And yet another item on the sordid subject of Wal Mart and homosexuality

     On November 14, 2006, Donald Wildmon, founder and president of the American Family Association, reported, “Wal-Mart Gives $60,000 To Homosexual Group To Support Homosexual Agenda In Workplace–Company Goes On Record As An Advocate For The Homosexual Agenda. Wal-Mart has gone on record that they are an advocate for the homosexual agenda. In the Out & Equal 2006 Workplace Summit Program Guide, Wal-Mart placed a full-page ad which explicitly stated that it would be an advocate for the homosexual movement. Keep in mind this ad was developed for the homosexual conference and aimed at participating homosexual groups. Not only did Wal-Mart place the ad in the program guide, they also gave $60,000 to Out & Equal, a homosexual organization pushing the same-sex agenda, including same-sex marriage, in the workplace. Out & Equal served as conference host and the donation went to help sponsor the Out & Equal Workplace Summit held this past September in Chicago. The purpose of the conference was to train homosexuals to convince the companies for which they work to support the homosexual agenda and to encourage other companies to do the same. At the conference, Pride, Wal-Mart's in-house homosexual group, presented a PowerPoint presentation detailing how they were successful in getting Wal-Mart to support the homosexual agenda. The PowerPoint presentation, telling Pride's story, contains 51 frames. Each page of the presentation contains the line 'Confidential Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.' It was used to encourage conference participants to follow Pride's example in the companies for which they work.”  I suspect that Sam Walton would be turning over in his grave!

Biblical Homeschooling

     Here is the lead article for the Nov., 2006, issue of Biblical Homeschooling, the free e-mail homeschooling newsletter that I publish on a monthly basis.  If anyone wishes to subscribe, you can send a blank e-mail to biblicalhomeschooling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and follow the instructions in the reply e-mail that you receive; or you can subscribe from the web at http://groups.yahoo.com/biblicalhomeschooling/ .

 

BIBLICAL HOMESCHOOLING

(formerly HOMESCHOOL EDUCATORS ON ACTIVE DUTY SENDING UPWARD PRAISES)

Monthly newsletter of general interest, encouragement,

and information for homeschooling Christians

% Wayne S. Walker, 9042 Amona Dr., Affton (St. Louis), MO 63123

E-mail: wswalker310@juno.com; phones: (314) 683-4719 (home), 544-1612 office

November, 2006; Volume 9, Number 4

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. A MEDLEY OF MATTERS by Wayne S. Walker
2. RELATING TO UNRIGHTEOUS CIVIL AUTHORITIES by Jonathan Lindvall    
3. COUPLE ACCUSED OF ABUSE LOSE PERMANENT CUSTODY By John Seewer, Associated Press Writer
4. SHEEPSKIN SCAM by Vox Day

5. FOR SOME, IT'S BACK TO HOME: TEENS GIVE HOMESCHOOLING HIGH MARKS By Denise Etheridge, White County News Telegraph, Cleveland, GA (August 17, 2006)
6. WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT HOMESCHOOL EXPERIENCE By Jo Ann Mathews (For The Sun News, Thu., Sep. 14, 2006)
7. BLOGGING TEENS: Six homeschoolers are using blogs to rebel against rebellion By Jessica McCaleb (in World Magazine, September 16, 2006)

8. BOOK REVIEWS
9. QUESTION AND RESPONSE by Wayne S. Walker
10. Monthly Devotional: SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR by Wayne S. Walker
11. NEWS AND NOTES

12. HOMESCHOOLED STUDENTS DEFECTING TO ONLINE LEARNING PROGRAMS By Nick Hanson, The Free Press of Mankato (8/21/2006; appeared in USA Today)
13. RELIGIOUS GROUPS: BOLT FROM SCHOOLS By David Crary, The Associated Press (09/03/2006)
14. ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION By Kara Krekeler (Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2006)
15. COLLEGES COVETING HOMESCHOOLED STUDENTS by Alan Schezagier, Associated Press Writer (Sat., Sept 30, 2006)
16. WHY I AM AGAINST HOMESCHOOLING taken from a homeschooling web log
17. DR. PHIL AND HOMESCHOOLING (AGAIN) from The Homeschool Scuttle

