Greetings PAACH homeschooling families. I hope this month finds you well. Summer has begun and I hope that means lots of time being spent outdoors having great adventures with your family and friends. Summer is a great time to grow in community. I want to offer a few ideas to stir up your creative juices and hopefully make some God-glorifying bonding moments for you with your family.

I want to encourage you to look for opportunities this summer to learn together as a family. Go on adventures, enjoy the outdoors, enjoy some water activities, and discover God’s amazing creation. My family will be enjoying lots of hiking and geo-caching. For those who don’t know, geo-caching is like going on a treasure hunt to find objects or containers that others have hidden and maybe even left clues for you to follow. You can download a geocaching app on your phone for free and use your GPS to help you find them. You may even want to hide your own geo-cache together as a family.

I also want to encourage you to get together with other families from your church or the local homeschool community. Summer is a great time to grill out or cook over a bonfire. Look for opportunities to encourage others and grow those relationships. Practice some hospitality and see how God might use you to encourage another family or even start a new friendship. God has given us all something to offer as a gift to others, so put it out there and build your community. I pray you and your family have a great summer.

The PAACH board desires to help and support you throughout your homeschooling journey. We also desire to help you disciple your children by providing encouragement, wisdom, and resources that will enable you to be godly parents who lead your children toward Christ. We pray that your family learns together, grows together with others in community, and glorifies Christ in everything you do.

James Cox
PAACH President

 

Well, the convention is over, and it’s time to settle into the routine again. First, let me give a shout-out to the volunteers that made our convention happen. They put in uncounted hours of work. So if you see someone who is on the Convention Committee, or volunteered to work at the convention, let them know you appreciate their efforts. It was a great convention.

Now that the mountain top experience is over, it’s time to dive back into normal life. Sometimes we may be tempted to think that the mountain tops, since they are the big noticeable pinnacles, are where all the action is. Those are exciting experiences, and who doesn’t like exciting experiences! We’d love for them to happen all the time! The view from the mountain-top is breathtaking, and awe-inspiring. But if you notice while you’re up there, there aren’t many crops growing on mountain tops. As home-schoolers who are concerned about discipling our children, we must have a rm conviction that growing crops that produce fruit almost always happens in the vales, not on the mountains. And in case I didn’t clearly communicate the metaphor, the crop we want to grow in the lives of our kids is Biblical Faith. Godly faith is built little by little in the ordinary humdrum of life.

God’s instruction in Deuteronomy 6:6-8 is this: “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them while you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Did you notice the description of normal, everyday, ho-hum life happening there? When do we teach God’s commands and precepts to our kids? While we’re sitting in the house relaxing. Or when you’re traveling somewhere. Or when you’re lying down getting ready for bed. Or in the morning, when you’re all getting up and ready for the day. The normal everyday experience is where faith-building happens.

Simple, every-day events like giving thanks together to God for your meals help instill a sense of gratitude to God for His provision and dependence upon Him for His supply to our need. Mundane tasks like taking out the garbage, making the bed or helping wash the dishes provide opportunity to teach and model diligence and good stewardship of the resources God has committed into our hands, not to mention the numerous needs of helping both ourselves and our children deal with the sinful attitudes and thoughts which arise in our hearts while doing them. Any parent knows that having siblings interact with one another will almost always lead to a training session on how to love and forgive.

This is not saying that those mountain top experiences are useless, or unnecessary. Far from it! We can absorb a lot of truth in those mountains. Our kids always joked with my wife and I at the end of a home-school convention by saying, “Oh great! Now what is going to change in our house?” And there were ideas for change at the end of a trip through the mountain tops. But those ideas had to be cultivated in the elds of the valley. We had to come home, get back to normal life, and plow new furrows in our daily routine in order to implement them. Its never easy, but it does bear fruit.

Don’t forget the sacred and holy nature of what happens every day in our homes. Husbands love their wives and model Christ’s love for the church. Wives follow their husband’s leadership and model the church's loving submission to her Lord. Children learn submission to their Heavenly Father by learning to obey mom and dad. This is holy activity. And it happens in the ordinary, mundane things of life.

