Home digest fall 2015 by Homeschoolers of Maine

HOME Digest Online Issue--Fall 2015

“Jump Start” to a Joyful School Year Developing a Love of History How Canada Nearly Lost Religious and Parental Rights Remembering Apple Blossoms God’s Rainbow/ The Little Boy and the Nest A New Season The Atmosphere of Home Ther Virtue of Courage

HOME Digest Fall Online Issue 2015 Editor-in-Chief: Kimberly Miller Editorial Staff: Kathy Green, Proof Reader Kathi Kearney, Proof Reader Photographic contributors: Kimberly Miller, Front & Back Cover Photos and photos on page 2 & 7 Annie Louise Twitchell, photo on page 9 All other photography, stock photos

HOME Digest is published by Homeschoolers of Maine PO Box 159 Camden, Me 04843-0159 (207)763-2880 (Fax 207-763-4352)

HOME Digest is published biannually in the spring and fall. The spring issue is a printed version, and the fall issue is available online at the HOME website.

HOME Board Members: Ed and Kathy Green homeschl@midcoast.com Kathi Kearney kkearney@midcoast.com Chris and Jen Calnan back4tfarm@gmail.com Mark and Melanie Chandler revmchandler@gmail.com Chris and Tiffany Wilcoxson pastor@lifesource.org

Contents 4

“Jump Start” to a Joyful School Year

How Canada Nearly Lost Religious and Parental Rights

Remembering Apple Blossoms

God’s Rainbow/ The Little Boy and the Nest

A New Season

The Atmosphere of

Home

The Virtue of Courage

p m u J ” ” t r a t S

l o o

h c s l u f y o byVicki Bentley j r a a ye To

As a new school year approaches, wouldn’t it be great if homeschooling could feel less overwhelming and more joyful? As a fellow homeschool mom, I know that it can be overwhelming when that big box of curriculum arrives and you suddenly aren’t sure that you are up to the task. It can be overwhelming when you can’t seem to find the right key to unlock learning in your child. It can be overwhelming when life broadsides your homeschool. Even as my homeschooling experience climbed into the double digits, I still always felt more confident and equipped for a new year when I read through the organized backto-school checklists—so I’m including a few helpful links (see box); I hope these will help you feel less overwhelmed as you begin. But what about the joy? Allow me to give you a glimpse into the heart of this ordinary mom. Not a supermom, but a homeschool mom who, in the busy-ness and everyday-ness of life, awoke one day to the realization that I had no joy. The Lord directed me to Psalm 113:9 and showed me that making me a joyful mother of children ranked right up there with seating the poor with princes. I purposed to not take life so personally, to laugh more, smile more, love my babies more, and cherish my family. I wanted them to remember their childhoods as joyful, contented times with a mom who treasured them, not think back woefully to the stressed mother of their youth! Here are six steps to “jump start” your joy as you begin this new school year: 1. Have a vision for your family. The Greek model of education is all about knowledge; the Hebrew model is all about relationships (read Robin Sampson in What Your Child Needs to Know When or Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach). What purpose(s) does God want to accomplish through the relationships within your family, and how does home education help fulfill those goals? 2. Have realistic expectations of your children. Maybe you awakened this morning, still drowsy from the dream of a day when everybody gets himself up, makes his bed, tidies his room, speaks gently to the siblings, oﬀers to take the smallest cookie, bundles the trash, folds the laundry, finishes his schoolwork by noon—all with no reminders. Then you smell the toast burning—and reality set in! Someone will very likely test the rules today; it is just part of the territory when you’re a parent. You can prepare yourself in the family service arena by having age-appropriate expectations, pre-determined consequences, and a sense of humor. From ages six months to about 5 years, children are learning cheerful first-time obedience and basic routines. They need life to be very concrete and hands-on. They often can and want to help you, but they need lots of modeling and supervision, so don’t expect the results to be the same as if you did it all yourself! Be appreciative of their eﬀorts. From ages 5 to 12, they are being better trained in consistency, respectfulness, deference to others, diligence, thoroughness, and cheerful obedience. From 12 to 18, they earn the privilege of independence and responsibility by showing their faithfulness to accomplish a task and to be accountable for their actions. (Listen to Dr. S. M. Davis’ tape, “What to Expect of a Twelve-Year-Old.”) 3. Have realistic expectations of yourself. Instead of comparing yourself to your friend or neighbor (or support group leader), recognize your own gifts and talents, your limitations, your specific family cir5

