This is a new homeschooling website that we hope will develop into New Zealand’s BEST homeschooling website. At present there are lots of rather disappointing websites dedicated to homeschooling on the internet, and we have never seen so many broken links on these sites, even on those of large homeschool suppliers like Abeka. We need to raise the standard!
If you are interested in helping us by updating the “Local Events” page, adding events to our calendar (pending), or writing short pieces and helping others out, then please use our “Contact” page to get in touch.
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The Kiwi Conservation Club is part of Forrest and Bird and has quizzes, games, other stuff, and a Join Us link. Members can get Wild Things magazine five times a year.
And remember, it is part of the Christian worldview to take care of the environment, but not to worship it. We are to take dominion over the planet, but we are also to “tend the garden” as God told Adam. [Add link to Catalyst website re conservation from a Christian worldview perspective.]
It is important at this time in history for Christians to be aware of the trends and thoughts of our society and world. Environmentalism is certainly a hot topic, and something Christian theologian Francis Schaeffer addressed in his book Pollution and the death of man: The Christian view of ecology. This book is a good read and even though it was written quite a few years ago, and like much of Schaeffer, lives on well beyond his days.
To quote Francis Schaeffer, “We have the right to rid our house of ants; but what we have no right to do is to forget to honor the ant as God made it, out in the place where God made the ant to be. When we meet the ant on the sidewalk, we step over him. He is a creature, like ourselves; not made in the image of God, it is true, but equal with man as far as creation is concerned.”
Recommended reading:
http://wap.bible.org/article/christian-environmentalism
This interesting looking website in New Zealand !!! will be of use if you have children interested in science and in years 3-4, 5-6, or 7-10.
The idea is to “Stimulate a lifelong interest in Science”.
The Science Awards schemes are designed to promote students’ interest and participation in a series of science activities which:
A HT (hat tip) to The Broad Room for pointing us to this information! We should add that there is a lot of useful stuff on their website.
Albert Mohler write:
Whatever happened to being seen but not heard? Diana West asks that question in a recent essay, noting that there has been a massive shift in Western culture away from adult authority and toward the “wise child.” All around us are signs that authority and wisdom are now to be recognized in the young, rather than the old. This is nothing less than a reversal of what previous generations had believed and assumed.
Read the rest here: http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/22/newsnote-seen-but-not-heard/
Check out this website if you are looking for excellent Bible lessons for your kids. Here is a bit of their blurb:
The Biblelessons4kidz.com team is a group of people who are passionate about reaching the next generation with the gospel of Christ. We are Christian parents who believe that our kids really can dig deeper into God’s Word. With this in mind, we have written a comprehensive series of Bible lessons that teach the truth of scripture to children. Each lesson is thoughtfully and prayerfully written in order to be biblically accurate, relevant and interesting. New lessons and devotionals will be added to this website as they are developed.
Their lessons are broken down into sections:
In addition, they claim:
Biblelessons4kidz.com is committed to making these Bible lessons FREELY available to anyone who wants to teach the Bible to kids. We’re simply putting these lessons out there to be used in any way God sees fit. All credit and honor go to Him alone.
Mission Statement
Biblelessons4kidz.com is committed to help reach the next generation with the Gospel of Christ by developing Bible lessons for kids that are biblical, relevant, and interesting.
Core Values
Biblelessons4kidz.com will have accurate biblical lessons.
Biblelessons4kidz.com will be user-friendly.
Biblelessons4kidz.com will glorify Jesus Christ.
The Teaching Company has many great resources over a wide range of subjects. Most courses are available as MP3s with many of them are also available on DVD. Almost everything on TTC is pay-for (e.g. these are not free lectures) and so they should be since TTC hire the best people and best presenters in their respective fields to do the the lectures, and the quality and content is excellent (although I occasionally disagree with the content).
TTC also have a number of courses that are suitable for high-school level homeschooling such as:
My biggest gripe is that we cannot afford the DVD courses as they are quite expensive (even with their frequent sale offers). The New Zealand dollar may be better now than most times, but times are also tough for many of us, and we have to pay postage to get the DVDs delivered.
