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Looking for a Few Good One-Room Schoolhouses
Posted 2:13 AM, Oct. 8, 2008
The Old Schoolhouse is always looking for a new one-room schoolhouse photo to grace the magazine's cover. We need a 9 x 11 photo, or a negative, or digital image (300 dpi), and the schoolhouse needs to be dead-centered with natural surroundings. The front or front/side view is best. If your photograph is used, we will pay you $50, feature your name as cover photographer and send you two copies of the magazine. Send a digital image to publisher@thehomeschoolmagazine.com or mail it with details to Cover Photo Search, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, P.O. Box 8426, Gray, TN 37615. Be sure to include your name, email address, and phone number. Not sure if a one-room schoolhouse is located near you? Check out the One-Room Schoolhouse Center. It's a working list of existing one-room schoolhouses in the U.S. Homeschooling Through High School ~ The Arts!
Posted 12:58 AM, Oct. 8, 2008
What is the first thing that gets eliminated in the public schools when finances get tight? It is definitely not sports! Heaven forbid! (Never fear…I AM an avid baseball and football fan and a devoted baseball mom) In your homeschooling, what is the easiest thing to skip over and forget to include or feel is not as important? Usually, if we are truthful, the answer is Bible. However, I’ve covered that priority several times in previous articles so I will go on to another area that is often overlooked as area that can be deleted without any consequences.
The Arts! Yes….it’s true. The public schools are quick to delete band, choir, art, and theater classes when there are budget cuts. But honestly, we as homeschoolers tend to do the same thing. It may not be a financial issue but rather the fact that we just don’t feel that there are enough of us to go around, enough time in the day, or enough NEED to include the arts in our schedule because we have such strong academic concerns. However, there are many reasons that are children not only need to have an arts education as part of their general training, but that they also understand the role the arts have played in history and the role they are playing society today. Let’s start with my second reason first. It’s an amazing day in which we live. We are bombarded by the arts every day and yet we don’t even notice the effect that they have on us. How often do you hear music that affects your mood and you don’t even realize it? How often are you confronted with music that contains offensive lyrics while eating out or shopping and you don’t even stop to consider how it affects the children that are standing with you quickly picking up the lingo of each and every song? How many times do we see images on billboards, television, movies, and the Internet and not even consider the influence that they have? All of these “media” influences are a form of art in one-way or another. Here is a little tidbit! Did you know that the composer Wagner was very anti-Semitic and very much believed in the chosen Aryan race theory? Did you also know that Wagner happened to be Hitler’s favorite composer and that he listened to Wagner’s operas, with all of that non-Biblical and anti-Christian worldview brimming forth? The arts DO influence the course of society and history and the reverse is also true. Think about the 1960’s. Do you remember the literature, the theater, the music and the art that came from that decade? You can’t help but see that those in the arts were commentating the events of history on, AND the form and content of the arts were being affected by the events of history. Let’s take a look at today’s election process. We have music, you-tube, movies, media and those who are INVOLVED in the media using all of the art forms to influence today’s voter. SO, when it comes to whether or not your student will be influenced or surrounded by the arts, you don’t have much of a choice. What you DO have a choice on is how you teach them to view the arts? Do they understand God’s plan for the arts? Do they understand God’s purpose for creativity, music, literature and more? I’m sad to say that many of those families that I come in contact with don’t understand the need for a Biblical worldview that INCLUDES a Biblical worldview of the arts. If we don’t have that, we will be swept away by the world’s influence in these important areas. Now, lest you think I’m going to say that all secular music with a beat is wrong…I’m not. If you are worried that I’m going to say that watching a movie is wrong…I’m not. What I AM going to say is that you cannot be involved with the arts without having your eyes open to the messages that you are being told….and NEITHER can your kids. Do I think we need to be selective in what we hear, see and read? Absolutely, but at the same time we are to be “in the world, but not of the world.” Thus, I love to use the