Come O' Come Emmanuel...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Gatto Quote

John Taylor Gatto makes an excellent point!

Voddie

Voddie Bacham, homeschooling advocate and Christian pastor speaks... on the importance of a Bible Based Education.  This lecture is highly reccomended by many sources including Old Homeschool Magazine.

Need some encouragement?  Listen to this you tube video.

Title: Whoever Controls the Schools, Controls the World...

The Intent to Homeschool

Autumn is in the air.  If your senses are acute, then you can actually feel the seasons changing around you.  When you start feeling like this, you know that soon and very soon, the summer will be but a memory of the past and schooling, of all kinds, will be in full swing.

It's an exciting thing... a new school year.  there is a lot of "newness" to the season.  With new colors on what used to be green trees, we get a new box of crayons with which to color pictures in art class.  There will be new smells in the air, new books on our bookshelves  new challenges to face, new friends in our lives, even a new scope and sequence to ponder over,  If you are bargain shopping in the stores... there will be new clothes, in new sizes and maybe even new shoes on feet to boot!  The newness that this change in season brings about is exciting, but the thing that keeps us anchored to the tasks we do, especially as homeschooling families, is in being convinced of what it is we are doing... and why.  

Homeschooling as a movement has some very deep, robust roots.  It actually began somewhere at the beginning of time, when father and mother looked at their little one and loved them.  Then they helped the little one learn and grow and, the rest is history.   Babies grow up, seasons change and the earth keeps spinning round and round.... but the roots of love.... love of family, love of life and learning, do run deep, and it is these roots that brought the homeschoolinmg movement we see today to the surface of educational choices in our state.  Homeschooling is not without challenges so, a person needs to have a strong conviction and know in their heart that homeschooling, not public or private school is what they want to be doing.... even if only for a season.   Homeschooling success comes from having these deep roots.

With a new year, it's time to begin the school year afresh and thinking new.  It's time to plan curriculum for winter, have an idea of what your kids will be learning what activities you will aspire to be doing in the months ahead.  It's also time to file your intent to homeschool form with the local superintendent's office, because your intent is to provide home based education.  So, as the seasons change and as you file your intent to provide home based education forms with the superintendent's office,  remember, success in homeschooling comes when our intentions are firmly planted in good and fertile soil.  Our roots go deep.... and sometimes the strength to do what we do as homeschoolers comes from sources that are not found anywhere on the surface of things.    

If you are feeling like you need encouragement...find water for your roots!

This means take some time and refresh yourself, read some books, magazines, web-based articles from homeschooling organizations about the beauty and sucessfulness of homeschooling.  You might want to start by clicking on the links above or the links listed on the right....  and remember, your little buds and blossoms couldn't be in better hands than yours.

You might not be an expert on everything, but you love your kids and want the best for them.  You know in your heart, homeschooling or not, it's a parent's place to lead and guide their children to help them grow into the adult people that they will one day be.  Homeschooling is great way to do just that.

Whatever the season, whatever the changes, truth is, a tree with deep, well-watered roots will not topple over in a storm.... and certainly not in a breeze.  In due season it will be fruitful.  It will produce flowers, be food for foraging bees, and even provide shade in summer as well as color the landscape of autumn.  It will fertilize the ground beneath it with it's falling leaves.  And we Christians have heard it before, we know it is true... a tree planted by streams of living water.... will flourish.

A deep rooted belief or conviction that homeschooling, (and particularly with  a Christian Education,) is a great way to educate your children, will help you be strong.  Good sources for learning will help you be the best that you can be.... and it will serve to give your children not only a good well rounded education, but two essential ingredients as they go forth in life.... roots and wings.

Apples and Oranges

On my mind once again is this issue of Parent Partnership Programs in the public school.  It seems a lot of people think this is homeschooling, but once more, for the record, it is not!

Parent Partnerships (PPPs), Alternative Learning Experiences (ALEs) or Alternative Learning Programs, (ALPs)  try... with public funding, to mix the concept of homeschooling with public education, but like mixing apples with oranges, what you end up with is not a your usual apple, and not an orange either.  Like some crazy mixed up fruit presentation, people think they are getting the best of both worlds, public school and homeschooling, and a person might even  be excited about how it works so well for them on a personal level, but do not be fooled.  Your Parent Partnership Program, or ALE or ALP,  is not the same thing as "homeschool."   Remember, the term homeschool refers to home based education.... it was coined that way.  PPPs might look good, taste great.... but they are fabricated fruit designed soley to please the family who might be interested in such an endeavor, but at their core.... they are not homeschooling under the terms of our state homeschool law that allows for homeschooling.  PPP's are public school.

Let's face it.  Raising kids is challenging and when it comes to education we all want the best for our kids. Is there anything wrong with wanting the best of both worlds?  Well, that depends.  There is such a thing and an apple and an orange.   Those grow on trees.  You see, this strange fruit... like the money that it costs to make it happen, doesn't grow on trees.  Keep in mind too, that these programs do happen to cost taxpayers a lot of money.

