What should Christians do for those financially poor African families? Right now in some countries many of them send their children to school hundreds of miles away so they can learn to make money. While there many are corrupted by the schools. Or should they be encouraged to homeschool, working side-by-side with their fathers, digging ditches but staying morally safe.
I think most of the readers would immediately see the fallacy here. Are these the only two options?
Turning the dial back, let us examine what the Puritan forefathers did. The famous Congregationalist, John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, set up schools. And helped the families learn to work. And, more importantly, preached the Gospel and catechized the tribes, children and all.
The Presbyterians followed the same course. Even into the 1800s various denominations furthered the education of the natives through local schooling.
So, a possible solution to this false dilemma is obvious: give them schools.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Sock Game
"Here you go--nice and warm." Mom stood up, satisfied that baby's feet would stay warm in the cold night air.
The baby smiled that crooked smile children offer when only two teeth are visible. Then the little baby girl looked curiously down at her feet. She took one awkward reach toward the toes, missed them and tried again.
Success!
Proceeding with methodological patience only observed in a Ph.D. student deep in an experiment, the tiny child took one sock off. And reached for the other.
"What are you doing you cutie?" Mom lovingly admonished.
"Here, put your sock back on. I know you like to be naked but the socks will keep you warm."
Quickly wrapping the baby in a blanket while secured snugly in the portable car seat, Mom moved the child into the car. After securing her in the back seat, Mom sat in the driver's seat and drove to the store.
When Mom opened the back door, she was surprised to see both socks off. "?--little girl, whatever are you doing? Aren't your feet cold?"
Back at home, baby girl's clothes were changed after a slight indiscretion. As Mom put the onsie over here head, the child put her hands into the sleeve holes.
"Good girl. You know you gotta wear clothes and you're helping Mommy."
But as soon as the socks went on, the baby tried to pull one off. She reached for the other sock, determined to be bare-foot in the dead of winter.
"You silly goose! You don't mind your clothes on but you want those socks off!" Mom gently chided the girl.
"Well, patience is the call of motherhood. I will keep putting your socks on until you learn that you need them." Thus the contest began in earnest.
Mom puts socks on wiggly feet and baby just as certainly takes them off. Mom tries tighter socks. Baby succeeds just the same. Mom tries longer socks. Baby succeeds just the same. Mom tries to distract here. And baby...well, you get the idea.
It is now quickly becoming Summer. With temperatures much nicer, Mom is less zealous for the socks. The baby is still zealous for the bare-foot condition.
By now the contest morphed into a game. Or perhaps the baby always thought it was a game. Either way, Mom is no less pleased with her cute baby girl.
The baby smiled that crooked smile children offer when only two teeth are visible. Then the little baby girl looked curiously down at her feet. She took one awkward reach toward the toes, missed them and tried again.
Success!
Proceeding with methodological patience only observed in a Ph.D. student deep in an experiment, the tiny child took one sock off. And reached for the other.
"What are you doing you cutie?" Mom lovingly admonished.
"Here, put your sock back on. I know you like to be naked but the socks will keep you warm."
Quickly wrapping the baby in a blanket while secured snugly in the portable car seat, Mom moved the child into the car. After securing her in the back seat, Mom sat in the driver's seat and drove to the store.
When Mom opened the back door, she was surprised to see both socks off. "?--little girl, whatever are you doing? Aren't your feet cold?"
Back at home, baby girl's clothes were changed after a slight indiscretion. As Mom put the onsie over here head, the child put her hands into the sleeve holes.
"Good girl. You know you gotta wear clothes and you're helping Mommy."
But as soon as the socks went on, the baby tried to pull one off. She reached for the other sock, determined to be bare-foot in the dead of winter.
"You silly goose! You don't mind your clothes on but you want those socks off!" Mom gently chided the girl.
"Well, patience is the call of motherhood. I will keep putting your socks on until you learn that you need them." Thus the contest began in earnest.
