Each Child Is Unique
Here’s a note a homeschool mom in Virginia (who requested to remain anonymous) wrote recently to a mom homeschooling a dyslexic child. Whether your child struggles with dyslexia or something completely different, we hope you’ll be encouraged that every child is unique–and that’s okay!
We saw our very strongest “natural” speller/reader do letter reversals; I think the Lord was trying to tell me right off the bat not to panic. Family history on one side includes a strong history of dyslexia. One of our relatives found ways around it in business (and became a multi-millionaire), but no one ever remembers seeing him read as an adult. Others read for him! He still managed to read enough (took h-o-u-r-s of agonizing work, but he did it) to complete a solid high school course in the 1920s.
Anyhow, all of our children, including some special-needs learners, wound up being able to manage through a variety of ways we found to help them, [including] answers to prayer, special helps of all sorts, etc. One was finally motivated to read as a teen by serious Bible study, hunting, and history interests! How’s that for a combo?
All of our kids learned almost completely differently. It has been like watching a giant puzzle (one of those 5,000 piece ones) getting put together on the dining-room table over the holidays–except we are watching the Lord build lives over our whole lifetime watching them grow and learn. You are doing the right thing asking for help. It can be overwhelming, I know. Trust God, be patient, work as a team with family, and keep adding puzzle pieces one day at a time. Some days lots of pieces fall into place, other days, not so many!
Blog @ December 17, 2008 | General | Comments (0)
South Korea: Homeschooling Prospers by Families Helping Families
In September of 2008, ten homeschool leaders from around the world attended HSLDA’s annual National Homeschool Leadership Conference. The following is an update from Bernie and Linda Beall, who work through Family Mission International (FMI) to assist South Korean homeschoolers. This update highlights two South Korean homeschooling families, describes FMI and the Bealls’ goals, and summarizes the legal climate of homeschooling there.
Bernie and Linda Beall, veteran homeschoolers, serve with Family Mission International (FMI). For the past five years, their mission team has been working to assist the development of the South Korean homeschool movement. The following two stories demonstrate the impact that the Bealls’ ministry is having and how the homeschooling movement is affecting Christian families in this country.
Ministry Encourages Families to Homeschool
Five years ago, Pastor Kim Won Tae and his family attended one of FMI’s first homeschool conferences. At the conference, the mission team challenged parents to take responsibility for the discipleship of their children. Pastor Kim and his wife became convinced that God wanted them to withdraw their children from a high-quality school where they were already academically excelling and bring them home to focus on spiritual and character development. The family has been delighted with the results. Though very few curriculum and supporting resources were available when they began, the family has watched God bless their act of faith. Because of the excellent results Pastor Kim and his wife saw in their children, they began encouraging other families to homeschool. Pastor Kim’s church now has a thriving homeschool academy, which currently supports approximately 50 homeschooling families.
The Excellence of Homeschool Worldview Curriculum
The second story is about Pastor Lee Je Hun. Pastor Lee began homeschooling three years ago and quickly saw this as not only a new education program for his children, but also as a ministry calling for himself. As he began to examine Christian worldview-based curriculum from America that the Bealls had provided, he was astounded by the depth of these teachings. He remarked, “What middle school and high school students are studying in these homeschool curriculum surpasses what theological education I received in seminary.” With his wife and two children, Pastor Lee has dedicated himself to assisting their church of 10,000 people with becoming a “model church” with the goal of supporting and developing thousands of homeschool families across the nation.
FMI’s Homeschooling Ministry – American Homeschool Families Helping Korean Families
One of FMI’s goals is to support the development of homeschooling in South Korea by connecting American homeschoolers to Korean homeschoolers. The Bealls have helped several American families move to South Korea, and they spend an extended period of time discipling South Korean families through weekly co-op and training meetings. They also help South Korean families travel to America for home-stay experiences and are encouraging families and homeschool graduates to help with tutoring Korean students through an online program called Homeschool Friend.
Legal Climate
Currently, homeschooling is not technically permitted by law in South Korea—but neither is it prohibited!
Homeschoolers have been able to peacefully remove their children from public school without any government intervention. The South Korean government’s new 2008 administration has announced plans to legalize homeschooling by 2010. Despite this good news, it is not yet clear what restrictions and requirements might be attached to this legalization. Chris Klicka of HSLDA plans to provide model legislation and to assist the process.
The current Christian homeschool population is estimated to exceed 1,000 families; the total homeschool population is about double that number.