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1. A MEDLEY OF MATTERS

by Wayne S. Walker

     There is no real “theme” for this issue of Biblical Homeschooling. The first couple of articles are somewhat related in that they involve civil authorities who have dealt with homeschooling families in some way or another. The article that follows is something that in this day and age when everyone is told that you MUST go to college to make more and more and more and more money in your lifetime (an appeal, perhaps, to covetousness?) certainly should be considered by all parents, including homeschooling ones. The next three articles give examples of homeschooling teenagers and their beneficial experiences. After the monthly features including book reviews and news, the final articles provide some information about homeschooling that has been in the news recently.

     This newsletter is a labor of love. I have always enjoyed writing, having many articles published in religious magazines through the years. When we lived in Dayton, OH, we began our own homeschool support group and this started out as a monthly newsletter for it. I found that there was so much material that I wanted to share with other homeschoolers that when we disbanded our support group in Dayton, while preparing to make a move which eventually led us to St. Louis, I decided to continue the newsletter to provide information of general interest, encouragement, and information for homeschooling Christians. It has continued and grown ever since. To save time (printing, stapling, and mailing), I went completely to e-mail, and then to save more time went to e-mailing it on a Yahoogroups group (having changed the name to Biblical Homeschooling).

     Some friends have said that this newsletter is good enough that it should be printed and a subscription charged for it. They flatter me, although I know that they are sincere and I appreciate their kind words. There are already plenty of wonderful homeschooling magazines available in print so that there is not really a need, and probably not a market either, for another one. However, aside from Family Times, which is a quarterly homeschooling e-mail newsletter edited by our friends Dave and Karen Pratte and Dave and Bev Hewitt (for which I serve as curriculum review editor), there really is not much available for homeschoolers associated with non-denominational, New Testament churches of Christ (which is the target audience for this newsletter as well, although it is available to everyone who wants it), so Biblical Homeschooling will continue on Yahoogroups, although some changes in format and content are in the offing and will be explained more fully in coming months.

     I certainly do not claim to be an “expert” on homeschooling. Have you ever heard the definition of an “expert”? The prefix “ex” means “has been” and “spurt” means a drip, so an “expert” (“ex-spurt”) is a has-been drip. Before we began homeschooling, and in the years since, I have read and studied a lot about it. And, of course, I have been doing it, formally at least, for the last ten years or so. Yet, our homeschooling journey is still a work in progress. We have good days and we have bad days. Sometimes, we feel as if we are being moderately successful and other times when we wonder whether there will ever be a happy ending or not. If something we try does not work, we have to look around to search out something that will. Constantly we must examine ourselves to find the balance between encouraging our children to pursue excellence and do their best on the one hand, and pushing too hard and risk the possibility of creating resentment by making education a drudgery on the other. In spite of the occasional “doubts and fears,” we think that it is worth it and would not consider any other option. While these very ruminations were going through my own mind, I came across the following blog by Tara Butchart (http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hsmom23boyz/) on Oct. 5, 2006, entitled “Homeschooler's Are……” which I felt represented my own thoughts quite well.

     “Recently I have come across more and more people interested in homeschooling than ever before. Perhaps due in part to all the recently reported school violence, or perhaps just due to the fact our schools are failing. During these many conversations I've had, there seems to be generally two main trains of thoughts on what a typical homeschooler is.

     “On one hand you have the homeschoolers are….picture perfect, upper middle class families with perfect, super intelligent, children. All high achieving, with near perfect SAT scores. Each child speaks at least three foreign languages, plays at least one if not more musical instruments at masterful levels, and is graduating high school at age 16 with a Masters Degree in college by age 20.

     “On the other end, you have those who think that homeschoolers are…..low achieving, poor white trailer trash families who are homeschooling to avoid truancy laws or hide abuse. These families have children who are nearing graduation, yet they can't read or write a complete sentence.

     “OK, maybe both are very extreme examples, but both seem to be near honest assessments of what many think the 'typical' homeschooler is.

