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By Mimi Rothschild, Founder of Learning By Grace, Inc., the nation’s leading provider of online Christian programs for homeschoolers.

It is the first day of the new homeschool year. The homeschooling parent studies the faces before her. How shall she guides these children who look to her to open the way of life to them? Her eagerness to help them, her Christian purposes, her knowledge of the Bible necessary as they are are not enough for all that must be done. Children have basic needs. Children need to know that God invites them to enter into a deep personal relationship with him. They need to understand that through repentance and trust naming claim God’s forgiveness and help because he is promised these. Just when the child’s realization of his need for God will come the teacher cannot know. His confidence must rest upon his knowledge that God is the initiator, but his spirit is already seeking after each member of the homeschool group, continually active, continually present in human life.

God, in winning the children for Christ’s. So the homeschooling teacher counts herself a humble coworker with God in winning her children were cries. In order to be effective in soul winning, the homeschooling parent must know these children if she is to win their confidence in each one to become the best that he or she can be. As Emmett A. that’s says, we must learn our children before we can teach them. This is double the true leaders value individual personality and refuse to accept an assembly line ideal as their goal for children’s progress towards Christ likeness of the homeschooling teacher must learn to know her children by every means at her command. She must know what they are like, how they learn and what can be expected of them individually. She must discover their strong points, while not overlooking their weak ones. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways by which an adult leader may be calm, acquainted with her homeschooled children.

Undoubtedly, the people who know the children best, are his parents. Not only has the mother given birth to him, but she has lived with him in closest in Tennessee for all of his life. The parent knows the state of the child’s health, is present stage and rate of growth, what era tapes or embarrasses him, whether or not he reads easily, who are his friends, and if he is over six, but his academic achievements are thus far. The importance of this information is obvious to every homeschooling parent.

Other issues that a homeschooling parent should consider when teaching her children are things like how many and what sort of adults. Does he have to adjust. Is the child lost among many brothers and sisters? Is he a pampered only child or an overburdened oldest child? Is he the only boy among many sisters? Is she the only girl among many brothers? What is his relationship to his siblings like, whether his responses and reactions to others in the family? All these matters are important if the homeschooling parent is to help the individual child to grow

Every homeschooling teacher has a purpose. His or her purpose may be stated in many ways, but however they differ, the goals of Christian homeschooling are almost always centered around bringing our children to a closer relationship with the Lord and a better understanding of His creation. Teachers will be found to have one desire and one goal in common. Each desires to see the children in his or her care developed into a loyal, affected Christians, and each purpose is to guide their child through his throws in that direction. How that dieting will be done, what materials and methods will be used, depends on the wisdom, experience and knowledge of the child nature which the individual homeschooling teacher learns.

Homeschooling programs should have both long-term and short-term goals. The thoughtful homeschooling parent always keeps in mind that Christlike character is one of the primary purposes of the program. Most parents know that Christlike character does not come all at once, but that it is always a matter of slow growth. Homeschooling parents want children in their programs to be interested, engaged and happy while they are learning and growing.

All this means that the homeschooling teachers concerned not only with the kind of man that Terri will be calm, but with what is happening to Terri now. Bus, his purpose includes both a long-term goal of building a Christlike character, and the immediate objective, which may be to beat Kerry to share his new football with the boy next door. The teacher keeps in mind the ultimate goal, which is to help Terri become a Christian citizen will act and react in his homeschool, and in his church, in his community as one who is truly a believer. Parents also want their children to meet the tests of life now, on his present level of development. So sometimes the near and far goldens merge and become one. There are many experiences and opportunities which are homeschooling children need now. With the ultimate goal in mind, the homeschooling teacher plans for her children so that each experience, each opportunity is a step towards that goal. Children need to know that what Jesus said about worshiping God in spirit and in truth, and to discover what this means for a 10-year-old 15 and even a three year old. You must find ways of helping his brother, which will not humiliate him what make it difficult for him to help himself. He must learn the difference between giving and sharing. Through such experiences our homeschool students can grow in sympathy and in understanding.