For more information about homeschooling in South Korea, see www.hslda.org/hs/international/SouthKorea.
You can provide financial support to the homeschooling movement in South Korea by donating to the Home School Foundation’s International Homeschooling Fund. For more information, go to http://www.homeschoolfoundation.org/funds/international.asp.
Katherine Loop @ December 8, 2008 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)
International Homeschooling Report 2: Mexico, Homeschooling Ministry Gives Hope to Families
Note from HEAV: Our thanks to HSLDA for forwarding this report to us.
In September of 2008, ten international homeschool leaders joined HSLDA’s annual National Homeschool Leadership Conference. The following is taken from Mike Richardson’s presentation at the conference and describes his family’s ministry though Vida Nueva Ministries.
From Candidate for State Legislature to Homeschool Dad
In the mid-1980s, Mike Richardson ran for the Georgia House of Representatives. During his campaign, a small group of homeschool families invited him to speak to them. Through that contact, Mike became close friends with Daniel, a local high school teacher and homeschool father.
Daniel and his family had a tremendous impact on the Richardsons. It was through Daniel’s teachings as well as his example in daily life that Mike and his wife Pam decided to begin homeschooling their three children in 1986. (Seven of the Richardsons’ ten children are still at home.)
Mike credits Daniel for his accomplishments in the Spanish-speaking world:
“The things that I learned from “sitting at Daniel’s feet” have become the basis for any success that we have had in our ministry to Spanish-speaking families throughout the world. Daniel, not Pam and I, is the one who truly deserves the praise for the homeschool work throughout Latin America. His faithfulness in mentoring one person has brought many rewards in the kingdom of God.”
Ministering to the Spanish Speaking World from Mexico
Mike and Pam Richardson have lived in Mexico for the past fourteen years and have orchestrated a national homeschool conference in Saltillo. Seven years ago, they began a second homeschool conference near Mexico City. In 2008, the conferences had a combined attendance of nearly 3,000 people, from 22 of the 32 Mexican states as well as several other countries.
Richardson will tape each speaker and have the speeches transcribed, translated, and re-taped. These tapes are sent free of charge to families throughout Mexico who request them. He is also involved in providing translations of several books on home education including books by Gregg Harris, Mike Farris, and Chris Klicka.
Since 1996, the Richardsons have published a bi-monthly Spanish homeschool magazine, “El Hogar Educador,” which currently ministers to 4,500 families in 32 countries. The newsletter offers many tips on homeschooling and raising a Christian family.
The Vida Nueva Ministries Gives Hope to the Poor
The admission to the homeschool conferences and the newsletter are free, so that the expense will not discourage many families who have very little money.
“Vida Nueva Ministries has changed the lives of hundreds of families, giving them hope for the future for their children,” says HSLDA Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka. Recalling his past experience as a speaker at the Saltillo conference he continued, “Families came to me with tears and heartfelt thanks for Mike Richardson’s homeschool ministry. They testified to how their children were being blessed. Without the Richardsons’ providing free registration at conferences, free tapes, and a free home education newsletter, homeschooling would be an impossibility for these families.”
In the past, HSLDA has supported the El Hogar Educador by providing them a printing press to meet their needs in the area of publishing a Spanish newsletter and Spanish books.
Richardson’s El Hogar Educador is fulfilling his two-fold goal for the ministry: serving as a conduit for the gospel, and supporting homeschool families. Homeschooling is providing an answer to the poor education in Mexico and is enabling families to work together.
Mexican Legal Homeschooling Climate
Mexico is the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world—second only to California. In Mexico, parents can homeschool their children without any significant interference from the governing authorities, and they praise the Lord for His blessing in this area!
Not Without Challenges
Despite the positive homeschooling climate in Latin America, leading the homeschool movement in Mexico has not been without its challenges. The past year has been very challenging for the Richardson family and their ministry. They have passed through many highs and lows—tragedies and triumphs—and these ordeals have truly been the most mentally and spiritually challenging trials of their lives.
However, the Richardsons desire to not live a mediocre life—but to live life to the fullest, serving God with their whole hearts. They appreciate your continuing prayers for their ministry and family as they seek God’s guidance and direction.
For more information about homeschooling in Mexico, see www.hslda.org/hs/international/Mexico.
You can provide financial support to the homeschooling movement in Mexico by donating to the Home School Foundation’s International Homeschooling Fund. For more information, go to http://www.homeschoolfoundation.org/funds/international.asp.
Katherine Loop @ December 3, 2008 | International Homeschooling | Comments (0)