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~ HOME LIFE NEWS ~
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Vol. 6, No. 9 - Jan., 2009
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Curious Mind?? - We can help!
Dear Family,
We are delighted to turn our attention to a new calendar year and continue our commitment of serving you and your family. In this newsletter I just want to briefly tell you of some of the wonderful things God is doing with HLA and how excited we are to help homeschoolers in TN, FL, and CO, as well as in other states.
At the heart of everything we do is your children. Every year we are more and more convinced -- children are born with naturally curious minds. So our purpose is always the same, to help you meet that curiosity with great ideas for education.
Sincerely, David Parkerson
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The Panama Canal?
"Where is the Panama Canal, daddy?" asked my seven-year-old.
The other day I was reading a book to the kiddos and suddenly my seven-year-old asked me, "Where is the Panama Canal, daddy?" I started to say, "In Panama," and continue reading the book. I'm not even sure what it was in the book we were reading that triggered his question. But that didn't matter. I then realized it really wasn't a question of geography, but one of curiosity. He didn't know what the Panama Canal was, much less where. He heard someone mention it and was interested. Sounds neat to a seven-year old, I guess - "P a n a m a C a n a l."
So up we jumped. "To the internet!" I exclaimed, where we "googled" Panama Canal and watched video clips and power point slides for a half an hour. It was all very interesting; not only to my seven-year-old, but to the 5- and 4-year-old as well. We learned a little about the lock system, where it originated, and how it's built. We learned that over 27,000 workers died making the canal. And, we learned how important the canal is to maritime trade. (It's amazing to me how young children can understand complex things.) Most importantly we fed those flames of curiosity. We totally forgot to go back and finish the book.
Finishing the book was not the most important thing in that very moment. It was "the question." It was the curiosity, the interest, the desire for answers and to understand a little more about the world. That's always most important in education; in fact, it's the whole point. My kids won't remember all the details of the Panama Canal. Nor will I. But they will remember the good feeling of having a curiosity satisfied. And every time we do this, deep within them we fan those little flames of curiosity, and secure an education for them which is built around asking good questions and getting good answers. And don't forget to give that positive feedback so you can guarantee those teachable moments happen again and again.
"That was a great question," Nathan.
"I'm so glad you asked!!! That was fun. Let's do it again tomorrow."
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"Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations"
I'll tell you who else is curious to do something more than just "school" and that's teenagers! Young children want to satisfy their thirst for knowledge but older kids want to satisfy their hunger to make a difference. This is the case with thousands of homeschool kids now reading "Do Hard Things," a challenging call from Alex and Brett Harris, now freshmen at Patrick Henry College, to teenagers (and their parents) through out the US.
"When twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris were 16, they started a blog
to encourage their peers not to waste their teen years but to instead
"do hard things." Since then, the 19-year-old brothers have launched a website that gets 1.2 million hits per month, started a series of international youth conferences, created a 200,000-member grassroots campaign to support presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, and released the book Do Hard Things (Multnomah)." -Christianity Today
I'm pretty encouraged by the number of kids in America looking into doing something productive and powerful with their lives. And I'm excited by the number of parents who are dismissing the idea of adolescence and learning to raise their expectations for young men and women between the ages of 13-20. I encourage you to read this book in your family and pray together with your church. What hard things is God calling you and your kids to?
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Tennessee, Florida, and Colorado
...other states and countries.
"As we grow we are very careful to keep our response time to parents' needs as quick as possible. We do not want to ever lose that personal touch!" - David
HLA started in Tennessee and is now growing in two other states: Florida and Colorado. FL and CO both have laws allowing HLA to provide a full, legal covering as a private, church-related school, without parents having to register with the state. As our ministry grew in TN we began receiving calls from parents in other states around the country. Prayerfully, we began to investigate the laws and found we could legally provide coverage in some other states. FL and CO are the first two of these states we have decided to officially cover. A full, legal covering simply means if you live in TN, FL, or CO you are considered a private school teacher for HLA and not a "homeschooler" under your state's homeschool laws. This also allows parents to choose curriculum, receive an official diploma, and easily move between these states -- all we need is your change of address.
We do also serve parents in other states, and even other countries, offering our full record keeping, counseling, and transcripts services. (Parents in other states just need to comply with their state laws for legal covering.) But as we grow we are very careful
to keep our response time to parents' needs as quick as possible. We do
not want to ever lose that personal touch! Nothing is really more important to us than keeping our lines of communication wide open with any parent who needs our help. So that comes first.
As always, we love your feedback. Don't ever hesitate to call or email us with your ideas or suggestions.
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SCHOLARSHIPS & FREE REGISTRATION FOR MISSIONARIES
HLA is able to give a certain number of scholarships to families each year, when parents are in desperate and extreme financial need. We also grant free registration to foreign missionaries and military families. In 2009 we expect the number of scholarship needs to increase so we are asking for any family who can help donate more to do so, and mark clearly on your donation that it is for another family in need. We will keep track of the extra donations and match those through the year. Together we will serve one another and make sure all needs are met, and that NO family who wants to teach their children at home will ever be turned down due to lack of funds. God will provide!
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Save 20%!
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This year we prayed and have decided to offer a 20% discount to parents who will pre-register for 2009-2010 after Jan. 15th. Your pre-registration helps HLA pay expenses during the slow times of Spring. So please login to your account after Jan. 15th and follow the steps to pre-register. The 20% will be automatically calculated for you at checkout. Then you'll be all set until 2010. Thank you, again, for allowing us to serve you and your family!
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