signed by five other people in the Home (JETTs, Teens or Adults) to prove they know their verses! It certainly helps encourage sharing the Word together! It convicted me once when I visited the HCS, where they use this plan, as the School Teamworkers were reviewing & quoting their verses to each other. God bless them! It's fun & it works, without putting the doorknob too high.--Marianne, Pacific
* Since the DTR, we've been putting a lot more emphasis on having more feeding devotions & pow-wowing different situations & Letters that we read unitedly. In the evening, we've been having united reading of the Word together about four times a week. Everybody has said this evening meeting has really helped them a lot, because if it were just up to them, they would get tripped off into other things that aren't so necessary. So this evening Word class time has been a real help to everyone.--A Home in SEA
Tips for More & Better Quality Word Time!--From Shepherds in SEA
* Stop once a month for a Word & Prayer Day.
* Have wake-up a little earlier so that the Childcare people can be involved in devotions before the children wake up.
* Putting more time & effort into preparing devotions is very important, to make it feeding for all.
* One main obstacle to having enough Word Time is people not using their time wisely, wasting too much time, too much idle chit-chat & not enough redeeming the time. Often people don't know what to read when they do have their Word Time, so assigning Word lists & guidelines is a real help & a blessing.
* Various Home Members can plan devotions & put together Word studies, for more inspirational devotions times.
United Word Time Strengthening Adults!
Claire & Abigail share the following from South America: "We're very inspired with all the DTR requirements, as they have literally forced us to change our schedules, organise them better & take advantage of the time in the Home. When we changed the schedule, we also provided a slot in the day for the adults to have united Word Time, & the Teens take over all the children for this hour. This has been an enormous blessing, as before we could never manage to unite all the adults for Word & prayer time."
Along the same lines of shepherding the adults, the SEA Training Center shared the following tip on having more united Word Time together as a Home, which they say is bearing lots of good fruit. "Since the DTR has been taking effect, we've been spending a lot of time strengthening our adult disciples as well as having a lot more united Word Time with the adults. We have been pouring into them on specific subjects to help & strengthen them in the areas that have been coming up since we started raising the discipleship standard. The Word has been a tremendous help, as when the weak areas do come up we're able to do something about them. PTL!"
A South American field Home commented, "We're finding that one of our top priorities is to really pray over our Word themes, Home Reading Lists, & Home Meetings. Often we've seen that devotions isn't very well-planned or agreed upon, so the Word that is read maybe isn't what the Home needs most, & is therefore quite dry or doesn't come alive.
"Something that we've found which works in our Teamwork is for us to rotate going to the Home's devotions between our three Teamwork members. One of us leads devotions while the other two read together & have good prayer before the day starts. This way the Teamwork can help with the Home devotions plus do a study on a needed Word topic & start the day in prayer together."
Suggestions for Making More Time for the Word!--From SEA
Ban unnecessary talking during certain times of the day!
Have quiet places where people can go to get in the Word.
Have definite cut-off times for work & for meetings, sticking to the schedule, so people can have their Word Time.
Hold united study halls.
Have people do personal planners filling in all their activities for a week on an hour by hour chart, so they can
see where they can fit in more Word Time!
Teach people to respect their & others' Word Time more, as well as how to redeem their time better.
Teach those in our Homes to use every opportunity they can find to get in the Word, to be on the look-out for places
to fit it in!
UNITED HOME MEMORY PROJECTS!--From Mary Mom
We found united memory projects for the whole Home to be very uniting! Also having united memory projects on group levels for the different age groups has proven very beneficial. Otherwise the children in one family may be working on one thing, in another family another thing, while the adults may feel that each person has to memorise something that will "speak to them personally." But even on the adult level, it seems that unless we have some way to check up on our memory projects, it often gets neglected.
Sometimes we can get quite lazy about it if no one is following up or encouraging us to press in on memorising. Overall we've realised we need to put more emphasis back on the Word.
It has worked well to have the Home Teamwork come up with a united memory project on something the Home needs to brush up on or study up on, & then present it to the Home Council, so that everyone is united & attacking & moving in the same direction. In the Letter "Training & Shepherding Babes" (ML#734), Grandpa brings out how memorisation is a very important building block or foundation stone in our relationship with the Lord & the Word. In many Letters he has talked about the Word that we have memorised being the only Word that we will have some day. So it is very important to memorise!
THE WORD!CHANGING US ALL!
From Europe:
We changed our schedule a bit to make room for more united Word classes for all Adults, Teens & JETTs daily as much as possible. Although some days it doesn't work out, still these classes have been a source of inspiration to everyone in the Home. One of the main things the Lord has spoken to us about is the need to feed the Home more. It has been a real blessing to everyone & has also resulted in much deeper OHRs & people sharing their hearts more than before!
From North America:
Because of the required amount of time in the Word now, there is much more inspiration with the adults & others in the Home. It goes to show that if you have a lot of Word, it makes you alive! It gives inspiration & strength, TYL!
TIPS FOR MEMORY FUN!--From SEA
* Memory Work Deacon: While the Shepherds need to be emphasising regular memory work & making it an exciting & fun project on the Home level, often a memory push only continues for a couple of weeks & then peters out. As a more long-term approach, we've found that usually in each Home there are already a few adults really turned on to memory work. Appointing such a person who is on fire to memorise & review as a Memory Work deacon is a real help, as that particular person could be in charge of xeroxing the memory work, making sure the project is done, checking the memory work before video nights etc.