There is no such fruit.

Speaking of cost.... remember too that students in these programs allow schools the same funding per student regular classrooms, this without having to house and feed the student the student like other full time kids.  Some people want to know where this money is going.  Also these programs give our public school officials an added burden of responsibility of managing families in the program.  Instead of just ovrseeing kids, they are overseeing parents who act as off-campus teacher aids teaching the public school's corriculum.  The majority of the money probably goes to building classrooms, libraries and other amenities for these "at risk" students,  (ALEs were created for children deemed by schools to be "at risk,") to meet in once a week, and to pay personnel, (including parents who are put on payrolls when they teach classes in the PPP. )  About a fifth of those funds serves as an alloted financial resource for that individual student from which the parent of that student can choose the teaching materials for their own child.

Why cannot all parents of public school choose their own teachers, curriculum, and classes for their kids too?  Our schools of "equal opportunity" are supposed to be operated with equal opportunity for all people, but we see that Parent Partnership Programs are more like a private education... or maybe charter school, they are actually quite a fancy form of public funded school.

I happen to live in a community known for it's excellent public schools.  I know a lot of people with kids in them too, who love it.  Free public education has it's pluses and minuses, but I think it is sad that people so habitually bad-mouth the free public education offered to all of America's kids.  I also think it sad that some schools seem to be in dysfunctional status, and some bad reputations are sometimes warranted, of this I am sure.  It is however,  great to have schools that do have a good reputation, school that actually present a good education to our local kids.  But you know, homeschooling has a good reputation too.

We certainly have heard a lot about people homeschooling and how great homeschooling can be.... and how great it is for the kids to learn from home.  In fact, homeschooling was at one time so popular and in fashion that in some circles, it was almost commonly unspoken that if you did  not "homeschool" (if you dare publicly educate your kids) you were a less than admirable parent.

This, by the way, is ridiculous, but perception of being a good parent is important. isn't it? Especially if you are one.

In the world of educating children, many people have now latched on to the word, "homeschool."  "Homeschooler," their sign says.  Little do they know, apples grow on apple trees in an orchard and oranges grow on orange trees in a grove.  There is a difference between apples (pommes) and oranges (citrus.)  They grow in different climates.  Pommes have thin skinned fruit, Citrus are more thick.
both produce lovely fruit, but they are different tree.  Such is perhaps the difference between private school or homeschooling and the free education of the public school.

Do you wave the "homeschool" banner over your family?  Do you know what homeschooling is?
Because everyone wants to know what school your kids go to, we hold up in public that proverbial sign that say's "We homeschool!"  Being a homeschooler is a sort of identity for us.  Good or bad in public perception, it is something we stand for.  A lot of people like the banner that reads:

"Homeschool."

When the proverbial news reporters come with their cameras and ask you why you left the other options of private school or public school behind to "homeschool" your kids will you be able to speak up and defend your decision and position?  Will you know homeschooling issues?  Will you know about your rights and responsibilities?  Do you understand the difference between homeschooling and full time enrollment in an Alternative learning program at the local public school?  If you lack the conviction to utilize your American responsibility freedom to actually provide home based education, then do not carry the sign banner saying you are a homeschooler.  You might like the people caught on that video, be left speechless.

The beauty of homeschooling, is that it is is not just about being with our children all day, it is not just a matter of opening some schoolbooks and teaching them around the kitchen table in the home; homeschooling is a conviction of heart that home is a great place for learning and that a lot of good learning can actually take place outside of a peer oriented, four walled, publicly-funded, government regulated and funded institution.  It's the notion that parents have authority and can quite responsibly manage...without the state interference... making their own educational decisions for their families.    Homeschooling families do engage in lots of learning around the kitchen table with their books, but they do it, at least here in Washington State, on their own, happily independent of the local public school overseeing them and telling them what they can and cannot use for learning or when and where it must take place.

So when it comes to being in one of those alternative public school programs...  don't kids yourself into thinking that this is homeschooling.  It's not.  Remember, the public school classroom or a private school have learning opportunities as well.  Every parent desires good things for their family and every responsible citizen cares about the excellence of education of all kids.  We must remember, even as homeschoolers, that our struggling public school classrooms need parents who care about public education and who even have influence in classrooms that house their kids... just lets know what we are doing and why we do it, and not mix up apples with oranges.

If we wave the homeschooling banner, let's be people with conviction to homeschool.

Well, as a side note....
All this because I watched a video of people holding up signs in a rally this morning who were taking a stand politically on an issue.  There they were, waving their American flags, holding signs and banners to protest something and seemingly quite happy to be speaking out about.  Then, while they were waving their American flags, a man came up and started asking them on camera, "Why" they were doing what they were doing.  Their position lacked their personal convictions.