     “The truth we know, of course, lies somewhere in between. Most homeschool families are 'normal' families like yours and mine, who have made the choice to provide for our children what we no longer feel the state can. Some of us are middle class, while others fall somewhere above or below that. We are of every race, religion, political party and economic background. What we do have in common is our love for our children and a desire to raise, protect, and educate them in the best way possible to help them become well rounded, educated adults who will be productive members of our society.

     “The above extreme ideas of homeschooling does much damage to the image of homeschooling. While I am sure there are those that homeschool as a cover to avoid truancy laws or hide abuse, and there are those families who are super high achievers, and excel at all they do, the truth is most homeschoolers fall in a much broader category. Sometimes we ourselves are to blame for our own image. We don't always show how hard it really is, or share our struggles, we put forth our best image to show the public. While we want to portray a positive image, I really feel it is good to show the whole picture, the good and the bad.

     “I feel part of the reason I tried private school for the few short weeks we did, was due in part to that “perfect” image of homeschooling that I felt I wasn't living up to.

     “The truth is I have three children left at home. One is close to that 'perfect' image. He is naturally a high achiever, is grade levels above 'average' for his age and grade, and just does very well. I have another, who due in part to learning disabilities due to meningitis as an infant, and due in part to laziness on his end, is a low achiever, struggles to learn everything, nothing comes easy for this child. He is barely functioning at grade levels in most subjects, and failing at two. Would he be better in a public school? NO!! This child is the reason I started homeschooling 10 years ago to begin with. He was not learning to read or write in 1st grade, and was tested for learning disabilities, but tested so high in conceptual learning that it balanced his overall score out to 'normal.' The school said they couldn't help till he tested two grades below normal. Which may or may not had happened even though he did test positive for learning disorders, his intelligence always made him test higher than he really was functioning. Where would he be now had I left him in there?

     “This child though, is the one who made me really question whether I was doing the right thing by homeschooling him. We are three years away from graduation, and if he falls at all further behind, we will not make the math requirements for graduation. I let the whole “perfect” homeschooler thing get to me. I let others, and my own thoughts of failure allow to cloud my judgement of what is really best for this child. This child above all my others, is one who really needs the one on one, and personalized attention he can only get at home. But I was so worried of my “perfect” homeschool image, and how he is not performing where the state requirements felt he should be, I put him in school. (Which I'd like to add, the schools aren't even making the requirements. While they look great on paper, test scores prove, the schools aren't living up to thier own standards). We all know that didn't last long, and I came to my senses, but that whole image thing really got to me.

     “When people find out we homeschool, they seem to expect that perfect image family, and when or if they find out the struggles my son has, then I feel like perhaps they view me with the “other” not so perfect image. They hint, and some are even so bold to say, that perhaps it is due to my homeschooling that he is behind. The truth is, he'd be behind here or there, but I feel he is doing far better at home, than he would be there at public or even private school. For a child they said would never learn to read or write without “intensive” special ed., he sure is doing great in my opinion.

     “My youngest, is right in the middle, he does just fine, not really ahead in any subjects, and certainly not behind at all. But his activity level and attention span would make it very difficult to learn in a busy classroom setting. I am positive he would be diagnosed with ADD and requested to be put on medication to make life more simple for the teacher in the classroom. But at home, he is free to learn without so many distractions, and free to be himself, and wiggle about as he needs to. He is free to talk without being told he talks too much(as happened his whole one day in private school) he is free to be who God made him to be, without being made to feel ashamed or embarrassed.

     “We have good days, and we have bad days. My kids are far from perfect, and I am even further. Only with lots of prayer, and plenty of grace from God have I been able to sustain these past ten years and still keep a smile on my face.

     “My house is not perfectly clean, actually on many days it is perfectly messy. I don't cook gourmet meals, my children are known to be seen on occasion with dirty faces, hair out of place, and maybe even a hole in their jeans. They don't speak any languages other than English, though they are learning ASL. Some test high, some fall below “normal.” Sometimes their behavior is to be envied, they are great kids, but they can also forget their manners, and have been known to have meltdowns, even in public! While two are learning guitar, they aren't great at it, thier learning, and gasp I even have one who has yet to pick up an instrument.