Apostle Paul as an example. He understood Greek culture and Roman culture and he understood it in light of what GOD said was right. Thus, he could be culturally literate when speaking with unbelievers around him. Yet, he also was grounded in God’s “worldview” and was able to discourse with understanding and wisdom. When we have viewed movies, discussed literature, gone to plays, or listened to music. We have used it as a time to discuss and compare worldview or conflicting worldviews. What a hands on teaching opportunity this is? Yes…..there are MANY research projects and studies that will tell you the benefits of having your children study music, art or theater….and yes, I will discuss those reasons for studying the arts in future articles. However, to me, one of the most important reasons for my sons to study the arts is so that they understand the powerful influence the arts have on people’s lives and can have on THEIR life in particular. I want them to become culturally literate so that they understand the world in which they live but are wise and grounded in God’s worldview. If God blesses that attempt, they will then, like Paul, know how to discourse and discern from among the many influential art forms around us and thus, be salt and light in a very dark area of today’s society. This is one of the driving forces behind The Artios Academies with which I work and I have been so blessed to see students who have gone through that program, graduate and truly go and become salt and light in their communities either by being wise and discerning consumers of the arts or by working within the arts community and making a difference by the way they live their lives and make their decisions. I would love to hear some feedback from you on this article. I suppose in some ways, it is a bit controversial. However, it is something that we as parents who homeschooling high schoolers must stop and consider as part of our responsibility. Faith and Courage, Lori Lori is married to the love of her life John and together they have four sons ranging in age from 22 down to 10. She is the author of “Beginning With The End In Mind”, a frequent speaker on home education, family and the arts, as well as serving as the Executive Director of The Artios Academies. (www.artiosacademies.com) You can see some of the pictures of their home in the central Colorado Rockies by visiting Lori’s website at www.theendinmind.net where you will receive encouragement for the journey. Home Where They Belong ~ Biblical Basis for Homeschooling Christian Children ~ Pt. 1 ~ The Homeschool Verse
Posted 12:53 AM, Oct. 8, 2008
Walk into a room with a group of strangers and one of the first questions someone will ask you is, “What do you do for a living? What is your job?” Ordinarily, this refers to one’s vocation. In the life of a homeschool family, particularly the homeschool where Mother is usually the primary teacher, it encompasses far more than vocation. It is a way of life.
It is fulfilling the command of God for Christian parents to be the principle teachers and protectors of our children. It is making one’s home, a Christ-centered home, one’s never-ending school of life. The Homeschool Verse “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all y our strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deut. 6:4-7) Here is the mandate that most Christian homeschoolers build their foundation upon. This verse is uniquely important to Christian homeschool parents and families as it reminds parents that God has specifically given them the responsibility of impressing God’s teachings and His commands upon the hearts of our children – HIS children. Not a stranger in the building down the street, not Grandma and Grandpa, not even their Sunday School teacher or their pastor. There is something special, something lovely and spiritual about the bond between parents and their children. God has instilled this relationship of love and intimacy between parents and children, particularly Christian parents and children, because, from the beginning, He expects parents and children to spend large amounts of the day with each other. This is as it was meant to be. What better way to spend the day then with those that you love? Who better for a child to learn from than someone who loves them like no other and wants the very best for them? As the numbers of homeschoolers grow it is more and more apparent that a growing number of Christian parents are coming to this realization as well. Jesus said, “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40) Mike Farris, of Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), put it this way, “Your children will become the disciples of the person with whom they spend the majority of their time and from whom they receive instruction. If they spend the majority of their time with their peers, they will become disciples of their peers. We call it peer pressure. Should we be surprised