cumstances. It’s no mistake that your children got you as a parent—it’s by God’s design! Be aware, too, of your own needs for sleep, food, and encouragement. Is the Lord revealing to you any areas in which you might need to make adjustments? 4. Recognize that interruptions often are God’s purpose for your day—opportunities for ministry and discipleship of your children and of others. Instead of viewing the interruptions as frustrations to the success of your plans, you might consider the possibility that they are God’s way of reminding you what is really important today. 5. Recognize spiritual warfare for what it is. The mind is the enemy’s battlefield. I had to be reminded to take captive every harsh thought about my children, every selfish thought about my own entitlements in life, every self-pitying thought about being a less-than-perfect homeschool mom. I learned that the enemy really can’t take away my joy, but he sure can influence me to give it up! If you are committed to raising warriors for God, your family is a target for battle, and you may want to take inventory of your Ephesians 6 armor. 6. Recognize the source of true joy. I used to sing to my babies and toddlers: “Break forth into joy, O my soul; break forth into joy, O my soul; In the presence of the Lord, there is joy forevermore; break forth, break forth into joy, O my soul.” When I am spending time in God’s presence, I can choose to be joyful, to speak gently and cheerfully, and to recognize that I am blessed to have this season with my children. Article used with permission.

How Canada Nearly Lost Religious and Parental Rights

In the 1930’s and 40’s, the German Fuhrer struck upon a plan to build an army for the future. He would use Germany’s public schools to indoctrinate children to see the world his way. Private and parochial schools were either closed or forced to teach the same propaganda as the state schools. And he met with amazing results. So frightening was his success that after Germany’s defeat in 1945, nations immediately sought to make sure it never happened again. Their response, adopted just 3 years later, is found in Article 26(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. Fast forward 66 years to Canada in 2014. A Quebec law “requires schools to teach religion from a secular, cultural and morally neutral perspective in private schools,” according to an article at CBCNews. com. Parents can still choose the education of their children, as long as that education includes training that all competing religions are of equal value. No one religion can claim a monopoly on the truth. Loyola High School, a Catholic school in Montreal, took issue with the law, and their case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Loyola argued that as a Catholic school they have the right to teach their students from their own Christian perspective. It is what student parents pay for and expect. “The Ethics and Religious Culture program was conceived as a way to teach students to recognize the value of others and the pursuit of the common good,” former Loyola principal Paul Donovan acknowledged. “These are laudable goals that we share and wish to inculcate in our students. However, we do not believe that religious values in the context of our school need to be suppressed to accomplish this.” The good news is that on March 19 the Supreme Court of Canada agreed, preserving religious freedom for the school and the right of parents to a meaningful choice in education. The bad news is that the ruling was a 4-3 split decision. Canada was one “swing vote” justice away from overturning the “prior right” of parents “to choose the kind of education” their children would receive. They were one voice away from becoming a country where even a Jesuit Catholic school lacked the freedom to teach moral absolutes. What if next time the court swings the other way? Is America on the Same Brink? This particular battle has not yet come to the United States. No law is claiming (yet) that our Christian schools can’t teach the Bible, that Jewish schools can’t teach the Talmud, or that Muslim schools can’t teach the Koran. But there are troubling signs that it may be just a matter of time. The Ninth Circuit’s decision in Fields v. Palmdale (2005) held that while “we do not quarrel with the parents’ right to inform and advise their children about the subject of sex as they see fit[, we] conclude only that the parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on that subject to their students in any form or manner they select.” They also cited Brown v. Hot, Sexy, and Safer Productions, Inc. (1995) in holding that “once parents make the choice as to which school their children will attend, their fundamental right to control the education of their children is, at the least, substantially diminished.”

