Knowledge House Newsletter


Homeschool Information... Ideas... and Inspiration

June Holidays & Special Days - Click Here!

~ June 2014 ~

Dear Readers,

Time sure flies, doesn't it? The spring semester just ended not too long ago, and now another homeschool convention season is already here! Download a copy of How to Get the Most Out of a Homeschool Convention. This 14-page special report includes a handy checklist!

Congratulations to all of the 2014 homeschool grads! And a Happy Father's Day to all of the homeschool dads! :)

Teri's Sig


Featured Article

Homeschooling Duties Of Fathers

A father's primary goal as leader of the household is to provide for and protect his family, but fathers also have a God-ordained responsibility for the training of their children. Sadly, there is a huge gap in our culture of men who are actually willing to stand up and be the father that God has called them to be. The homeschool father should be involved as much as possible in his children's education. The more he actively participates, the more credibility homeschooling has in the eyes of his children, the less stressed mom will be, and the more likely it will be a long term experience. It's a real blessing to have a father who can spend time with his kids during the day. Even a father who works away from home can be their nightly homework checker or Bible teacher. A father may teach some other subjects as well, but most importantly, he must be supportive of his family’s homeschooling endeavor. Fathers should consider the following duties.

Principal (The principal may not do any teaching, but he is in charge to make sure the teachers teach, and he provides the help and support they need to do so.)

Pray for guidance and blessing.
Write down goals and a plan of action.
Make a schedule and see that it is followed.
Help select curriculum and plan lessons.
Talk to your children about what they are studying.
Review your children’s work; grade papers.
Assist with special projects (science experiments, etc.).
Go along on field trips.
Attend workshops and conferences with your wife.
Offer encouragement to your wife and motivation for your children.
Enforce the discipline of your children.
Take an active interest in politics and legislation that may affect home education.
Provide income for purchasing school supplies and materials.
Give your wife a break (bring home dinner; take the kids to the park).
Hand out the diploma or certificate of promotion at the end of the school year.

Spiritual Leader (As the spiritual head of the household, the father should be a good role model.)

Pray for your family and your homeschool.
Take the family to church regularly.
Bring God into everyday conversation.
Teach your children about God’s creations.
Teach your children about God’s historical works.
Teach your children the Ten Commandments.
Evangelize your children.
Take your children on "fishing trips" (witnessing).
Tune in to Christian music on the radio.
Lead the family in daily devotionals.
Encourage reciting Bible verses from memory.
Read the Bible aloud and study Biblical passages together.
Read Bible stories to children at bedtime.

Instructor (The father may be better at teaching certain subjects, such as one or more of the following examples.)

Physical Fitness/Sports.
Woodworking Shop/Auto Mechanics.
Science and/or Mathematics.
History, Government and/or Economics.
Logic and/or Critical Thinking.
Any other subject dad enjoys, majored in, or otherwise knows well.

Finally in all of these things remember Colossians 3:21 which says, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” Similarly, Ephesians 6:4 states, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Book of the Month

Citizens Rule Book

The 4th of July is coming up soon! Stock up now on Citizens Rule Books for handing out at tea parties and Independence Day celebrations. The legacy of my late father-in-law, this pocket-sized book includes the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, plus quotes by our Founding Fathers and information for jurors. Only $1 each!

Famous Homeschoolers

Emeal Zwayne and Mark Spence

In honor of Father’s Day, I’d like to introduce you to two homeschool dads who are popular Christian speakers and live a godly lifestyle in which they consistently practice what they preach. If you are familiar with Living Waters, The Way of the Master, or The Comfort Zone, you may already know who I’m talking about: Emeal "EZ" Zwayne and Mark Spence.