Seriously.  The protesters didn't have to much to say in defense of what their individual signs read.

One man's sign said, "Glen Beck is a Coward."  The man withthe camera behind him, asked,  "Why is Glen Beck a Coward?"  The protester couldn't say.  "What has Glen Beck lied about?" was a question.  "Probably everything!"  The answer came.

No facts.  No actual examples.  No personal conviction.

It was a good example to me of how easy it is for us human beings to simply do what others do.... do what we are told to do by someone else,  without really thinking much about it.  It's easy to be content... right or wrong... when we feel like-minded in a group of peers.... good or bad... just following the crowd.  It was a good example of the importance of having knowledge of an issue and of having a personal conviction.

Watch that video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWlqiv-YL7c
It is called, Andrew Breitbart Confronts Protestors.

Homeschool Grants and Scholarships

I just learned about this and decided to post.  (Yes... learning is that way!) Did you know that there are  homeschooling grants and scholarships to help people in need who want to home educate their own children?  If that is you check this out....
(If you want to help, and donate to the cause, check it out too.)

from
http://www.homeschoolfoundation.org/index.php?id=22

"In 2005, a concerned father approached the Home School Foundation about his burden to assist homeschooling single parents. His desire was to minister to single parents who were committed to the Lord, to their children, and to homeschooling. Through his vision and vast generosity, the Children of Single Parents Fund was born."


"The Special Needs Children's Fund offers assistance to HSLDA member families (who have been a member for at least six months) who are struggling with the financial burden of meeting their child's special learning needs. Our Fund helps with special therapies, equipment, testing and specialized materials."


"Recognizing the unique challenges and often bleak financial circumstances that widows and widowers face, this fund offers HSLDA membership, curriculum scholarships, and emergency help so that dedicated widows/widowers can continue to direct their children’s education at home."


"In early 2011, God put it on the hearts of the Home School Foundation’s board members and leadership to start a fund for military families. The details began to come together while simultaneously we heard from donors who wanted to help military homeschoolers. Thus, the Military Fund was born!"


See also:



http://www.ehow.com/list_6517813_education-grants-homeschooled-children.html

http://www.homeschoolingfordummy.com/home_schooling_grants.php

Indoctrination Movie

 The movie, Indoctrination, had a special viewing a couple of months ago.  I thought I had already posted this, but I see now that I forgot to post it.  It is never really too late for good information, so I will post it even though it's been a while since the event.  It is a worthwhile film.

Go to the Indoctination website to order your copy of this film.

This event took place at the Moran Prairie Library and room was packed with people of all ages.  The film is a documentary about the Public School System.  In the film, a homeschooling family, the Gunns, take a field trip in a big yellow school bus to learn about the history of the Public School system we have come to know in America.


This independantly produced film is chock full of information about the origin of public education and the men who established it as well as why it was established.  In this film are interviews with men like, Samuel Blumenfeld, John Taylor Gatto, Col John Eidsmoe, Irwin Lutzer, Ken Ham, Bruce Short, Doug Phillips... (just to name a few.)

The producer, Colin Gunn, was there in person to promote the film, answer questions that people in the audience had after the viewing of the movie.  Through the film, as well as in-person he encourages Christian parents to step out in faith to be salt and light in their communities and to their own kids by parenting and educating them rather than subjecting their children's precious young minds to the vain philosophies that drive our public schools... taking note that these philosophies are not only real, but when ignored, work to undermine the honoring of God and his ways, and work to destroy both individual freedoms and innocent lives.


Indoctrination is a film for adults.  I recommend parents previewing this film before watching it with their kids.  It's a film that challenges Christians to examine what is taking place because of these philosophies of public education highlighted in this film and to examine what God's word says about the training and education of the next generations.  I am convinced it is worth watching because it empowers people by giving them hard truth to think about and being a documentary it is also filled with factual, historical information.

Christian Family Home Educators Conference 2012

Attorney Mike Smith, President of Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA,) spoke at this conference.  HSLDA was founded in 1983 to protect the right of parents to teach their children at home, and now represents over 80,000 member families. Mike has been defending families for 28 years and his columns on home education appear regularly in the Washington Times.  The conference was held at the Spokane Valley Church of the Nazarene, located at 5515 E 20th Ave

Spokane Valley, WA.


Scheduling for the 11th and 12th of May, the same weekend as many other activities in Spokane, like the Lilac Parade and Music Fest, even it being Mother's Day weekend, may have been reason for a lower turnout than in recent years, but the  messages Mike gave especially regarding the value of family and of home education were very encouraging.  The impact of hearing about the freedom to raise and educate your own children was profound.  In addition to Mike's talks, there were many great workshops given by moms and dads to other moms and dads with practical advice and creative ideas.  There were also many vendor booths where people could talk to product representatives and see and feel great the great books and teaching materials they had to offer for use in individual homeschools.


Here are some photos of the event.