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Grace Academy is sponsoring this issue of our newsletter.
An accompanying, separate e-mail is being sent with this
newsletter entitled "New Homeschool Solution . . ."
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The Teaching Home
E-MAIL NEWSLETTER
Information, Inspiration, and Encouragement
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Volume II, Number 12
Aug. 22, 2002
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Table of Contents
Back-to-HOME-School Checklist (Part 1 of 4)
1. Reaffirm Your Decision to Home School
2. Determine Goals for Your Children
3. Make Legal Arrangements
4. Establish Child Training, Discipline
Useful Links
Sunny Side Up (Humorous Anecdote)
Greetings!
Where did summer go? We enjoy taking a family walk
together (visiting with each other along the way) in the cool
of the evening and have noticed that the days are already
getting shorter.
We hope that you will enjoy God's wonderful outdoors
with your family during these last few weeks of summer!
You can get a head-start on your school year by spending
a little time now to prepare and plan. We hope that our
four-part Back-to-HOME-School Checklist will help you
do just that.
Sincerely,
Pat, Sue, Heather, Holly, and Brian Welch
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Your magazine is not a one-time read-through
for me. Even after several years of filing them, on
numerous occasions I have retrieved articles to
reread, sometimes to search for ideas and at other
times to gain a fresh perspective. What a helpful
resource, even years later!
-- Louise L., Saskatchewan, Canada
The Teaching Home Back Issues
The Teaching Home Back Issues never go out of date.
They are timeless classics, always applicable to your
needs today.
Easy & Secure Ordering!
51 Back Issues Available Individually or in Sets.
Each Issue Is Pictured and All Articles Are Listed.
Search for Topics Two Ways.
Make your teaching easier, more fun, and more enriching
by reading through The Teaching Home Back Issues.
http://TheTeachingHomen.goemerchant7.com
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Back-to-HOME-School Checklist
Part 1 of 4 by Cindy Short and Sue Welch, editors
Preparing for back-to-HOME-school involves much more
than simply buying school clothes and supplies.
Knowing why you are teaching your children at home will
provide the conviction, confidence, and commitment that you
will need to persevere during ups and downs.
Setting goals for your family will give purpose and
direction, as well as encouragement as you see your children
grow in all areas of their lives.
1. Reaffirm Your Decision to Home School
Your decision to home school should be based on your
determination of God's will for your family. This
conviction will motivate all else you do.
Seek the Lord through His Word and pray for His
promised wisdom, guidance, and strength. Then agree as
husband and wife on this important decision.
When my husband and I have had to answer the
"Why home school?" question, the answer has been
quite simple: God put the conviction to home school
so deeply in our hearts that to do anything else would
be inconceivable.
We see home schooling much the same as we see
our marriage commitment. It is not based on how
good we are at it or how happy it makes us. It is
simply a commitment to obey the convictions God has
placed in our hearts. If our conviction had come from
some outside source, it could not keep us going in the
hard times. -- Patricia D., California
Consider the following reasons to home school (just a
few of many). Then write yours in your own words; your list
will be a rudder to keep you on course.
Spiritual Training
Consider your responsibility for your children before
God; He commands you as parents to teach your children
His Word, the most important thing they will learn.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.
These words, which I am commanding you today,
shall be on your heart.
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house
and when you walk by the way
and when you rise up. -- Deuteronomy 6:4-7
At home you can present all academic subjects from a
biblical perspective and include spiritual training to give
your children a true Christian worldview in all areas of
life.
Family & Social Interaction
The home-school family can experience unity, closeness,
and mutual enjoyment of one another as they spend time
working together. Flexible scheduling can accommodate
parents' work and vacation times and allow time for
many activities.
Social skills can be taught and practiced under the
guidance of parents in groups of friends, families, and your
local church.
Home schooling has been a great blessing to us.
When God calls you to something and you are
obedient, the blessings are indescribable. That is
why I sometimes find it difficult to express my
feelings to people when they ask how it’s going.
The joy and closeness we have discovered as a
home-school family are things that you have to
experience to understand.
I am so thankful to God that we have a choice.
And I am so thankful that His choice for our family
is to learn at home. -- Debbie S., Texas
Academic Welfare
Educationally, the one-to-one tutorial method has
always been a superior teaching method and has many
advantages over a classroom where one teacher tries to
meet the needs of many children at different learning levels.