The conventions and retreats are there to give you an awe-inspiring view from the heights, to renew your vision of the big picture, of the purpose of it all. But the bulk of the spiritual work and growth that we want to see in our families, our marriages, and our children will be cultivated and will grow in the broad at prairies of daily life. Teach the things of God diligently while you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise... in the normal, ho-hum activities of life.

Brian Kelly
PAACH Board Member

Summer Baseball & Softball

Register online or in-person at the Christian Center Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Homeschool Bowling

Looking for a P.E. credit for your homeschoolers? The Christian Center is again reserving Friday afternoons from Noon to 3 p.m. for homeschool bowling sessions. All skill levels supported. Family-friendly facility. $2.50 games and $2.50 shoe rentals!

Dads & Lads

Fridays 5 to 8 p.m. FREE Bowling and/or Billiards (dads must participate with sons to be eligible to play for free)

 

Do you know a new homeschooler or someone who is considering homeschooling? Perhaps you are new yourself, homeschooling one year or less?

Join us Thursday, March 16, 2023, for New to Homeschooling Night with speaker Nancy Bjorkman from Heppner's Legacy. Nancy has over 20 years of experience and will share fresh ideas, how tos, encouragement, and more!

Afterwards, shop our convention vendor hall, browse homeschool options and get advice from some of our local homeschool community. Register online today!

Greetings PAACH homeschooling families. I hope this month finds you well and looking forward to the PAACH convention. Much is happening in our country and around the world as times grow more challenging for Christians. Animosity toward truth and morality grows daily. Meanwhile we are called to be light in this darkness, which puts us directly in the line of fire in this spiritual battle. I want to challenge you with two questions. Are you earnestly contending for the faith? (Jude 3) Secondly, are you preparing your children to be contenders?

The spiritual battle is all around us, but the most dangerous battles are happening inside the church. Scripture is clear that the biggest threat to the gospel is a false teacher. Paul, Peter, John, and Jude all warn of the dangers of false teachers who dilute the gospel and lead people on a path to death. Jesus also tells the parable of the Sower where he warns about those who would snatch away the seed of truth. (Matthew 13) I recently watched an episode of Wretched in which Todd Friel questioned why Christians are willing to protest and fight for political issues, but not as willing to protest and fight bad doctrine. His charge was that we are not facing the bigger danger which is far more damaging than the other causes that keep our attention. He contends that eternal souls are more important than political/moral issues, and that keeping a pure gospel should be a priority in every church and every home. Are you contending for the faith?

As parents, we should also contend for our children. We need to help them have a clear understanding of the gospel and give them ample opportunities to respond to it. We need to demonstrate God’s grace in their lives as we raise them up. We also need to teach them how to study scripture so that they may “rightly divide the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) We must teach them to have discernment (Hebrews 5:14) and to “test every spirit” (1 John 4:1) so they will recognize ‘truth-twisting’ and reject false teaching. There is no greater tool for learning discernment than knowing scripture. Get in the Word with them. Have conversations to work through bad ideas and the consequences that follow them. Talk with them about what they learned from Sunday school or the sermon. Train and equip them to be contenders for the faith.

The PAACH board is excited to offer this year’s convention. We desire to help and support you throughout your homeschooling journey. We also desire to help you disciple your children by providing encouragement, wisdom, and resources that will enable you to be Godly parents who lead your children towards Christ. We pray that your family learns together, grows together with others in community, and glorifies Christ in everything you do.

James Cox
PAACH President

Written by Rebecca Spooner

Many people come to me for answers. Whether that’s because I was a homeschool blogger, write curriculum, was homeschooled myself, or even because I have homeschooled my own kids for the past 10 years—they see my kids or little glimpses of my day and think to themselves, Clearly she is doing a better job than me. But the reality is that the biggest thing I have learned is I’m a hit-and-miss homeschooler. My track record is either winning or just about beginning! I am busy—juggling careers and companies and ministry and family and dropping nearly as many balls as I’m picking up.

