Category: Botkin Projects

post

Two New Messages by Victoria Botkin
by Anna Sofia & Elizabeth Botkin

In honor of the beginning new school year and in conjunction with their Back-to-School Sale, Western Conservatory is releasing two practical new messages on home education by Victoria Botkin (one of them free!)

moonbanner

How to Teach Your Children to Love Learning: Home Education Made Simple, Stress-Free and Successful by Victoria Botkin

Until your children learn to love learning, homeschooling will be a battle and a chore.

Wrangling unmotivated children will wear you out. School will be the first thing to drop on days when you just can’t stay on top of everything. That nagging fear will creep in: You’re just not teaching them everything they need to know. And you may find yourself being crabby teacher lady more often than fun, lovable mommy.

When children love to learn, they drive themselves as fast you can steer them and fill their own educational gaps faster than you can find them. Their educations march on even during busy days, stressful days, hard days, tired days. But can we turn our children into those children?

Make Homeschooling the Most Fun You and Your Children Ever Had!

With warm motherly wisdom and the experience of over 30 years homeschooling seven children, Victoria Botkin explains how you can give your child that unquenchable thirst for knowledge and motivation to learn. With practical tips on creating a home that will do a lot of the homeschooling for you, getting your children more interested in studying than being entertained, making “free time” educational, helping them take ownership of their own educations, rising above the limitations of your own education, and more, Victoria will soon become the teaching mentor you’ve been waiting for.

If you’re more interested in real, lasting investments in your child’s mind, heart, and character than in expensive programs and gimmicky formulas; if you want to make home education happen without, you know, having to make it happen; if you want learning to be the most fun you and your children have ever had together… listen to this message!

“Victoria, you truly are a sort of spiritual mother to me. The type of motherly wisdom I have longed for and that I desire to be to my own children. As I go about my day, home educating (none of our children have ever been in public school), I often hear your voice in my mind when teaching my darlings or in other daily activities. Thank you for your example. Thank you for giving young mothers and wives a different option to understand in a deeper depth a way of living other than our current culture. A million times, thank you!” T.D.

Top-Teaching-Tips

My Top Teaching Tips (From 30 Years of Homeschooling) by Victoria Botkin

Whether you’re a new homeschooler, or the mom who’s been at this a while and just needs to push the “refresh” button…

Whether you’re feeling bogged down and wanting to start over, or you’ve already got a good system in place and could just use some time-tested tips and advice… this message provides wisdom that could be making a difference in your home by lunchtime.

Victoria Botkin’s “Top Teaching Tips” is both a refreshing step back to refocus on what really matters, and a vault of valuable tips gathered from over 30 years of learning what does and doesn’t work with real children. Victoria’s sane, simple, stress-free, and successful approach to producing well-educated children will give you a sigh of relief, and her warm, transparent, grace-filled spirit will refresh your soul.

Answers to Your Biggest Homeschooling Questions

Learn to conquer the homeschool-mom-bugaboos like teaching writing, getting your children interested in reading, seizing the teachable moment, using the internet, finding good books, using books by non-Christians, helping our sons transition into manhood when they’re with mommy all day, teaching our children to be life-long learners, and much more! Whether your children are toddlers or teens, you will come away from this talk reassured, re-oriented, and refocused (and your husband and children will be blessed by your increased peace and confidence!)

“We would like to thank you for your cd on curriculum advice. I say ‘we’ because my husband enjoys the new, relaxed me! It has allowed me to breathe and relax in our homeschooling journey. Well, I have only had your CDs for a couple months but listen to them ALL the time, along with the virtuous woman series, which my sister-in-law and i just LOVE. I always come away from them peaceful and happy to be a helpmeet and mommy!” E.

Botkin Projects
post

Announcing Four New Audio Messages
by Elizabeth Botkin

Well, we’ve got four new audio messages in the store (two of them free! Go download now!) on four topics we’re pretty keyed up about. At the very least, go check out the two free ones, and write and tell us what you thought! (You can reach us at [email protected]) We love hearing your feedback.

It'snotaboutstayingathome

If you think God’s plan for young women is all about being modest, keeping pure, staying home, preparing for marriage, and waiting for Prince Charming… you will not like this message. But…

  • If you’re tired of a small and fruitless vision for single womanhood, and are wondering if God might want more from you…
  • If you’re frustrated with a lack of fruitfulness, real-world involvement, and opportunities to grow, be stretched, and exercise your gifts…
  • If you’re sick of legalism, idolatry, formulas, movements, bandwagons, Christian-subculture trends and man-made rules, and just want to get back to God’s timeless principles for young womanhood…
  • Or if you’re just trying to figure out what you believe and why…

…take a step back with Anna Sofia and Elizabeth, away from the narrow applications and movement trends, and reexamine the baseline biblical principles that should form the foundation of our vision of single womanhood. Discover a robust vision of spreading the gospel, serving the saints, reaching out to the poor and needy, being full of good works, exercising your gifts, strengthening your arms, working with your hands, making the most of your single years, seeking first the Kingdom of God, and more!