* Memory Buddies: Everyone in the Home has a memory buddy & they check each other on a daily basis, whether they are memorising or reviewing. We found it was very helpful to simply ask at the end of the day how many people quoted their memory work to their memory buddy or to someone in the Home, as even though we have memory buddies, often people would not make that effort to quote their memory work to them. Knowing that they were going to be checked at the end of the day seemed to help.
* United Projects: Whenever possible, we try to have the same memory projects going for the adults as we do for the JETTs or Teens. We have our memory test at the end of the week before video night, & found it fun to have a variety of ways to test both adults & JETTs, from oral testing to written tests, either filling in the blanks or matching the verses with the references, etc.
* Surprise Memory Test: In the middle of the week we'll sometimes have a surprise memory test to see how everyone is doing on their memory work halfway through the week. This helps prevent people cramming their memory work into a day or two before video night.
* Memory Review: To continue our memory work, we saw it was necessary to also work on review. The first three weeks of the month we have new memory work, & the fourth week is review of that month's memory work.
The Benefits of My Children's Memory Work--From Mary Mom
When my kids were small, the oldest being seven, their Childcare helper happened to be very good at memory work. It was one of her forts, & she even had my two-year-old in on these memory sessions. Today this child knows the same Chapters that the older ones know. The children memorised all the Chapters on the original set card, as well as several other Chapters in John. They memorised the whole Endtime News, lots of Daily Mights & they also had a beautiful review system which they still have today.
They didn't understand everything they were memorising when they were younger, although I know she explained it to them. But it's very inspiring to see that Word come alive now. My kids teach it to the Childcare groups they are teaching; whenever they go witnessing, they always use the Endtime quotes that they memorised. Even though they may not understand it word for word, they know what it's used for & they are starting to draw on it.
So I think there is a lot to be said for just getting the Word in their hearts; it won't return void! I want my kids to have so much Word in their hearts on protection & the power of the Lord under persecution, that if they were ever taken away from me, at least I'd know that the Lord could bring those verses to mind. They will not only need verses on their NWOs at that time, but if they could also recall verses on protection, it would be a wonderful help to them.
TIPS ON ORGANISATION & SCHEDULING!
* With the challenge of raising our standard & keeping up with the different DTR requirements, while at the same time having so many children & so few adults, we really prayed for the Lord to do miracles. TTL for some very helpful suggestions from our Area Shepherds newly arrived from the East, who shared tips from their former Home.
They suggested organising the Home schedules so that the OCs & JETTs have scheduled time to help with house-cleaning, babycare, etc. We found it essential to have a well-organised weekly & daily schedule which could be varied when necessary.
Having our JETTs & OCs working alongside the adults on different ministries has brought a spirit of unity into our Home!--All working side by side & pulling the load together, resulting in closer supervision of our children & JETTs as well! TYL!--Stephen & Susanna, Juan & Estrella, South America
* The separation of our MCs' schedule from the OCs & the JETTs is allowing us to zero in more on this younger group's health & hygiene habits, faithfulness with their clothing & personal items, as well as enabling us to keep a more challenging pace for the OCs & JETTs.--A Home in South America
* Since we have a lot of JETTs & Teens, we found it practical to have scholastics time from Monday through Thursday, & then on Friday & Saturday the JETTs & Teens can go personal witnessing or use this time for other special activities.--Matthew, North America
* One requirement that has been hard for Homes in our Area to keep on top of has been the half-an-hour reaction time daily. One solution we discussed was to stop the evening activity a half an hour earlier to allow time for reactions just before bed, which has worked in our big School.--Pacific
* We reorganised the Teens' & JETTs' schedule in order to make it possible for them to have more & better quality Word Time & night activities, as these were weak areas. Now the adults take turns giving them devotions & different projects & activities at night, & they're more inspired about it.--A Home in South America
* One little tip that really turned our JETTs on was that we gave them each their own little planner with all the DTR requirements--the sleep, the amount of Word Time, etc.--and they had to fill it in daily. We used one chart for a month & then they turned it in. It really helped them to watch the clock & write things down & they were inspired to have this responsibility.--Rebecca Daysman, Latin America
On Implementation: Everyone Is Needed!--From a SEA Training Center
In a large Combo situation such as ours, we're learning that it takes everyone to make the DTR Home Requirements work. In doing one month's TRF, we were not able to fulfill three of the Requirements. We decided to bring this out to the Home, so that each person would be able to see the responsibility he or she has individually to uphold the DTR Standard.
One such case was the adults not turning in two OHRs per week; another was not having enough Personal Time with our OCs, JETTs & Teens; & last of all, our not having completed our Home Schooling Records by the end of the month. It was quite convicting, & everyone pledged to put their all into the next month in order to fulfill all our Requirements!
We know it is going to take determination & fight on all our parts to uphold the DTR standard, especially in such a big situation as ours, where it may seem easy for one of the Requirements to go unnoticed. We are seeing that it takes everyone pulling together to make it work.
Scheduling Word Time & Scholastics--By Anne, South America
To comply with the DTR Home Requirements in our large Combo, we switched our schedule around & scheduled the two hours of schooling for Teens each day from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. Quite a few of the Teens are on the two-hour school schedule & some are on the one-hour schedule for schooling. So far it's working out well, & the Teens are quite turned on about having school time! TYJ!
