How Soon Is Too Soon?

A lot of parents out there are wondering whether they need to start homeschooling their 4- or 5-year old. Some honestly wonder if starting at 2 years old is too early. It all depends on what you call homeschooling.

In reality, all parents homeschool from birth until they enroll their children. They simply don't think of it as homeschooling. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is Music class for little children, taught to them before they ever enter a schoolroom. Counting fingers and toes is math and even peek-a-boo helps build mental abilities for babies. It never occurs to parents that they've done homeschooling all this time. The question of when to formalize it as their "education" is valid only because that's how the rest of society thinks and has instituted laws along those lines.

Whenever I pick up on this question, I'm reminded of a discussion I had as a kid with a ranch hand. He pointed to a horse off in a separate corral and asked if I saw what was wrong with it. I had remarked that it's back looked low. He said that the horse was swaybacked because it's former owner had saddled it and rode it too young and had permanently disabled the horse. Similarly, when I was 5 years old, I was put in a swimming class. They thought the best way to get me to learn was to throw me in. Obviously, it didn't work and it took me another 4 years before I felt comfortable enough to try it again.

There is such a thing as starting too early, and it could be more destructive than starting too late. Imaging being forced to prepare a speech in 5 minutes on the migratory habits of cranes. It's a similar experience for a child who isn't ready to start. They're unprepared and such stress could be damaging. Try testing the waters by letting them try activity books or just a simple coloring pad. Let them learn songs and play simple games. It's interesting. It's fun. It's homeschooling. Have the grace for your children that they need. Let them grow and learn at their natural pace. You have plenty of time and children learn much better if they do it themselves. Some simply aren't ready, and good homeschooling laws allow for this. Take all the time the law allows if necessary to give your children the good start they need. You'll be glad you did.

Back to School -- Are We Nuts?

A lot of parents out there are seeing back-to-school ads, and yours truly is no exception. Didn't the schools just let out? I think the time children can enjoy the summer has been whittled down to effectively 5 weeks, from Memorial Day to however fast clerks can pull down the Fourth of July promotionals. My mind--only in it's 30s, now--is wondering, "Didn't we just do this?"

Yes, it's the start of the start of the school year (think store Christmas decorations in September). We've recovered from the shock of paying 20 cents for a tube of Elmer's School Glue (if labeled correctly, it is used to repair school systems--I might be on to something there) and only a dime for a spiral bound notebook, and we're actually thinking of starting school early. Why on earth would we consider that? Well, for one thing, our kids asked us to. See? That's why it was so easy to get over the glue thing! Our shock button was depleted already...ran low on shock juice, next to the windshield wiper fluid in the garage. Oh, I shouldn't post this late at night.

So, we are actually considering starting early. We don't really have a strategy other than it gives us a boatload of freedom to declare days off from school when we honestly need a breather.
It falls in line with my overall objective of letting my kids naturally love learning instead of forcing them through a school year, saying "Well aren't you glad you got that done?" I don't want my kids learning some mentality that you have to dread your job. I want them to find out what they like to do and plunge in, full throttle, taking breaks when they need to. We set these patterns now; they don't just materialize when they graduate.

It goes back to a friend who told me that the key to life is living intentionally. What are we looking to cultivate in our kids? What does what we emphasize in our education methods tell our children? They seem like simple questions we should ask. That's probably why we never ask them.

Imagine No Religion

A friend of mine forwarded this quote. It's from a Time magazine columnist, but don't hold that against him. He speaks with remarkable clarity and cuts to the quick on the latest Harry Potter book from J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

In The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien fused his ardent Catholicism with a deep, nostalgic love for the unspoiled English landscape. C.S. Lewis was a devout Anglican whose Chronicles of Narnia forms an extended argument for Christian faith. Now look at Rowling's books. What's missing? If you want to know who dies in Harry Potter, the answer is easy: God. Harry Potter lives in a world free of any religion or spirituality of any kind. He lives surrounded by ghosts but has no one to pray to, even if he were so inclined, which he isn't. Rowling has more in common with celebrity atheists like Christopher Hitchens than she has with Tolkien and Lewis. What does Harry have instead of God? Rowling's answer, at once glib and profound, is that Harry's power comes from love. This charming notion represents a cultural sea change. In the new millennium, magic comes not from God or nature or anything grander or more mystical than a mere human emotion. In choosing Rowling as the reigning dreamer of our era, we have chosen a writer who dreams of a secular, bureaucratized, all-too-human sorcery, in which psychology and technology have superseded the sacred.