In this message, the Botkin sisters reexamine hot button issues like a father’s authority, marriage, singleness, college, jobs, ministry, giftedness, Phariseeism, pursuing fruitfulness rather than just safety, serving our families vs. serving other people, why feminism is not the big enemy, and of course, “staying at home.” Prepare to be more excited about being a single Christian young woman than you’ve ever been before!

ProblemGuy

You’re a solid young Christian woman. You’re committed to purity and wholesome relationships. You don’t hang out with “bad” guys. And you suddenly find yourself dealing with a guy who’s trying to play you, manipulate you, use you, entice you, or even abuse you. What do you do?

It’s dangerously naïve to deny that predators, manipulators, abusers, playboys, wolves, stalkers, and creeps haunt every circle – as do good guys simply having a hard time mastering their sin nature. And though we’re never responsible for sins men commit, it’s time to know our own power to resist and rebuke evildoers.

Drawing lessons from how Abigail and Bathsheba each responded to the same godly man when he was off the path, Anna Sofia and Elizabeth clear away legalistic relationship rules and formula-based approaches to “purity,” and focus on how to become a woman with the confidence to put the fear of God into men who are in sin. Hear straight talk on self-defense, dealing with a flirt, how not to be a doormat, a woman’s rights and recourses for resisting, combating manipulation, becoming spiritually strong, and the gospel’s hope for moving on from our own past mistakes.

Howtodevelopgifts

Have you ever struggled with purpose and fruitfulness? Yearned to use your single years more fully? Wondered how God wants to see you developing your gifts and using them for Him? Questioned how principles of home-based womanhood can really work out practically in tough financial situations and a failing economy? Then this talk was given for you. In this inspiring, practical, and game-changing message by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, discover the missing keys to a vibrant, fruitful (and economically viable) family life.

Adventurousfemininity

If you’ve ever felt frustrated by a mold of “biblical” femininity that seems small, weak, mousy, or useless, maybe it’s time to re-examine what characteristics God praises in a woman, and the forgotten reason God created woman in the first place — to stand at man’s side in adventure, discovery, progress, dominion work, and spreading the gospel. In this inspiring, humorous, and life-changing message by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, get challenged to go beyond your comfort zone; be introduced to a handful of adventurous heroines from history; be encouraged to embrace a more full-orbed picture of biblical womanhood; and prepare to have all your stereotypes of femininity smashed (with a tent-peg).

Botkin ProjectsEducationGirl-Guy RelationshipsWomanhoodWork
post

A New Botkin Family Webinar
by Elizabeth Botkin

Homeeducation

What Should a 21st Century Education Look Like?

[Note: The recordings of this webinar are now available in MP4 form, under the name “Home Education for Real Life.“]

We homeschooling parents know we’re giving our children a decent academic education. But let’s face it – we sometimes wonder if we really know how to equip them to be the adults the 21st Century needs. After all, the world our children are inheriting will be more complex, uncertain, and turbulent than the one we had to face.

Will your children know how to handle business and finance in a down economy? Defend their faith to militant antagonists? Stand firm against a defiling culture? Fight for their freedoms? Take advantage of technological innovations? And see opportunity amid the chaos?

More importantly, what kind of salt and light are they prepared to be? They may be able to name every country in the world, but do they know how to disciple the nations? They may know about the Battle of Waterloo, but do they know how to fight the battles of today – to win? Homeschoolers have proven they can beat the world at geography and spelling. But can we lead in the arts? Can we lead in the gates? Do we know how to take dominion of science and technology?

If your children are going to be the leaders of the 21st Century, they need to be educated for it. And even if you feel unprepared to equip them for this… there’s no one more qualified for the job than you.

A Webinar to Help You Educate Your Children for the 21st Century

The “Ready for Real Life” webinar, hosted by the entire Botkin family, will take on the practical side of educating children for the real world, also tackling every-day issues like saving money on curriculum, teaching your children to take responsibility for their own education, dealing with different learning styles, teaching social skills and confidence, helping children who don’t like to read or write, creating an educational home environment, and helping children learn marketable skills.

