Homeschooling

My wife and I have often thought about homeschooling, but have always "chickened out." Well, as the school year approaches, we are again thinking about homeschooling. We like the current school where our children attend, so it is not something against them, but we are thinking of making the switch this year. We have a 6th grader, 4th grader, and a 4 year old. We are thinking of using the BJU Hard Drive Distance Learning option for this year, but are still thinking. I recognize that some hardcore homeschooling families will probably think this is a cop-out, but in our situation we are thinking this may be a way to see how we like educating them at home without overwhelming us. It looks Missy will still have to work some - even with not having the expense of Christian School - so I would be involved with this as well. (Of course, I would still like to be involved even if the Lord somehow provided in such a way that Missy did not have to work at all.) Anyway, I am not looking for a big debate about homeschooling. I am aware of many positives and negatives from having worked with a number of homeschooling families over the years. I am more interested in hearing about the following things: 1. Is anyone familiar enough with the BJU Hard Drive system to offer some thoughts regarding it? (Also, we have heard that you can get a good deal by going to one of the "hotel meetings." The closest one to us is about three hours away - are the deals enough to make such a trip worth it?) 2. Any thoughts or advice for a family thinking of making the move in our situation? 3. One of the reasons we are considering this move is to give some more focused attention to one of our children who is struggling academically. In doing so, we are also trying to decide if it is a better option to have her stay in the grade she would be in if she stayed at the school and work extra with her to shore up the weak areas or if we should have her repeat the grade she just completed. 4. At Hardingville, we had a large church with a number of opportunities outside of school for the children to have interaction with others. I believe the homeschoolers at HBC who were involved with King's Kids and Youth Group got "the best of both worlds" in regards to time at home and interaction. Our little church does not yet have these options. Should this be a concern? Anyway, I would love to hear some input. Thanks, Frank

A Great Week at The Wilds

Last week, we had the privilege of taking a group of teens and juniors down from Fellowship Baptist Church of Salisbury to camp at The Wilds Christian Camp in Rosman, North Carolina. The Wilds is a great camp that focuses on doing all things excellent for Jesus Christ. The camp verse is 1 Corinthians 10:31 and is not just a verse put on a sign and forgotten about, but serves as a driving force behind all that is done at the camp - "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." The speakers for the week were Evangelist Will Galkin for the teens and Evangelist Ed Dunlop for the juniors. I was pleasantly surprised at how generally low-key the invitations were from both men. To the parents, thank you for giving us the opportunity to take your young person to camp. Pray for and with your children. Talk to them not only about the fun adventures at camp, but also about what God taught them through His Word. To the teens and juniors, thank you for a great week. You were a joy to take down to The Wilds. Don't allow the distractions of the world to draw your focus away from Christ and "continue thou in the things thou hast learned." (2 Timothy 3:14) To the others in the church. Thank you for praying for the young people and praying for our safety. Thank you, as well, for giving generously to help offset some of the expenses. Just my thoughts, Frank

Some Belated Independence Day thoughts

While my ultimate citizenship is in Heaven (Phil 3:20), I also greatly appreciate the country in which God has allowed me to be born and raised. America has its faults, but America is a great country. It is alleged that Alexis de Tocqueville (the author of Democracy in America) stated: I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerc - and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution - and it vas not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great. Sometimes with the encroaching liberalism and ungodliness that is rampant in areas, I wonder how long it will be when we have to finally say that "America has ceased to be good", but the idea of America is a great idea. While the great freedom in our land allows for the ungodliness to run rampant, it is that same freedom that allows Christians in America to have relatively few restrictions when it comes to being able to exercise our faith with little fear of imprisonment or punishment. One of the great traditions we have in celebrating Independence Day here in the United States is the small town parade. Complete with firetrucks, clowns, marching bands, and floats by local groups and candy thrown out to watching children, small town parades represent an American spirit that says "take some time off, be with folks you don't know and celebrate something great." Yesterday, I had the privilege of visiting the parade in Pitman, New Jersey with my children. While we did not see a lot of the parade, it was a great chance to catch up with a few friends from Hardingville and have a little visit "back home." The parade is proceeded by a 4-mile race and I noticed a number of folks I know still had their numbers on from having run in the race. One of these days, I hope to show up and run the race myself - it has been far too many years since I ran any kind of race. (I think my last road race was when I was on staff at BJU back in the early 1990s.) For those looking for quotes regarding America or Independence Day, I have a few posted at my "Daily Quotes and Illustrations" Blog - http://dailyquotesandillustrations.blogspot.com/ (click the label for America or Patriotic or Independence Day. Just my thoughts, Frank

Father's Day Cards banned in Scottish Schools

Since Father's Day has already past, this story may be a little outdated, but as I only saw the article recently, I could not comment on it any earlier :). It seems as though a number of schools in Scotland banned the children from making cards for Father's Day. The Telegraph reports: Thousands of primary pupils were prevented from making Father's Day cards at school for fear of embarrassing classmates who live with single mothers and lesbians. The politically correct policy was quietly adopted at schools "in the interests of sensitivity" over the growing number of lone-parent and same-sex households. The Telegraph article is located here. Another article about this is found here. While I understand the desire to be sensitive to children, this seems to be a little overboard. Just my thoughts, Frank