In the morning we start breakfast 15 minutes earlier, at 7:15, & the first period of Word Time goes from 7:30 until 8:30. Then at 8:30, Word Time for adults is finished & we all (JETTs, Teens, & adults) get together for our united morning prayer & announcements. At 8:45, Word Time for the Teens & EAs continues until 9:30. After morning prayer, the adults start their work period. Each department works out how to get in an extra hour of Word Time for the adults.
After school time is finished at 7 p.m., the Teens eat dinner, & at 7:45 they have another half hour of Word: Memory & review. After the evening activity they then have a half hour to write their reactions &/or OHRs. TYJ!
Of course, this means that some departments have shorter work periods, like, for example, the handymen, laundry & housekeeping departments. But even though less work gets done, it's well worth it! In the kitchen we just had to put an RTP in, as well as an EA each afternoon to help with meal prep. It's quite inspiring to see how the Lord always shows a solution for each little snag that comes up! TYJ!
More Tips on Sharing the Load!
* We are working on relieving the JETTs & OCs of so much housework, as they have been carrying a big work load, with very little rotation. The problem seems to be that in smaller Homes, the adults have their ministries & the children are left to help with the JJT, dishes, as teacher's helpers, table setters, kitchen workers etc. Due to the need for their help, they really have not been having the kind of schooling they need, so many of the JETTs are behind in their scholastics. As a result, we are fine-tuning the schedule now to limit their actual work time.--Shepherds in North America
* We've seen that when the adults' schedules aren't tightly supervised, it's been a real temptation to just grab the kids & ask them for extra help. When we were giving the Home the vision to fill in & do more so the kids could really get their needs met, we instituted "W&R" (Word & Rest Day) at the same time, which the Home hadn't been doing before. It really inspired the adults to know that every two weeks they were going to have a day where they could really get filled up on the Word & do things they normally don't have time to do, & was like a balance to their having to fill in on more jobs in the Home.--Shepherds in North America
* With the renewed emphasis on the JETTs & Teens getting their Word & witnessing & scholastics time, our staff has had less manpower. With more work, both Teens & adults have found it harder to keep the vision for their ministries, so during one of our weekly staff meetings, we read the "Good Thots" story about how Michelangelo saw an Angel bound within a rock of stone, & he was determined to release it. When everyone caught the vision that each ministry can be like a block of stone, & it's up to us to release the Angel, they were inspired to release the Angels in their ministries! Since then it has been very beautiful to see different ones changing their attitude from presenting all the problems in their department, to presenting goals accomplished & goals yet to be reached. PTL! A real victory!--Jay, Jewel & Sue's Home, Asia
Using Wisdom with the Work Load of Younger Ones--From Mary Mom, Pacific
We've found that it's good to prepare our OCs & our younger JETTs for the future, by having them come in & be helpers, not even necessarily apprentices, but just helpers. They can be assigned to clean a certain part of the house or to clean their classroom or to help out with babies or younger kids at certain times.
We have found, though, that we do need to be careful not to put too many demands on them, such as carrying a few additional hours of work so that their older brothers & sisters can get their scholastics. Sometimes the Home has to re-schedule, so that too much of the burden doesn't fall on our OCs & younger JETTs.
This can be done by defining some safeguards, for example not to ask an OC to carry two hours worth of work that a JETT or a Teen would do. An OC can come in as a helper, to empty the potties, or be there to colour or be there to help trace letters, but we've found we need to be prayerful that too much of the burden doesn't fall on them.
At the HCS, in order to free the JETTs & Teens for scholastics, we just have to pull the adults off of other ministries & have them step into more jobs which gives JETTs & Teens more time for their schooling, or have the adults do their ministries with the little kids who might otherwise be overseen by a Teen, at their side. For example, the adult who is on laundry can have a small child or two doing water work beside her, learning, pouring & "washing" things. I used to do a lot of my jobs in the Home, like washing dishes or washing clothes, with my kids there doing water work. Kids like to do water play & can benefit & learn lots from these simple activities & helping. It's not a waste of time, they learn lots & enjoy it so much!
You are watching a couple of kids & they may not be getting 100% input, but maybe you only have to do it like that a few days each month. As long as you are right there & there is nothing dangerous they can get into, they are perfectly happy. You may not get all the laundry done, but you may get some done! At least you are doing your part to help the Home reach some of the DTR Requirements, & that's really good.
At our large School, we found we had to check up on the adults, to be sure they did their part in helping the kids carry the load. If we had united JJT for a major clean-up, some adults would often excuse themselves by saying, "I have this assignment, I have something I need to do." So the load of the huge clean-up was left to the JETTs & the Teens.
So finally, on our two united JJT days, we had to take steps to make sure that the adults did their part, such as giving demerits or other penalties to those who didn't show up! We've also put the adults on the bigger jobs, like the windows or mopping. It's been a big blessing to have their help in carrying the load.
Inspiration through Prayer & Catching the Vision!--By Sharon, South America
The major job of our Training Center is the schooling program itself, which also includes training. We need to keep everyone busy & fulfilled while they undergo training--whether it be children, JETTs, Teens, EAs, teachers, or any adults in our Home! We found that the first key to meeting the reorganisation & scheduling challenge before us was desperate prayer to get the Lord's answers on how to implement the DTR in our situation.
Along with prayer, we've learned the importance of instilling the vision in every Home Member. United Home meetings have become a real key to passing on the vision & lifting up the standard! We have special good prayer time together each week, with inspiration, hearing from the Lord, prayers for deliverance, etc. with all the JETTs, Teens & adults together.
In addition to this, we've also been able to take a topic each week as our new goal to strive for together.--This goal is a challenge to rally around & helps get everyone envisioned, encouraged & inspired!