In all of our planning for our children’s educational christian homeschool programs, we must use our utmost wisdom, and all the knowledge we can gain about the nature and needs of our children. We must strive to give the children many successful experiences in Christian living. Of course, we also realize that none of us grow steadily toward perfection. We all stumble at times and fall: Nice skin and then we need to repent and ask forgiveness which God grants us freely through Christ. It is at such times that we need the guidance of loving and understanding parents and friends, especially while we are still image were in our attempts to live as followers of Christ. The homeschooling parent may sometimes feel inadequate, but we can always remember that we are workers for God and that God’s grace will supply all of our human needs.

Using multimedia in your homeschooling program.

Many homeschoolers are beginning to think about how to create an educational program for their children that meets the needs of the students that we currently have, not the students that we used to have, nor the students ee wished we had. Homeschooling programs should adapt to today’s student, not them adapting to us. Homeschoolers should begin to think about how to adapt their world to today’s 21st-century. It is not wise to teach the sam,e exact way we have taught for the past 200 years anymore. It is important to change ourselves to adapt to their world

Today’s student who was born between 1982 and 2001 are the first people of the networked generation. They are hyper communicators, and when they are doing their schoolwork, they do not necessarily lose their desire to be in instant communication with everyone. Students are writing more blogs in short text messages than ever before. They are videotaping their lives. Do students even read lengthily documents anymore? I do not believe so. I believe that the rapid firing messages that our students are bombarded with on a daily basis have actually rewired the brain. Today’s students has grown up in a very visual environment, and they love it.

Is your love a listening love?
Edited by Mimi Rothschild, CEO, Learning By Grace, Inc. the leading provider of online Christian educational programs for PreK-12 Homeschoolers.

One of the cardinal principles which we must learn to follow if we expect to maintain and warmth of contact with our children is that when the child shares his problems with us, we must not treated lightly. Regardless of how trivial the matter here’s to the parent, it ought to be of real concern if it is bothering the child. To shrug one’s parental shoulders and insist that this is no problem at all is the quickest and most effective way of saying to your child that we really do not understand or care much about what he has on his mind. It is one way of making sure that the child will not come to the parent the next time he is confronted with a problem. On the other hand, by looking the child in the eye and listening attentively to him while he is telling his story, even if this means stopping in the middle of a task that we had thought was urgent taking him seriously.

Let’s remember, when our sons and daughters want to talk, let them! There is the rather natural adult tendency to interrupt the child with advice giving, suggestions, reminders of what he ought and ought not to have done. The sound of their own voices is sweet to most parents. This course of action may make the parents feel good by inflating his ego and making it possible for him to play the role of a superior, of one who knows all the answers and whose wisdom the child ought to listen. This, however, does not help the child in getting his problem out in the open, in the presence of an understanding, this thing, excepting parent. To interrupt with why in the world did you do that? Or, you ought to know better! Now you listen to me! Simply shuts the child up in ruins the confidential relationship, which might have developed.

When we write of the inadvisability of lecturing a child when he wants to talk to the parent, we can do so with conviction! Recently recently, my nephew was trying to confess in misdemeanor with a desperate hope that his father would understand. In the midst of the sons pouring out his rather surprising and exciting story, the father could not resist the temptation to lecture. When he finished, the sons only reply was, “Yes sir, boss!” He never finished his story. This spoke volumes to the father who is now much more careful about dispensing his lectures and who works hard not being shocked if anything is child wants to share. Often our sons and daughters come to us in the first place because they feel guilty and unworthy: they have not come to listen to shocked and upset parents deliver a diatribe which underscores their feeling of guilt.

Have you noticed that in areas where there is heavy and confusing traffic, there is often a safety zone provided to protect the pedestrian? Just so, children need safety zones when the pressures of their emotions become bewildering. The chance to verbally blow off steam to a listening parent if they needed safety zone when the youngster is confronted with a complex accompanying the process of growing up.