Once that happens, what is to keep schools from pushing more and more statist propaganda, or from doing away with religious freedoms? Already education scholars are writing in peer review journals that “society need not and should not tolerate the inculcation of absolutist views that undermine toleration of difference.” (Ross, Catherine J., “Fundamentalist Challenges to Core Democratic Values: Exit and Homeschooling,” in the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal vol. 18:991, 2010) Instead, they claim the government should make sure every child receives the kind of “culturally and morally neutral” religious training called for in that Canadian law. Nor is homeschooling a safe bastion of freedom. The United States Attorney General’s Office last year in Romeike v. Holder argued before the Supreme Court that the “prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children” (quoting UDHR, not the AG’s office) is not a human right subject to asylum protection law. Should the freedom to home school disappear completely, the power of the public schools to teach what they want, how they want, will become limitless as the threat of losing students to alternative education methods evaporates. So what is to keep America from falling off that cliff? Parents who take an active and informed role in their child’s education are the greatest current safeguard. Home schoolers are almost by definition involved in their child’s education; parents of public school and private school students need to be involved as well (as many already are). Know your child’s teachers and administrators. Know what is being taught and how. And know how to contact your school board to effect any needed change. Ultimately, though, the tide is rising. Only the proposed Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution can protect us from the government elite’s insatiable thirst for power over our children’s education. Section Two of the proposal would put into the text of the Constitution that The parental right to direct education includes the right to choose public, private, religious, or home schools, and the right to make reasonable choices within public schools for one’s child. This language will keep our Supreme Court well away from the precipice with which Canada’s Court was flirting on March 19. But we need your help to secure this Amendment. If you are not already receiving our email updates, please sign up at ParentalRights.org/petition. Then, forward this email to as many friends and family members are you can think of who might share your concern for the future of our country.

By Michael Ramey Director of Communications & Research ParentalRights.org

rememering apple blossoms By Annie Louise Twitchell

The following short story, “Remembering Apple Blossoms,” is the winning entry for the 14-18 age category in HOME’s First Annual Short Story Contest.

I’d met Abigail at a ladies tea party. She was a quiet, sweet young woman, a year or so younger than my twenty-two years but with an air of a woman rather older. She was there with her stepsister Lillian, and the two of them seemed inseparable. I’d gone to visit her a week later and she was lying in the orchard, while the apple blossoms drifted down onto her auburn hair and green dress. A young man was sitting beside her, reading aloud from a worn, blue book. He rested it on his knee as I approached, and looked faintly indignant at the intrusion. Abigail sat up and he reached out a hand to steady her. Her face broke into a cheery smile and she waved me over. “Hello, Mia. What brings you out here?” “Your stepfather said you were out here. I came to visit, but you already have company. I’ll come back later?” She glanced at the young man with an odd twinkle in her eye. “If you can call him company. No, sweetie, stay. We don’t mind, do we, Nathan?” Nate smiled faintly. “If you want her, I am perfectly happy to share you with her.” There was sadness in his eyes as he rose and spread out the blanket, to make room for me. Abigail waved me down next to her and Nathan began to read again. It was from a book of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales, which I was familiar with, but I had never met such a good reader as Nathan. After several stories he stopped and laid the book aside. Without a word he gathered Abigail up and carried her towards the house. I hastily followed, wondering the whole time what the problem was. He kicked open the kitchen door and laid her on a couch that sprawled against one wall in that spacious room. He disappeared through one of four doorways, and I sat on the floor to look at Abigail. Her smile as her eyes met mine was much weaker than the first, and she coughed slightly. Nathan rushed back into the room, followed closely by Laurel, another stepsister, and Lillian. Nathan beckoned me away and these two girls began fussing over Abigail. Nathan’s hand rested on my shoulder, and each time Abigail coughed it tightened, until I was afraid I would have a bruise. Finally Lillian stepped back, her shoulders trembling, and wiped sweat from her forehead. Nathan looked at her desperately, and she nodded slightly. He relaxed and patted my shoulder, then went to Abigail’s side and kissed her gently. She smiled up at him and brushed a tear from his cheek, then lay back and closed her eyes. Laurel took my hand and pulled me into the living room, poured me a glass of water from a pitcher, and sat beside me on the sofa. “I am sorry about that. It must be rather distressing to you, since you don’t know what’s happening. Would you like me to tell you?” 11