when a substantial number of children from solid, believing Christian homes reject their parents’ faith and embrace the life styles and philosophy of the people by whom they have been discipled?” [emphasis mine] Parents, not the state, are solely responsible under God for the education their children participate in and learn from. They either take responsibility or relinquish it to someone else; they choose who it is who surrounds their children, who influences their speech, their mannerisms, their worldview, their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The justification I hear so many well-meaning, but misguided, Christian parents use while sending their children off to the lion’s den of public school, is that they want their children to be witnesses for Christ. They trust that their five year old darling or hormonal teen is mature enough in his faith and understanding of Scripture that he can defend the faith and evangelize his classmates without either falling prey to their influence or being sent to detention by the teacher for using language that is banned in the classroom and playground. Usually, the Name of Jesus Christ while not being used as a curse. One must then remind those parents that there is no place in Scripture where God either delegates the responsibility to teach Christian children to the state or where God tells someone to send their children out to evangelize among the pagans. That task is left to mature adult Christians. Now, someone may say, “What about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?” Turning to the Bible we read, “Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility…He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.” (Daniel 1:3 and 4b) [emphasis mine] First, they were captives in a foreign land. They had no choice but to obey the pagans who had captured them…at least, for a while. Secondly, by God’s grace they had come from a godly home and obviously had been “homeschooled” in the Scriptures before their captivity. They were forced by that foreign government to learn the ways of the culture. But, the third detail we find is that their childhood training gave them the godly foundation to stand upon as young men. Because they were trained by their parents who had impressed God’s commands upon their hearts, and because of their faithfulness to God due to that foundation laid by their parents, God was faithful to them and caused the hearts of many to be turned to Himself…including the king. Continued Next Week... Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
Comments
With one exception all my friends' whose children went through the public school system have left the church, and the one's who went to our so-called Christian school left our conservative church to attend liberal ones. But they all think we homeschoolers are the ones who are damaging our children. Looking for Contributors for a Special Needs E-Book!
Posted 12:45 AM, Oct. 7, 2008
We are looking for 10 parents of special needs children who are NOT in this current book to give us their “testimony” in 500 words or less about how having that special child in their home has actually ENRICHED their lives. Why would life not be as good without him/her in their household? We want to know the joy and blessing behind having this wonderful child in the homeschool. The ten who we choose will get a free ebook when finished – that is the only compensation. Fall Special Gift of the Week - Progeny Press
Posted 12:42 AM, Oct. 7, 2008
Click here to subscribe! Tia Linschied Senior Editor of HSB Taming the Chaos ~ The Smallest Hands For the Job
Posted 12:35 AM, Oct. 7, 2008
Before turning to my trusty "right hand" eldest, I ask myself, "Could a younger child do it?" This helps balance things so that the older children see work as a privilege, not a burden. The younger ones likewise feel included and know they are a contributing part of the team! Kitchen Moments ~ Food at the Fair: Cheesecake
Posted 12:29 AM, Oct. 7, 2008
We have been selling cheesecakes at the two local fairs here for about 4 years. We have made many, many different flavors. At last count, I think the amount was up to 20 different flavors! It is something that we both enjoy doing and the recipe is quite easy. I know many people are intimidated by the idea of making their own cheesecake, but it really is simple. Cheesecake
recipe by Adam Dewing 2 lbs cream cheese 1 cup sugar 2 lg eggs, 2 lg egg yolks 2 tsp vanilla 2 Tbs lemon juice 1/4 cup milk For crust: 1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup melted butter 1. Preheat oven to 450. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a bowl. Press down firmly into the bottom of a 10" springform pan.
2. Cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the two eggs one at a time. Separate two eggs and add the yolks into the cream cheese mixture. Add your vanilla, lemon juice and milk. Mix until well incorporated and smooth.
3. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Turn down oven to 350 and bake for 1 hour. Let cool in oven with the oven door open for about 30 - 40 minutes. Allow to cool completely on counter. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve. * If you are desiring to make a different flavored cheesecake than vanilla, here are a few tips. ~ For a chocolate cheesecake, use 1.5 of sugar and 1/2 c cocoa. Do not use lemon juice. ~ For a chocolate crust, add 1/4 of cocoa to your crust. ~For a peanut butter, pumpkin, coconut or whatever flavor you want, add about 1/2 of your flavoring (more or less depending on how concentrated you want the flavor). ~ For coconut, I suggest using organic canned coconut milk and use only the cream. ~ To add another flavored extract, such as almond or maple, add 1 tsp of that extract. The possible combinations of flavors are endless! Think of something and try it!   Our booth at the fair in July.  Cranberry Orange Cheesecake ~ cranberries are mixed into a vanilla/orange cheesecake.  Peanut Butter Cheesecake ~ this is our most popular one! It has a chocolate crust, pb cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, pb butter cream frosting, then pb cups on top! Yum! White Chocolate Almond ~ almond extract and slivered almonds are mixed into a vanilla cheesecake. White chocolate chunks and more slivered almonds are sprinkled on top.  Carmel Apple Streusel ~ chunks of apples are mixed into a vanilla cheesecake. Topped with a streusel topping (put on before baking). Carmel sauce is drizzled over the top.  Chocolate Mocha ~ coffee replaces the milk and mixed into a chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate crust. Topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  Peaches and Cream ~ peach chunks are mixed into a vanilla cheesecake. Topped with fresh peaches and a "peach glaze" (made by reducing peach juice, found in canned peaches). Jennifer Dewing has experience in the restaurant business. She turned in her chef's hat and donned the many hats of a stay-at-home mother 7 years ago. She is now the mother to 5 children, 7 years and under. She home schools her eldest two children. Her husband is a professional chef and in their house, food is a big part of their family. Come visit her at The Days' Dewings Simple Woman's Daybook ~ Oct. 6, 2008
Posted 2:10 PM, Oct. 6, 2008
For Today...Oct. 6, 2008
Outside My Window...the water truck (our water is trucked in) I am thinking...my feet are cold I am thankful for...a good water delivery man From the kitchen...smells of blueberry bagels I am wearing...a denim jumper (I don't care what you think, I like them.) I am creating...a pain in my leg because I'm sitting on it I am going...to start school for the day with my son I am reading...Last of the Mohicans on my PDA, still I am hoping...that it doesn't rain I am hearing...the water truck Around the house...a happy Daddy One of my favorite things...hummingbirds A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...clean the bathroom, finish reading Last of the Mohicans! Here is a picture thought I am sharing...  Several years ago it rained so hard and fast that we had a waterfall coming down behind our house. They are hard to see but both of my sons, one daughter, and our two dogs are in this picture, checking out the waterfall and "river" in the pouring rain.
I hope you enjoyed today's Simple Woman's Daybook! If you would like to join this meme and do your own Daybook, go to The Simple Woman for Guidelines. Note From Gena Suarez
Posted 12:41 AM, Oct. 6, 2008
A new children’s book is coming out soon; Gena was given a contract by another publisher recently. We are looking for a few folks to review the galley and give an endorsement/review. Contact Tia if you are interested. How Would You Like to Review TOS's Latest E-Book?
Posted 6:41 PM, Oct. 3, 2008
TOS has a new E-Book coming out and it's called, The Old Schoolhouse® Homespun Holidays. We need ten bloggers to give an honest review of the book on their blogs. The reviews, or portions of the reviews, may be used on the back cover of the E-Book.
This inspiring and imaginative E-Book contains over 80 pages of fall and winter “favorites” from the staff at TOS, which includes crafts, tips, traditions, games, recipes, poetry, and MORE!