Hear from each member of the Botkin family, as they talk about lessons they’ve learned along the way, books and resources they recommend, things that worked for them, and things they’ll never do again.

Six Sessions, Plus Free Bonus Q&A Session!

Webinar sessions will run every Tuesday evening, 7PM CST, from September 3-October 15. Each session will include time for Q&A, plus you’ll get a free bonus Q&A session at the end.

Sessions include:

  1. Ready for What? What We Must Educate Our Children to Be and Do
  2. Ready to Think and Communicate: How to Have Something to Say and How to Say it – Studying Theology, Apologetics, Critical Thinking Skills, Writing, Researching, Editing, Speaking, and how to boldly give an answer.
  3. Ready to Lead Culture: How to Take Dominion of the Arts Without the Arts Taking Dominion of You – Studying Music, Art, Photography, Graphic Design, Fashion, and Filmmaking
  4. Ready to Take Dominion of the Earth: Studying Science, Math, Engineering, Medicine, Computer Sciences, Agriculture, Construction, and the basic knowledge necessary in order to participate in 21st Century progress.
  5. Ready to Lead in the Gates: Studying Economics, Law, Political Science, Military Studies, Geography, and History
  6. Ready for Anything: Figuring Out Vocation, Gifts, Real Life Skills, and the Unique Challenges of the 21st century
  7. Bonus: Final Questions and Answers

Webinar registration fee is $39 for all seven sessions. Join the Botkin family for a weekly whole-family event full of encouragement, challenge, and motivation! Go HERE to sign up.

2014Botkinfamilyphotocropped

About The Botkin Family

Home education pioneers and thirty-year veterans Geoffrey and Victoria Botkin homeschooled their seven children from the beginning. Geoffrey has also lectured on philosophy and history at Hillsdale College, on politics at the Heritage Foundation, on media at the Christian Filmmakers Academy, and on theology in the U.S., Germany, Central America, South Sudan, and New Zealand. He and Victoria will be joined by all seven of their grown children (two married with children), including Isaac (author of Outside Hollywood, producer of “Navigating History: Egypt,” and faculty at the Christian Filmmakers Academy), David (military historian, IT professional), Anna Sofia and Elizabeth (authors of So Much More and It’s (Not That) Complicated, producers of “Return of the Daughters”), Benjamin (musician and composer), and Lucas (volunteer firefighter, studying emergency medicine) and Noah (web developer and designer, studying alternative energy).

Botkin ProjectsEducation
post

Announcing the Reclaiming Beauty Study Course
by Anna Sofia & Elizabeth Botkin

We’re delighted to announce the release of the Reclaiming Beauty Study Course! The response to our Reclaiming Beauty webinar was so tremendous that we’ve repackaged the recordings into a digital study course, which includes nine hours of video recordings (audio with image-rich power-point, plus Q&A) and a brand spanking new study guide, ideal for women’s study groups.

To be honest, we’re grateful the webinar is over. It was a fascinating glutton of time and energies that we’re now very happy to be able to devote to other things, like gearing up for future family projects and studying things that are not beauty-related. And taking a minute to organize our messy closet, like we told all our listeners to do theirs.

That said, we gained a huge amount from the experience of preparing and hosting this webinar. And most importantly to us, the webinar seems to be doing what we prayed it would: helping young women sort through the important, frustrating, confusing subject of personal image.

During the webinar, listeners signed up from all over the world, some getting up in the middle of the night to tune in. The flood of notes we received after each session, and are continuing to get, made the whole thing worth every moment of effort. Here are just a few, out of hundreds.

Finally, the help I need…thank you! — C

The webinar helped me to truly “reclaim” beauty. I felt inspired with every session! — J

There were so many times where we would say, “Wow! I’ve never thought of it that way before.” Our lives are changed (or should I say, changing) for the better – practically, physically, and most importantly, spiritually. — V

I loved how you brought everything back to Christ and the truth of His Word. — B

 

 
It is amazing how one topic can do so much to change a person’s life. … Before listening to this seminar, I would have such terrible anxiety about what I was going to wear and who I was, that it was affecting my health. I have been battling with Anorexia for 7 years and I can’t thank God enough for your obedience to Him and sharing the discoveries you have made in His word. …I no longer feel like I have no purpose, the suicidal grip Satan had on me has ceased, and my relationship with my family is beginning to blossom with healing. — S

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! It is so refreshing to hear a well-balanced view on this subject- a view that is based upon the Word of God and a love for the Lord Jesus. — A

…listening to you both was very helpful, encouraging, exciting, fun, freeing, enlightening, insightful, thought-provoking, action-provoking… It produced growth in all of us and it was a huge blessing! — V

After each session, we were amazed by the number of questions we hadn’t considered and the answers so graciously and persuasively presented from Scripture. …Your presentation was carefully researched, fiercely loyal to Scripture and yet gently and winsomely communicated, practical to everyday use and eminently vital for the cultural transformation of the world. — K, E, and A
 

“I encourage you to check it out because I have experienced myself what these ladies live and breath, what beauty shines forth from them.” (R.C. Sproul, Jr.)

