Quote from Forum Archives on July 3, 2002, 7:08 pm

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE HOPE CHEST:
Ideas and Inspiration for Home Education
Issue #50 part 1
July 2002
With Liberty and Justice for All!
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WELCOME TO THE HOPE CHEST!

The Hope Chest Home School News is a free bi-monthly e-mail newsletter
with encouragement and practical teaching tips. The editor is Virginia
Knowles, wife of Thad, and mother of eight, ages toddler to teen.
Virginia is also the author and publisher of Common Sense Excellence:
Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, The Real Life
Home School Mom, and The Learner's Journal lesson planner and record
keeping log. (Ordering information is at the end of the newsletter for
these resources and several others.)

HOPE CHEST CONTACT INFORMATION

Web site: http://www.hopechest.homestead.com/welcome.html
Resource descriptions:
   http://www.hopechest.homestead.com/resourceorders.html
Personal e-mail: [email protected]
Subscription address: [email protected]
Unsubscription address: [email protected]

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 1: Encouragement from Virginia

 

   From My Heart to Yours: With Liberty and Justice for All

   Excerpt from Common Sense Excellence

   The World Beyond: Northland GO Teams in Namibia!

Part 2: For the Love of Literature

 

Poet's Pen:
   I Am An American by Elias Lieberman

   The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

 

Bookshelf:
   The Giver by Lois Lowry
   Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
   Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
   The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

Pizza Math

 

Part 3: The Final Stuff

   Real Life Record Keeping
   What We're Using for Curriculum This Year
   What's New at the Knowles House?
   Resource Ordering Information
   Reprint Permission

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FROM MY HEART TO YOURS:
With Liberty and Justice for All
by Virginia Knowles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems ironic to be writing this article -- "With Liberty and Justice
For All" -- using the last line of the American Pledge of Allegiance.
Just days ago, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
declared that the words "under God" must be struck from our Pledge, and
Congress passed its own resolutions in support of the Pledge WITH "under
God" in it! The issue is likely to go to the Supreme Court, and the
public debate should prove to be quite interesting. I am frankly
surprised that the phrase "under God" lasted has lasted this long
already!

These questions come to mind: Is there any such thing as a national
faith? What role does religion play in public life? What kind of
liberties do we cherish? Are we willing to extend these freedoms to those
who differ from us? Are we willing to work for "liberty and justice for
ALL" -- even those who don't live in our own "one nation"?

Have you seen the Special 2002 Photo Issue of The Voice of the Martyrs
magazine? The theme is Kids of Courage: The Power of One. (To request the Special Issue of the magazine or other VOM resources, contact Voice of
the Martyrs at (918) 337-8015, www.persecution.com, or P.O. Box 443,
Bartlesville, OK 74005. Canadians must use the web site
www.persecution.net to request resources.) It was mailed with the July
2002 issue, which expands on the same theme. There are children around
the world, outside of the protection of democratic law, who are violently
persecuted for their Christian faith. They are killed and injured. They
are mocked at school. They are interrogated. Their parents are thrown in
prison or murdered before their eyes. They mostly suffer at the hands of
radical Muslims and Communists, who refuse basic religious and civil
liberties to those who disagree with them. These precious saints don't
find their liberty and justice in their governments, but in God alone. 2
Corinthians 3:17 reminds us, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." They may not see human justice
this side of eternity, but just like the saints of Hebrews 11, they will
receive their reward, and their ultimate justice, in heaven.

