Featured Story

Rally Day opportunity

20 February 2010

capitol-plaza2.jpg By David Tulis

Usually in the February number of Esprit we have coverage of Rally Day in Nashville, which is a March ritual every year filled with delight and encounters of all kinds in the hallways of state power.

March 23, a Tuesday, is the occasion again for honoring top homeschool students, hearing speakers tell about homeschooling liberties and meeting with state senators and representatives to put a face on the homeschooling movement. The lead speaker will be Mike Farris of HSLDA.

By God’s providence we’ll have details and schedules in the March 1 edition of Esprit newsletter. This reminder is just to encourage you to plan that Tuesday as a field trip day. You’ll have to get everybody to bed early. You’ll hop into the van before daybreak to make the opening ceremonies which usually start at 8:45 a.m. Nashville time. The official event is over late in the morning, but you’ll want to visit our senator or representative, making an appointment either Monday or the Friday of the week before.

Ask your husband to plan to take the day off, so he can do the driving and help out. It is probably good for our legislators to meet the men in the ranks of homeschoolers. It helps them to better picture homeschooling as an instrument of godly reformation led by Christian men whose heart is in the enterprise. If elected officials see men at the head, it will draw more respect than if they see home education as simply a labor of women and children.

Rally Day is a way men can suggest their love for their families and their expectation that civil magistrates will continue to respect their authority and their government of their families.

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Events & Activities

Belz, DeMar, Eidsmoe address student event

6 March 2010

Rising 10th graders through college age students are invited to meet at Milligan College near Elizabethton, Tenn., May 31- June 5 for a week of training in intellectual warfare. Students come from around the U.S. and from Canada for the Biblical Student Worldview Conference.

Speakers:

  • Joel Belz, founder of World magazine, on Christian journalism
  • John Eidsmoe, law professor, on the Constitution
  • Gary DeMar, president of American Vision and author, on developing a comprehensive biblical worldview.
  • James Nickel, author and professor, on mathematics
  • Carl Robbins, pastor of Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church in Greenville, S.C., on the fruit of the spirit.

I went last year and highly recommend it.

—Jeannette Tulis

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Commentary

Remembering why we are homeschooling

6 March 2010

Recently the homeschool dads who meet for coffee and bagels at the Hixson Panera every Friday morning before 7 a.m. were visited by a faithful Christian man whose dilemma is this: He has a teenage daughter whom he is thinking of putting into public school so that she will have options and can get credits, particularly in science and math. He wanted particulars on how to satisfy in the private sector such requirements for a junior or senior. His listeners, in their reply, focused instead on the general principles of home education which, if adhered to, might bring the particulars more plainly into view. Touching on such general points as the men offered are some lines below by Joyce Herzog, a local homeschool notable (at joyceherzog.com) whose words can keep all of us from waivering.

By Joyce Herzog

Identical desks. Identical books. Identical uniforms. Identical input leads to identical output…. Or so they think!

This paradigm is how traditional classrooms are set up, but it is easy to see that this system is failing many of our children. You may have chosen to homeschool to get away from this one-size-fits all mentality. But even within the homeschooling community there is often pressure to conform to a pre-determined schedule of learning. How many times have you been asked if your child is working “on or above grade level” in a certain subject?

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Editorial

Cultural collisions

15 December 2009

knight.jpg The other day I was in one of the library branches. I was being assisted by a staff member while I used a PC in a bank of computers to log on to the new audio book system available for downloads from the website. Next to me were seated two children, a boy maybe 10 and a girl maybe 8. They were viewing music videos that had very suggestive images of women in various states of undress in shall we say not very modest poses (understatement here).

“Excuse me, but does your mom or dad know what you are watching?” I said, leaning over to the boy. He pointed to a young woman seated on the other side of him. I immediately apologized to her but could not resist pointing out that such videos could not be healthy for her children, especially her son.

Perturbed at my intrusion, the mom said, “They watch that all the time; there is nothing wrong with it.” During this exchange the library staff person was shooting me a look as if to say, “You are wasting your time.” The mom tried to make a hasty getaway but she had to pull her son away. His eyes had been glued to the screen. I could not help but think of what that young boy was being exposed to. Perhaps I did not accomplish anything but I had to say something.

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General Info

Free quickstart guides for new homeschoolers

4 August 2009

If you are considering homeschooling or are planning to undertake this wonderful adventure in the new school year, please download our easy-to-read quickstart guides written by local moms to make your path clearer.

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Other Headlines

Lego Giants Stalk the Land

legoleague2.jpg

Front row from left, Josh Fisher, Olivia Hoffman, Savannah Champion, Shayne Champion, Zach Fisher. David Hoffman is in the background.

On Dec. 5 three homeschool teams represented Chattanooga at the Tennessee first Lego League Tournament in Cookeville.

The competitions lasted almost eight hours, with a break for lunch. Each team competed in three rounds of robot performance and then made a presentation on their research on local transportation problems. They were then interviewed on robot design, robot programming, teamwork and leadership, and then competitively rated against each of the 48 registered teams at the event. The Chattanooga homeschool teams brought home more trophies than ever before!

The East Brainerd Hurricanes led by Shayne Champion earned third place in research and presentation with their project titled “Safety for Bicyclists”. Team Terastorm led by Jeffrey Cross won fourth place for robot performance (with 280 points) and the third place champion award for overall performance. Team Cyberthunder led by Bill Ayres won third place for robot performance (with 295 points), and the second place champion award for overall performance. This was the first time that Chattanooga took home two champion awards.

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Homeschooling dads gaze across Jordan

Steaming brew, lively talk early on Fridays

By James Hindman

Although cold weather has set in around Chattanooga, area homeschool dads have enjoyed the warmth obtained from good fellowship, strength and encouragement during the Friday meetings at Panera Bread Co. in Hixson.

The meetings have been relaxed and easygoing with an abundance of stimulating topics. At each gathering, we have been blessed with a bond which has equipped us to do battle in a culture continually attempting to confuse what it means to be a Christian, leader, servant, husband, father and friend.

There have been a great many topics exchanged at our meetings:

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Homeschool baseball ready to begin practice

Spring is almost here and baseball is ready to begin! The Chattanooga Patriot’s baseball teams are beginning practices the first week of February. Our middle school team plays at Rivermont Park and our high school team practices in Rossville with games at Covenant College. Please email Julie Simons, djsimons@tvn.net, for more information.

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