Inspirational prayer meetings, along with the Holy Spirit revolution, have been the spiritual boost behind implementing the DTR, the catalyst & blessing which has borne good fruit in implementing new practical methods, PTL!--All glory to God! It's been wonderful to see it all come to pass & bear such wonderful fruit in each & all of our lives, PTL!
GET-OUT TIPS!
* Many of our Teens are in fulltime ministries at the HCS, & it was difficult for them to get a full hour of vigorous exercise, particularly those on childcare. They would often go out with the nursery-age tots, which was not really much exercise for them. So it seemed the only way to work it out for the Teens to get at least one hour of solid exercise has been to have adults fill in for them in their ministries while they have Get-Out together.--Pacific
* One thing we were concerned about here at our School is that we've had quite a number of accidents during the past couple of years, in the way of pulled muscles, pulled ligaments, & even broken bones. Finally one doctor asked us if we were warming up before Get-Out, & we hadn't been. So since that time we've been doing a bit of research in pre-play warm-up exercises & activities. Now we require our children to have ten minutes of calisthenics before starting a vigorous Get-Out. This even helps those who tend to hang around on the sides & not join the games or run around, to get limbered up & get some exercise.--Pacific
(Editor's note: Get-Out overseers should also do their best to encourage all the kids to participate & be sure that activities do not exclude some, as could happen in the case of games which require skills some may not have learned. Activities can be varied so that they appeal to all & no one is left out!)
Good Fruit of New Get-Out Requirement!--From Paul & James, India
One hour Get-Out for both children & adults alike is a real blessing. Everyone looks much healthier, & some of us have lost as much as seven kilos, TTL! One of the children used to only have BMs twice a week, but now with daily Get-Out is having daily BMs, TYJ! One of the adults (Gideon) who used to have frequent attacks of asthma, has not had a trace of it since beginning regular Get-Out & is quite fit, TTL!
A Course in Physical Education!--From Sharon, South America
A recent breakthrough in our large Combo was the idea of trying one of our four Teen Shepherds as a full-time Physical Education instructor! So many of our children's groups don't get real good Get-Out, & the adult male PE teacher could teach not only Teens & JETTs, but even the OCs & middle children physical education classes the majority of his day. This break also gives the teachers some time which they can use to prepare their classes.
With an actual course in Physical Education, we would very much like to see our students of all ages get much more variety, training, & opportunity to develop skill & coordination by having a PE curriculum. There are suggestions for a Get-Out curriculum in the Home Schooling Kit, & studies on it can be done from the Cat Book. Coupled with the Activity Book 3 classes on how to play tennis, volleyball, etc. & even some of our Home Schooling Videos on the circuit about learning different sports, all these provide excellent new input, opportunity, inspiration & interest for our younger ones!
Our Teens seem to get in a real rut at Get-Out time, with only playing volleyball or the girls doing aerobics. But even our little ones, or middle children--all our kids have lots to learn as far as coordination skills, climbing, learning different new sports or games, even First Aid, & life-guarding.
To be able to fill our PE curriculum, we've added more equipment for Get-Out to our provisioning & prayer list! Of course, with the Teens & JETTs so excited about learning Physical Education, we know they are really going to pray these things through, hallelujah!
TIPS ON ORGANISING SCHOLASTICS!
* We encourage the Teens & JETTs that on-the-job training is part of their schooling. We've made it a point to show them that electives such as business & secretarial skills, Home Economics, etc., are mentioned as subjects they are going to be graded on, so they see that everything they learn, everything they do throughout the day is all right on their report card & is part of their schooling & training.
We also had a united meeting at the beginning of the school year where we had good prayer & gave the vision for our learning. We read "Here & Now for There & Then" & stressed that the spiritual is still the most important thing.
Having more hours on scholastics here is now tightening the whole camp. We have less Teens working during work period, which means the Teens have to work more efficiently to be able to get everything done, & it cuts down on wasted time.--Julie, Philip, Martin & Mary, Training Center Shepherds in South America
* Curriculums & Curriculum planners: Every Friday night after the kids go to bed, the teachers meet together with the Childcare Teamworker, bringing their Home Schooling workbooks, CCHBs, & other research materials. They pray together & each one writes out their one-week curriculum planner. They also fill in any changes on their previous week's planner, plus make sure their attendance records are caught up. Doing this all together in one place like this not only ensures that everyone gets it done, but it allows us all to share ideas with each other, counsel together & come up with solutions to problems.--Michael, North America
How We Organised Our School Program--From Italian/Swiss Shepherds
We have been having daily meetings with the teachers from 12:00 to 1:00 over lunch, during which time we watch GAP Videos & discuss the implementations of different suggestions. It's been a real blessing so far & not too difficult to organise since we have divided the meetings in two groups: 1) Nursery, Toddlers & YC teachers (including our precious Teens, of course), & 2) MC, OC & JETT teachers. Our Teen Shepherd, who is also part of the Home Teamwork, assists as much as possible in the second group of meetings.
This has already proven to be a super help in coordinating the different ideas that are coming up. For example, we watched GAP 54 on "Stewardship," & after an exciting Pow-wow originating from a question of where to start a Home School Supply Cupboard, we realised that the Home was in real need of a good face-lift & declutterisation revolution! So we are having an exciting "all hands on deck" push to attack the junk problem, recruiting the help of our *RTP-JETT Shepherds & any available & responsible JETTs! (*RTP = Those visiting the Training Center for the Rotational Training Program.)