Featured Blogger ~ In Memory of Mamasmurf
Posted 2:29 PM, Oct. 3, 2008
Usually it is fun to write Featured Blogger and introduce you to someone new. This time, it isn't fun but, it is with great joy that I introduce you to a wonderful blogger. Mamasmurf of Moving the Mountain has gone to be with Jesus. It is with loving memory that we have made Chrissy the Featured Blogger this week. Her friends in the UK have also written a post about her going Home. Please keep Rob (Papasmurf), Deiniol (Littlesmurf), and all of Chrissy's family and friends in your prayers. THE CRITICAL THINKING COMPANY ANNOUNCES 50th ANNIVERSARY ESSAY COMPETITION
Posted 1:08 AM, Oct. 3, 2008
Prizes include: College Scholarships and Free Critical Thinking Products. Seaside, California (October 1, 2008) – The Critical Thinking Company, award-winning publisher of complete curriculum and supplemental educational books, software and DVDs for all ages, announces The Critical Thinking Company 50th Anniversary Essay Competition for middle and junior high school students during the 2008-2009 academic year. The essay competition consists of two separate topics each with a limit of 500 words. The first topic challenges students to describe how they benefit in their everyday lives from critical thinking educational materials published by The Critical Thinking Company over the last 50 years. The second topic requires students to imagine how their everyday lives, 50 years from now, will benefit from strong critical thinking skills. Complete details for the competition can be found below. 50th Anniversary Essay Competition Part of The Critical Thinking Company's mission is to inspire a love of thinking while developing important critical thinking skills. Our hope is that the essay competition will inspire and encourage middle school students to continue practicing higher order thinking in high school, college and beyond. The essay competition asks middle school students to write an essay, 500 words or less, in response to one of the following topics: Topic #1 Describe how you benefit today in everyday life due to The Critical Thinking Company educational materials from the last 50 years. Utilize product information, articles, and research material found on the www.criticalthinking.com website, along with personal experience to outline gains from critical thinking materials that are common place in everyday life. Topic #2 Describe, 50 years from now, how your everyday life may benefit from strong critical thinking skills. Utilize product information, articles, and research material found on the www.criticalthinking.com website, along with personal experience and your imagination to explain how your daily life will be better, 50 years from now due to highly-developed reasoning skills. Students may submit two separate essays, each responding to a separate topic, if they so choose. For specific details on entry requirements, see the following sections. Due Dates: The Competition Opens on September 15, 2008 Final Entry Is Due on or Before January 15, 2009 Winners will be notified on or after February 15th, 2009, depending on the number of submissions. Eligibility Any U.S. student enrolled in middle school, junior high school or home school (under the age of 15) in the U.S. or its territories is eligible to enter the competition for cash prizes. Non-U.S. citizens and students in international locations can enter as well, but they are not eligible for cash prizes. Free product and certificates will be awarded to each winner, regardless of citizenship. A teacher, parent or guardian must sponsor each entry. This means that a responsible adult must review and approve the student entry before it is submitted to The Critical Thinking Company. The adult should also affirm that the student did the research and writing themselves. Submission Requirements Note: Student submissions shall be treated as being free of restrictions and limitations on their use, reproduction and publication. Title page listing: Should list essay topic, student's name, school's name, teacher's name, complete mailing address of school, type of school (private, public or home school), grade level (6, 7, 8 or 9), and complete email and phone contact information for student and teacher. All papers must be submitted digitally as MS Word or Adobe PDF documents. Hard copies will be accepted but not preferred. Individual entries: No more than 500 words, typed, double-spaced, 12-pt. font, one-side only, will be accepted. The 500 word