When the child is faced with a baffling situation, nothing is quite as therapeutic as having the opportunity to talk his problem out with someone who is ready to be the latest in. Even when there is no particular problem to be solved, big youngster needs an interested list there who doesn’t mind halting what he is doing long enough to hear the detailed description of what happened at school today or if a new friend at Sunday school. Parents need to take this time to say to the child, “I am interested in what you are doing. You are important to me. I’m glad to share your feelings.”

It does sometimes take pleading with oneself to accept a child’s emotions when he is expressing them verbally, but it pays off big dividends in the child’s best emotional development. All of us of our children. Is yours a listening love?

“When will I be big enough to go to college like all these boys?” This used to be the favorite question of our seven year old as the father and son walked together through the campus of the University or the father was employed. Although he was thinking of “big” from the standpoint of chronological age, his questions got us thinking about the questions which many homeschooling parents ponder at times. When will my child, be prepared for making his own contribution to the larger society of which he is a part? When will he be mature enough to make his own choices and decisions? Will he develop the degree of self reliance and independence, which all successful adults require?

The problem of the child’s readiness for taking his or her place in the adult world, when that day comes, is pushed into the distant future, as parents untangle their homeschool children from the immediate problems of the day. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” They gasp, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Actually, these parents are crossing now, the bridge of the child’s adjustment in later years. What that far off day holds is being determined now by the way parents help the child learn to adjust day, by the maturity parents help them to achieve with the passing years, by the attitudes which he is developing day by day.

Maturity is a possession which none of us can dispel upon our children: the most that we can do is provide them with the experience is and relationships which will enable them to claim this precious possession for themselves. Doing this is one of our biggest tasks as parents. If our homeschooling children are able to cope with the vicciisitudes which life inevitably brings, the personal characteristics which make them so will be the result of guidance given, usually by parents, through the years of their childhood. A wise professor once said, if the early years of life are of such importance for personality development, it follows that the family occupies a commanding position in the field, since the child’s earliest and most profound experiences are with his family. Parents must be concerned with affording the child the opportunities for growth toward maturity during his early years, so that the anticipated adventure of being on his own will be another stage in his development rather than a frustrating and disappointing experience.

How big will our children be when they grow up? Will they have what it takes to measure up to the demands of life? Well, the future of our children is in our hands as parents, for we are entrusted with their training to our relationships with them day by day, right in our own homes: through the attitudes we communicate to them: through helping them to understand a person must learn to trust other people: through helping them to discover their own unique abilities and to trust in their own worth: to helping them to understand that the golden rule is of little use, unless they realize that the next move is bears: through enabling them to learn through experience that the world is a looking glass, which gives back to every man the reflection of his own attitudes.

The strains and tensions of modern life require that our children develop healthy personalities. If our children are to be able to withstand the pressures that are sure to come in later life, the foundation stone of this healthy personality is maturity, which consists of faith in God, devotion to Christian principles, trusting one’s self, and in life as a whole, and independence and reliance on the Lord in thought and action.

Mimi Rothschild is the Founder and CEO of Learning By Grace, Inc., the nation’s largest provider of online K-12 Christian homeschooling programs and homeschool Christian curriculum. For more information about how online homeschooling is revolutionizing homeschooling, please go to www.LearningByGrace.org today.

Permission is granted for the duplication of this article if it is reproduced in its entirety including this sentence.

Arguments were heard this week in a California district court case to determine whether the California state university system can dictate that private Christian schools or homeschoolers must teach from exclusively secular, Bible- and God-free textbooks in order for the credits from those courses to be counted towards admission.

Christians and all of those who believe in the consitutional principal of religious freedom will suffer a major setback if U.S. District Judge S. James Otero rules that it is legal for the University of California institutions to reject high school credits for courses that are Biblically based. Judge Otero’s ruling is expected soon. If the ruling is unsconstituional, it will be appealed.

