Homeschool Columns

: By Ray Sheen; Published: 22 April 2019

This article is about three walls. There has been a lot in the news over the years about building a wall and the purpose of a wall. Of course, the wall that is being discussed is a wall on the southern border of the USA. We will look at that one and two others.

Let’s take a minute to consider the implications of the southern border wall, or rather the lack of that wall. Without a wall, the border is open for anyone to cross. Now there are border patrol agents whose role is to monitor who is crossing and turn back those who should not be allowed to enter. But that border is 1,954 miles long. There are countless places where people can cross. And while some of those who are crossing are seeking asylum or seeking an opportunity to participate in the American workforce, there are also those who are criminals who are bringing their crime with them and spreading it through the country.

: By Ray Sheen; Published: 26 March 2019

I was recently going through Proverbs in my daily devotions and I read Proverbs 14:4, “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” This proverb is very relevant to homeschooling. Now you may be wondering, how that can be. Even those of you with little family farms probably don’t have any oxen. Well, let’s look at the ramifications of this Proverb.

: By Raquelle Sheen; Published: 21 January 2019

With the advent of social media, we are all encouraged to share every moment of our lives online with our friends. What we’re doing, what we’re feeling, what we’re eating, where we are, who we’re with, what we think about certain issues—this is the standard content of posts on social media. Sometimes, however, in the enjoyment of communicating our daily lives, we forget that occasionally people we don’t know very well are reading what we post. Depending on where we post (say, in a homeschool Facebook group), we may even be sharing with strangers.

: By Ray Sheen; Published: 31 December 2018

It is that time of year to make New Year’s Resolutions. I have a suggestion for you – and it has nothing to do with losing weight or cleaning the garage. This year resolve that you will do homeschooling, not school at home.

What is the difference you ask? Well, “school at home” is an attempt to replicate the activities of a typical government school classroom in your child’s education. “Homeschooling” is providing parent-directed customized educational experiences for your children based upon interests and aptitude that are centered in the home environment. Let’s look more at the difference.

: By Ray Sheen; Published: 03 December 2018

Fables tell us a story with a deeper meaning. Here is a home education fable.

Once upon a time there was a great kingdom. In this kingdom nearly everyone sought the will of God to do what was right. One of the principles followed by parents was to provide for the education and training of their children. In fact, they had a saying that when a parent trained up their children in the ways of the Lord, when the child was older, they would not depart from those ways.

: By Raquelle Sheen; Published: 26 November 2018

Have you ever encountered the fool that is talked about in the book of Proverbs? Sometimes we think of “the fool” as describing one of those awful heathen-pagan-wicked-responsible-for-the-decay-of-America people and forget that the fool might be someone closer to home. We might even encounter them in homeschooling circles! In fact, on occasion…the fool might even be us! (Gasp!)

Let’s look at how Proverbs describes the fool and see how his or her foolish actions can manifest themselves in homeschooling.

: By Ray Sheen; Published: 05 November 2018

Digital technology has become ubiquitous in our society. It is in our cars, our houses, our workplace, and delivers our entertainment. But a question that we as homeschoolers must face is to what extent we need digital technology in our education process. On the one hand we can extol the virtues of digital platforms, but they also come with some inherent dangers and risks. If we ban the use of digital technologies, we put our kids at a distinct disadvantage when they are older and must interact with the digital world. However, if we totally embrace digital technology, we find we are enabling a harmful environment into our family--an environment that can cause physical, emotional, and spiritual harm for our kids.

: By Heather Sheen; Published: 22 October 2018

Family life can be stressful. Humans are imperfect and even with two mature adults living in the same house, friction can happen. Add into the mix some immature children, complicate it by throwing in running a household and maintaining a regular homeschool schedule, and life can become “interesting” rather quickly!
Here are some tips our family has learned over the years to help smooth out and de-stress the process of living and working together.

: By Ray Sheen; Published: 08 October 2018

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic elements of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

For many Christian homeschooling families, this verse illustrates the most important reason why they homeschool. They don’t want their children taken captive by the world’s education system.

The philosophy that undergirds most of “public education” today has totally rejected Christ. Instead it is centered on man. The emphasis is on what mankind thinks and feels, on what mankind has done and is doing, and on relationships between people. An excellent way to describe it is the phrase the apostle Paul used in Colossians, “human tradition and the basic elements of this world.”

: By Heather Sheen; Published: 18 September 2018

If someone asked you what a “mission house” is, what would you describe? I think we would all agree that a mission house is a place where people are ministered to, and a place from which missionaries go out. But what does one look like? Having spent eight years in the Southwest, my first mental image is one of those cute little Spanish missions. Perhaps you would tell about a church or an inner-city outreach center.

But what about your house? Have you ever pictured your family’s home as a mission outpost? Recently our pastor preached about our homes being gospel mission houses and I gained a new appreciation of the concept. We can not only use our homes as places to minister to people, we can see them as places from which to send out our family as missionaries to the community.