limit requirement excludes title page. Digital copies of file-size 5 megabytes or less should be sent via e-mail attachment to ideas@criticalthinking.com. Subject line: The Critical Thinking Company 50th Anniversary Essay Competition Please copy the information from your title page into the e-mail message. E-mail Submission Example: To: ideas@criticalthinking.com From: Name of sender Subject line: The Critical Thinking Co. 50th Anniversary Essay Competition Attached: Your essay attached as .doc or .PDF only Body of message: Copy and paste your title page information into the body of the e-mail. Do not put the essay itself into the body of the e-mail. For hard copies, please mail your entry to arrive no later than the due date to: The Critical Thinking Company 50th Anniversary Essay Competition PO BOX 1610 Seaside, C.A. 93955-1610 Criteria for Evaluation Each essay will be judged on its own merit by a group of educators and other expert representatives. Award-level entries must be well written, thorough and concise. Entries will be judged on how well students have focused their essay, and how well they have addressed four basic criteria: Informed Content*, Creativity and Imagination, Captivating and Inspirational, and Writing Technique. Scores will be determined using the following guideline: Informed Content*, 30 points. Creativity and Imagination, 30 points. Essay is captivating and inspirational, 20 points. Organization and grammar of the essay, 20 points. *Informed content means that the students have educated themselves about the products and the meaning of critical thinking, and the use of examples and product information are accurate. ESSAY COMPETITION AWARDS NOTE: ONLY U.S. CITIZENS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CASH PRIZES Each student that enters will receive a Participation Certificate from The Critical Thinking Company. ELIGIBLE entries that receive the highest overall scores will receive certificates, product and scholarships. The dollar amounts of prizes are subject to available funds. We expect to be able to make the following awards to the ELIGIBLE middle and junior high school winners: First prize: $500 college scholarship and $100 in free product. Second prize: $300 college scholarship and $200 in free product. Third prize: $100 in free product. Each student that enters will receive a Participation Certificate. ### CONTACT INFO: Nile Duppstadt - V.P. of Sales & Marketing 800-458-4849 x 109 niled@criticalthinking.com Tim Sitar - Product and Assessment Specialist 800-458-4849 x 111 tims@criticalthinking.com WEBSITE: www.criticalthinking.com EMAIL: info@CriticalThinking.com PHONE: 800-458-4849 About The Critical Thinking Company Since 1958, The Critical Thinking Company has been a recognized leader in teaching critical thinking skills. The company offers fun, easy-to-use products that develop a wide-range of thinking skills and improve standards-based learning in reading, writing, math, science, and history. The company's award-winning books and software empower students with the problem-solving skills needed for success in school and in life. The Critical Thinking Company supplies educational materials to Sylvan Learning Centers, Club Z In-Home Tutoring, leading U.S. public high schools, and gifted & talented programs throughout the world. The Critical Thinking Company guarantees better grades and higher test scores, or your money back. The Critical Thinking Co. logos are trademarked or registered trademarks of The Critical Thinking Co. Copyright © 2008 The Critical Thinking Co. All Rights Reserved. Communication Corner ~ Free Online Event You Won't Want to Miss: Nov 6th!
Posted 11:24 PM, Oct. 1, 2008
Art of Eloquence is going to be 6 years old in November!
To celebrate we are having an online party and YOU'RE INVITED!
In addition, we are giving away 6 prize packages worth over $200 each during our Annual Online Birthday Bash show on Grace Talk Soup! Mark your calendar for all the fun! YOU'RE INVITED!
What: Birthday Bash Celebration Where: Grace Talk Soup! When: November 6th from 8am-11am PST Admission: FREE! Events: Three hours of seminars, workshops and contests where you could win prizes! * Seminar: What's Learning Skills got to do with Communication anyway?
* Where's FIMM Scavenger Hunt
* Name That Sound Contest for the kids!
* Email Communication Workshop
* Finale and announcement of our 6 Birthday Bash Prize Package Winners!
Homeschooling Through High School ~ Look to the Inward or Outward Appearance?