The University of California system adopted a policy in May, 2007 that dictates that courses based on the major Christian book publishers, such as The Bob Jones Univerisity Press, A Beka Book and Alpha Omega Publications, do not qualify as a core admission requirement due to the fact that those courses are taught from a Christian perspective.

The Association of Christian Schools International, which represents schools serving more than 1.1 million students worldwide brought a civil action against Robert Dynes, the President of the University of California accusing President Dynes of unconstiutional and discriminatory policies that trample upon upon some of the most sacred principles of the American people, specifically the right to religious freedom.

Robert Tyler, who is representing Calvary Chapel Christian School and five students in the case against the University of California, told WND that the university’s discriminatory policy creates an ultimatum for Christian schools. “If you want courses to be approved in private education, so your students are qualified to attend (UC) institutions, you must teach from a secular point of view,” he said.

“We believe that UC’s discrimination is clearly unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment, because UC is attempting to secularize Christian schools,” Tyler said.

Mimi Rothschild, CEO if Learning By Grace, Inc. the leading provider of online Christian educational programs, commented “If Judge Otero upholds Robert Dynes and the UC system’s clearly discriminatory and illegal practices, the implications to Christians and to the principle of religious freedom could be catastrophic.”

Rothschild said “It would essentially be allowing the government to tell us that to qualify for admission to a university, we must eradicate God from our high school teaching. This is beyond unacceptable.”

Rothschild implores Christians to speak out against this affront to their beliefs and their freedoms, “Please send me an email telling me how you feel about this issue at mrothschild@learningbygrace.org. I will include it in a filing to the court so that His Honor will know that the freedom to practice one’s beliefs and teach them to our children is sacred. Judge Otero must know that Christians will not tolerate being deprived of that right.”

BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Academia to high schools: No God allowed
State rejects Christian education as valid for university admissions

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Posted: July 19, 2008
12:00 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Arguments were heard today in a federal district court case to determine whether a state university system can dictate that private Christian schools in the state teach their college prep courses from exclusively secular, Bible- and God-free textbooks.

As WND reported earlier, the University of California system adopted a policy last year that basic science, history, and literature textbooks by major Christian book publishers wouldn’t qualify for core admissions requirements because of the inclusion of Christian perspectives.

Robert Tyler, who is representing Calvary Chapel Christian School and five students in the case against the University of California, told WND that the university’s discriminatory policy creates an ultimatum for Christian schools. “If you want courses to be approved in private education, so your students are qualified to attend (UC) institutions, you must teach from a secular point of view,” he said.

“Christian schools will have to decide: teach from a Christian worldview and eliminate your student’s ability to attend a UC school, or teach from a secular worldview, so that the kids can enter the UC school system,” he explained.

“Essentially what’s happening is the UC has to pre-approve courses taught in high school,” Tyler said. “It’s pretty shocking, because in depositions UC reps made it clear: whether it be English, history or science, the addition of a religious viewpoint makes it unacceptable.”

Tyler also told WND that though a decision from Federal District Court Judge Otero is expected in the next two to three weeks, he fully expects the case to be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and perhaps even the U.S. Supreme Court, since both sides are firmly entrenched and likely to appeal if Otero decides against them.

“We believe that UC’s discrimination is clearly unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment, because UC is attempting to secularize Christian schools,” Tyler said.

“The UC is intent upon defending some ‘right’ to discriminate unlawfully,” he said. “They seem steadfast that students will not be adequately prepared for college because a Christian worldview was added to their curriculum.

“We won’t accept that, and we’re resolved to take this to higher court if necessary.”

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Under the admissions guidelines to University of California colleges, in-state students must either score in the top two to three percent on standardized tests or complete a core curriculum of approved preparatory classes (called “a-g” classes) to be deemed eligible for entrance into the state university system.

According to the lawsuit, more than 90 percent of UC students achieved eligibility by completing an approved a-g curriculum.

Under the disputed policy, however, a-g classes based on books that mention God or the Bible don’t count, effectively making a secular education a prerequisite for admission.