Mom puts socks on wiggly feet and baby just as certainly takes them off. Mom tries tighter socks. Baby succeeds just the same. Mom tries longer socks. Baby succeeds just the same. Mom tries to distract here. And baby...well, you get the idea.
It is now quickly becoming Summer. With temperatures much nicer, Mom is less zealous for the socks. The baby is still zealous for the bare-foot condition.
By now the contest morphed into a game. Or perhaps the baby always thought it was a game. Either way, Mom is no less pleased with her cute baby girl.
Monday, May 10, 2010
One Year of Christian Nurture
This blog started out with a bang.
Apparently, writing about common misunderstandings of homeschooling is taboo in some circles. But I persevered.
I first started with a five part mini-series on the history of Christian education.
I also researched the surprising conclusions of homeschooling statistics, summarized here. The claims of revival among homeschooling by radical homeschoolers was challenged as well.
Much of this site is historical. The early 1800s understanding of home education was summarized here. What early American presbyterian thought about private schooling and Sunday schools was explored as well. The irony of the revival of Rouseau still stands as a challenging article.
I explained how I was homeschooled. I looked at questions such as: what if everyone homeschooled? I even defended homeschooling.
A Christian manifesto was analyzed as well. I countered Gary North's diatribe against classical education here. Another historical error was brought out in Selling Webster's Dictionary.
Over all, I was quite busy. And I hope, dear reader, these articles will change the way you view education.
Apparently, writing about common misunderstandings of homeschooling is taboo in some circles. But I persevered.
I first started with a five part mini-series on the history of Christian education.
I also researched the surprising conclusions of homeschooling statistics, summarized here. The claims of revival among homeschooling by radical homeschoolers was challenged as well.
Much of this site is historical. The early 1800s understanding of home education was summarized here. What early American presbyterian thought about private schooling and Sunday schools was explored as well. The irony of the revival of Rouseau still stands as a challenging article.
I explained how I was homeschooled. I looked at questions such as: what if everyone homeschooled? I even defended homeschooling.
A Christian manifesto was analyzed as well. I countered Gary North's diatribe against classical education here. Another historical error was brought out in Selling Webster's Dictionary.
Over all, I was quite busy. And I hope, dear reader, these articles will change the way you view education.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Aasen's Homeschooling Summary & Analysis
Here is an interesting article:
"Aasen, veteran homeschooling mother of five in Washington State, here summarizes the basics of homeschooling research. She leads off with the 2007 NCES data that estimated there to be around 1.5 million homeschoolers in the U.S. She describes the diversity of motives, pedagogies, and types of people who homeschool. She cites Brian Ray’s NHERI research to show that..."
[continued here]
"Aasen, veteran homeschooling mother of five in Washington State, here summarizes the basics of homeschooling research. She leads off with the 2007 NCES data that estimated there to be around 1.5 million homeschoolers in the U.S. She describes the diversity of motives, pedagogies, and types of people who homeschool. She cites Brian Ray’s NHERI research to show that..."
[continued here]
Monday, April 19, 2010
Growing up environmental and Christian
I grew up environmentally active. And never knew it.
I was taught to pick up trash. My parents even warned me they would stop the car and make me walk back to pick up any defenestrated trash (it never happened, because I believed them.).
I also walked everywhere.
(continued here).
I was taught to pick up trash. My parents even warned me they would stop the car and make me walk back to pick up any defenestrated trash (it never happened, because I believed them.).
I also walked everywhere.
(continued here).
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Free Music...for Education
That's right--I like free as much as the next guy.
[And I added "education" just to put it on this blog :-) Well, Christian nurture certainly involves various forms of relaxation and even play. And for me, music can be both.]
But I like free things that are also useful and high quality (such demands!).
And by God's grace, I have found two sources of free stuff that's useful and high quality.
For myself, I like good background music when I write. I could use my CD player in my computer but I like mixing things up (multi-CD player anyone?). So, for a while, I ripped most of my old tapes and a few CDs. But that takes time. Then you have to pick a number of MP3s for the mediaplayer to rotate through.