I nodded, sipping my water. “Abigail is going to die soon. We found out a month ago, and the doctors said without treatment she’d live for maybe six weeks. If she took treatment than she may live for six months, but she wouldn’t be cured. She decided not to take treatment, as that would make her feel ill and miserable for most of the six months and it wouldn’t save her anyway. She’s not in pain, except for these spells she has every so often, and she decided she would never be happy and at home for the few weeks she has.” I nodded, feeling some of the pain that decision must have made for her family. “Who’s Nathan?” Laurel shook her head sadly. “He’s Abigail’s husband. The baby’s upstairs.” I choked. “She’s married? She has a baby? And she still refused treatment? How heartless of her!” Laurel flared up in a passionate fury. “She’s not heartless! She’s trying her best to make the memories of her last few weeks happy ones for Nathan and Natalie. How would it be if Nathan remembered her last six months as a miserable cycle of hospitals runs and drugs? At least this way he’ll remember her smile, because she’s not drugged up so much that she can’t see him. And the baby will have many pictures of her mama holding her, awake and smiling, instead of lying in bed all the time looking ghastly. You don’t understand. Please, go.” I rose and left. I turned back to look at the house as I latched the garden gate, and saw Nathan standing on the porch cradling a small form in his arms. Laurel was watching me depart from the window. I shook my head and started home. Nathan phoned the next day, saying that Abigail wanted to see me. I quickly got out my bike and rode to their house. Abigail was in her bedroom upstairs, looking pale and drawn. Laurel was viciously knitting in a corner, and rocking a cradle with her foot. A large vase of apple blossoms sat on the open window ledge, and the sweet scent wafted through the room. “Hello, Mia. I’m sorry about yesterday. I wanted you to read to me, if you don’t mind.” She waved at a green paperback sitting on the bedside table. I cast a look at Laurel as I reached for the book. Abigail followed my gaze. “Laurel forgets sometimes that just because she’s hurting, that doesn’t mean that everyone else is. I’m sorry, although I’m glad you know. That makes it easier.” I opened it and began reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I read two chapters, then Nathan came in. He sat on the bed beside Abigail and cradled her in his arms. Laurel picked up the baby and brought her to them, then left the room. I rose to leave also, but Nathan shook his head. “Please don’t go, Mia. Keep reading.” It never occurred to me to disobey his request, given the way it was. I resumed reading. Four chapters later, Natalie began wailing. I looked up and saw Nathan’s shoulder heaving as he held tightly to Abigail. I hurried to the bed. Abigail’s eyes were closed, and a light smile rested on her face. I could tell 12

there was no breath in her body, even without Nathan’s grief evidencing it. I lifted Natalie and held her tiny body close to my heart. Lillian entered the room and froze, then fell in a heap on the floor. Laurel followed and sank into a chair. I laid the spray of apple blossoms on the grave and went back to Nathan. He took Natalie from me and bounced her on one knee, gently, absently. I knew he was thinking of the night a week past. We sat in deep silence for a long time, until the sun crept down behind the mountains and the gray misty twilight lay in a blanket over the cemetery. Nathan sighed. “It was like this the first time I met Abbi. She was dancing in the twilight, and she seemed to be wrapped in it. Then I knew, I just knew, that I would marry her. Twilight was always her favorite time of day. It seemed to belong to her and her alone.” “When was that?” “I was sixteen, she was twelve. The funny thing about Abigail is she lived her whole life in twilight. She always seemed older than she really was, and she always had a touch of other about her, like she was just here for a visit and if the twilight was right she would drift oﬀ to some other world. She always seemed closer to the angels than anyone else, too. She’d talk to them all the time, same as she’d talk to God, or to you and me. She’d tell them how her garden was growing, or about the baby kicking her that day. Later, when she knew, she’d ask all of them to protect me and Nat, after... After she was gone. Sometimes in the twilight I can feel them around the places she used to be. And you probably think I’m completely loony.” “Not completely, no. If it was anyone I might think so, but not when it was Abigail. Somehow you can believe anything when it was related to Abigail. And you’re right, twilight is Abigail’s time. I think I will keep that picture just for her.” “What picture?” “The night she died I went out to the garden. I stood in the garden and I could see a huge, ancient apple tree, away up on a hill, covered in blossoms, all alone in the twilight. Somehow that made me think of Abigail.” Nathan nodded. “Sometimes you wish that you knew how something was going to work out, how the pieces would fall into place, but I wonder if it would hurt more if we did know.”

Congratulations to Miss Annie Twitchell on a job well done! And thank you to all those who participated in the contest by sending in your wonderful stories. We look forward to reading next year’s entries!