I strongly encourage home school families to open up their perspective.
Yes, we love our own countries. Yes, we can study our national history
with passion. Yes, we must stay vigilant to protect our civil and
religious liberties. But we must start to think GLOBAL. I'm not
advocating One World government in any way. I am a flag-waving American.
I just want us to look beyond our borders, and be aware of what is going
on in the rest of the world, and how we can influence it for the better.
This should be a vital part of our children's education. The Social
Studies chapter of my new book Common Sense Excellence has a whole a
section on Culture, which I am including below. (That chapter also has
sections on Civics, History, Geography, and Economics.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt from
COMMON SENSE EXCELLENCE:
Faith-Filled Education for Preschool to 5th Grade
by Virginia Knowles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CULTURE

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude

that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb." Revelation 7:9-10

"You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3

"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." Colossians 3:11

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Some people actually believe that home schooling is an excellent way to
get kids out of a racially-integrated classroom. They miss the point by a
million miles! We treasure plenty of friendships from a variety of
ethnicities, and have no desire whatsoever to instill prejudice in our
children. In our home we try to model an attitude of dignity for all
people. Colossians 3:11 reminds us that are no ethnic distinctions within
the body of Christ, and Revelation 7:9-10 offers a beautiful glimpse of a
big crowd of folks from every nation, tribe, people, and language
worshipping the Lamb of God. You just can't get much more multicultural
than that!

Nevertheless, there are many pitfalls associated with multi-cultural
education. In a quest to be inclusive, so many teachers have bought into
the notion that every culture has an equally valid belief system. This is
called pluralism or relativism. The assumption here is that is no
absolute truth, there are many paths to God. Did you notice what happened
after the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001?
My first thought, after they started linking this to Islamic groups, was
to pray for my Arabic friends and to plead with those on my e-mail
newsletter list to show mercy, not retaliation, to those who are Muslim.
However, I was not prepared for the tidal wave of pluralistic philosophy
that swept the nation. I do deeply believe in religious tolerance and
respect for others, but I was amazed at how many Christian leaders joined
in to the mantra of "Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews.
It doesn't matter what you call it, whether you are Buddhist or Hindu or
whatever, it's all OK." No, it is not all the same, and it does matter
what you call it! I sympathize with how a public school teacher has to be
sensitive to all of the diverse children in her classroom. If she isn't,
she might get fired or sued! As home educators, we are under no such
limitations; we are in the unique position to discuss and interpret these
issues from a Biblical perspective. Let's enjoy the privilege!

 

How can you approach "multi-cultural studies" in your home education program?

Read picture books featuring characters of other racial, ethnic, and
religious backgrounds. No matter what history or geography topic we are
studying, we always check out a load of multi-cultural picture books.
These are an integral part of our home school program. I just wish you
could see our bookshelves, and you would know without a shadow of a doubt
how much I love multi-cultural literature! Here are just a few of my
favorites that we've checked out repeatedly from the Easy Picture Book
section:

• All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka (variety of skin colors)
• Different Just Like Me by Lori Mitchell (healthy amount of diversity)
• The Long Road by Luis Garay (immigration)
• Lights on the River by Jane Resh Thomas (migrant workers)
• A Day's Work by Eve Bunting (migrant workers)
• Grandfather Counts by Andrea Cheng (Chinese immigrant)
• Happy Birthday, Mr. Kang by Susan L. Roth (Chinese immigrant)
• Masai and I by Virginia Kroll (African heritage)
• Leola and the Honeybears by Melodye Benson Rosales (African-American Goldilocks)
• Nim and the War Effort by Milly Lee (Chinese-American during World War II)

Study cultures in the natural context of regular world history and
geography lessons. If you are studying the era of American slavery, the
Civil War, or Civil Rights, read several biographies of people like
George Washington Carver, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
When you do a unit study on airplanes, check out library books on famous
black aviators. When you study India, learn about Hinduism; this shows
the huge contrast between it and Christianity.

