Back to School Again

Summer officially ended on August 3 when we spent most of the day at school for orientation.  The kids and I rotated between classes listening to talks from each of their teachers.  Our son still has just one primary teacher and assistant teacher with different teachers for art, Latin(?), P.E., and band. Our daughter has a different teacher for every subject this year plus two electives, creative writing and art.  Both kids seem pleased with their teachers and expect to have another great year.

I left orientation feeling better about our school than ever before.  The new science teacher who will be taking over the STEM program I started and hopefully expanding it as well is gifted, enthusiastic, and on board with the STEM methodologies I value so much.  I am very excited about working with her and am thankful for the skills she is bringing to our school after teaching AP classes at one of our public school district's best high schools for math/science.

There is still much room for improvement in other aspects of the middle school, however, so I have already begun advocating for more changes, while hoping and praying my voice does not cause my children to be treated unfairly by teachers who disagree with any change or additional work whatsoever regardless of how much it could improve the educational experience, love for learning and passion for God for our students.  It's hard to be the voice, crying out in the wilderness so to speak, speaking on behalf of the parents and the administrators as I share what a select few do not want to hear, even if what I'm saying is motivated out of sincere love for the school and students.

I will say that given our political/cultural situation in which the nanny state and in many ways the global state have replaced god in almost every aspect of society, it's worth every penny just to be around people who share a Biblical worldview and understand the source of my concerns for our nation.  I don't know how much longer our school will have the freedom to teach from a Biblical worldview or to incorporate classical and complete history that presents a big picture view of life and culture instead of the revised texts that indoctrinate students to accept a socialistic, progressive mindset.  I don't know who much longer it will be until great classical literature texts that challenge students to think critically and stand for truth and justice will be banned by the government, but I'm thankful for a school that equips students to stand as bright lights in a dark and dying world as long as they are able.  When the government exceeds it's clearly defined limits under the Constitution to the point of demanding that our school to compromise it's values, the school will shut down before it will submit to what is wrong.

This video explains in better detail the concerns I'm alluding to with respect to the progressive educational system's attack on morality and efforts to produce a unified, submissive, Marxist generation. Conversations I've tried to have with recent college graduates who are not rooted in God's word support every last accusation in this video. They cannot think on their own, reason logically, or even recognize rational thought if it hits them over the head.  I'm glad our students are learning the art of rhetoric, but I doubt they'll either be allowed to use those skills or find someone who is intellectually capable of engaging in a thoughtful exchange of ideas without calling them unjustified ugly names. At least our students will not have fear because there is power in being able to support your position with truth.


In fourth grade, students get to choose between chorus and band.Our son's voice is lovely like his dad's, but he wanted to play drums in the band. So now he is taking both piano and drum lessons each week.  Weekly lessons are required to be in the band, but given how much I respect his drum teacher (who is also a bi-vocational pastor who has taught theology and now teaches apologetics and rhetoric at our school), just having this man influence my boy is worth the time and cost of drum lessons.

Ready for the 1st day of 7th and 4th grades

Our school celebrated it's 20th anniversary last weekend with a family carnival night followed by slide show presentations and various speakers. Our son's teacher and my favorite high school math teacher bravely volunteered to sit in the dunking booth.  Here are pics of our son's sweet teacher going down.

Here is a picture of son's 4th grade glass with teacher, Mrs. Gardner, and assistant teacher, Mrs. Boyd.