Some days I know what I want; I know what I need to do, but life is just so incredibly inconsiderate of my plans. Doctor’s appointments, sickness, work, friendship, weather, attitudes... there are so many things that can affect our days that I can feel like I’m just along for the ride. Next week will be better, I tell myself convincingly. And then we have company show up or a cold hits the household.

But then we have these other days. Days when I check off everything on my dream list. Days when the kids are actually listening, and I am giving them my full, undivided attention. Days where I miraculously listened to my alarm (yes, the first in a series of 10) and got up early, had coffee, started dinner in the Crock-Pot, cleaned the house, had my quiet time, and worked—all before the kids cracked open their doors to the unforgiving dawn. These, my friends, are the days I live for. They make everything worth it, and I cling onto them when something unexpected comes and ruins all my plans.

If there is anything I have learned in these past nearly 11 years of homeschooling, it is that I have to be flexible. To move with the natural ebbs and flows of life and not set my expectations too unrealistically high or unattainable.

Why am I telling you this? Because I feel like someone has to. Someone has to come off the pedestal that they've been put on because no one sees what is behind their screen. Someone has to say, Wait! Don’t you dare think this is everything!” because for far too many for far too long, homeschooling has been a never-ending race, desperately searching for something that doesn’t exist... perfection.

You, with the Splinter of Failure in Your Heart

Someone out there is reading this article thinking that everyone else has it together but them. Everyone else must have something they don’t to be so patient, joyful, and successful at this. How do they do it? How well they must sleep at night without the crushing weight or anxious doubt that their kids might be struggling or falling behind because of their inconsistency! Someone out there has been quietly following all the homeschool “experts” and holding onto their co-op like a lifeline, hoping no one will find them out or say what they hope is not true (though they suspect it must be): that they can’t do this.

I am not here to tell you that you are perfect just as you are or that you should just accept your failures and settle. Homeschooling can be so much more—it can be fun and exciting and interactive and full of life and love and infused with joy. Instead, I am here to tell you that there is hope. Sure, I’m a hit-and-miss homeschooler, and my kids could probably be further ahead. Sure, I could devote everything to homeschooling and probably do a better job... but I do what I can with what I have been given. I have tasted and seen and experienced what a life-giving homeschool can look like, and I won’t settle for less nor will I condemn myself when school looks like a show and cuddles on the couch. I will continue to pray and ask God what matters that day and then accept when His ways don’t look anything like mine. I will trust Him to fill in the gaps.

Reach for More, Accept What Is

I aspire for greatness in my kids and in my homeschool journey, but sometimes my perception of greatness is the very thing that needs to change. Greatness can be listening to my 4-year-old tell me that God helped her when she was feeling scared. Greatness can be playing violin with my daughter and laughing at our mistakes. Greatness can be cleaning the house together and learning to buckle up, be more responsible, and contribute to the family. Greatness can be having a nap with my 8-year old when he is sick. Greatness can be the stuff in between too, and learning is happening all around us.

When we stop making school something we do and instead make learning a way of life—something that is infused into the very fabric of our days—that is when we start to experience breakthrough in our days.

So grab a cup of coffee, stop trying to impose what you think homeschooling should be, and find what it is. Don’t settle for your struggles—battle through them. But do it gently and have some grace for yourself. You are never going to be perfect—no one is! Instead, stop looking to everyone else to be your gauge and start seeing the beauty of what is in front of you. May we be a generation of homeschoolers who raise our kids with con dence and victory because we aim for greatness but are still willing to adjust our perception of what that is and leave room for God to direct our steps. That is the kind of hit-and-miss homeschooler that I want to be.

God, let me hit when I’m supposed to hit, and let me be okay with the miss when there’s something else you have for me instead.