The following short story is the winning entry in the 10-13 age category of our Story Contest. God’s Rainbow by Audrey Miller This is the story of my family. There is Daddy, Mommy, Noah, Ian, Chloe, me, Jianna, Joel, Gabriel, Nathan, and Olivia. My baby sister Olivia died. It was very sad when she died. We all miss her. My Grandpa Burnham was the best grandpa ever. One day, he died. He died on October 10th. He was really, really funny and he was nice. Everyone liked him. He was very sweet. He taught me how to play checkers. I liked to play checkers with him because he liked to play checkers with me. He always helped me get out of the corners. He liked all my siblings a lot. Ian, my older brother, likes to give Gabriel and me rides on the four-wheeler. Chloe and I go outside and build forts underneath trees. Gabriel likes to play in the mud puddles and he splashes all day long. Jianna, my younger sister, has Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome. She has a small head and one of her ears is weird-shaped. She can’t talk, but she does say “hey” and “no” and she points to thinks she wants. She also knows Sign Language. She gives me hugs. She came from China. Mommy and Daddy and Noah and Gabriel went to China to pick her up in November. We adopted her because she didn’t have a family and God wanted us to be her family. My sister Jianna is very, very special. Noah, my big brother, is the oldest. He is very tall. He knows how to drive cars really well. Noah plays the cello, the piano, the bagpipes, the pennywhistle, and the guitar, and he’s learning how to play Grandpa’s banjo. Once, he made me a jewelry box for my birthday. Daddy is funny all the time. He works a lot on the sawmill and he works in his shop where he makes cabinets. He reads to me at night at bedtime. Mommy likes to read. She likes the house to look clean. She loves us all very much. Sometimes the whole family goes on trips together. We have a lot of fun. I am glad that I’m in this family. My family is like a rainbow because we help each other and because we’re all diﬀerent and special, like the colors in a rainbow. This final short story is the winning entry in the 7-9 age category of our Story Contest. The Little Boy and the Nest by Joel Miller It was the afternoon in the country. A little boy saw a bird fall out of its nest. He picked the little bird up. He brought it inside and gave it something to eat. He took care of it until it was bigger. He let it go. He didn’t know that it didn’t know how to fly. Then it fell onto the ground. It ran away. Later, he saw it sitting on the ground. It was still alive, but it was just laying there. He picked it up and made a little nest for it and put it the nest. The bird laid some eggs in the nest. Then the bird started to fly. The eggs hatched. They were little, fuzzy, cute birds. They were robins. When they got a little bigger, they flew. One of them made a nest. The boy found the nest. The robin had already laid its eggs. A little while later, those eggs hatched. The boy looked a the little birds and smiled. Congratulations to all our contest winners! To find out more about entering our 2016 Story Contest, please see our website.

A New Season By Leigh Bortins

I am in a season of deep thinking about the future of my two youngest sons. My husband and I have a different plan for our two youngest sons than we had for our older sons. When our oldest two children graduated high school, we had been part of the generation of homeschool pioneers. We had tried something radically new, and we were so excited that it had worked! As we sent them off to state institutions of higher education, we did it with great confidence that we had prepared them well for the logical next step in a young person’s life. Over a decade later, as our two younger sons approach graduation, we have different thoughts. Rob and I are wondering why we would work so hard to give them a solidly Christian education for so many years and then turn them over to secular institutions. Can’t we find an option that serves our mission and vision? In my book Echo in Celebration, I wrote that the final end of a classical, Christian education is doxology. Echoing in celebration is the obvious response to learning more about our Lord through His creation. Shouldn’t our higher education plans serve this mission? As Christians, we live in constant tension. The Lord commands us to be in the world, but not of the world. One of the ways people have responded to this tension has been to homeschool their children. Christian homeschoolers have rejected the thought that our children can be vivisected into parts— the soul for the church, the mind for the state school, and the body for juvenile pleasures. Instead, we have claimed each child wholly for Christ. Nonetheless, each beloved child inevitably approaches adulthood, and then the question of what to do after homeschooling looms large. People constantly ask my son what college he is going to go to or what he will study in college, as though the tension is gone. I have realized that my husband and I succumbed to pride as we marched our eldest two into the university system. We had proven that homeschooling worked, because our boys got into selective state universities with honors and scholarships. I pray your children have done as well and can receive the same accolades; yet, ten years later, we will not make the same decision for our youngest two sons. Do not mistake my comments as an assault on higher education or the academy. We financially support good Christian colleges and universities that are trying to escape the secular mold of education. I am not saying that no one in our family will ever go to college. I am saying we will not go for the wrong reasons: because of pride or to jump through hoops or because it is the “expected” thing to do or because we just have to do “something” after high school. We should do all things in order to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. It seems that people rarely send their children to college to further the cause of Christ, especially those students who are expected to enter a profession. When my sons can comfortably say, “I’m going to college to sit at the feet of a Godly man who loves the same things I love,” we may then be on our way to a Christian paradigm for higher learning. For now, most of us send our children to college to acquire job skills. They have to eat, after all. But how is that going? Have you paid any attention to the news? College graduates are angry over the lack of jobs and underemployment. Leaders in economics are warning parents not to send their children to college. Forbes, USA Today, and other periodicals have discussed the poor ROI (return on investment) for a college education today. Peter Thiel, a hedge fund manager, started a program that pays students to go straight to work instead of going to college. Timothy Ferris’s bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek, is full of alternative education and career ideas. Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford research professor and Google guru, co-founded an online private educational organization, Udacity, which offers free classes to students around the globe. We all know the stories of Silicon Valley leaders who left college in order to work. For a while, college will still provide opportunities to earn more income for average graduates. But I believe my children aren’t average. They are heirs of Christ and 17

