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Alberta Home Education Association

Keep up to date with everything going on in our province!

Subcategories from this category:

Fathers, Reasons to Home Educate, Special Needs

Why Do We Homeschool?

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I was asked an interesting question at the AHEA convention this past spring that I was glad to answer, and I thought that it might be a question that others were asking. The question was simple and went something like this; "Why is it that homeschooling has such strong Christian roots?" Now, admittedly not all homeschoolers come from a Christian perspective, and the reasons a family might choose to homeschool can be diverse; but the Christian belief lends itself to the venue of homeschooling in many ways. This is a condensed version of my answer.

First off; 'Why should we educate our children in the first place?' I have commented in the past that the main reason that a child should learn to read is so that they can read the Bible. The Bible is our lifeline to the truth and therefore essential reading if we are to live the Christian life. I have gone so far to say that if an individual is not going to read the Bible it would be better that they should not read at all; but I would also argue that everyone should learn to read so that when the time comes that they should desire to read the Bible, that they should already know how to read.


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The Need for an Accurate Measure

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In any homeschool environment there comes a time when you teach the young ones about weights and measures. In our culture the accepted standards are either the Metric system or the Imperial system. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. In a perfect world, the Metric system with its emphasis on the base 10, which is, of course, the same as our numerical system, works the simplest. All standards of measure relate to each other in one way or another, and once understood, provide simple ways for the varying measures to interrelate. On the other hand, because we did not start with the Metric system, measures of length often still relate to the Imperial system, simply because the land itself is
divided into miles and not kilometers. Building design is still often done in feet and inches. Some smaller projects are done in millimeters, but on big buildings these numbers become astronomically large. On the whole, either system works simply because it is standardized. This has not always been the case.

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Unhurried Homeschooling: Why We Need to Slow Down

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We have been homeschooling for over 27 years. We have eight children that we have homeschooled from the start. We've graduated 7 from high school and one from college. When I started this journey with our kids, the internet wasn't in existence. We didn't have cell phones and homeschool curriculum availability was limited.

As the years have passed, I've watched the internet, cell phones, and curriculum companies give us access to unlimited amounts of information. Although these can be helpful, I am also realizing how detrimental this seems to be, especially for those who are just beginning their homeschool journeys. 

For hundreds of years, children have been allowed to have plenty of playtime, spending hours building forts, making bows and arrows, collecting bruises and bloody knees, and loving every minute of it! They were engrossed in childhood. Our world has changed, but our children have NOT! 

They arrive in this world with many, many stages of development that they must walk through before becoming healthy, well-adjusted adults. Our job as parents is to provide an environment that allows them to do that well. Their health and wellbeing are dependent on it. 

The trouble is, as homeschooling parents, we are terrified that our children are going to fall behind "educationally."
I am here to tell you that that IS THE LEAST OF YOUR PROBLEMS.

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Homeschooling as a model to see Revival become Reform

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As colleges and universities across the USA and Canada rejoice over revival , many people 1 remain skeptical for fear that this stirring will turn out to be just another over-sensational experience that doesn't transform into substantive obedience to God.

Questioning these different events is normal because most of us have lived long enough to see 'fires' dwindle, 'callings' fade, and 'conversions' lack repentance. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt 26:41). And so we've seen 'the sprit' of many things die; such as prayer, witnessing, and faithfulness to Christ. After visiting the Asbury campus for myself, and seeing the genuine repentance and desire to seek God during the ongoing worship service, I am hopeful that this revival is sincere. However, because I live in Kentucky now, I will continue to visit the campus after the dust settles to ask: How does personal devotion to the Lord turn into institutional change? How does revival turn into reform? 
 
Tim Tysoe and I recently talked about this topic on our podcast, The Other Club. How does revival turn into reform? Here it is: Christians need to turn godly desires into an applied, structural, and systematic Biblical worldview to produce the lasting fruit of obedience to God. Christians need to practically overcome internal and external obstacles that impede growth. This is true for institutions such as Asbury University: extended, passionate worship must lead to policy corrections. This is true for the government and church, where both continuously need principled changes. And, this is also true of the family. This answer reminded my about the strengths of homeschooling. The Biblical and practical actions homeschooling-families take is a model for producing these kinds of outcomes. This article will demonstrate how simply homeschooling helps to achieve an applied, systematic, and structured worldview; and how it overcomes barriers to growth.
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Words From a Seasoned Homeschool Dad - Financial Literacy

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In just three years, the greatest teacher of all time impacted the world more than anyone else. How was that possible? Jesus Christ was both human and divine. What did He say about financial literacy? A lot! He taught about money matters more than heaven and hell combined. Many of His parables were filled with financial overtones.

What did he say? Before I get into specifics let me say emphatically that if our government gurus studied Jesus' teachings on the proper use of money, we would not be in today's financial mess. Sometimes I think senior finance bureaucrats need a Dave Ramsay course or counsel from Mary Hunt!

First, a little about me. My family came to Canada from communist Europe when I was four, and we settled in Toronto. My dad was an accountant in Poland, but in Canada he got a job in a bakery as an oven man. It was hot and hard work. He did not have to speak much English, be employed year-round, and buy fresh baked goods for his four children. He often worked nights to earn more. My mom worked during the daytime in the Sears steno pool. Both parents toiled and were especially frugal. 

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