Life In God's Classroom

• Oct. 26, 2008 - Lessons are fun

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• Aug. 13, 2008 - A WHOLE WAY OF LIFE

A Whole Way of Life
By: Michael Pearl

The number of homeschoolers is rapidly increasing. Home-schooling is not just an alternative educational procedure; it is one of many expressions of a whole way of life.

It is the result of loving parents putting on the brakes and saying, “No” to this stampeding system of child-trampling New Agers. Our families will not be devoured and digested, becoming part of the feces of this carnivorous monster called public education, generated by the twisted minds of the morally ill.

As homeschooling parents, you have taken charge of your life to give God his rightful place in training your children. To teach biology in an environment that denies the Author of life is like eating an egg and denying the chicken. Such a process is stupefying—degrading to the intellect. To teach history apart from God is to praise the sculpture and deny the sculptor. To learn science and mathematics apart from the omnipotent God is to throw out the computer and do your computations with a roulette wheel. To teach children to read and then outlaw the reading of the only book written by the God called the Word is like giving a blind man sight and then outlawing seeing.

The public school expelled God from the class room, but when the immorality became a threat to personal satisfaction, as well as personal safety, they started talking about values. They will not get their values back any more than a man will get peaches from a tree he cut up for firewood.

We are not rebels; quite the opposite; we are just the minority who refuse to join a rebellion against God and the truth. We are taking our children to the tree of life growing beside the fountain of knowledge to be refreshed by the Author of life. We will not stoop for anything less. We will not compromise. We will not allow state testing to dictate our curriculum. They have made their position on God and morality clear. We are making our position clear. We will not attend their party, dance to their tune, or employ their fiddler.

http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/1996/september/01/a-whole-way-of-life/

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• Aug. 5, 2008 - Homeschool-ramblings

I am finding myself to be excited about our homeschooling adventure this year. There is always a degree of excitement each year, but I am usually much more nervous.

Normally, I spend a great deal of time thinking about all of the things that we are “supposed” to accomplish this year and worrying that I won’t be able to teach Isaiah well enough. I know that home-schooling is supposed to be different, child- led, less stress and even fun, but trying to figure out how to teach the important (and sometimes hated) subjects while not burdening my son with a public school mentality just makes me feel that much more pressure! …..I know, I’m hopeless.

I really want to make learning REAL and enjoy our day together. I also want to know that I am not causing (or allowing) my son to be lazy.

I think there are two main reasons for my fears; one is the thought of state interference. I don’t want some education “official” to test my son and decide that he is behind school standards. The second is my own experience of home-schooling.

I never attended a public school and have no personal experience with the system. While I was technically homeschooled, there was very little teaching done. Usually, I took my books somewhere and either tried to figure it out or read through it as fast as I could. There were no tests or hands on tools. As a result, I found myself feeling quite ignorant of a lot of things when with public school peers.

So, why is this year any different? One reason is that we are living in a home-school friendly county. This has relieved much of my worry.

The second is that I have been spending time reading the blogs and tips of other home-school moms! I don’t feel alone or completely inadequate. I have been finding new ideas and have been encouraged to know that I am not the only one who worries about these things.

We have made science an all summer long explore. We have had great fun learning about our local wildlife and environment. By the time we pick up our Abeka science book, Isaiah will be able to answer the first half of the books questions from physical experience!

I know that Isaiah is a brilliant boy, with a passion for exploring and learning. I also know that he is far ahead of public school standards on several subjects. The key is reaching his imagination.

I still don’t look forward to math and cursive writing but I am hopeful that we may still find a way to make it more enjoyable.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world - Albert Einstein

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