One GAP Video that we have found very helpful has been GAP 54, on how to teach Superworkbooks! We sadly realised that much of our teaching of the SWB had been done the wrong way, without much preparation of the children according to the curriculum guidelines. Now we are going on the attack following the instructions & dropping any of our methods that aren't just the best! LHUs!
We also suggest that teachers watch together GAP 59, "A New Teacher." Even for someone who is not a new teacher, the first morning of any new term can be used to clarify to the group what you have the vision for, go over your guidelines, & make new commitments together! This Video is such a good sample of how to present the vision to the children & in general how to teach in your class.
Day School for Teens!--From the Enterprise, Latin America
Since there are quite a few Teens in the Homes of our local Area, but we have the majority here at the Enterprise, we opened the doors for the other Teens to come here for school rather than having adults giving school to only two to three Teens in each of the other Homes, & it is working really well. It works on the same basis as the younger children from the Homes nearby going to our city-wide School each day for their schooling.
We have compacted the Teens' schooling into three days of the week (Tuesday-Thursday), leaving the rest of the week for their witnessing & ministries in their individual Homes. PTL!
Grouping by Spiritual Needs--From SEA Shepherds
We finally hit on the idea of scheduling school for the JETTs in two different groups, one having scholastics in the morning & the other in the afternoon. This way the JETTs are available to help in the Home, but perhaps even more importantly, the group is broken down to a smaller number, which helps us meet their needs better. There is a big difference in teaching or taking care of a group of 12 as compared to a group of six. At first we were going to group them according to their scholastic level, but we then saw the need to group them more according to their spiritual needs. We have grouped together six JETTs who require extra time, attention & counselling, which is a real answer to prayer, as before, those JETTs were getting lost in the shuffle.
Specialised Teachers for Scholastics--From Sharon, South America
Another boost to our scholastic program was assigning different adults to take over different classes.
In our case, we recruited as many teachers as possible & used them in the areas they shine in the most. The School's Business Teamworker became an excellent, very proficient Current Events teacher for both international & local Current Events. He also is the Endtime Bible study teacher & has a consistent schedule where every Monday morning he teaches his Endtime Bible classes to the Teens & JETTs unitedly. Then on Tuesday night for one & a half hours he teaches Current Events to the Teens & JETTs. Even that busy Teamworker has made the time to prepare his material & give a really inspired class, GBH!
In the same way, the Math or Language Arts teacher can prepare, give a class, & give tests, etc. All the students benefit this way from having various teachers who are well-prepared & well-versed in their particular subject, PTL!
Getting More Use from a Home Lit Library--From Mary Mom, Pacific
Our Home Lit Library system is very fruitful, because we are able to offer study materials in a supervised setting. In our large School, we have a Librarian on duty from 1-2 hours each day, & if a JETT, for example, needs to study a topic such as health, & he knows he needs to look in a Heavenly Helpers Volume, he can go to the librarian & tell the librarian what he is researching. The librarian then pulls the book out & gives him the article to look at.
Although there is a wealth of information in our pubs, it's not always guaranteed that even an adult knows how to find all that is in them. So the librarian is there to be able to guide our younger ones, or even adults, through the pubs to help them find what they need to read. The librarian can show them how to use the pub & how to glean the information that they can best use & apply it to the question that they have or the training that they need.
Teens on the Attack in Scholastics!--From a Training Center in North America:
All have mentioned what a blessing the daily morning class has been. The Teens are all excited about having regular school, although they were quite unaccustomed to more school time. It was quite a test & humbler for most, as over half were quite behind & needed a lot of drill work on the basics. In some cases they had to be grouped with the younger ones, as we lacked the teachers to make it work any other way.
In Math, we've concentrated on basics like learning multiplication & division tables. They all really got on the attack
& have made a lot of progress & will be moving on to other areas in Math soon. The other two main subjects they've been covering have been Spelling & Language. We decided to concentrate on these three subjects as many Teens showed up as weak in these areas on the Achievement Tests.
Although it was a trial at first having to forsake a lot of the time they previously spent in their ministries, the Teens are happy about the changes brought about by the DTR, & are showing lots of progress! GB'm!
Catching Up on Scholastics
EAs with Big Responsibilities--From Sharon, South America
Some of our EAs here are also department heads; they already carry a full adult load, are very responsible & very, very busy. Therefore, it's been difficult for us to fit in their scholastic time. After discussing this with the EAs themselves, we decided on the idea of EA "night school" three nights a week!
On the nights when we don't already have some kind of a united Home meeting, or during Family Time slots after dinner, we've made an EA study hall. EAs are required to attend either the 7-8 p.m. study hall or the 9:30-10:30 p.m. study hall & are checked on a roll call basis by the EA Shepherd, who is an EA himself. (The EAs all take turns being EA Shepherds of their own group.)
In the EA study hall, we write on the blackboard what to do each session--whether the subject of that study hall is to catch up on reading the recent mailing, to go through extra schooling such as Uncle Dan Math Videos & worksheets or have an actual scholastics class or make-up class that they might have missed.
Many of the EAs, however, may not need this study hall time for catching up on mailings, or for doing scholastics. In this case they can use the time in study hall to read. (See FSM 201, pg.5 about Ministry Reading Lists.)
They have their own notebooks & write out a composition about what they've learned in reading the new mailing or the pub from their Ministry Training Reading List. Misspellings are then marked, & they drill the misspelled words on the copy-test-prove pages in the back of their notebooks. (See CCHB#2, pg.170 for an explanation of the copy-test-prove method.)