Because you know your children better than anyone else
and have the deepest love and concern for them, each of
your children can receive individual attention and have his
unique needs met.
Children develop confidence and independent thinking
away from the peer pressure to conform and in the security
of their own home. They also have time to explore new
interests and to think.
Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education
Research Institute, reports that 20 years of research shows
home educated students typically score 15 to 30 points above
public-school students on standardized achievement tests.
We home schoolers simply need to remember
why we decided to teach our children in the first
place.
I wanted to broaden our children’s horizons
and do more in-depth study with field trips that
public schools usually can’t afford. I wanted them
to learn every subject from a biblical perspective,
to make God a real part of every aspect of their
lives, not just in Sunday school and at family
prayer.
Through our years of home schooling and using
Christian curriculum, we are training children
who have great Christian character and values.
-- Name Withheld by request
For More Information
Reports on home education research plus many
print, audio, and video productions ranging from basic
bottom-line fact sheets about homeschooling to more
technically sophisticated academic reports.
http://www.nheri.org
Character Development
Home schooling makes quality time available to
train children in all areas in an integrated way apart
from harmful influences outside the home.
Home schooling started out to be about
academics, but has turned out to be academics
plus character, strong family relationships, and
loving the Lord with all our hearts, minds, and
souls. -- Luella B., Maryland
(continued)
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Compassion International
Teach your children about geography, writing, culture,
and honoring God. See our website below to learn more
about sponsoring a child through Compassion. You can
view photos of children who are waiting for a sponsor
and begin your sponsorship today.
http://www.Compassion.com/sponsor/index.asp?referer=46784TeachingHome
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Back-to-HOME-School Checklist (continued)
2. Determine Goals for Your Children.
Taking time to think and pray about what you want to
accomplish will give direction to your efforts and allow
your children to achieve excellence in both education and
character.
Write out, or review, your long-range goals and
philosophy (fundamental convictions) for your children's
education and training. Include Bible verses and plan for
both academic subjects and nonacademic areas such as
character and life skills.
Pray, study Scriptures, and discuss with your family
what God wants for each person in each area of life:
spiritual and moral, academic, social, practical life
skills, and physical.
Break down goals into objectives to be reached each
year, quarter, month, or week, leaving details to be planned
close to the time for implementation.
For More Information
1. Read "Setting Goals for Excellence" This online article
tells you how to set and reach goals in several areas.
http://www.teachinghome.com/started/basics/basics.cfm
2. Order the May/June 1997 Back Issue with a 12-page
Special Section on "Our Home-School Goals" at
TTH Store: Special Section on "Our Home-School Goals"
3. Make Legal Arrangements.
Make arrangements to comply with the law according to
your conscience and recommendations of state organizations
and/or Home School Legal Defense Association.
Contact your state home-school organization to learn
about your state's laws governing home education, how they
are being interpreted, and how to comply.
For legal defense and assistance, contact Home School
Legal Defense Association. To qualify for membership, apply
before you are contacted by any authorities regarding school
attendance laws.
It is important to obtain a copy of your state's law
pertaining to home education. Many problems can be avoided
by being accurately informed and by using tact and respect
in dealing with school authorities. HSLDA offers a free
summary and analysis of your state's home-school law on
their website.
For More Information
1. See a list of State Organizations with links to their
websites at
http://www.teachinghome.com/states/results.cfm?state=all
2. Find information on your state's home-school law at
http://www.hslda.org/orgs/default.asp
3. Discover 10 Reasons to Join HSLDA at
http://www.hslda.org/join/10reasons.asp
(continued)
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Cobblestone Magazine
Combines well-written, factual articles with historic
images, primary documents, maps, creative illustrations,
time lines, and activities that bring American history
alive for readers ages 9 to 14. $29.95 / year (USA);
back issues $4.95 each.
http://www.cobblestonepub.com/pages/cobbmain.htm
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Back-to-HOME-School Checklist (continued)
4. Establish Child Training, Discipline,
and Good Habits.
A child who has been properly trained and disciplined
will respect his parents and respond to their teaching.
