Home School Book Review

     You are cordially invited to visit Home School Book Review, a blog devoted to book reviews, primarily of children’s literature and books for teens/young adults, from a Biblical worldview by a homeschooling father.  There are now some 2,297 reviews posted for those who like to see reviews of their favorite books, books from their favorite authors, and books in various categories.  Just use the search function to find a particular book or author or the category function to find books in a specific category.  The address is:  
  
http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolbookreview/

     Here is a list of just some of the over 30 books reviewed in March:

Mar 27th, 2012: Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen (a Newbery Medal winner);
Mar 25th, 2012: Ship of Souls by Zetta Elliot;
Mar 22nd, 2012: The Pearl by John Steinbeck;
Mar 20th, 2012: Ambition’s Not an Awful Word by Zach Zage;
Mar 19th, 2012: Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon (first in the “Father Tim” series of sequels to the Mitford books);
Mar 16th, 2012: Avenger of Blood by Casey Head (Biblical historical fiction)
Mar 14th, 2012: The Rogue Crew by Brian Jacques (his last published work);
Mar 12th, 2012: The Carrot King by Sally O. Lee;
Mar 7th, 2012: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship by Russell Freeman (who has won several Newbery Honor Awards and one Medal);
Mar 2nd, 2012: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones.

     And our winner for “Book of the Month” is:

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen.  (It was tough, because Avenger of Blood and The Rogue Crew were also very good!)

Biblical Homeschooling Newsletter

     BIBLICAL HOMESCHOOLING is a free monthly e-mail newsletter of general interest, encouragement,  and information for homeschooling Christians, published by Wayne S. Walker, 329 W. Boone St., Salem, IL  62881.   Anyone can subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to biblicalhomeschooling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and then following the instructions that will be sent, or by signing up on the web at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biblicalhomeschooling/ .  For more information, you can contact wswalker310@juno.com; phone: (618) 548-6286 or (618) 292-2694.

     Here is the table of contents for the April, 2012 ( Volume 14, No. 8 ) edition:

1. HERE I STAND By Erica Goldson

2. GUESSING MY WAY TO PROMOTION by Diana Senechal

3. HSLDA CHALLENGES ABSURD RULING IN STATE SUPREME COURT

From Home School Legal Defense Association (Thursday, May 27, 2010)

4. COMPLAINT AGAINST HOMESCHOOL CO-OP IN INDIANA Compiled from several different sources

5. NEW STUDY SHOWS HOMESCHOOLERS SUCCEED IN COLLEGE

Ian Slatter, Home School Legal Defense Association (Thursday, August 5, 2010)

6. LEGAL BATTLE INVOLVING HOMESCHOOLER ESCALATES

 By Bill Bumpas, OneNewsNow (8/6/2010)

7. TEACHER ACCUSED OF MAKING STUDENTS RUB HER FEET:

School District Launches Investigation

From WYFF Channel 4 News (November 15, 2011)

7. BAKER WON’T PLAY FLOUR GIRL AT ‘GAY WEDDING’ by Tony Perkins, Family Research Council

8. EX-PORN STAR READS TO SCHOOL KIDS By Alyssa Newcomb (Nov. 12, 2011)

9. EX-PORT STAR READING TO STUDENTS CAUSES STIR

From the Associated Press (November 12, 2011)

10. QUESTIONABLE INFLUENCE IN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL

By Bob Kellogg, OneNewsNow (11/15/2011)

11. SEVERAL UNIVERSITY ATHLETES HAVE HOMESCHOOL BACKGROUND

By Adrian Wintz, Sports Contributor, The Daily Reveille (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)

12. HOMESCHOOL IS NOT “ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION” By Steven David Horwich (April 7, 2011)

13. HOMESCHOOLING VS. PUBLIC SCHOOLING from Victoria C. of Den School

14. TIM TEBOW AND THE CULTURE OF PSEUDO POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

By Susan Brown (12/7/2011)

15. BRAINWASHING U: Colleges’ sick ‘orientation’ game By Robert Shibley (August 25, 2011)

16. ALL SIGNS POINT TO A ‘CATASTROPHIC’ EVENT Bill Bumpas, OneNewsNow (12/13/2011)

17. THE STORY OF JOB (Job chapters 1-42) By Wayne S. Walker

18. GOD’S GOODNESS, MERCY, AND TRUTH by Wayne S. Walker

19. CANADIAN PROVINCE IMPOSING “DIVERSITY TRAINING” ON HOMESCHOOLS

from HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) February 27, 2012

20. HOMESCHOOLERS CAN’T BE TAUGHT ‘GAY’ SEX IS SINFUL:

You won’t believe latest intrusion by government

from WND (World Net Daily), Tuesday, February 28, 2012

21. TV SERIES MOCKS CHRISTIANS, UNDERMINES LIBERTY

By Michael P. Farris, HSLDA Chairman (March 5, 2012)