are expected to pursue Him. The income will follow. In light of this, what are some Christian alternatives? I have a short list of colleges I would be willing to send my boys to, but first I want to make sure I am thinking Christ’s thoughts and not the world’s thoughts. What could we do if there was no such thing as a university? Would we just abandon our children’s passions, Christ’s calling, or the need to feed our families? Of course not. We would find a way. We may start a true college—a place where a few colleagues work together to further a passion. Dad may train the children in his profession. The local doctor may apprentice our child in her profession. Our innovative children may start a new service industry. Our pastors may host a seminary at the local church. The local mechanic or IT expert may hold weekly classes. Maybe we would start raising bees and fruit trees and broccoli in the backyard. We may learn to depart from Thoreau’s “mass of men leading lives of quiet desperation.” Has college become the easy way out of real discipleship? Are medicine, engineering, and policy-making no longer thought of as disciplines? Could this be part of the problem? It is revealing that we live in a time when it is almost forbidden for a father to expect a son to follow in his footsteps (except in the case of attending Dad’s alma mater). If we loved our professions, we would want others to love our professions. Herein lies one of our problems: We no longer value amateurs. The root word for amateur is the Latin word amare, which means “to love.” Professionals do things for financial compensation; amateurs do things for love. Ironically, if you do what you love, you often find you are getting paid. So why aren’t our fathers teaching their children the disciplines of their trade? Is it because they don’t really love their work? Do they work to feed their families because they love them? If they love their families so much, than why are divorce rates so high? Why are more than half the babies born in the U.S. born to single mothers? If this is what careers and professional workplaces have done to the family, I am pretty sure I want my boys being trained by a diﬀerent system. I know that those of you reading this have husbands who do sacrifice their passions for the sake of their families. I also know you are a minority, trying to preserve a way of life that seems impossible. I believe we can recast the vision for our culture, re-visioning work as a calling—a vocation—learned predominantly through discipleship. However, we cannot recast the vision in old wine skins. I want my sons to love their work. I want them to love it so much that they can’t wait for their families to join them. I also remember the tension. Work is often . . . well, work . . . unpleasant, tedious, go-do-it-so-I-canget-to-the-good-stuﬀ work. In addition, some adults may work in an environment that is unsafe for apprentices. Or they may have deadlines to meet and the kids just aren’t welcome that day. My husband’s career was so stressful that he couldn’t talk about it when he got home. Many doctors are telling their children to avoid the medical profession. Small business owners are drowning under government regulations. Lawyers tell their children to be paralegals so they can have time for family life. I am glad my family escaped the system when we chose to homeschool. I am glad we have children who trust the future to their family, the community, and the Lord. I am no longer interested in thrusting them right back into the world’s definition of success. I am excited that my family still conceives of a future in a land of opportunity rather than a place in which we constantly worry about a safety net. I can’t wait to see where the Lord leads us as we pursue a legacy, a heritage, and a passion that includes generations. 18

Leigh A. Bortins is author of the recently published book The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education. In addition, Ms. Bortins is the founder and CEO of Classical Conversations, Inc. and host of the weekly radio show, Leigh! At Lunch. She lectures about the importance of home education nationwide. She lives with her family in West End, North Carolina. To learn more, visit her website, www.classicalconversations. com, or her blog, www.1smartmama.com. Article used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in The Old Schoolhouse速 Magazine, the family education magazine. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or read it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com to read the magazine on your mobile devices.

