The Noah Plan curriculum guides from the Foundation for American Christian Education are hefty tomes full of almost anything you need to know to teach a subject using the Biblical Principle approach. But those who use a different approach can still gain a lot from FACE’s work.

1. Timelines. While not comprehensive, their timelines are well done and informative, and highlight the use of the subject for the advancement of the Gospel. They are helpful for planning the history of any subject, and cross-referencing to see what was going on in other spheres at a particular point in history.
2. Resource lists. Especially in history and literature. They are a gold mine. In the history guide they are arranged historically. And their lists incorporate as many original sources and classics as possible for a book this size.
3. Charts, forms and graphs. Especially in English and the line maps in History and Geography. And they have sample notebook grading charts and other teacher tools.
4. The focus on Providential History. No matter what your approach, a Providential approach to history affects all subjects and shapes your Christian worldview. Each subject guide addresses that subject’s history
5. Research. In the literature guide, the information on Shakespeare is almost worth the price of the book. In each guide they offer original documents and a view of a subject that is hard to find in other homeschool resources.
6. Notebook examples. Even if you are not into traditional notebooking outlines and such, there are many examples of well thought out pages. They can inspire and challenge, or even help solve a problem.
7. The passion. The authors of each guide are master teachers, and reading their guides can spark an interest, rekindle an excitement or reinforce an idea. Anyone can get on board with doing things well, even if you aren’t keen on the specific methods.
8. The projects. Each guide offers ideas for projects that you can adapt to any unit study or textbook you may be using.
9.  Tools. Things like word studies and the elements of notebooking are things that any teacher can use. Word studies will serve you well in elementary school through graduate school. It is an invaluable skill. And tools like sample notebook grading sheets can give you a place to start when creating your own materials.
10. Easy on the pocketbook. There is only one book to buy for each subject. It takes you from kindergarten through high school. All this goodness is wrapped up in one volume for each subject. The investment is only made once.

See samples of the guides here. I make no money from this post.

This blog is not known to be particularly involved in current events and other potentially controversial things. However I heard a bishop say something last week that convicted me.  On the radio show Janet Parshall’s America last week Bishop E.W. Jackson was on talking about his ministry and taking calls from listeners. One caller offered the idea that Jesus got down with the people and was basically okay with them being in sin. This got Bishop Jackson discussing the idea that Jesus came to love, but He didn’t come to be everyone’s friend. He came to divide (Matt. 10:34). He said the following challenging statement:

Christians have got to learn there is no way getting around the potential for persecution and people not liking what you have to say when you stand up for Jesus Christ…We owe our first loyalty to Him. He is our savior and our Lord and it is Him we are trying to please.         (emphasis mine)

Well said, Bishop Jackson.

What would He has me do? What would He have me say? Where would He have me go? I owe my first loyalty to Him, not to my ego or my  friends or even my family. Pleasing Him should be my only concern.

In this new age of “tolerance” it seems that the only point of view that is not tolerated is God’s. I can say I am too often intimidated by the potential backlash, so I refrain from speaking strongly for Christ and His principles. That will change as of today. I encourage you to make the decision this year to care less about what people think and more about what Jesus would want you to do. Speak the truth in love and let God receive all the glory. It is Him alone we strive to please.

In American society today there  seems to be an allergy to excellence, at least to the Christian idea of excellence. On the one hand you have children afraid to look “smart” in front of their peers. and on the other we have the Martha Stewarts working hard to convince us that perfection is possible. Kids are texting and losing what little grammar skills they may have once possessed while they try hard to be “gangsta.” The excellent is, for the most part, not valued or praised or even seen as something to strive toward.

What is the Christian idea of excellence? I submit that it is not simply getting good grades. It is your internal character and not your “book smarts” that make a person excellent. For example, Daniel in the Bible was described as having an excellent spirit in Daniel 6:3. This fueled hatred among the leaders of the land and that’s how he ended up in the lion’s den. He was not excellent because he was the smartest. He was excellent because of his character.

Christians should set the standard in education. American Christians are blessed beyond measure. We enjoy liberty in every area. Nothing has been held back from us. We have to most to be thankful for—and the most responsibility. We should always strive to work toward excellence. God’s idea of excellence. As we become more and more excellent on the inside, our outward fruit will be excellent as well. We will work harder, be more diligent and make more of an effort to be a good example to others, in word and in deed (Col. 3:17).

The point is not knowledge but wisdom and fear of the Lord. As a Christian my goal is not simply to fill my children with facts until they are ready to pop. They must be able to correctly apply knowledge in real life.

My next post will finish up by discussing the process of excellence and applying scripture to our educational goals.

My most exciting times as a home educator have come under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Without the help of the Holy Spirit my lessons become dry and frankly pretty boring. I thought I would share some thoughts concerning this.

If you are a Christian teaching your children at home, you probably already have experienced spirit-led lessons, even if you didn’t know it or call it that.

When you are teaching multiple grades together you can relax. Just as happens in a church full of individuals, the Holy Spirit has a wonderful way of tailoring the lesson to fit the needs of the hearer. I never cease to be amazed that a room full of people can hear the same sermon, the same words and scripture, and get something intimately personal from it. Only God’s living Word can do that.

The Holy Spirit is here for, among other things, education.  John 14:26 Jesus says that when He left the Holy Spirit would come and “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” “All things” there means in the Greek just that–all things. So rejoice that the Holy Spirit is there to teach you, to teach your kids, and to teach you to teach your kids all things.