As they are able to, the EAs also attend scholastics classes throughout the day, as do the other Senior & Junior Teens, but the EA study hall is specifically for any make-up classes, extra tutoring or extra reading. Another benefit from this idea is that it's tightened up their schedule quite a bit, as the single EAs especially were a bit loose after dinner, whereas the childcare Teens & EAs & the married EAs with children were busy all the way up to bedtime.
The EAs have been quite happy with this program! Their time is scheduled for them, they just have to show up & be there & press in during their study hall hours so they can catch up on any areas where they are behind.
Tutoring for Children Who Are Behind Their Age Group--From Mary Mom, Pacific
We had one boy in a field Home who was behind on scholastics & couldn't grasp or follow what was happening in class. Real behavioural problems resulted & it was decided he would go with a younger group. But when he was put with this group, because he was faster in some areas than the little kids were & there was quite an age difference in his case, it didn't seem like the solution. So his parents were asked to get involved & to pull him out & teach him for a while in the mornings.
It really helped & he caught up very quickly! He also behaved much better, because he didn't feel so inferior any more. He got just one hour of special tutoring at lunch time, but it brought him right up to standard with the other kids, within a few months. TYL!
TIPS ON HOME SCHOOLING
* To keep track of all that needs to be taken care of concerning our Home Schooling, we have put together a school calendar for the next few months. We scheduled all that needs to be done, for example, marking periods, PTVs, placement tests, curriculum planning & so forth. We believe this will be a real help in helping us be better organised along these lines.--Sunny & Charity, Europe
* One tip we discovered which might help others, was to standardise our teacher's logs for each class within the Home. This has helped to make it easier for each parent to bring their Home Schooling records up-to-date. For example, one mother may have four or five kids of school age for whom she is required to keep HS records. If teacher A, teacher B & teacher C all have the same terminology for the different subjects, then the log can simply be photocopied & put into your own HS folder, to which you only have to add the names of your children.--David Faithful & Teamwork, Europe
* Our two School Overseers held a meeting with RTP seminarians to explain the Home Schooling Kit thoroughly & to have a question & answer session about it. It was a wonderful help to all parents & teachers & had the encouraging result of these RTPs taking their own Kit back Home, having the same kind of meeting with their Home & setting up their Kits. People were very excited & envisioned about the importance of using them. A video was made of this meeting, which has been circulated throughout our local Area & been a big help in helping our folks understand how to use their Home Schooling Kits, PTL!--Shepherds in South America
* We had a few meetings with the parents when we explained the Home Schooling Kit, & how to fill out all our cards & reports. With just two meetings, we're doing quite well along those lines. Explaining the purpose of the Home Schooling Kit, giving the vision, & sharing the Word on it has really helped everyone to really cherish our Home Schooling Kits & value the importance of having them & filling them out.--Julie, South America
European Homes Rave about the Home Schooling Kit!
When asked how the use of the Home Schooling Kit affected the educational standard of the children in their Homes, Shepherds in Europe answered as follows:
--The Home Schooling Kit improved the standard 100% as we are now keeping good records & providing a well-rounded education.
--With the Kit, it's easier to plan things & we can see the needs of the children more clearly. It's raised the overall standard quite a lot, we feel.
--It has had the effect of bringing up the standard a lot more with children who hadn't had so much schooling before or weren't doing so well. Since we started using this Kit, we are bringing them up to a satisfactory standard.
--It really helps to have a united course when people change Homes.
--Our scholastics have been much more organised, particularly the planning, since we've been following the HS curriculum. It's caused us to make sure that the work the children produce is up to standard, presentable, & also that it's checked thoroughly security-wise. Our adults have become much more aware of what the children are learning & doing in their groups & what they need to work on. There's been better organisation all around in the Childcare department & the kids have been getting much more regular, uninterrupted schooling. We're so thankful for the Home Schooling Kit!
TIPS ON TEACHING LOCAL LANGUAGES
From SEA
* As our outreach people all know the language well from so much exposure, we found it was mainly the Childcare people & staff who were lacking. In order to get our children to speak the local language, we have to get their teachers speaking & enthusiastic about it, so we made a special push in this area.
* We started a special adult class over lunch right after our weekly clean-up day when all the adults are home. The outreach people & those who already speak the local language well have lunch with the children & put them down for their naps while the rest of the Home gathers together for a one-hour class over lunch! Our national teacher introduces a certain amount of vocabulary which is to be used during the week until the next class. If the students learn their assignments, there is a special local snack/desert as a shiner prize! (Editor's note: If adults are also working on learning the local language, we suggest they concentrate on witnessing words & phrases, & simple conversation that can lead into witnessing.)
* We are finding we have to make language learning the "in" thing in the Home--make it something everyone wants to do. The adults have to get involved, too, not just the younger set!
* Give crash course language sessions for national kids, in which they speak only the local language 24 hours a day for two weeks.
* Use simple flannelgraphs in the local language for fun activities & vocabulary building.
* Have the Childcare group's names be in the local language. The teachers can learn basic phrases such as "please line up," "please sit down," "please stand up straight," etc. The children really respond to the adults getting involved. You can practice your local language words & phrases with the children so they see you are learning, too.
* Give the children a shiner prize when they have learned the local alphabet, or a set of phrases, etc.