Rebecca Spooner
Gather Round Homeschool

Rebecca is a homeschool mom of five kids, creator of Gather ‘Round Homeschool, owner of Homeschoolon.com, and author of More Than Words Bible curriculum. She is a second-generation homeschooler who is passionate about sharing her successes and failures... to be authentic and honest that this is not always easy, but it is possible. Join her for stories from the trenches of homeschool life that are relatable, funny, and all too true. And may you walk away with practical tools and strategies and a fresh new perspective to keep you going. Bring a cup of coffee; it’s about to get real.

 

We are always looking for families to join the PAACH board of directors or volunteer at one of the many PAACH events scheduled throughout the year. We ask that you prayerfully consider serving our homeschool community in one of these ways.

For more info about PAACH or to explore volunteer options, please email President James Cox at battlecircle@gmail.com

 

Written by: Israel Wayne

Has your decision to homeschool your children ever left you feeling tired, overwhelmed or stressed out? As a student who was homeschooled (my family began homeschooling in 1978), I have learned a few things and over the years about how to avoid burnout in your homeschool.

One of the most common reasons for weariness and frustration among homeschooling parents is the weight of self-inflicted deadlines and standards. It is good, of course, to have goals in mind, but we must always ask ourselves: “Am I seeking to do the Lord’s will, or am I merely pursuing my own agenda?”

As Christian families, we need to view homeschooling not as a glorious end, in and of itself, but rather as a means to an end. The main goal is to raise children who love the Lord, and are committed to following Christ. It is not to produce robots that can recite random facts and data at the drop of a hat.

What a child knows is really insignificant compared to what he or she believes. We must move beyond facts to convictions. It is vital that our children know:

1. What they believe.
2. Why their beliefs are true.
3. How to articulate their beliefs.
4. How to live their beliefs consistently

Getting the right answers on a test is meaningless unless a child knows how to apply those truths to everyday life. Non-applicable knowledge is worthless. As parents, we want our children to excel academically, and homeschoolers usually do. Our main motivation for homeschooling, however, should not be academic prowess. Instead, we should “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these (including academic) things will be added to us.” (Matthew 6:33)

We should always stay focused on our long-term goals, but we must consistently follow the leading of the Spirit. Why are we homeschooling? Our main objective should be to fulfill our God-given obligation to “train up our children in the way they should go.” (Proverbs 22:6) Psalm 78, Deuteronomy 6 and 11 and many other passages stress the importance of teaching God’s laws to our children.

What is the Purpose of an Education?

God’s primary reasons for commanding you to teach your own children are to:

1) Enable God to purify you (the parent), as you allow the fire and pressure of the homeschool setting to make you into pure gold.

2) To help your children know and love Him, and become prepared to serve Him.

God desires for us to have close family relationships, and He uses the process of family discipleship to develop Godly character in both the children and the parents. God has established and designed parents to be the primary influences in shaping their children’s values. Parents can’t expect to receive a Godly harvest unless they labor during the planting.

We must learn to view home education as a lifestyle decision, and not merely an academic alternative. Use every available moment to teach eternal principles. Developing a Biblical worldview in children is not something that happens by accident. It is taught by formal instruction and caught by the Godly example of the parents.

By keeping in mind that we are homeschooling because we want to raise children who love Jesus, we won’t be so frustrated if our child doesn’t understand Phonics or Chemistry. I’ve seen some mothers become so frustrated by their inability to communicate math facts that they scream at their children and throw books! In trying to teach academics, are we achieving our ultimate goal of developing Godly character? Nothing is so important that it overrides our relationships with God and each other.

It is also easy to get caught up in the busyness of activities, running our children here and there, and over-committing ourselves into panic. Are all the programs we are involved in bringing us closer to God and each other, or are they mostly wearing us out? We may need to recalibrate our compass. What does God expect of us?

“He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you. To do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

If we focus on teaching eternal principles, and developing Christ-like character in our children, we will have academic success as a natural result of our obedience to God. We should not merely teach our children what to believe, but show them why our beliefs are true. They should be able to determine, from the principles in Scripture, what is good and what is evil. They should recognize absolute truths and be able to reason from a Biblical worldview.