Keep up with current events related to international and racial issues.
As appropriate, read newspapers, watch television coverage, or log on to
trusted news sites on the Internet. Should you teach your child about
potentially distressing or depressing topics related to a clash in
cultures? I'm sure this question passed many lips in Autumn 2001 as
scenes from the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and then the war in
Afghanistan filled our TV screens. What shall we tell the children? How
much should we let them see? The answer will depend on you and your
child. Some children, usually younger ones, are more emotionally
sensitive; this might give them nightmares or other more subtle stress
symptoms. Other children will use this as a springboard for prayer and
service on the behalf of suffering people around the world, a fresh
resolve to work toward justice in our society, and a new gratitude for
the privileges in their own lives. That's my goal, and it seems to be
working! I have chosen to discuss issues such as abortion, terrorism,
racial intolerance and religious persecution with our children, starting
with the time they can begin to comprehend and ask about an overheard
conversation. I don't go out of my way to show them graphic pictures of
injustice or strike terror into their soft little hearts, but I usually
let their curiosity and interest be the guide to what they are ready to
see and hear. I act as the filter, paraphrasing a news article or
broadcast into terms they can understand. 1 Chronicles 12:32 commends
"the men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel
should do."  Subscribe to God's World News (www.gwnews.com or 800-951-KIDS)

Respect people who are culturally different from you, even if you
disagree with their world view. Our attitudes seep down to our children.
If they hear us speaking disparagingly about other people because of
their ethnicity, religion, politics, career ambitions, or other personal
characteristic, they will do this too. Instead, we can communicate the
message that we can disagree with what a person believes, but we still
must treat that person with kindness and respect, rather than
condescension. This is such an important concept, and so vital to
effective interpersonal communication! One area that our children will
notice is how we speak about those who have chosen not to home school
their children. Do we act like our children are superior just because
they are home schooled? This kind of parental arrogance can lead to
self-righteousness in our children. God looks at the heart, and he loves
to see hearts filled with meekness! 1 Peter 3:15-16 reminds us, "But in
your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an
answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you
have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear
conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good
behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."

 

Beware of polytheism in its many forms. In our geography studies, when we learn about daily life and belief systems around the world, I make no
attempt to be politically correct. In other words, we can learn about
African tribal religions, but we don't glorify them as one of "many paths
to God." Instead, we pray for them! Many years ago, I flipped through an
activity book for our unit study on Ancient Egypt, looking for nifty
ideas to make my teaching more interesting. What's this? "Empower the
Gods with Mythical Power"? Check out this description: "Have students
create an imaginary ancient Egyptian god or goddess and empower it with
two mystical powers. Students can illustrate their gods and write short
stories describing their powers, characteristics, and animal
representations." I DON'T THINK SO! Not in my house we won't! Not even
for a "just pretend" creative writing assignment! When we studied ancient
cultures, we spent some time on the myths and theology just to be aware
of the mindset of that age, but we clearly contrasted it with Scripture.
In my opinion, young children don't need a heavy dose of information
about pagan cultures because they can't always differentiate between fact
and fiction. I suppose that's one reason we don't spend a whole year
studying each of the big three pagan ancient cultures, Egypt, Greece and
Rome. In any study of ancient or not-so-ancient cultures, you will run
smack into a heavy dose of polytheism, the belief in multiple gods and
goddesses. Unfortunately, these pagan philosophies have not faded away.
We see the popularity of Eastern religion, New Age spirituality and
humanism -- and we rightly attempt to shield our children from these
destructive influences. As a side note, I find it interesting to note
that the monotheistic religion of Islam started in the 7th century
largely due to a reaction against the rampant polytheism of the day.
Unfortunately, the Muslims also considered the Christian church to be
idolatrous with its power struggles and rituals. God calls us to purity
of heart, so don't be ashamed of the Gospel! It is "the power of God for
the salvation of everyone who believes," (Romans 1:16) no matter what
culture they are!

Look for opportunities to serve the persecuted church. Voice of the
Martyrs (VOM) is a ministry to the persecuted church around the world. I
recommend that parents subscribe to Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) magazine;
though the contents are not always suitable for young children, you will
be able to share edited versions of what you read, as well as show some
of the pictures. We also have their excellent children's video Stephen's
Test of Faith, which is a dramatic but discrete review of martyrdom
through the ages. VOM also publishes LINK, a quarterly children's
magazine which focuses on a different country in each issue. We use this
information to pray and serve. At age five, my daughter Lydia cut out a
dozen or so pictures from Voice of the Martyrs to mount on a global
prayer map for her history fair project. One year our girls took part in
their Blankets of Love outreach by collecting new or gently used blankets
from our neighbors to send to Sudanese Christian refugees. Another year,
we donated money for 100 helium balloons, printed with a full gospel
message, to be released over the border into communist North Korea. VOM
sent us a bright orange sample balloon, which we hung on the wall for a
long time as a reminder. Contact Voice of the Martyrs at (918) 337-8015,
www.persecution.com, or P.O. Box 443, Bartlesville, OK 74005. Canadians
must use the web site www.persecution.net to request resources.

