Wow!

I just finished reading the George Barna book Called Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions.

I was completely moved by Barna's next to last paragraph. It really drives home the point of how important a job we have been given in raising up young children. I was surprised that Barna even blames the "church" as being a usurper. What a wake-up call to parents to take back their right to raise their children as God designed!

"If you have not yet reached the point of embarrassment over the fact that most adults-perhaps even you-abdicate your children's moral and spiritual development to illegitimate usurpers of that responsibility (eg., schools, the media, legislatures, judges, and even churches), then I pray that the Holy Spirit will heighten your sensitivity to this travesty with all due haste. We have no right to complain about how our children develop if we are not heavily and purposefully investing in those outcomes. Those who fill the gap in our absense are mere substitutes for us when we don't pull our weight. If we default on our responsibility, we cannot blame those substitutes for making the most of the opportunity. This is, after all, part of the battle for the minds and hearts of humanity."

"There is a new breed of Christ-follower in America today. These are people who are more interested in being the Church than in going to church. They are more eager to produce fruit for the kingdom of God than to become comfortable in the Christian subculture. They are focused on the seven spiritual passions that facilitate their growth as genuine people of God and citizens of the kingdom. These people are Revolutionaries. "

Well, this is us. We didn't know that there was a book out there that actually gave us a "name". Now we know.  I read this book a few weeks ago. It was a quick read and eye-opening statistic-wise and affirming too. It was exactly the same perspective that Wayne Jacobsen comes from, but Barna gives these "living outside the box of religion" people a name, REVOLUTIONISTS. I think I am kind of liking that name!

People who are tired of playing the "church" game and watching so many "Christians" continue to live their lives without ever seeing any REAL life-transformation are leaving churches. But the thing is-they aren't leaving your church to go to another church! They aren't leaving your church to have a "house-church" either. They're leaving the church building because they want to BE the church! It's different for every family that leaves to walk this walk, but we are finding so much joy in following God. I never knew life outside "the box" of RELIGION could be this free and joyful!!! Will we return to "the box"? Time will tell. Right now, I hope we do not. At the feet of Christ I place my life every morning to be used by God. My place is by my husband's side, a wife and then a mom to three beautiful boys, not running to and from institutions all day, every day.

I just finished reading the book, You're Going To Do What?  Helping You Understand the Homeschool Decision by Laurajean Downs.

I thought this was a great book, written by a homeschooling mom for mainly grandmothers to help them understand why their grandchildren are going to be homeschooled. In only eight chapters the author gives a great representation of why people choose homeschooling and how grandparents should get involved in the education of their grandchildren. Homeschooling is so much more about living and learning than "schooling". In the first chapter Downs asks the questions "Why Homeschool?" and address that home schooling can be a path toward excellence. The author mentions Gatto's Dumbing Us Down book and cites many other sources as to why the public schools really are failing our children and compares home schooling very much to a private tutor. Each chapter of this book is subtitled with a verse from scripture and the book is a wonderfuly written book from a Christian perspective although it does encompass other groups of people who homeschool who are NOT Christian and their reasons. I like that the title doesn't reveal the Christian perspective and Biblical reasons for homeschooling, yet by the second chapter Downs dives into building a strong family then continues with the Biblical Mandate for parents to "school" their children. Later Downs addresses the "socialization" issue and cites biblical references to Proverbs and how we are instructed as Christians to be wise and not hang with other "fools". Children are then essentially "fools" so our children should not be spending the majority of their days with "fools" but with Godly parents.

Next the author addresses laws that home schoolers must abide by. She describes the history of homeschooling and how some organizations such as the Home Schoolers Legal Defense came into being.

Next Downs talks about curriculum, materials then how a child can really be successfully homeschooled as she calls it from "diapers to diploma".

And lastly, the real reason I liked this book is the author gives tips for grandmothers/grandparents in how to encourage their son or daughter in their homeschooling fo the grandhcildren. This is one area I had only  begun to think of. I had thought about how much more TIME we might have to visit with grandparents since we could "school" anywhere but I hadn't given much thought to giving grandparents a list of needed items so if they happen to be out and about and see something that the homeschooling grandchildren might need she/he could pick it up or use the list for Christmas/birthdays, etc. Lots of great stuff.

For myself, I thought the book was very repetetive of all the books I have read/am reading on home schooling. There were so many quotes that I had just read taken from other books. If someone doesn't have the time, nor desire to research homeschooling themselves-it's all right here!! This book takes all those hundreds of books on homeschooling-pin points clear areas and makes the idea of homeschooling  a decision families can now understand together!

I just finished reading Homeschooling For Excellence by David and Micki Colfax.

I liked the sub title- "How to take charge of your child's education-and why you absolutely must!"

I really enjoyed learning the ins and outs and whys of how this family became a homeschooling family during a time when homeschooling was not widely accepted and often illegal! My husband can't even believe that homeschooling used to be illegal in most states! This book offers practical advice and even has huge lists in the back of the book on books they liked in homeschooling. I'm sure that there are many families who could write a book-each would be so different as much as each child is different! But I really enjoyed the fact that the parents kind of came into homeschooling after a couple bad school experiences and also how they got into homesteading. But over and above all I was impressed how their boys got accepted to Harvard. That's been a huge concern for us-what about college. "Your Christian school isn't even accredited-is it?" People judge. I will recommend this book to anyone considering homeschooling. Reading about one family's struggle back when it wasn't widely accepted helps you to appreciate how much of the work has been done for us to make the choice for homeschooling.