By keeping obedience to God as our primary reason for homeschooling, we will have the flexibility to change our educational approaches, relax in the face of deadlines, and put family relationships above SAT scores. We can have a joyful, peaceful, loving family and still achieve an academic standard superior to the world; but we must keep Christ as the focus and avoid humanistic expectations.

 

Israel is a homeschool graduate and father of eleven who is passionate about defending the Christian faith and developing a Biblical worldview. He is the Director of Family Renewal and author of the books Answers for Homeschooling: Top 25 Questions Critics Ask, Education: Does God Have an Opinion, and Raising Them Up: Parenting for Christians, among others. More information may be found at familyrenewal.org.

Israel will be leading the following workshops at the 2023 PAACH Homeschool Convention

The History of the Homeschooling Movement - Session 1, Friday 10:30 a.m.

Transform Learning through the Art of Questions - Session 2, Friday 1 p.m.

Influence vs. Control: How to Best Motivate Your Child - Session 3, Friday 3 p.m.

Pitchin’ a Fit: Overcoming Angry and Stressed-Out Parenting - Session 1, Saturday 10:30 a.m.

Answers for Homeschooling: Top Questions Critics Ask - Session 2, Saturday 1 p.m.

The Biblical Basis for Parental Rights - Session 3, Saturday 3 p.m.

 

 

Greetings PAACH homeschooling families. I hope your family has started this year off well. This winter weather has been unusual, and the extreme temperature roller coaster has been frustrating for my family. Cloudy winter days can have a dramatic effect on moods and the overall atmosphere in your home. I want to encourage your family to find joy in the little things and to make laughter a daily goal in your home.

Remember that your main purpose in homeschool should be focused on discipleship and building relationships. Repetitive routines have their benefits, but so do spontaneous breaks. Look for opportunities in both to enjoy something together with each child. Look for what sparks their interest or gets them excited, and find a way to explore it with them. Sharing in their excitement is a great way to bond with them and encourage learning. These moments are also good times to talk with them about God’s design in creation.

I also want to encourage you to make laughter a priority in your home. Finding humor in everyday life has many benefits. Laughter can change a mood or the whole atmosphere in your home. Life is stressful and hard at times, and laughter can renew strength to endure (Neh 8:10) or bring healthy release in a tense situation. Laughing with your children and delighting in them makes you more like your Heavenly Father who “rejoices over you” and “takes delight in you” as well. (Zeph 3:17) Learn to enjoy your kids’ uniqueness. God has designed each of them with different character traits, abilities, and interests. Help them to see that God likes them because He made them who they are. Help them find their identity as His child, and to find safety and comfort in their relationships with Him and with you. Laughter is a valuable discipleship tool.

The PAACH board desires to help and support you throughout your homeschooling journey. We also desire to help you disciple your children by providing encouragement, wisdom, and resources that will enable you to be godly parents who lead your children toward Christ. We pray that your family learns together, grows together with others in community, and glorifies Christ in everything you do.

James Cox
PAACH President

 

We are excited for our upcoming convention - March 17 & 18. We have 2 great keynotes lined up: Kirk Smith, Executive Director of ICHE (Illinois Christian Home Educators), and Rebecca Spooner of Gather Round Homeschool.

We also have two featured speakers, Sonya Shafer from Simply Charlotte Mason and Israel Wayne from Family Renewal. There are some great kid friendly workshops including CPR, art classes, and some fun hands-on science classes with Dr. Fizzlebop!

Register by February 9 to take advantage of our early registration and for a chance to win a WCIC gift basket worth over $130, including an echo dot.

New this year, we have different lunch options. We have some young entrepreneurs who will be offering beef and chicken tacos and loaded french fries. We also have a full vendor hall lined up including Master Books, Heppner's Legacy, the Book Shelf, Lamplighter, Gather Round, and much more!