After reviewing textbooks from major Christian publishers Bob Jones University Press and A Beka Book, UC officials deemed them insufficient, specifically because the books supplemented the basic material with a Christian perspective.

Burt Carney, an executive with the Association of Christian Schools International, said he’s met with officials for the university system, and was told that there was no problem with the actual facts in a BJU physics textbook that was disallowed.

In fact, an ACSI report said, UC officials confirmed “that if the Scripture verses that begin each chapter were removed the textbook would likely be approved …”

“Here’s the very university that talks about academic freedom,” Carney said. “It’s very discriminating. They don’t rule against Muslim or Hindu or Jewish (themes) or so forth, only those with a definite Christian theme.”

According to the lawsuit, a variety of textbooks with supplemental perspectives were accepted – just not those with a Christian perspective.

For example, “Western Civilization: The Jewish Experience” and “Issues in African History” were accepted, but “Christianity’s Influence on American History” was rejected. “Feminine Roles in Literature,” “Gender, Sexuality, and Identity in Literature” and “Literature of Dissent” were accepted, but “Christianity and Morality in American Literature” was not.

Most strikingly, “Intro to Buddhism,” “Introduction to Jewish Thought,” “Women’s Studies & Feminism” and “Raza Studies” were deemed acceptable electives, but “Special Providence: American Government” was unacceptable, both as a civics and elective course.

“In other words, (UC schools) routinely approve courses which add viewpoints such as non-Christian religion, feminism, an ethnic preference, a political viewpoint, or multiculturalism, or that focus on religions such as Buddhism or Judaism, (and plaintiffs believe they should evenhandedly approve such courses), but disapprove courses which add viewpoints based on conservative Christianity,” the court filings said.

The official court documents also charge, “Methodically and ominously, (UC schools) have assumed increasingly more authority over secondary schools in California by expanding the reach and impact of requirements for students in nonpublic secondary schools to be eligible for admission to the University of California (and effectively also to the California State University system). Even without authority for and guidance in doing so, (UC schools) press onward from deciding admission guidelines to determining what viewpoints may and may not be taught in secondary school classrooms, which books may and may not be used, and what students with the same tests scores are and are not eligible for admission to the University of California.”

The ACSI, with the help of Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting religious liberty in the courts, contends the university system’s discrimination is unconstitutional on several grounds, including an unlawful intrusion and entanglement of the government in the church.

The court documents state, “Entanglement with religion results from (UC schools) and the state parsing through the viewpoints and content of Christian school instruction and texts to ferret out disapproved religious views, and intruding into the content of religious schools and texts, and doing that when there is no deficiency at all reflected in their scores or grades.”

“Every teacher teaches from a point of view,” Tyler told WND. “We all have a worldview, and if you teach from secular perspective, it’s a viewpoint.

“Our argument is that the government has to be neutral when it comes to viewpoint.”

By Mimi Rothschild

John McCain, Republican nominee for President in 2008, recently expressed his beliefs about the need for expanded opportunities in virtual learning. He said in a speech given at the 99th Annual Convention of the NAACP, “We can also help more children and young adults to study outside of school by expanding support for virtual learning. So I propose to direct 500 million dollars in current federal funds to build new virtual schools, and to support the development of online courses for students. Through competitive grants, we will allocate another 250 million dollars to support state programs expanding online education opportunities, including the creation of new public virtual charter schools. States can use these funds to build virtual math and science academies to help expand the availability of Advanced Placement math, science, and computer science courses, online tutoring, and foreign language courses.”

by Mimi Rothschild

ENGLISH
Senior
Literature
Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton ISBN: 0743262174

Language 12 AP -
Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson

Junior
American Literature Honors -
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 0743273567

Sophomore
Literature- Western Civilization Honors -
Dante’s Inferno, by Dante Alighieri

Literature- Western Civilization Regular -
Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan

Freshman
Expository Writing Honors -
Any novel by Charles Dickens

Expository Writing Regular -
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton ISBN: 014038572X