Blog

Let me start by saying that I am writing this blog to myself as much as I am writing to you.  My goal of this blog is to answer the question, “How do I raise a Kingdom focused child? Another way of phrasing the question is, “How do I raise a Godly child?”  Those who know my child knows that she is an outgoing talkative caring individual with empathy for others and professes to love God. Like other parents, I wonder how her spiritual perspective will influence many of her future decisions, the ones that obviously change her life forever and the ones that are subtle but important.

It’s August now and that means school will soon be back in session.  Parents may be rejoicing and kids may be filled with dread, but getting your student back into the school mindset is important.  Here are some tips to make the transition a little less painful for everyone involved.

As Christian parents, one of the greatest fears we can have is that our children will walk away from the Christian faith. According to Surveys by Barna and USA today, almost 75% of children walk away from the faith after high school with only about half of them returning to the faith within 10 years. This is one of the scariest statistics that Christian parents will ever see. We see a world that is very hostile to Christians and worry about the faith of our children. We wonder how well their faith will hold up when confronted with opposing views or views that truth is relativistic. We wonder if our children built a foundation that will stand the test of time when confronted with attacks. What steps can we take as parents in order to give our children a better chance at not abandoning their faith?

Summer has officially started with warmer weather, pool activities and sleeping in. Kids are undoubtedly excited for summer break and the freedom that goes along with it, but with school being over that involves a set schedule and learning, sometimes it’s a challenge to stay productive.  So whether your child just completed K-4 or is about to head off to college, focus their attention on these three activities to help them continue to learn over the summer.

What is 22 + 12 + 6 + 9 +11 + 15?  Imagine that you are competing with a classmate to answer this math problem without looking at the numbers, writing them down, or using a calculator.  Would you be able to answer within a few seconds? Mr. Chris White’s 6th graders at Heritage Oak School in Tehachapi play a game called “Around the World.”  The students sit in a circle. One student stands behind another. Those two students are in competition with each other. Mr. White asks them a math problem.  The student that gives the correct answer first, walks to the next student in the circle and competes again. This math drill game is also played in the 1st grade class at Heritage Oak School, but with obviously easier math problems such as “What is 6 + 9?”  What a fun method for strengthening the students’ math brain! 

There is no doubt in the Christians’ mind that we live in a fallen world. All you need to do is turn on the nightly news. On a daily basis, we see tragedy all around us. We hear about large tragedies like war, school shootings, terrorism and natural disasters. However, there are also the more personal tragedies like a child getting cancer, or a mother getting killed in a car accident. These events are thrown in our radar regularly. Most of the time we tend to compartmentalize these since they are not effecting us personally. However, what happens when tragedy strikes our lives? How do explain these events to our children? How can we as Christian parents help our children cope with crisis and tragedy?

It’s Science Fair time for the Grammar students at Heritage Oak School.  The kindergarteners made dioramas illustrating the habitat of an animal.  The first graders created models of planets. The second graders constructed models of trees. Each of these projects inspire the students towards a love for learning.   Most schools have science fairs but what makes Heritage Oak’s learning and teaching method unique? How are these grammar students being prepared for adulthood choices and careers?  The educational method which Heritage Oak School follows is considered Classical Christian Education. Classical education engages the student based on three phases of learning development, while Christian education interweaves God and the Bible into the lesson plans. The three phases of classical education are known as Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric. 

If you’ve ever applied to college, you know that many schools place an emphasis on well-rounded students who participate in extracurricular activities.  We learned in last week’s blog post “Are Extracurricular Activities Important For Our Children's Future?” that many college admissions departments see extracurriculars just as important as their GPA and test scores. These activities can be the tie-breaker between an acceptance letter or a “thanks for applying” letter.

As parents, we always want the best for our kids and sometimes we think this is putting them in as many extracurricular activities (sports, music, dance, community service) as our schedule can handle. But are these programs really important to a student’s academic future? Do colleges really consider extracurriculars for admission and if so, what type of extracurricular activities do they prefer? Let’s delve into these areas to see what our students should be involved in with extracurricular activities.