If you are struggling in an area such as math or history or even how to schedule your day or deal with a difficult character issue, help is a prayer away. God gives wisdom liberally if we will only ask (James 1:5). And when we don’t even know what we need the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26) and Jesus (Rom. 8:34) both are praying God’s will on our behalf. Praise God! If you are weak in an area let God show Himself strong. I can tell you from experience those are the most exciting lessons of all because I cannot do that in my own ability. (2 Cor 12:9)

I encourage you to be careful not to put your lessons in a box and think there will be amazing revelations every day in every subject. That won’t happen. Many days will be pretty average. But that’s what makes the special times so special. And God’s grace is in the every day, speaking in quiet whispers through His Word in every subject.

With the Biblical Principle Approach that places God’s Word at the center of every subject, you can’t help but have Holy Spirit inspired lessons each time you pick up your Bible and read His life-giving words to your family. It’s rhema.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.      Hebrews 4:12

As of now I will only post once a week on this topic. If I can I will post more. My children (especially my 4yo son) are still trying to find their new place in our growing family. My priorities lay with them and their lessons. With a newborn to tend to I have precious little time for outside interests. Thanks for understanding. I am still commited to this study, I am simply consolidating my posts. Have a blessed weekend!

I am not going to list all the questions from T&L here because it is copyrighted material. I will list my answers and discuss ideas but I am not going to copy and paste all the lessons. That wouldn’t be ethical (or legal!). It is up to you to go through these lessons yourself and answer the questions and do the reading.

What is a Leading Idea?

It is an idea that leads the reader down a certain line of thinking, toward a Biblical Principle. Leading ideas get you to think and not simply regurgitate facts. They help you to form your own thoughts on a topic.

Thoughts From the Leading Ideas

America is associated with the “principle of individuality” because we were founded upon Biblical principles, this being one. Without a Christian basis, the “principle of individuality” goes away. It is a distinctly Christian idea, so if the basis is removed the idea of the individual is replaced with a socialist one.

The socialist form of government is oppressive and over reaching as it demands conformity, redistribution and dependence upon the state in lieu of individual responsibility. This is what the founding fathers understood and worked to avoid. Their knowledge of God’s Word and His plan for human government helped the founding fathers to form a government that would maximize the potential of the individual without exploiting him for the state’s benefit.

To begin our study of America’s Christian History we must discuss some basic ideas.

The Christian Idea of Man

The Christian idea of man is the basis for our form of government. It is also the foundational principle that the other 6 principles of America’s Christian History and Government. It is the idea that man is created in God’s image as a unique individual. All men are therefore created equal with independent value. This is a wonderful principle to meditate on. If we are unique, equal and have value, then the state is servant to us and not master.

The Purpose of Government

The state was created for man, not the other way around. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are rights from God and the responsibility to keep them is delegated to the state. Today this weighty task is not respected by federal government, but rather it is becoming more and more irrelevant. Our government (state and federal)  is moving more toward a pagan idea of government.

The Pagan idea of Man

To the pagans (pagan meaning those who are not Christians) is that man has value as related to the state. The state has all the power to control, not protect, our liberty. We also have a society that looks to the state as keepers or even dispensers of liberty. It is a socialist idea that pervades our society today. Our citizens have not been educated on the Christian idea of man so we should not expect anything different.

I will go into more detail on the Leading Ideas (step 2) in the next post.

Pilgrim Institute is holding its annual conference in Dell City, OK April 10 and 11. Find the details at the link below.

Pilgrim Institute Annual Conference

American Christian Leadership in the Home, Church and Nation

Mrs. Smith and Mr. James Rose will both be there to speak at the general sessions, along with Mr. Bullard and Mr. Henry. The workshops look terrific.

I am hosting a history study here on my blog beginning Monday, April 7. The resources you need are these two books here (click the pics to purchase), along with a Bible. I also recommend a notebook, lots of notebook paper, 8 dividers and a nice pen. Since we use the notebook method in BPA, you know we always need more notebooks!

I will post on the week’s lesson and then (hopefully) you will leave comments regarding the lesson, or link to your blog’s post on the topic. My hope is to generate positive, insightful conversation regarding America’s Christian history as we learnfrom these lessons.

There are 8 lessons, so we will take one each week and discuss it here and at our weekly Thursday night chats. I will add a new topic to my category list to make these lessons easy to find in the future, which is helpful if you can’t study with us right now. I hope you will prayerfully consider joining me for this exciting study.

I just received my latest order from FACE: the Christian History Library in Libronix. It is the best investment I’ve made in a long time.

There are 11 volumes included (see the list here). They are all searchable and interactive, so I can search a topic and the program will search all volumes for every reference. It saves so much time.

I can also tag passages with my own notes and save them. This is very handy as I study.

The footnotes are hot linked as well, so when it refers to other volumes you can click and read the full context of the footnotes. It’s so nice not to have to get out 4 books to read 4 pages!

It copied all the volumes to my hard drive, so I do not need the CD-ROM every time I need to use the program. I can just click the icon and get cracking. It saves time on 4-R ing subjects and word studies as well, because it contains a KJV Bible and Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.

If I discover any more cool things the program will do I’ll post again (and I probably will!). The hard copies are also terrific to have because sometimes you need to hold a book or you just don’t want to be at your computer. But for study and lesson preparation this is a wise investment.