The Comfort Zone is an outreach of Living Waters like The Way of the Master, which inspires and equips Christians to fulfill the Great Commission. The Comfort Zone is a half-hour, weekday program streamed LIVE (Monday-Friday 2:30 ET / 11:30 PT) at TCZlive.com. This fun program is jam-packed with biblical insight, real-world answers, video clips, special guests, and humor, while they also talk about serious issues in the news as well as pop culture. The host is evangelist and best-selling author Ray Comfort. His co-hosts are Emeal "EZ" Zwayne (Ray’s son-in-law) and Mark Spence. They always poke fun at each other since Ray is a Jew, E.Z. is an Arab, and Mark is a descendant of Joseph Smith.

If you ever have a chance to hear E.Z.’s personal testimony, you will learn that he was almost aborted by his mother but inexplicably the doctor said, “I’m not going to do this one.” After his family immigrated to the U.S., the teenage E.Z. survived a stint with the notorious LA street gang, the Crips. After E.Z.’s radical conversion to Christ in 1991, he enrolled at Biola University as a Biblical Studies and Theology major. Upon receiving his pastoral ordination in 1995, E.Z. served for almost six years as a full-time Associate Pastor and Vice President of his church's board.

E.Z. is a very funny guy who acts a little goofy at times, yet he is a highly intelligent and organized individual who writes beautiful poetry (he once wanted to be a rapper). He is also an eloquent, convicting, and powerful preacher. One of his best sermons is called Passing the Torch. The message is based on a subject that E.Z. is passionate about, which is raising and discipling children who will serve God faithfully and disciple the next generation. E.Z.’s teachings have extended to people of different age groups throughout America and other parts of the world. He has been the featured speaker at various conferences, churches, and learning institutions.

Cameron Buettel, a biblical evangelism leader in Denmark who was personally trained in open air preaching by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, had this to say after meeting E.Z.: “The most lasting impact that EZ and his wife left on me is an attitude to parenting that demands hot pursuit of conformity to Christ and radical devotion to the task God gives parents of discipling children. It is a household climate where motherhood is shrouded in nobility that far surpasses any profession and fatherhood is embraced as a higher calling than public ministry.” E.Z. lives in Southern California with his wife Rachel and their five children.

Like E.Z., Mark Spence is a dynamic communicator and a gifted expositor of God's word, with many years of teaching experience. He is the Dean of Students for the online School of Biblical Evangelism (BiblicalEvangelism.com), where he currently serves over 14,000 students with a focus on personal evangelism. He also served for a number of years as the assistant pastor of a Calvary Chapel. In that capacity, he was the head of the Calvary Chapel Bible College and the School of Discipleship in Yorba Linda, California.

Mark has spoken alongside notable speakers such as Ravi Zacharias, Ken Ham, Pam Tebow, Voddie Baucham, and many others. Mark’s passion is to equip Christians for effective personal evangelism for the Glory of God. His training is very comprehensive and he has a strong Biblical foundation. He teaches in such a way that makes it easy for the average Christian to put into everyday practical use.

Residing in Southern California, Mark likes to describe himself as a “father of five and the husband of one.” He is a man who can always be found discipling his family, which is what he sees as his primary occupation and calling in life. He follows the philosophy of pastor and author Tedd Tripp’s Shepherding a Child's Heart. Watch E.Z. and Mark's interview with Dr. Tripp in The Comfort Zone episode #130 from June 6, 2014 at http://youtu.be/21rW-UAptwQ (the segment begins at 8:04).

It’s so refreshing, especially these days, to see fathers taking their childrearing responsibilities seriously. Living Waters' The Way of the Master often features actor Kirk Cameron as well, another homeschool dad who is the real deal. For more insights from E.Z. and Mark, ideas on how to reach out to the lost, and answers to your questions, watch The Comfort Zone live. You can also view Comfort Zone episodes on YouTube. For our family, it's hard to watch it live in the middle of the day. But we enjoy watching the taped episodes every evening after dad comes home, as part of our family devotions.