Parents who do not have their children's respect will
have trouble getting their cooperation. Gaining their
respect through proper relationships, discipline, training,
and example should be the parents' top priority, whether or
not they are home schooling. Home schooling can provide the
incentive and optimum setting to accomplish this.
Parents must consistently require children to behave
according to established standards. Affirmation should
follow obedience and cooperation; negative consequences are
appropriate when a child disobeys or rebels.
Regular habits can minimize stress, save time, and
provide other benefits. These would include grooming and
health; courteous behavior and speech (especially within
the family!); following a daily schedule; concentration on
studies; and initiative and thoroughness in chores.
Get a head start on your school year by establishing
these nonacademic portions of your program now, several
weeks before academic studies begin.
After a more relaxed summer schedule, you may need to
re-establish regular bedtimes, chores, and daily family
devotions with God's Word.
For More Information
1. Read "Child Training." This online article discusses
training objectives and the training process.
http://www.teachinghome.com/started/basics/training.cfm
2. Order the Nov./Dec. 1999 Back Issue with a 13- page
Special Section on "Family Relationships" at
TTH Store: Special Section on "Family Relationships"
I just finished reading the Nov./Dec. 1999 issue
of The Teaching Home, and it was an answer to
prayer! Thank you for this issue on Family
Relationships. It encouraged me in areas that
I already knew I wanted to implement.
The most important area, however, was the
specific outline of ideas and Bible verses that I
actually carry out straight from the page.
The articles gave me the biblical plan for our
children’s relationships that I have been searching
for. I plan to use the included Bible verses for our
memory work, the ideas behind them for our
devotions, and then follow up by admonishment
with the verses when needed. -- Karen B., Virginia
3. "What the Bible Says about Child Training" is an
excellent book by J. Richard Fugate. Also available
are a video set, an audio set, and Spanish translation.
For ordering information and excerpts see
http://www.rfugate.org/bookstor.htm#What
4. Biblical solutions to family problems are offered by
Dr. S.M. Davis through 70 videos and 82 audio tapes.
http://www.SolveFamilyProblems.com
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The Grace Academy
Has been called the best of Christian school, private
tutoring and home-schooling. Powerful tools, wise
expertise and gentle assistance that will enable you to
give your child a quality education. Find out more at
http://www.thegraceacademy.org
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Useful Links
Best Women's Site
Vision Forum Ministries has announced its choice for
the Best Webite of 2002. Designed by Mrs. Jennie Chancey,
LadiesAgainstFeminism.org provides the thoughtful reader
with a remarkable collection of articles and reviews on
issues of concern to women who are committed to biblical
womanhood.
http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.org/
The U.N. Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Read about the ramifications of this treaty and what
you can do to oppose it.
http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0021811.html
(You are invited to submit useful, noncommercial links.)
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Thank you for offering a download on the "Questions
& Answers Concerning Home Schooling."
I just finished talking to someone considering home
schooling her children, and she is so full of anxiety. I was
sitting here wishing I had a copy of your Q & A to give her.
I decided I'd go to your website and order a copy and was
delighted to see I could download one right away! I really
felt God wanted me to send this young lady some
encouragement, and in all my 13 years of home schooling,
I haven't come across anything that does just that so well
as your article. Thank you again. -- Pam Streeter.
Support Group Leaders,
We Can Help You Help New Home-School Families
http://www.TeachingHome.com/groups/resources/conv-helps.cfm
For Starter Packets: Home-School Basics
January/February 2001 "Home-School Basics" issue.
Excellent for new home-school families.
Box of 100/$35 plus shipping.
For Inquirers: Q&A Reprint
2-page format. Answers most commonly asked
questions concerning home schooling. Free.
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Sunny Side Up: Chapter & Verse?
When our son Daniel was 3, we taught him a short
Scripture verse for each letter of the alphabet. He was
learning the third verse, so I prompted him, "C . . ."
No response.
I continued, "Children . . ."
His face brightened with recognition. "Children, pick up
your toys," he replied confidently. -- Chris E., Mississippi
(You are invited to submit a humorous anecdote.)
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God Loves You.
Because we were separated from God by sin, Jesus Christ
died in our place, then rose to life again. If we trust Jesus
Christ as our Savior and Lord, He will give us eternal life.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a
result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
http://www.TeachingHome.com/about/salvation.cfm
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The Teaching Home is a home-school family business
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