     “So, my point in all this, is you don't have to be perfect or have perfect children to homeschool. If that were the case, there would be no homeschoolers! I think if we were to be honest, you'd see there are many homeschoolers, just like your family, families struggling to do the best they can, families who have to lean on God every step of the way. Families just like yours!

     “My wish is that when homeschooling families are talking to thier friends and families and others interested in homeschooling, they'd tell the whole, honest picture. I think if non-homeschoolers realized there are very few if any “perfect” homeschoolers, they'd be less intimidated by the whole idea.

     “So what is a homeschooler? Homeschoolers are….regular people like me and you!'

     I responded to Tara thus: “Your post is wonderful. It is so easy to get caught up in 'we have to have our students do everything that the public/private schools do and more' to show that homeschooling is superior. Yes, homeschooling is excellent for high achievers to move at their own pace and for struggling students to get the personal attention that they need. But most of our kids are 'normal' kids, and while we want to encourage them to do their very best, we need to let them be 'kids' while they are young even as we try to teach them the principles that they need to develop into godly, productive adults. Thank you for sharing your experiences and your thoughts.”

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Still more on Wal Mart’s “Big Switch”

       On November 9, 2006, 2006, Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman of the American Family Association reported, “In a show of support to help homosexuals legalize same-sex marriage, Wal-Mart has agreed to automatically donate 5% of online sales directly to the Washington DC Community Center for Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender People. The cash donation will come from online purchases made at Wal-Mart through the homosexual group's Web site. This move follows Wal-Mart's joining the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and agreeing to give generous financial help to that organization also. Every purchase made online for books, music, videos, clothing and accessories, children's clothing and toys, and electronics at the site will automatically send 5% of the sales to the CCBLBT People. The agreement is an indication that Wal-Mart is totally committed to supporting the homosexual movement. Wal-Mart also gave a generous cash donation to the Northwest Arkansas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center, helping to provide a place where homosexuals can come together to 'socialize.'  Many observers feel it would have been a wise business decision for Wal-Mart to remain neutral in the cultural battle over homosexual marriage. But this was an ideological decision by Wal-Mart – not a business decision.”

Something to think about

     My friend, fellow gospel preacher, and homeschooling father Oscar Miles of Florence, AL, shared the following rumination.  “Still think the media doesn’t affect sexual behavior? A massive study was recently conducted on 12-14 year olds in from North Carolina’s Durham, Orange and Granville counties. The results showed that teenagers who watched more sexually explicit TV were more than twice as likely to engage in sexual activity within two years. The study also found that one of the strongest factors in discouraging premarital sex was parents who expressed their disapproval of such activity. Another study from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth found that those who remained virgins until at least age 18 were much more successful financially than those who didn’t. Once again, God’s way is always best.”

Another homeschool magazine

     There is no doubt that The Old Schoolhouse is my favorite homeschooling magazine.  However, if you don't quite get everything you want from it, there are some other really fine ones.  Home School Enrichment Magazine (P. O. Box 163, Pekin, IL 61555; http://www.HomeSchoolEnrichment.com) is another good homeschooling magazine. The Nov./Dec., 2006, issue (#24) has an excellent editorial, “In the Fullness of His Time” by Frank and Kari Lewis, along with interesting articles, such as Ray and Gale Lawson's “Profiles in Christianity and Science” on Sir John Ambrose Fleming, whose invention of the “Fleming Valve,” an electrical vacuum tube devide that ushered in the era of wireless communications and, ultimately, the development of semiconductor circuits to make communication devises affordable and reliable, and who also was founder of the “Evolution Protest Movement” to fight back against the teaching of organic evolution as fact; and JoJo Taberes's “Raising Our Children to Survive as Politically Incorrect Christians in a Politically Correct World” about the dangers of the ACLU, the Media, and Academia; among others.

Homeschool Swap .com

     I received the following e-mail notice recently:

     On October 23rd, our ministry site was redesigned to function much like the traditional and popular auction sites.

     Over the past year Homeschool Swap has grown greatly. With this growth we require new and improved options for the families utilizing the site. While we will require totally new registrations, even for previous users, this new system will allow you to have more control over your listings. You can control:

* How long you want your listing to last

* List for as little as 1 Day or as long as 1 Month

* Adding of images to your listing

* Buy It Now or Auction listings

* Reserve Price

* Tracking your Auction bids, wins and sales.

