Kids Ministry Ideas Forum

There's a neat little magazine called Kids Ministry Ideas published by my church. For quite some time I've been thinking that they should open an internet forum so that people could post their questions.

They just did so! It's at kidsministryideas.com

There's not much on it yet because it's brand new but if people, like those who read this blog, patronize it, it will soon be an awesome resource!

Go KMI!!!!!

Social Benefits of Homeschooling

I recently read an inspiring comment on one of my favorite blogs, ministry-to-children.com. The author, Tony, asked for comment on the homeschool vs. public school debate and one lady told this story which I thought you'd like to hear:

This is by Carrie Fetters. Read it in its original context here.

"I thought I'd share the fruit of homeschooling. There are lots of "opinions", but real life speaks for itself.

"The oldest of our 4 children is 14. We pulled her out of the school system after 2nd grade. We attend a church in a rural setting (appro. 350-400 people) with "good" public schools in the area. We have some homeschoolers in our church, some Christian schooled children, but the majority is public school children.

"Every summer the Jr. High leads a Back Yard Bible Club in an area neighborhood. The Jr. Highers are supposed to lead songs, tell a story and then just play with and get to know the neighborhood kids and tell them about Jesus and the salvation He brings. I showed up early on the last day, and sat in the car waiting to pick up my daughter (then 13). This is what I saw: Most of the neighorhood kids were playing by themselves. ALL of the public school kids were huddled up together. My daughter (the only homeschooler in the group) and the 3 Christian schooled kids were either talking with or playing on the playground with the kids. My daughter was sitting in the grass talking with a little girl. I saw my daughter get up and grab her Bible, then return to the little girl she was talking to, then another Christian schooled girl joined my daughter in talking to this little girl.

"I got out of my car and walked past the huddled public schooled kids (kids I love and have taught in SS). As I walked past, I said, "Why don't you guys go talk to some of the kids?" One person spoke up and said, "I don't know what to say to them." I encouraged them to talk to them about the lesson that was shared, but no one moved. I continued on and talked to one of the leaders, until we were interrupted by the little girl that my daughter was talking to. She was beaming and said, "God loves me and I just asked Him to be my Savior!"

"Later I talked to my daughter about the events as I saw them. She said, "Mom, it was like that every day. The public schooled kids care too much about what their friends think of them. They don't reach out."

"In that moment every doubt about homeschooling I ever had flew away. Years of hearing from a Christian neighbor how my daughter should be in the public school to be a witness...I won't even get into what her 14 year old "Christian" daughter is like.

"If we, and our children are prepared to be a witness, God will give us and them opportunities, but we can have all the opportunities in the world and not move on them if our hearts are not ready.

"At first when my daughter was in elementary school it was harder to tell the difference between the homeschoolers, and public schooled kids, but now as the fruit is maturing (going into highschool) it is evident.

"In our experience, homeschoolers are less peer dependent, community focused, and interact well people of every age. Yes, I do know there are exceptions!

"A sick peach tree can still give a few healthy looking peaches, and a healthy peach tree can give a few sickly peaches, but what kind of tree do you want your kids growing on?

"One last note: Often people are remarking how accomplished my daughter is musically. This is no accident. She has the time to work hard on both the harp and the piano. This past year she was actually invited by a public school in the area to come play the harp for a large event in which many teachers, children and parents attended! Talk about God creating opportunities for a ready heart!"

Thanks, Carrie, for that reminder.

Easter: About Jesus Or Bunnies?

When your children's ministry moves into the Easter season, how do you keep the focus off of Bunnies and Eggs and on Jesus? When dealing with secular kids, and those whose families are not very involved in their spiritual training, this can be quite an issue.

A couple of weeks ago I was planning our Logos Easter program with my 2nd and 3rd graders this week and they kept mentioning easter eggs and bunnies (they're not from my church). I decided that instead of telling them "No we don't do bunnies and eggs" I'd explain why. One of the kids is a champion speller so I said (in a much more elaborate way), "What if you won the national spelling bee and the town had a big celebration to honor you. But when you got there no one even said 'Hi' to you or mentioned your accomplishment instead they had all brought their dogs and they had turned it into a dog show. How would you like that?" (they didn't) so then I explained that Easter is when we celebrate Jesus dieing on the cross for us and then rising from the dead. "How do you think Jesus likes it when we ignore Him and just talk about bunnies and eggs?" I asked. They got the point, and loved it so much that they decided, totally on their own, that they wanted to turn that story into a play and teach that concept to the adults at the easter program.

I have written the story out as a narrated skit and my 2nd ans 3rd graders are practicing it right now.

Click here to read the skit.
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This post was originally posted Mar 13, 2008

Homeschool Illegal?

A court in California recently ruled that homeschooling is illegal unless either the parent is a fully state certified teacher or he/she hired a fully state certified private tooter! This egregious ruling is obviously not based on a desire to improve education for kids since homeschool has been proven to give the highest test scores nation wide. It comes from a belief that the government has the right and duty to decide how best to raise kids and then enforce their beliefs on parents.

When I heard this news I was surprised by the bluntness of this statement. While California has, by far, the worst situation, Nebraska (my state) is dealing with a senator who wants the state to micromanage homeschooling and has put forth a bill, LB1141, to do just that.

The issue is whether or not the state (government) is more qualified to raise kids than the parents. There is a disturbing trend among politicians (even high level ones) and judges to think the state is the best suited and the highest authority in kid’s lives.

Here is a excerpt from my conversation with DiAnna Schimek, the Nebraska state senator who put forth LB1141, "It may be 'the state of Nebraska's responsibility to provide education for all children in the state' [that was her claim] but it is not NE's responsibility to control it. In America we have proven that, although sometimes risky, freedom and limited government encourage people to strive for excellence. The more freedom people are given to make educational choices for their children the more effort they will expend in doing so. That translates into a more valued and valuable education for kids with much more involved parents. I realize that freedom naturally allows for some to violate the trust, but the benefits of freedom far outweigh the risks."

There is no evidence that homeschoolers are getting an inferior education. In fact, nation wide, homeschoolers consistently beat out public and private schooled kids in test scores. I would say that the only reason the government should be looking in on homeschool families would be to discover their secret of success and try to implement that into the public school system to get its scores up!

Pray that we will retain the freedom to choose the world view we instill in our children; then speak out when people try to take the freedom away!

It's time to take action. Even if you're not a homeschooling family this issue affects you since it is just a first step in the ideology that kids are the property of the state not parents.

ACTION STEPS

Sign the petition: HSLDA's depublishing petition (this is not just for Californians, it's for everyone!)

Get informed:

Check out the "Legislative Watch" section of the Home School Legal Defense Assotiations's website www.hslda.org.

Read this article from Citizenlink