Reading Between the Lines

Geek Dad

Today’s generation of dads grew up playing computer games, Dungeons and Dragons, and watching Star Wars. Now with children of their own, these tech-savvy fathers have unique ways of bonding with the next generation of brainiacs. Geeky dads are always eager to share their love of science and technology, and help their kids develop a passion for learning and discovery. At the same time, you know they enjoy unleashing their own inner kid. :)

GeekDad.com is a blog that's geared to fathers who consider themselves geeks. Popular topics include LEGO, Star Wars, Star Trek, computer games, board games, comic books, gadgets, and other things for techie dads to share with their children. Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share was written by Ken Denmead, editor of GeekDad.com (he's also a civil engineer and father of two). In the same spirit as The Dangerous Book for Boys and Backyard Ballistics, Geek Dad is packed with plenty of creative and geeky ideas from games and crafts to electronics and robotics - even a crochet project!

It should be noted that Geek Dad is not a detailed “how-to” guide since it lacks step-by-step instructions. And for a geek book, Geek Dad is surprisingly old-fashioned in that there are no photographs. The book is illustrated with black-and-white drawings, maps, diagrams, and tables. It seems like many of the projects aren’t as simple as the author makes them out to be, and some involve writing computer code or buying specialty products. But each project chapter has a table that describes the concept, lists the tools and materials needed, and provides ratings for the following:

•Cost: $0 to over $100
•Difficulty: primary school to high school (though most of the content seems geared to kids age 10-12)
•Duration: 0-15 minutes up to 3 hours or longer
•Reusability: one-time-only use to “good forever”

With Geek Dad, you and your child can:
•Fly a night-time kite ablaze with lights
•Launch a video camera with balloons
•Construct the “Best Slip n' Slide Ever”
•Build a working lamp with LEGO bricks and CDs
•Create a customized comic strip, homemade coloring book, or your own board game
•Make a cyborg jack-o'-lantern or a light-up duct tape wallet
•Transform any room into a spaceship
•Build an outdoor movie theater
•Make a Binary Calendar
•And lots more!

Geek Dad is a great source of inspiration for anyone who wants to make their own geeky games, crafts, and projects. It’s worth it even if you end up only doing a few of the projects in the book. Geek Dad would be a unique gift for the geeky dad in your house. It's available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle. (Geek Dad is Amazon's #2 Best Seller in Scientific Experiments & Projects!)

P.S. There are two more books in the series:

The Geek Dad Book for Aspiring Mad Scientists: The Coolest Experiments and Projects for Science Fairs and Family Fun (Amazon's #5 Best Seller in Scientific Experiments & Projects)

The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun: Cool Hacks, Cutting-Edge Games, and More Awesome Projects for the Whole Family (Amazon's #3 Best Seller in Scientific Experiments & Projects)

Learning Links

Family Travel Tips (How to make family travel more enjoyable for kids and parents alike.)

Play it Safe in the Sun (June is Skin Cancer Awareness Month.)

Summer Safety (June is National Safety Month.)

The Story of Old Glory (Flag Day is June 14.)

Father's Day (Read about the history and traditions of Father’s Day.)

In the Good Old Summertime (June 21 is the first day of Summer!)

Freebie of the Month

Here are some lists that will help with your summer travels!

Road Trip Log - This is what we use to keep track of our miles, times, and places wherever we go; then we save them in a family trip binder for future reference.

Camping Checklist - A vacation packing list that our family has used over the years, with space to add your own items.

Family Trip Plan - We start getting ready for our trip a week ahead of time, by following this list of things to do.

(PDF format requires Adobe Reader: click here for free download.)

Quote of the Month

“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.” ~Charles Wadsworth

A Note From Teri...

Below is a poem that you can give to Dad for Father's Day. It's from my web page at http://www.knowledgehouse.info/hspoem_dad.html. I wrote it with my husband in mind, but I'm sure you'll be able to see yours in there too. ;)

Ode to a Homeschool Dad
(Print it on decorative paper, or have the kids decorate it by hand. Then roll it up with a ribbon or place in a frame.)

Wishing you all a wonderful summer of fun and learning!

Happy Homeschooling!

Teri's Sig

P.S. Did you like this month's newsletter?

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