I would really like another DVD course from TTC — Nutrition Made Clear. This course looks really good and would help us as a family and also possibly lead our children on into Food Technology or similar training post home schooling. If TTC want to donate a copy to us, we will say YES PLEASE!!! At the sale price, the 6 DVD set would costs us about $200NZD (almost the price of a new iPod nano).
One of the questions parents ask when considering homeschooling is academic outcome. Will our kids be able to foot it against their school-trained peers when it comes to entry into university for example.
NZ homeschool parent Dr. Glenn Peoples at Beretta has recently written about academic standards and makes the bold claim that the jury is not out. The case is settled. Home schoolers on average are ahead of the group academically. He cites a few sources; here is one of them:
www.washingtontimes.com…home-schooling-outstanding-results-national-tests
This article is certainly well worth a read. It concludes:
In a sentence, home-schooling is a recipe for academic success.
The following comes from a PDF document written by the people at Creation.com:
Greg Koukl, a popular speaker and thinker, has recently spoken on his radio show on the topic: To Homeschool or Not? Principles to Train Children. You can grab the MP3 here or the use the AAC format if you have an iPod and want chapters and higher-res audio.
I recently stumbled across a quote, apparently due to Aristotle, that got me thinking. I thought this was a very profound quote, capturing so much in so few words.
Speaking personally, whenever I read something new, listen to a sermon, or partake in a discussion, I am constantly running the content of the message through a worldview filter. This is not an overtly conscious act any more because I have trained myself to do this.
Well, to be honest, I think a lot of the filtering is as a result of my Christian conversion many years ago, whereupon I began weighing everything against Biblical teaching. This “renewing of your mind” along with many years of academic discipline allows me to almost naturally submit my thinking to Scripture and logic. It’s a bit like driving an automatic rather than a manual vehicle.
So what has all this to do with Aristotle? Let’s look at the quote and see:
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle
Wow, so according to Aristotle, we should be able, if our minds are educated, to delve into ideas, philosophies, books, poetry, and many others things “of the world” without buying wholesale into the ideas themselves.
What may surprise you even more is that we have a high-caliber example of such engagement in the Bible. Can you guess who and what he wrote? Do a study of Acts 17:22-34 and tell me how the person in the middle managed to quote, not from the Bible, from from the literature of that culture, back at the culture-makers themselves!
Rebecca Keller (Wikipedia entry) has written, with the help of a few others, a series of science textbooks. She has a PhD in Biophysical Chemistry.
Her Wikipedia entry lists the numerous books and textbooks she has written, and samples chapters for several of them are available on her website here.
Who uses Real Science-4-Kids?
Home schoolers in all 50 US states, as well as in Latin America, South America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Korea, now use Real Science-4-Kids. An active Yahoo group of 1,200+ maintains notes on the curriculum. In addition, a number of charter, private and public schools use RS4K.
Rebecca Keller interviewed
This episode of ID the Future features part two of an interview with Dr. Rebecca Keller, who discusses the nature of science and interpretation and how it applies to science education.
Mauri Ora is a free 12-month home-based distance learning programme that gives you an understanding of basic Maori practices, protocols and New Zealand history. You will be supported in your learning with a Kaitiaki (support person), who will assist and motivate you throughout the programme. Your learning takes place at your own pace, when and where you wish. On completion you will receive the National Certificate in Maori (Level 2 – 26 unit standards).
Check this page on the ERO website.
ERO reviews of the education of students exempt from attending a regular school
In the past the Education Review Office has reviewed the education of homeschooled students according to a schedule set annually. From 1 July 2009 ERO will carry out reviews only when requested by the Secretary for Education, or in other particular circumstances.
For further information about this change, please contact Rob Williamson, Senior Review Officer Homeschooling, or phone 0-4-499 2489.
Commentary on this can be found here.
This event seems to country-wide. The details are here: http://hef.org.nz/2007/home-education-awareness-week/
See the conference website for more details: http://www.aheconference.org.nz/
This is a new homeschooling website that we hope will develop into New Zealand’s BEST homeschooling website. At present there are lots of rather disappointing websites dedicated to homeschooling on the internet, and we have never seen so many broken links on these sites, even on those of large homeschool suppliers like Abeka. We need to raise the standard!
If you are interested in helping us by updating the “Local Events” page, adding events to our calendar (pending), or writing short pieces and helping others out, then please use our “Contact” page to get in touch.