— Lev Grossman

Isn't that remarkable for today's media? Still, it could be considered not completely accurate. I have at least one source that claims that there is a quote of the Bible in this latest book. That's not a significant epiphany, but it is noteworthy. The atheist lives his whole life denying God's existance while offering nothing in return. Rowling has not intentionally denied God's existence, but she has written a world where He is largely absent. The creation exists separate from the Creator in an unexplored mystery. Any tale of a world that fails to account for it's creator is at best incomplete.

This being a parent's blog, I guess the question is inevitable: Would I let my kids read Harry Potter? Puh-leeze! My kids have far better worlds to explore, their eager minds voraciously devouring books in hours. In a way, they have far too much hope to enter Potter's realms. Is that all I could say? No, but better to say too little and be able to say it later than to say too much and wish you'd kept your peace.

Celebrate Who?

There are two forms of spirituality in the world. A true and a false version, and often they find themselves at odds about the basic truths in life. Such was the case today when I was running an errand. As I passed the local community church's marquee, I had to do a double-take.

(recreated for your viewing pleasure)

I couldn't believe it. Now, I'm assuming that the pastor (or whoever put it up) merely wants to encourage people, but I'm convinced it sends the wrong message, which is that human beings are basically good. I guess it's a form of sacred humanism (as opposed to the more popular secular humanism), and it runs contrary to true spirituality.

Jesus was once addressed by a man who addressed him as "Good Teacher." It was a small pleasantry, but Jesus took issue with the salutation because he discerned the man's heart. "Why do you call me good?" Jesus said, "No one is good except God alone." He was essentially repeating the assertion in Psalm 14:1-3, "There is no one righteous, no not one." While God is doing a good work in us, it's important we recognize that apart from Him, we don't have any good thing, including our selves. Indeed, we have all sinned and fallen short of His Glory. We should mourn the loss of our glory, not celebrate who we are. If anything is worth celebrating, it is God and His grace that reclaims us. We should celebrate God working in us and making us a new creation in Christ. That I will celebrate both in this life and the life to come! I am not worthy of His redemption, but I am deeply grateful for it.

Fox and Hen, Predator and Prey

If you put enough hens together, sooner or later, the foxes show up. They will always go to where they are sure to get a meal. I'm reminded of this every time I read about another abuse caught at another school. The ones that need defense and protection--children--are put in concentrations so thick--schools--that any negligence is just begging to be taken advantage of.

Punitive damages cannot erase the sense of violation that some of the children feel. Most disturbing is the knowledge that it will happen again. It's not a question of whether it will or not. I am angered by this, because I know this sort of injustice. The enemy has used it in my life too. In 1980, disco still hadn't died, Ronald Reagan was elected President, and I was exposed to a page from a Playboy magazine stolen from a classmate's 16 year-old brother. It would be several years until I learned about reproduction and the mechanics of it all, but my innocence and blissful ignorance of such things didn't survive 2nd grade.

There is no cure-all and there's no sure-fire way to protect your children from this, even if you homeschool. We are locked in a battle against an enemy we cannot see, but we can discern him if we are wakeful and watchful. Prayer goes a long way to defending ourselves and advancing His kingdom. Holding on to God's Word is critical. There is no substitute to putting it before our eyes and in our ears.

I don't have all the solutions but I know that modeling this for our children is invaluable. Hypocrisy is toxic, and most children can sniff it a mile away. Hold to your first Love and don't grow weary, my God shall supply all your needs and you'll reap a harvest of righteousness.

Any Volunteers?

As a teen, I found out that you could get to do cool things if you volunteered. My second time volunteering for a Christian concert promoter, I was in the "DMZ" between the stage and the standing-room-only crowd at a Petra concert. It was a blast! Over time, I became a volunteer supervisor with the promoter and recruited my own crews, something I personally viewed as my ministry, enabling people to hear the message of Christ in a relevant way. Later, it was one of the items on my resume when I applied for a job with a national ministry to recruit volunteers for the conferences they were going to do, and I'm certain it opened a door for me.