“My daughters and I have heard the Botkin girls many times and we are always improved in our thinking as a result. I commend this experience to all those who would like to grow in their understanding of this important subject.” (Scott Brown)

Beauty and FashionBotkin ProjectsEducation
post

Session One Finished and Available!
by Elizabeth Botkin

Praise the Lord for giving us a successful first session to the Reclaiming Beauty webinar. And our very warm thanks to all of you who joined us on Tuesday night!

For those of you who didn’t, we’ve decided to make the recording of this one session available to everyone free of charge. Go here to download the session, and here if you’d like to sign up for the rest of the webinar. There are six more episodes to come!

Beauty and FashionBotkin Projects
post

Reclaiming Beauty: A Webinar
by Elizabeth Botkin

ReclaimingBeauty

A New Look at How to Glorify God in Your Body

What is beauty?

Some say beauty fits in a size 0. Some say beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Some say beauty is only skin deep. Some say beauty is only a quality of the heart. Some say beauty is truth. Some say beauty is a lie. Some say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some say beauty is as beauty does. Some say Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly are beautiful. Some say everyone is beautiful. Some say beauty is divine. Some say beauty is corrupting.

From all this confusion, one idea emerges clearly: The world knows beauty matters. They talk a lot about it, write poetry and paint paintings celebrating it, and spend $160 billion dollars a year on it. But what’s equally clear is that they don’t know what it is. The question is: Do we?

Today’s young Christian women have grown up in the most image-obsessed generation in history, a generation that worships some of the most twisted ideals of beauty the world has ever seen. But whether we love them or hate them… they tend to shape our own perceptions of what beauty is. Some of us accept its ideals, and struggle to fit into its mold – others of us are repulsed by it, concluding that physical beauty itself is immodest, worldly, and unspiritual, and reject the realm of beautification completely. But when all we’ve ever seen is the counterfeit the world offers, we can sometimes forget that the world did not create beauty – God did. And though we all know the world has a lot to say about image, we sometimes don’t realize how much God does too.

Fashion though history

It’s time to reclaim beauty. For thousands of years, believers, pagans, Gnostics, Humanists, Neo-Platonists, iconoclasts, and creators of culture have battled over this critical turf called “beauty.” Today, we have only to look at who designs the fashions, markets the beauty icons, rules the red carpet, adorns magazine covers, crowns Miss America, and designs clothes-and-makeup advertisements, to know who is currently holding the turf.

It’s time to take beauty back. When faced with an industry that runs on photoshop airbrushing, plastic surgery, starvation diets, grotesque catwalk styles, and billions of squandered dollars, our response can no longer be, “Beauty is not for us.” It’s time for our response to be, “Get your flag out of our ground.” It’s time for us to be a light in a culture that uses beauty as a weapon against God. It’s time for God’s ambassadors to make His principles – such as modesty and femininity – look as beautiful as they really are. It’s time for us to show the world: Ugliness is not beauty. Emaciation is not beauty. Androgyny is not beauty. Immodesty is not beauty. Unnatural distortion is not beauty. From Genesis to Revelation, God paints a different picture of the inner and outer beauty of a woman, and it’s time to show the world what it really looks like – one soul, one body, one face, one closet at a time.

A Webinar on Reclaiming Beauty
with Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

Webinar on Reclaiming Beauty by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

This fall, the authors of So Much More and It’s (Not That) Complicated and producers of “Return of the Daughters” are launching an intensely practical, image-rich, 7-week webinar on the meaning and cultivation of beauty from the inside out. Join sisters Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin as they dive into Scripture for the answers to an issue of great importance and frustration to young women: personal image.

Is it OK to look pretty? Wear makeup and jewelry? Put effort into my clothes? Take care of my body? Do I have to care about how I look? Where can I find modest, classy clothes without spending a fortune? What should my attitude be toward the latest fashions? How do I figure out what looks good on me? What is appropriate to wear when? What in the world do I do with my hair?