* Positive peer pressure is important. Nationals & others who are fluent in the local language should speak the local language to the non-nationals as much as possible. Have certain times, such as meals, where everyone has to speak the local language.
* There are many workbooks available for children to learn the local language, & if the children have these it will be easier for them to learn. You can teach sight reading words, then the alphabet, & then use these local language workbooks to build on that foundation.
* Watching KVs in the local language, & listening to the local language children's Tapes is a help, too.
* You can check into other System materials for learning the local language.--Videos or audio tapes for teaching the alphabet, etc.
* It bears good fruit to have a designated local language teacher who teaches the local language to all children & adults. It's best if he or she can have a set curriculum to follow, as more is accomplished.
More Language-Learning Ideas!--By Shepherds in Europe
* Some Shepherds have found that virtually anyone with some knowledge of the local language & a little teaching ability can teach the local language using workbooks & flashcards. They have provisioned workbooks & are engaging the help of the nationals during their off hours to write down words for the flashcards.
* They've commissioned their outreachers to help teach their children witnessing phrases while out on outreach, & to let the children do much of the talking. This has proven to be a real help & inspiration to the children, JETTs & Teens in learning the local language.
* Many of the Homes are using lunchtimes or mealtimes to teach the local language, with flashcards & joint memorisation to help increase their vocabulary, etc.
* At one Combo, some of the local language speakers read the Gospels on tape, which they play for the children when they go to bed at night--thus familiarising them even more with the local language.
On Mealtime Language Classes--From Marianne, Pacific
With all there is to do, we are very thankful that our dear national brother, Paul, has been very faithful to teach us a little of the local language every evening at dinner. It takes about five minutes & every evening he teaches us a few more words. It is not much, but at least you feel you are gaining something every day. Then he gives us a test which is our ticket to the weekly video. He is a very good teacher, he is inspired & he goes at a slow enough pace for everybody to follow. He always reviews a lot before we take our test, so it's encouraging for everybody. It's been encouraging to see that little by little we do gain some ground. PTL!
The Wonderful, Life-Changing Effects of the DTR!
From Charity M., Asia:
Since the DTR, I feel renewed & rewired! I feel a fresh excitement every day, & by His grace I know He's using me more than before, as now He's requiring so much more from me both physically & spiritually. I'm so turned on, I can imagine how the kids, JETTs & Teens must feel, too, as they see us changing & getting on fire. I've also gained a deeper respect for my ministry with the children & learned not to minimise it, even to myself, because if I do, then I'm not wholehearted & the kids suffer. LHM to keep fighting & winning greater victories!
From Joy, North America:
I'm so grateful for the DTR! The Home Requirements are such an answer to the desire of my heart, to see better quality care given to our children. Although we had been trying so hard to do all we could, we were still missing the mark & just didn't have the answers or know how we were going to work out the details & apply the principles in our everyday lives & schedules. Now it's mapped out so simply!--Just what the standard is! Thank you, for all the time & prayer & hard work that has been put into this revolution!
From Malachi, Michael & Paul, North America:
We wholeheartedly welcome the needed DTR measures. Something drastic was needed to turn us around, not only for the children, but also for us adults, & we are so thankful for the guidelines & Home requirements to help accomplish this.
From Paul & James' Home, Asia:
The DTR has exposed the detrimental double standard which had confused our kids, & all of us in our Home took up the DTR challenge to change & be new creatures for the Lord, to put Him first in our lives & be real revolutionaries for Jesus!!
From James, Asia:
As a member of the Home Teamwork, I find the Home Requirements a real blessing to us all as they help us see things in black & white, which we need to do sometimes. Some things have been a "grey area" & the DTR helped crystallise what the standards are for each Member of the Home, & helps make it possible for us to strive for the goal together.
From Rose Psalm, SEA:
The Discipleship Training Revolution has left me feeling like a Summer house that had been left sleeping all Winter, only to discover at the beginning of Spring that it had become quite rundown during the rigorous Winter! I have let the cold of unloving ways, the dust of unchallenged faith, the cobwebs of self-righteousness invade my house, & even let the mice build little nests of bitterness under my roof! Waking up to this reality, I realised that I had not kept my house, my temple of the Holy Ghost, in good condition daily. The Discipleship Training Revolution has challenged me to do my best & not be satisfied with second best! I want to ride the biggest wave of accomplishment that I can for the Lord. I have not been in the Family very long & am a "little person", but if I take advantage of every situation & become the best "pansy" that He wants me to be, following the Lord & counsel closely, then my service for the Lord will be most fulfilling.
I have been quite self-righteous about how obedient I thought I had been, only to discover what a disobedient disciple I really am. I need to obey the Health rules, the Home rules--talk softly, not waste water, keep my fingers out of my mouth--all the things we expect of the children! I needed this Revolution in my life & am so glad that again it came just in time, like every "tidal wave" that the Lord starts through Dad & Mama!
From Dutch Heidi, SEA:
The Lord led me to reread "The Hem of His Garment" recently & I came across Grandmother's chapter on "Memories", which really spoke to me in light of our children & the Discipleship Training Revolution. She describes how she inherited religion & was born in the midst of a revival. From her earliest remembrance, a Bible was as common in the house as a chair. She says, "I did not have a personal acquaintance with Jesus, knowing of Him but not knowing Him," & she relates how she told her mother that she was mistaken about it not being right for Christians to do certain things because she saw a number of church members whom she admired doing those very things. I was amazed to read this as it resembles so much the things our Teens & JETTs are going through! I got the beautiful thought that Grandmother must understand them & she must be working from the Spirit World to help us in this new Revolution!