I was interested when I found this recent article from FoxNews, Study: Midwest Tops Coasts for Volunteerism. An author of the report on the study, Robert Grimm said "Volunteering is not something that's just nice to do, it's necessary to solve important community problems." I couldn't agree more. Without volunteers, some ministries could not function. My sister-in-law is a nurse and she works as a counselor for at-risk youth. Could they afford a nurse's salary? Not without cutting back somewhere else. I edit a church newsletter that wouldn't see the light of day without volunteers. Recently, my wife's surgery required that she stay off her feet for nearly a month. Because of my disability, we would have been unable to cook, clean or do simple housekeeping without a volunteer coming in and helping us. How much of our community is made better by volunteers? Probably more than we will ever realize.

As a homeschooling parent, I want to help my kids find the joy in volunteerism. They participate in fundraising for the local pregnancy center. They help lead home group for the kids. As they get older, they'll gather experience in other opportunities, experience that will open doors for them like it did for me. More importantly, however, is that they learn to tithe with their time as well as with their money. God will bless them for it, just like He's blessed me.

Dr. Raymond Moore

Dr. Raymond Moore passed away on Friday, July 13th at the age of 91. He had suffered a stroke on Father's Day. He was widely regarded as a homeschooling pioneer. His early book, Home Spun Schools, inspired many parents who were not content with surrendering their children to the public school system. Some of these parents became activists in themselves and worked to change their laws, as Treon Goossen did here in Colorado. As a result, so many more children have been homeschooled, receiving a customized, thorough education that continues to shape their lives. Dr. Moore changed the world, and I'm thankful for his life.

Treon's own tribute

The Trouble With "Shoulds"

My wife and I have been going over the "Shoulds" in life. They sound like, "I should be better," "This should be getting easier," "What should I do?" or "We shouldn't be going through this." They're all expectations, and most of them belong in the dumpster. Shoulds tend to get complicated. We start out wanting to serve God, but we end up serving ourselves or something else entirely.

I'm not saying that "should" shouldn't be part of our vocabulary. I just believe it's a warning flag. Expectations are dangerous things. If we go around trying to meet every single one in our lives, we'll soon run ourselves ragged. It's not fair to the person God has made us to be. When we die, He's the only Judge we will have to give an answer to. In my own experiences, I've found that He doesn't think like we do. While I have some idea of what He wants through His word, it's not within my power to meet them. I can't make myself holy out of my own goodness, if we can even call it that. I can't force the fruit of the Spirit to manifest in my life. I can't manifest God's kingdom on my own. These things depend on God. All he asks for is a participant who willing to believe and act on His promises.

One thing I don't get. We become Christians by accepting God at His promise to rescue us from our just punishment that comes after we die. Yet, we balk at the idea of His meeting our needs while we're here. The God who rescues us in the afterlife is the same one who promises to clothe and feed us in this life, yet it's harder for us to accept the latter of the two. We swallow camels in one bite and strain to choke down a tiny gnat. We accept the gift of eternity and struggle to let Him have tomorrow.

I guess there are a few "shoulds" that still apply. I should love and trust God with all my tomorrows, starting today. I should be willing to let Him guide my steps as I walk beside him. I should drop my expectations of what should happen and let these light and momentary afflictions pass without protest. I should let Him have control, starting with my "shoulds."

A Reckoning

I think one of most serious mistakes people can make is to assume that there is only one way to act. For example, they would say that in order to be peaceful, you should shun conflict, or to be loving you must never respond with anger. It's a viewpoint that assigns moral values to specific emotions. Believe me, there are people out there that think in these terms. They are the ones who believe that all wars are unjust, or that boys should shun their aggressive tendencies or that a family that is fighting has something dreadfully wrong with it.

It's a system that shuns the wisdom of Ecclesiastes,

TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,

A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up,

A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away,

A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak,

A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

We can no more prevent these things from passing through our lives than we can stop time itself. I have seen all of these things in my 30-plus years. It's not an epitaph, just a reckoning. I had some time last night with a family whose eldest daughter has irrevocably changed her life and theirs with her poor choices. They "did everything right," yet they see and feel this heartache every morning. It's a sober reminder to me that, despite all you do, things can still go wrong and that having a child puts your heart at risk.