Ha! Why even do that much work when Pandora or Slacker Radio does it for free!
Slacker radio is streaming music based upon genre selection. All you need is a free account (give 'em your junk email address--you do have one, right? Use hotmail for that). And then you pick a station (based upon genre) or look up a song or artist and turn it into a "station". The songs will flow from similar artists and songs.
You are able to pause or skip the current song. You are given so many "skips" before you run out. You can also tag favorite songs or reject the bad ones. It has some visual ads and occasional audio ads too. [A PR from Slacker reminded me, "Once you have created a great station, you can share it via email, Facebook, or even embed the station on your website or blog."]
I ran across Pandora two years ago. And I have never looked back. It is based upon a Music Genome Project that organizes songs by 40 different characteristics. This means that its stations are not so much genre centered as organized by the greatest number of similar characteristics as defined by the Project.
Even so, I prefer Pandora over Slacker. It has fewer ads (I think) and you not only get to skip songs (a limited number of times of course!) you can bookmark the better ones, use them to create a new station or order them.
You can also mix stations (can't in Slacker). Or mix by genre. Or individually chose stations within a genre mix. You can delete stations if they start mixing in songs that detract from your original intent.
And as an added bonus...if you have Firefox you can add the Prism app. This wonderfully amazing app (yes, I like it) can convert any website into an independent web-browser, with a desktop icon. I just double-click the shortcut on my desktop in Windows and up pops Pandora without having to open a new tab in Firefox. (It's also good for email or google calendar).
I think even non technophiles will enjoy these goodies.
[And I added "education" just to put it on this blog :-) Well, Christian nurture certainly involves various forms of relaxation and even play. And for me, music can be both.]
But I like free things that are also useful and high quality (such demands!).
And by God's grace, I have found two sources of free stuff that's useful and high quality.
For myself, I like good background music when I write. I could use my CD player in my computer but I like mixing things up (multi-CD player anyone?). So, for a while, I ripped most of my old tapes and a few CDs. But that takes time. Then you have to pick a number of MP3s for the mediaplayer to rotate through.
Ha! Why even do that much work when Pandora or Slacker Radio does it for free!
Slacker radio is streaming music based upon genre selection. All you need is a free account (give 'em your junk email address--you do have one, right? Use hotmail for that). And then you pick a station (based upon genre) or look up a song or artist and turn it into a "station". The songs will flow from similar artists and songs.
You are able to pause or skip the current song. You are given so many "skips" before you run out. You can also tag favorite songs or reject the bad ones. It has some visual ads and occasional audio ads too. [A PR from Slacker reminded me, "Once you have created a great station, you can share it via email, Facebook, or even embed the station on your website or blog."]
I ran across Pandora two years ago. And I have never looked back. It is based upon a Music Genome Project that organizes songs by 40 different characteristics. This means that its stations are not so much genre centered as organized by the greatest number of similar characteristics as defined by the Project.
Even so, I prefer Pandora over Slacker. It has fewer ads (I think) and you not only get to skip songs (a limited number of times of course!) you can bookmark the better ones, use them to create a new station or order them.
You can also mix stations (can't in Slacker). Or mix by genre. Or individually chose stations within a genre mix. You can delete stations if they start mixing in songs that detract from your original intent.
And as an added bonus...if you have Firefox you can add the Prism app. This wonderfully amazing app (yes, I like it) can convert any website into an independent web-browser, with a desktop icon. I just double-click the shortcut on my desktop in Windows and up pops Pandora without having to open a new tab in Firefox. (It's also good for email or google calendar).
I think even non technophiles will enjoy these goodies.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Necessity of the Christian School
"The Christian school is to be favored for two reasons. In the first place, it is important for American liberty; in the second place, it is important for the propagation of the Christian religion. These two reasons are not equally important; indeed, the latter includes the former as it includes every other legitimate human interest. But I want to speak of these two reasons in turn."
J. Gresham Machen
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