The Atmosphere of Home by Karen Andreola

Charlotte Mason recognized three critical ingredients of a complete education when she said, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.” Looking at the first of these, several elements of a home atmosphere contribute to the education of children. There is more to atmosphere than white ruﬄed curtains fluttering in a sunny breeze and red geraniums on the window sill. These cozy things do make for a pleasant setting in a home, but they are only the beginning. It is the life-supporting atmosphere of home working in a child’s life that is so important in his education. Atmosphere is one of only a few instruments the educator has at her disposal to encourage the work of thinking in the student and to stimulate healthy growth of the whole child. Ideas Children absorb ideas from the “thought environment” we provide for them. Ideas are food for the mind. A child’s mind automatically grows as he considers ideas. What is an idea? Charlotte Mason tells us: An idea may exist in a clear, distinct, definite form as that of a circle in the mind of a geometrician or it may be a mere instinct, a vague [association] towards something . . . like the impulse which fills the young poet’s eyes with tears, though he knows not why. To excite this relationship or appetite toward things lovely, honest, and of good report is the earliest and most important ministry of the educator. How are we to impart ideas to our children? Ideas are of spiritual origin and God has made us spiritual people. Therefore, ideas are passed on from person to person - through conversation or books written by those who love their subject matter. Charlotte urges us to give children a regular feeding of ideas through sweeping tales of history, wonderful inventions and discoveries in science, lives of great men and women, and stories that radiate the moral life; as well as paintings, plays, Psalms, poems, and symphonies. Wanted - Homemaker Our children will pick up many ideas from the atmosphere we provide in the home. What do we need to ensure that this atmosphere inspires them on to the kinds of things we want them to learn? First, someone loving needs to be home to make it home. We are living in a career-minded, materialistic generation that depreciates the role of a mother. But the mother is the irreplaceable foundation of a home. During World War II, when America was imprisoning Japanese families in camps, a reporter stepped up to a little Japanese-American girl waiting at a train platform. “How does it feel to be without a home,” the reporter asked. “Oh,” replied the little girl, “we have a home, we just don’t have a house to put it in.” Protecting Wings A Christian home provides the protecting wings of a religious atmosphere. A catechism is essential teaching for children to understand what and why one believes; but as absolutely necessary as such teaching is, it will not in itself create a religious atmosphere. In an article on atmosphere in Charlotte’s original magazine, the writer said, The test will be whether religion is the center of our life - our joy of our joy, the consolation of our sorrow, the one eminently important thing for which all others have to give way; whether we view the things of daily life primarily with reference to it, and whether all else is felt to be relatively devoid of 21

interest and value. . . . As love and faith are the two wings of the Divine, so they are of natural religion, and it is their strong protecting wings that our children must ever feel around them. I like what Charles Spurgeon said about the religious atmosphere of home: “When home is ruled according to God’s word, angels might be asked to stay with us, and they would not find themselves out of their element.” Wow, isn’t this a high ideal? Don’t be discouraged, dear parent, with the heavenly command, “Be ye perfect.” We may not reach our ideals but it is our fervent, faithful reaching towards them that matters greatly. Open Communication Another essential ingredient in the home atmosphere is intimate communication. By this I mean the freedom to express opinions in an atmosphere in which discussion is open and far-reaching. In Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education it is an excellent thing to have an opinion of your own, provided you are not bent on sticking to it. We preserve the natural candor of children by listening with a patient sympathetic hear, and we can expect attentive listening from children if we do not scold them. A helpful book to read, for those desiring gentle encouragement to improve the atmosphere of their homes, is Henry Clay Trumbull’s book Hints on Child Training. I particularly like this paragraph from the chapter on sympathy: A parent loses his opportunity for good to his child, if he fails to have sympathy with this child in that child’s weakness and follies and misdoings. It is in every child’s nature to long for sympathy at the point where he needs it most; and when he has done wrong, or has indulged evil thoughts, or is feeling the force of temptation, he is glad to turn to some one stronger and better than himself, and make confession of his faults and failures. If as he comes to his parents at such a time, he is met with manifest sympathy, he is drawn to his parents with new confidence and new trust. Let Home Have the Greater Influence As children grow older, they may become more and more fascinated with the world. When they are very young they may fill their pockets with rocks, acorns, pinecones, shells or feathers. When they are older they will more consciously collect impressions of the ways and happenings of the people around them. The pull of this curiosity seems to be felt most strongly in the teen years. We grown-ups may forget what once enticed us, since our fascination with the world has faded. The influence of the world over our children really depends on what standards we set at home - the standards by which the children are accustomed to measure things. God’s World publications (800-951-5437) supply children with knowledge of current events while helping to temper the influence of the world by presenting the news in the light of a Christian worldview. My family has benefited by knowing other homeschooling families because they are close families. A respect for parents, the satisfaction of learning together, a fondness for simple pleasures, good humor amidst hard work, sympathy in sorrow, the joy of worshipping together - these are a few consequences of the atmosphere of a close family. Such homes give the gift of unworldliness. Manners - More Than Meets the Eye In the eighteenth century, etiquette was expected from all persons of “good breeding.” One needs only to read one of Jane Austen’s delightful novels to become acquainted with the mannerly characters of her time. Today, however, any form of etiquette seems to belong only to these “prim and proper” Victorians. You will find an almost universal lack of manners everywhere by people who are supposedly 22