For the past two years, I have not been able to work full time. It has certainly been "a time to lose." Yet these last two years have been incredibly rich for me. How can I explain or predict this but to realize that God still has His hand on my life and, if anything, His grip on me is increasing. I'm unable to mow my lawn, yet my need has forced closer relations with others to mow for me. I cannot walk to the park, but my time in the pool to strengthen me has forged a deeper relationship with my son than I could get from time on any playground. Am I okay with this? Sha-way! I'd trade a credit rating for my kids' love and benefit anyday.

So, God, I'm learning. Thank you for letting me experience this. Lead on.

Wichita: Death of Compassion in the Land of Oz

We all know Frank Baum's classic Oz series or at least the movie that made the story of Dorothy, a small Kansas farmgirl, an American icon. Were Dorothy and her dear Aunt Em alive today, they would probably find this story abhorrant and amazingly heartless.

I spent some time this weekend in a portion of my state that used to be considered Kansas territory. We were searching among the farms and small towns for a few fishing holes. Coming down one road, we passed a stable with a few cowboys and their friends. One of them waved at me. Having been raised part of my life in the city, it made an impression. It stands in stark relief to the tragic indifference that lies a few hundred miles to the east.

Now, it's safe to say that people in the city don't wave. They probably are just too tired. But to step over a person who is lying on the ground bleeding is unequivocally wrong. Any decent person would help, samaritan or otherwise. Could it actually be five people simply stepped around a young woman dying? I can only wonder what would happen in Denver in the same circumstances.

This is the result of what the late Pope John Paul II called the culture of death. How can we counter such indifference to the suffering of others? The first step would be to seek life. I'm not talking about acquiring more things like those shoppers did. I'm talking about life to the full. This life centers around Jesus Christ. It is dedicated to finding and doing God's will. I haven't laid hold of it. I'm not quite there, but I keep pressing in further. Join me.

Freedoms

Vernon Henson has hand-copied the entire Bible. In other nations, at other times, this would not be so remarkable. Were we in China, such compilations would be considered rare but only because it's by one scribe, not many. Were we in ancient Rome, circa 300 A.D., Diocletian would have burned every copy of the Scriptures he could find.

The American nation in which we now live is truly unique. The concept of freedom is not unique, but until recent times never have so many people enjoyed such widespread freedom. In modern times, the ruling class of several societies before us could be considered “free,” and even within our own history, some of the citizens were more equal than others. It’s ironic that many who observe Morgan Freeman in his acting never realize the origins of his last name.

The founding fathers of this American country, most of whom were Christians, laid down a unique and liberating blueprint for the future. Is it freedom alone that makes America’s birth and survival unique? We see that France’s revolution a few years after our own was a dismal failure because it was based on no higher authority than man and his “Enlightenment.” They had no belief that God governs the affairs of men, that men are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Such things were not just assumed, but championed by men with the integrity to see that tyranny and unjust rulers were something that should not be tolerated.

They did not get these ideas from believing in mankind, in man's humanity. It certainly wasn't from looking within themselves or appealing to man's better nature. Man can no more pull himself up by his bootstraps than by any other non-leveraged maneuver. We must look to something outside of ourselves if we wish to find greatness. No man is great, if he is taken by himself, isolated from his time or his ideals. In fact, only when ideals are combined with action do we see greatness. Such ideals were founded on the belief that God created man with a will that by necessity conveys a freedom of choice. A man compelled by king or rule is not truly free, and the founders understood that.

While freedom is necessary for the human being to thrive, freedom is not the ultimate American, or even the ultimate human expression. Instead, it is a tool or a vital mean, but nothing more. We have the freedom to choose, but whether we choose life or death makes all the difference. I celebrate the Fourth of July tomorrow not because I like fireworks--although I do, but I celebrate it because it has given me the choice to love God. I have the ability to read my Bible in public. My children have the ability to learn about God as we understand Him. My property and vocation are mine alone to determine, and it is my duty to guard and retain such freedoms as best I can. Faith, hope and love are the ultimate expressions of any human, and it is freedom that enables actions based on these three qualities.