22. HOMOSEXUALITY IN ANCIENT GREECE AND IN TEEN LITERATURE

By Leo Heska, from homeschool-Illinois (Wednesday, March 7, 2012)

Great, Awesome, and Holy

     Here is the Monthly Meditation from the March, 2012, issue of Biblical Homeschooling:

Monthly Meditation

14. GREAT, AWESOME, AND HOLY

by Wayne S. Walker

     “Let them praise Your great and awesome name–He is holy” (Psalm 99:3). Instead of “He is holy,” the footnote in the NKJV reads, “It.” I know almost nothing about Hebrew, but I do know that in both Greek and Latin the subject of a verb can be indicated simply by the ending on the verb, and if it is third person singular, in the absence of a specific pronoun, the subject might be either “he” or “it” since the endings for masculine and neuter are often the same. In this case, it makes little difference because the name of God stands for who and what He is so that whatever is true of God is true of His name and vice versa.

     The Psalmist says that we should praise God’s name because it is great. God Himself is great. As children we are often taught to pray, “God is great, God is good, Now we thank Him for our food.” God’s name is great because God Himself is great. “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). “Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee, ‘How great Thou art, How great Thou art!'”

     The Psalmist also says that we should praise God’s name because it is awesome. The old KJV reads, “Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.” The word “terrible” literally means that which causes terror, and in former times the word “terror” was simply a synonym for fear or awe. Today, we use it more in the sense of being frightened or scared and to say that something is “terrible” has a negative connotation. Therefore, the newer versions use the word “awesome,” a term much abused among teenagers today but certainly applicable to both God and His name. “He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: holy and awesome is His name” (Psalm 111:9).

     Then the Psalmist says that we should praise God’s name because it is holy. And His name is holy because He Himself is holy. The word “holy” means sanctified or set apart. Of course, God wants us to be holy, even as He is holy. “…Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Yet, while we must strive for holiness in our lives, none of us will ever reach it completely because we have all sinned. However, God is perfectly holy because He is absolutely set apart from all evil. “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 4:8).   As we educate our children at home, may we remember and help them to learn that our God is great, awesome, and holy.

     (BIBLICAL HOMESCHOOLING is a free monthly e-mail newsletter of general interest, encouragement, and information for homeschooling Christians.  You can subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to biblicalhomeschooling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and then following the instructions that will be sent, or by signing up on the web at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biblicalhomeschooling/ )

Strawberry Schoolhouse, Stawberry, AZ

 

 

 

 

 

 

     The Strawberry Schoolhouse is located on Fossil Creek Road, 1-3/4 mile west of Highway 87 in Strawberry, AZ.  In 1884, the families living in the Strawberry Valley, Yavapai County, in Arizona Territory petitioned the County School Superintendent to establish a school. The petition was granted and District #33 in the Strawberry Valley was established.  A local dispute over the site for the school building was solved by cowboys using a calf rope and counting the number of lengths between the Hicks-Duncan cabin on the west end of the valley and the Peach cabin on the east end. They retraced their steps to the mid-point. There the one room log school was built and still stands.  Fine pine logs were cut and dragged to the site, squared with a broad axe and adze, then hoisted into position. Shingles were split for the shake roof and glass windows were installed, two on the east side and two on the west. They were double-hung and could be raised and lowered. A bell hung over the door on the south side and a wood burning stove sat in the middle of the room.  The school, also, would serve as meeting place, social center and church.  The school was under Yavapai jurisdiction until a change in the county boundary in 1889. As part of Gila County, it became District #11 and remained until it was permanently closed in June of 1916. With school furniture removed, the building was used as a temporary residence by many newcomers to the valley, and it slowly became uninhabitable. By 1961, nothing remained of the structure but the log frame and it was for sale.  Fred Eldean, an official in the Page Land and Cattle Company, bought the building and site and gave the deed to the Payson-Pine Chamber of Commerce. By 1967, local residents had restored the old structure to a point where it was secure and weather-proof. So it stood awaiting the next step in its restoration by the Arizona Historical Society. In 1979 and 1980, the newly formed Pine/Strawberry Archeological and Historical Society decided to restore the interior and open the school to the public.  It was formally dedicated as a Historical Monument on August 15, 1981.  In 2004, several modifications were made to the exterior including rechinking of the logs, rebuilding the entrance steps and installing new ramps for visitor accessibility.

http://www.pinestrawhs.org/schoolhouse.html