• Voice of the Martyrs Magazine
• Stephen's Test of Faith video
• LINK Magazine

Focus on courage, justice and liberty.  What is right and noble? What can
we do to stand against injustice? When she was in fifth grade, my
daughter Rachel asked me whether I would have sheltered Jews if I had
lived in Europe during the Holocaust. "Yes," I told her, "I would have
done whatever I could." That resolve to be part of the solution to the
world's problems grips me from the bottom of my heart, and I want to
nurture that attitude in my children as we read and as we serve. Studying
the Holocaust and World War II has been a catalyst for this. Both of my
teen age daughters have visited the local Holocaust museum and done
literature studies on the era, starting with Corrie ten Boom's book The
Hiding Place. Even the younger ones have read a very abridged children's
version of this book. Learning about this subject doesn't have to come
all at once; we build on it year after year. Here are a few resources we
have used:

• Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust by Eve Bunting is a
  children's picture book which talks about a group of forest animals who
  won't stick up for another when a monster comes, so they all suffer in
  the end. This is a moving introduction to the concept of social justice.
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is a good chapter book novel for children. We listened to it on tape while on vacation.
• Young Underground series by Robert Elmer (which includes Beyond the
  River, Chasing the Wind and several other titles) is also well-written,
  adventurous fiction. These Christian books about a pair of courageous
  Danish twins are probably aimed at late elementary and middle school, but I think they are suitable as a read aloud for about 2nd or 3rd grade and up.

I simply would not consider my children's education to be complete if we
did not open up their eyes to what is going on in the real world and how
they should respond to it. It's not exactly cozy, but it's life!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The World Beyond:
Northland GO Teams in Namibia!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An Orlando megachurch, Northland Distributed Church, has organized a
massive outreach to Namibia (in southern Africa) this summer in
conjunction with Youth for Christ, Campus Crusade, and other
organizations. The goal is simply this: "The Transformation of a Nation."
A total of 54 teams, consisting of 432 Americans and 108 Namibians, are
blanketing the country for a whole month. The "first wave" left on June
24 for two weeks, with the "second wave" to follow July 6. Many of the
participants are home schooled teenagers or graduates. This is so
exciting! The multi-faceted outreach is influencing schools, government,
health care, national churches, and other key areas of society. They are
also promoting abstinence in a country where HIV/AIDS runs epidemic.
Northland has sent its own newspaper editor, Rebecca Ramsay, along to
give eyewitness reports. (For her daily updates, visit:
http://nacd.northlandcc.net/namibia2002/intro.asp ) Rebecca Ramsay holds a special place in my heart since she allowed my 15 year old daughter, Mary, to "job shadow" in the Northland newspaper office for her Journalism class several days. If you are a Northlander, you may have seen some of Mary's articles in the past month or so! She has also done some behind-the-scenes editing and proofreading.

The Northland church has also been so gracious in support of Northland Home Educators (our support group) and Northland Christian Academy (our new enrollment program). Our family no longer attends worship services there, but it holds a special place in our heart! What most impresses me about
Northland is its "distributed church" philosophy whereby they seek to
equip other congregations and parachurch ministries who are beyond their
local sphere of influence. Northland's senior pastor, Dr. Joel Hunter
(who is also in Namibia right now) has said, "Give yourself away!" This
was one of the major encouragements for me to start the Hope Chest Home
School News over four years ago, and to freely use it to promote other
people's good work as much as possible. Thank you, Northland, for looking
beyond your own walls!

 

~~~

 

Part 2 and 3 of this Hope Chest issue are being sent next!