Posted 11:13 PM, Oct. 1, 2008
It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to write. Tia has been so patient with me during this time. Who knew that falling off my horse and dislocating and fracturing my shoulder was going to be such an ordeal. Thanks for your patience. I’m so glad to be getting back into the groove of things. That includes schooling my own children who remain at home. My 15 year old son is a sophomore in high school this year and my 10 year old is in the 5th grade. As I’ve mentioned before, time always seems to be marching by at a quicker pace the older the children get and working with my last two boys is no exception. Once again, I have been tempted to feel the tension of what “They” say we MUST accomplish, and what I feel like God has placed on the hearts of my husband and myself. It’s a constant tug of war. I wish I could say it has gotten easier over the years and maybe in some ways it has. It is definitely easier to make the final decision to go with the direction God has placed on our hearts, but the tug remains there always. I wish that I had an easy answer that would make that tug go away, but I don’t and so, probably like yourself, I continue to spend time in prayer asking God for the strength and clarity to follow the path that HE has for our family and not to be swayed by “public opinion.” Recently, I signed up for a group that helps each other by answering questions online regarding homeschooling through high school. To be honest, I’ve had to quit reading the majority of those posts because so much of it focuses on outward performance and very little focuses on inward qualities. I know the purpose of the group is probably to really help those who have curriculum questions or college questions. However, my tendency is to be sucked into that and to become a basket case of worry and concern over what we have NOT accomplished yet. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I wish we could be more focused on developing our children’s character and spiritual lives than just focused on how well they do on standardized tests and college entrance exams. Please don’t misunderstand me. I do believe that preparing our children academically is our responsibility. It just seems that we feel that responsibility so much more heavily than we do developing our children’s walk with God and strengthening their character. This year, we really had to take stock of where we were lacking in preparing our children with a Biblical foundation and make choices with regard to curriculum, schedule and more, based on the priority of filling in those gaps. Time is limited for us to help build that foundation in their lives. I want to use that time wisely and in the way that God would have me use it. Lest you think that I am NEVER going to talk about the academic concerns of those who homeschool highschool students, rest assured that next week I am going to focus on more “academic” concerns. But like usual, I think I will start with something a bit more unusual….fine arts education. (grin) I look forward to hearing from many of you again, now that I can type and communicate. I’d almost forgotten how much fun this was. Faith and Courage, Lori Lane Lori is married to the love of her life John and together they have four sons ranging in age from 23 down to 10. She is the author of “Beginning With The End In Mind”, a frequent speaker on home education, family and the arts, as well as serving as the Executive Director of The Artios Academies. (www.artiosacademies.com) You can see some of the pictures of their home in the central Colorado Rockies by visiting Lori’s website at www.theendinmind.net where you will receive encouragement for the journey.Home Where They Belong ~ The State of Education: Education vs. Schooling
Posted 12:41 AM, Oct. 1, 2008
Hey Everyone, While reading about Rhee’s efforts, I got to thinking about just how far public schools could be improved. I have no doubt that, given the right people, teaching methods and materials, schools could offer students superior instruction in many subjects, especially math and science. They could make sure students knew the major events of history, read the influential tomes of literature, wrote grammatically correct sentences, and spoke foreign languages. It could, conceivably, happen, if the planets lined up just right. But it would still be all wrong -- because state schools will never be able to educate. They will only be able to school. Education involves entwining wisdom and discernment with knowledge. It means making judgments about knowledge. Education requires learners to ask why, not just what and how. And when they answer the question why, it requires them to ask, “In light of why, what now?” Education involves time to ponder. It involves searching and wandering (and wondering) -- and conversation, too – with wiser individuals than ourselves. It involves relationships – with real people, the real world, real books, and above all, with oneself. It involves imagination and creativity, both cooperative and lone. Education is the development of human beings who will impact the lives of hundreds, thousands, millions of other human beings. Schooling is entirely inadequate to the task. The state is entirely inadequate. No amount of accumulated knowledge will prevent a child from growing up to become a Hitler or a Stalin or a Mao or a Castro. No amount of accumulated knowledge will cause a child to grow up to be an Albert Schweitzer or a Mother Teresa. Only education – that process that explores the meaning and application of knowledge, that discipline that yearns to understand and not just to know, that practice that looks for the wisest and best from human history and seeks to apply their judgment – only education will equip children to become whole and healthy adults. To expect education from the state is to ask for the impossible. Whose agenda would win the day? Whose definitions would rule the curriculum? Whose judgment would