     Our system also helps prevent those last second bidders. If anyone bids within the last 120 seconds of the auction, the auction is automatically extended for 120 seconds longer! Take a few moments and register for your account today. Registration is free! Then start listing your no longer needed homeschool and household materials….Teacher Editions too! There are no fees to buy or sell on this site!! (There are no fees to list unless you are a business. Those with the purpose of collecting income from use of this site need to donate a % of the earnings to our ministry.) I hope you enjoy this newly improved service.

      Sponsored by Homeschool Blessings.com Ministry Sites.

Good homeschool-related reading and a couple of other items

     The Old Schoolhouse is obviously my favorite homeschooling magazine, but there are other good ones too.  The Sept../Oct., 2006, issue of Home Educator's Family Times (P. O. Box 6442, Brunswick, ME 04011; http://www.HomeEducator.com ) has a wonderful editorial by editor Jane Bosworth, “What If YOU Had Been Homeschooled?”, an excellent article “Parents…or Pimps… (Who Will Win)?” about the dangers of the Internet by Rebecca Haglin, and a very interesting discussion about “Using 19th Century Readers: A Primer” by Alexandra Creely, among other useful information. We happen to use the McGuffey Readers in our homeschool curriculum.

 

      Two other magazines where homeschooling is often portrayed quite positively are Country and Country Extra.  The Nov., 2006, issue of Country Extra magazine has an article by Patrice Lewis of Plummer, ID, who with her husband Don traded big-city jobs for forty acres of elbow room to raise their kids. She wrote, “We homeschool our girls, who are now 8 and 10. Yesterday, I jotted down the variety of topics we diverged into besides our school subjects. They included bristlecone pines, the origin of wishing on a wishbone, what the inside of the Mayflower looked like, what the bends are in scuba diving, what a mnemonic memory aid is, and what ergot is and how it may have influenced the Salem witch hunts. And, with the exception of the Mayflower, none of this had any bearing whatsoever on what we were actually studying in our schoolwork!”

 

     In the Sept., 2006, issue of Reader's Digest, William Beaman had an article, “How to Raise an A+ Student: Three very different families reveal their secrets to success,” portions of which were included in the Sept. issue of this newsletter. One of the families cited in the article was homeschooling. In the Nov., 2006, issue of Reader's Digest, Kellie Day of Ft. Valley, GA, responded, “As a homeschooling mother of six children, I can testify to the successes of parental involvement. All my kids scored higher than their peers in standardized testing and were extremely active in a gamut of extracurricular activities. When we started this journey 11 years ago, we were considered on the fringe. It is good to see that homeschooling is now becoming an accepted form of education.” Also, Tom Shuford of Lenoir, NC, wrote, “Let principals and teachers strive to please their customers–families with children. Let them compete. Unfortunately, America is not yet on board with this idea. Not politically, not philosophically. But there will come a day when all our central-planning, top-down, no-customer-feedback, no-incentive, one-size-fits-all models for providing education will be seen for what they are: prescriptions for frustration and failure.” Well said!

 

     Which brings me to another related point: In the world of politics, one is considered by liberals and the press as “anti-education” if he does not support “public” (i.e., government-run) schools as the only way to provide education for children. We recently visited my father in South Carolina, where there is a gubernatorial race. The Democrat candidate for governor there was running television commercials about how he was such a wonderful product of public schools and criticized the incumbent Republican governor for promoting, or at least suggesting, the “diversion” of funds from public schools to support those who want to pursue alternative forms of education. While not all Republicans are necessarily pro-homeschooling and not all Democrats are necessarily against it, the fact is that the Democrat Party is supported fully by the National Education Association which is definitely anti-homeschooling while the Republican Party includes a plank in its platform supporting homeschooling.

 

     Another homeschooling father running for office: The Nov., 2006, issue of The Christian Chronicle (Vol. 63, No. 11), “An international newspaper for members of Churches of Christ,” reported, “In West Tennessee, William Smith, a 40-year-old social worker and stay-at-home dad who homeschools his teenagers, is an independent for Congress.”