“Reclaiming Beauty: A New Look at How to Glorify God in Your Body” will cover topics ranging from such practical issues as skincare, fitness, posture, voice, modesty, home-made beauty products, and color analysis… to subjects as penetrating as personal identity, insecurity, comparisons, worldliness, vanity, idolatry, our attitude toward others, and the state of our hearts before the Lord.

Discover:

  • What it means to represent the Lord as His ambassadors to the world
  • Where true beauty starts
  • What the Bible says about beautification and adornment
  • How we should respond to the world’s idea of beauty
  • The history and philosophy behind the most popular garments
  • The proper priority-level of beauty in the Christian’s life
  • The biblical relationship between the physical and the spiritual
  • What it means to be separate from the world
  • What we can learn from the beauty industry
  • What the beauty industry has gotten wrong

Get practical tips on:

  • Clothing yourself better for a lot less money
  • Making modesty and femininity look excellent instead of frumpy
  • Making off-the-rack clothes modest
  • Putting together great outfits with what you already had in your closet
  • Using makeup tastefully
  • Giving sloppy garments new life with minimum alterations
  • Cultivating taste and style
  • Getting out of a fashion rut
  • Creating a minimum-time-and-effort plan for looking nice every day

A Webinar That’s Not Just Skin Deep

Webinar sessions will run every Tuesday evening, 7-8 PM Central Time, from September 25 to November 13 (excluding October 30). The seven sessions include:

#1. What God Says About Beauty and Beautification
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

#2: What Style Is Your Heart, Mind, and Soul?
Pardon Me, Ma’am, But Your True Identity is Showing

#3. Getting Your Temple in Order
The Physical Foundations of Beauty

#4. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
How to Work with the Build, Coloring, and Natural Beauty God Gave You

#5: Putting Things Together
Composition, Style, Occasion, Accessories

#6: Acquiring New Pieces (and Revitalizing Old Ones)
How to Get What You Need with Minimum Time, Money, and Fuss

#7: The Focal Point
Being a Good Steward of Your Face and Hair

The webinar registration fee is $44 per family. It is recommended for young women 12 and up, although parents are encouraged to listen with their daughters.

Click Here to Register

Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

Starting out as aesthetic ascetics and determined frumps who were clueless about beauty and fashion, Anna Sofia and Elizabeth have had to build their understanding of beauty from the biblical foundation up (a work still in progress). They have no beauty certifications whatsoever, though they do have experience dressing for everything from speaking engagements to political events to concert harp performances to good old dirty work around the farm, and each get everything they need (clothes, shoes, hair care, accessories, cosmetics, etc.) for around $130 a year. They’re also interested in reclaiming the biblical family, film, art, music, and politics, and work with their family’s ministry, Western Conservatory of the Arts and Sciences.

Beauty and FashionBotkin Projects
post

Jane Austen and Vampires: A New Audio Message
by Elizabeth Botkin

One of our most fun (and most favorite) talks yet, given at a homeschool conference last year, on the subject of choosing carefully what we put into our heads: “Jane Austen and Vampires: Examining Girls’ Literary Appetites and Literary Eating Disorders.”

IncisorExtendus

What do handsome heroes, bonnets, and vampires have in common? Not much, but they’re all pieces of the most famous and influential girls’ literature of all time – literature that has revamped the way thousands of young women view reality, the world, themselves, men, and romance. In this audio message, Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin analyze authors from Jane Austen to Janette Oke to Stephanie Meyer, and lay out the basics of choosing a healthy literary diet.

“…something every girl that loves to read should listen to! …a captivating and humorous discussion of what we should be ‘feasting’ on from our libraries. I highly recommend getting this riveting and convicting discussion that motivates every girl to really examine what her bookshelf ‘pantry’ contains. This would actually be a wonderful tool for the whole family as it could pertain to more than just girls and romance novels.” B.C.

“…brilliantly done!! … We have already made a list of people to hand this message out to, and are greatly looking forward to seeing what God will do through it.” K.F.

Botkin Projects
post

Coming Soon: It’s (Not That) Complicated!
by Elizabeth Botkin

We’re excited to announce that our new book, It’s (Not That) Complicated: How to Relate to Guys in a Healthy, Sane, and Biblical Way, will be released on November 1st! Many thanks to all of you who wrote us with your ideas and questions; we wanted this book to be as timely and practical as possible, and we couldn’t have written it without your help.

Stay tuned – we’ll be posting updates, sneak peaks, and bonus features over the next couple of weeks!

Botkin ProjectsGirl-Guy Relationships