inform the outcomes? Who would cede power and who would gain? We are common in our humanity but not in our ideas. In educating ourselves and our children we work out how we will live together, where we will compromise, where we will not. We do not pretend that all men can be forced to think alike, to hold the same beliefs or values. We face reality and we apply ourselves to dealing with it. Rather than use the power of the state to bend others to our will, we listen and we talk, we try to persuade and we make concessions. This imperfect, unavoidable, and ultimately wiser system is incompatible with the aims and possibilities of state schooling – in any country and at any time in history. Education by the state requires uniformity, measurability, controllability and absolute submission. Everyone must read the same books, learn the same things, draw essentially the same conclusions. How can wisdom grow in a population of people who all share a limited amount of identical, easily tested knowledge? True education is not a straight path. It is a crooked and delightful and frustrating and fruitful trail where the learner must sometimes stop to observe and must sometimes run to catch up. Sometimes he must concede to the better judgment of a fellow traveler and sometimes he must strain to convince a companion of error. He must make mistakes and learn from the mistakes of others, but he must be free to judge a thought or action right or wrong. Sometimes he must grunt and groan up long mountains and take whatever time it takes to reach the top, even as others pass him. Sometimes he must cling to another hiker and sometimes lend a hand. And sometimes, the learners on education’s path must part ways or give one another wide berth. There are those who long for a world of tin soldiers – all alike, all orderly and easily manageable, all standing at attention and ready to be moved at the will of the ruling classes. For these people, state schooling will always be the ultimate temptation – the way to force conformity and submission. But for those of us who long for education, for knowledge that leads to a deeper understanding of ourselves and our neighbors and the meaning of life, to greater possibilities for peace and harmony, for liberty for the oppressed and hope for the downtrodden, state schooling will never do. We must choose – schooling by the state or education without it. Will we embrace our own minds, our own children, our own future? Or will we continue to feed the machine of state schooling and hope for minimal damage to our children and society? It is not a mass choice but an individual one. Each of us must decide and act. Tammy Drennan homeschooled her sons from 1985 through 2003. She now works as a writer and tutor and maintains several web sites and blogs, including www.educationconversation.wordpress.com and www.homeschoolstarter.com
Comments
What a good definition of education.
Your message itself is profound evidence of the narrow spectrum of thought within the homeschooling community. One wonders if this thought is imparted to your own children so that is becomes a legacy of condemnation of one of the most valuable institutions of any society. Although I do teach my own children, I am constantly placed in a position of explaining why many homeschoolers have this opinion and attitude. You and I are blessed to have the ability to teach. However I praise God that we do have a system that educates all children! What would become of the children who were born to parents who were not blessed with intelligence? What about the ones who have physical disabilities? What about the ones living in the cycle of poverty and misfortune who don't possess the emotional fortitude to take on such a task. How about the parents who have extended family who are infirm and must be cared for? How about the single mother who is a "widow" (for better condideration here) and must work to feed her children? There is a multitude of other circumstances that would prohibit homeschooling. It is a gift to be able to homeschool, so why not accept it for what it is and if, even though you are not part of the public school system, why not attempt to do something so make it better instead of constantly condemning it? Does condemnation change anything? No; it only aggrandizes one's self to condemn one entity and say, "mine is better." Is the thought that if everyone homeschooled, many of society's problems would be solved? We must acknowledge that the discoveries that have given the world a better quality of life were not made in a homeschool environment. The medical procedures and drugs that save our lives and the lives of our children were researched in primarily, yes, public institutions. The industrial development and even the defense inititiatives that keep us physically safe from evil happens in "public schools". I respect that you homeschool and that you have a commitment to making the world a better place for your own family. But I pray that you don't continue to discount those children less fortunate than yours as receiving inferior education because they attend public schools. Public schools are a gift from God and perhaps you will realize that when you or someone in your family is looking up at an anesthesiologist, or a surgeon about to open your gut. You can be assured that 99.99% of the time, that person will NOT be a homeschooler. (Two comments were removed at this point as they were not pertinent to the topic.)
First, thank you to ~C for your very true comments. We need to face the realities, as you remind us.
I find it interesting that the eloquent comment posted by the anonymous homeschooling mother started no open dialog, didn;t even receive one comment, but the hello from the little girl warranted a personal response from Gina herself.
I'm glad you stopped by. While you were writing your comment, Tammy was writing hers and posted it before you were able to post yours. 
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