“educated.” Perhaps today the necessity to use manners is seen as infringing on the “freedom to express oneself” without constraint. Are manners the hollow tactfulness some use on the selling floor - a kind of manipulating flattery? No, our children can have worthier reasons for exhibiting manners. Good manners can be another term for duty, for righteousness, for morality. True politeness simply consists in treating others just as you like to be treated yourself. This polite treatment comes from direct teaching, but also results from a caring home atmosphere where a child will acquire a servant’s heart like that of our Savior’s.

Home educators know Karen Andreola by her groundbreaking book A Charlotte Mason Companion. Karen taught her three children through high school--studying with them all the many wonderful things her own education was missing. The entire Andreola family writes product reviews for Rainbow Resource Center. Knitting mittens and sweaters and cross-stitching historic samplers are activities enjoyed in Karen’s leisure. For encouraging ideas, visit her blog: www.momentswithmotherculture.blogspot.com. Article used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the family education magazine. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or read it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com to read the magazine on your mobile devices.

THE VIRTUE OF COURAGE By Hal and Melanie Young

When someone mentions courage, we usually think of wrestling bears or facing down terrorists, but godly courage is so much more than that! Courage is doing your duty despite your fears. Sometimes courage even looks like cowardice... “Why don’t you try it? It’s really cool,” the older boy said. “No. I...I...I can’t.” Tom slowly said. “Why not? Everybody’s doing it. You don’t want to be left out. All dudes do it,” his challenger promised. “No. It’s just not right,” blurted out Tom. “I dare you! You’re just scared. Hey guys! Tom’s scared to try. Sissy!” the older boy sneered. Write your own ending. Does Tom resist, daring the mockery of his peers, or does he succumb, afraid to be the butt of their jokes? How hard to teach our children that true courage lies in doing what’s right, even when you’re made to look like a coward. It’s the real coward that violates his conscience rather than be teased, falsely accused or ostracized. A real man cares more about what is righteous than fitting in. Our son told us, sadly, that most Christians at his college were so worried about being thought “weird” that they were ineﬀective for Christ. He said that the only believers who were more afraid of what God thought than their peers had been homeschooled. That seemed odd to us, so we put a lot of thought into it. Quite a few of the other young adults had come from Christian homes, even ministers’ families. Quite a few of them had gone to Christian schools. What was the diﬀerence? We realized that the homeschooled young people had fellowshipped with other kids mainly in the context of families, or groups of children with the mothers present. That had limited their exposure to the unhealthy coercion of their peers until they were old enough to understand the irony of, “You’re just afraid to do something you don’t want to do anyway.” Yeah, those that fall for that are afraid – afraid of their peers! Regardless of how your children are educated, they need to really get this about courage: Courage is 24

about doing what’s right, no matter what. It really helps to plainly understand who’s more powerful; the Creator or the people He created – even when they act like animals, destroying the weak. Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others. – Winston Churchill “I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD en¬camps all around those who fear Him. And delivers them.” Psalm 34:4-7 The fear of the Lord is the cure for other fears and the root of true courage. Hal and Melanie Young, authors of the Christian Small Publishers Association 2011 Book of the Year, Raising Real Men, are parents of six real boys and two real girls. They have homeschooled through eight high-risk pregnancies, three re-locations, two decades, and 181 degrees of longitude. Hal and Melanie have served on the Board of Directors of North Carolinians for Home Education for over 14 years, They are sought after conference speakers who routinely draw standing room only crowds with their mix of uniquely entertaining cross-banter and practical, powerful Scriptural principles.

Homeschoolers of Maine P.O. Box 159 Camden, Maine 04843-0159 (207)763-2880 homeschl@midcoast.com www.homeschoolersofmaine.org