From Dust, DF Home, SEA:
I can honestly say that the DTR has been one of the most convicting Revolutions I've experienced, because it's making me have to re-evaluate my whole reason for being here, & my motivation for serving the Lord. It's really cutting me to the heart about what my sample to the children has been, especially about my double standard, taking things for granted, & how I've completely settled down in a rut! I joined when I was 16 & I was a young, on-fire teenager who vowed I'd never be like the adults who were old-bottles! Yet I've become this way so quickly & easily! It really makes me want to change! I feel like I've been asleep spiritually, & I just woke up & saw how much there is to do. It's very heart-breaking to realise that I personally have failed by pushing Childcare to the side & thinking that my own ministry was more important. It's very sobering, yet so challenging & exciting!
From Victor of Dove, Asia:
I'm seeing more clearly how so often in the past I was expecting my flock & children to change when I was not really expecting much change of myself. I had become self-satisfied & spiritually stagnant in my life & through this attitude I had lost that love & compassion I needed to have for the sheep & had gotten dull in the Spirit. I had become more selfish at the same time & allowed myself to think I had some special privileges & rights because I was a "Shepherd", thinking I deserved better than others & had put myself first in line for things.--So much the opposite of what Dad is saying in the Letters. LHM!
Actually the Lord exposed my problems in time through a couple in the Home who had been misused by us on the Teamwork, as they had been going to a Home field to take care of some legal matters. As they were leaving, although we had given them a talk about not being too materialistic & getting into things while there, etc., I even had the audacity to give them a shopping list myself of things to get, including a saxophone, etc. LHM! I had been so full of myself & did not see my own weaknesses & problems.
When I returned Home after the DTR meetings, I was able to make a public apology for those things to the Home & the dear brethren whom I had offended. Through this I could see how I had allowed so many double standards in my life, making allowance for "little" things, such as special treats for my children, or being quick to correct others for their mistakes & not being so open to correction from others, which is just plain self-righteousness.
I'm just so thankful now that the Lord is allowing all these weaknesses to be exposed in my life & I pray I can continue to grow into the vessel He wants me to be. I'm so thankful to be a part of this exciting Endtime revolution!
From Dove (of Victor), Asia:
This DTR has been a real blessing to me. In the past I was too concerned about my image, in that I always felt I had to be perfect in order to lead the flock, but I realise now my first priority is to be a sold-out disciple & be honest to expose my weaknesses. Together with others' help we can make the DTR a real thing in our lives. I'm realising how much I need the help of others. TYJ!
It really sobers me to see that all these years I have been really off the track not only as a disciple, but as a Shepherdess & a mother. I was living a double standard, not only in the little physical things, but also in spiritual standards--like taking too much of the load upon myself & not trusting the Lord, when we tell our children so much about faith & trust in Him. Worry & analysing & negative thinking are a big hindrance in my walk with the Lord & in my relationship with others. I am now seeing I can't afford these NWOs & I have to really strive to fight in these areas. Memorising has been really helping me & my mind to dwell on the positive.
I know that the DTR is not just a passing phase, but it has to become a real part of my life. It's making me really desperate to want to continue to be a true on-fire disciple!
From Paul, Asia:
Since the Discipleship Training Revolution, it has been a real eye opener for me to see how a lot of my unprayerful casual remarks could be a negative influence on the children, JETTs, & Teens. To realise that when I'm not prayerful it leaves some repercussions on the children themselves is very sobering! I see now that if I were to relate to the Teens & JETTs as new disciples & sheep, I would be a lot more on guard in every area. I need to put myself in a new frame of mind so that I can be a better sample.
From Joseph, Comfort, & Lily, Europe:
There have been many victories on the Home level with the general spirit of the Home really improving. On the personal level, the DTR is really turning the spotlight on our personal NWOs & forcing us to correct, counsel, remind & pray for each other more. We've seen some big changes in people's lives, TYJ! The DTR is also making us as a TW more desperate, especially in the areas of organisation, implementation, & keeping the level of inspiration higher.
From Thai Nina, DF Home, SEA:
When the Discipleship Training Revolution first came out, I was excited because of the positive peer pressure, which was good in a way, but that motive wasn't sincere enough, or from my heart. Deep inside I still had some fears--fear of failure or that I wouldn't be able to make it. At the National Meeting we had a class on fighting your fears which helped me overcome those fears & want to change--not because of peer pressure but because I was determined to live up to the standard in order to help our children make it in the Family. It stirred me up to see how much I need to examine my heart & my commitment to the Lord & renew my connection with Him. I got the courage to fight to overcome my weaknesses & NWOs instead of getting discouraged by them or trying to ignore them as I did before. I feel so privileged to be in the Family with such precious people all determined to fight for the same goal! I know in the Family I am not alone, & never will be!
From James Newlove, Asia:
I was so impressed by the thought, prayer, love & concern that has gone into the DTR & the Home Requirements, which were presented in a very loving & understanding way. Experiencing the DTR has been a lesson for me on desperation & having a simple conviction that where there is a problem, the Lord has a solution! It made me very thankful to have such loving, dedicated Shepherds to lead & guide us into all Truth. It's also wonderful to see how the Lord has brought us all the way from having periods of forsaking our children for the Lord's Work, to now spending time daily with them. Having learned the lessons of forsaking all, He is giving them back to us with a renewed vision of winning them to Him & His service! PTL!
Copyright 1996 The Family