LERNR.COM

As is suggested for all new bloggers, I got involved in the Authority Blogger Forum. It was great. They have some real authorities (moderators) there that are trying to help others make better decisions with their blogs. It is a great resource for all bloggers, new and old.

I’ve been considering changing my theme to something that was a little more reminiscent of being in school. I thought that would tie in better with the idea of my blog - learning all different subjects and putting those topics learned into practice. The great people at ABF advised me not to do so.

I didn’t think of it at first, but this advice really is right. The basis of it is that not all people have good memories of school and most self-learners (like myself) are those people who won’t really connect learning with school. There are many people who learn(ed) best outside of school thru different channels and methods.

My Dear Wife and I have had this conversation. We don’t yet have children (she says she is having one with or without me) but one of our concerns is will we do the normal thing and send them off to public school (like both of us were). Do we have them attend a Christian school. Or do we home school.

Each option has it’s pros and cons. We both went thru public school and (although I loved to learn new things but was an awful traditional student) we didn’t turn out too bad. And we do have at least 3 great local Christian schools. They all have great academics and great extracurricular programs. But not one of them is very affordable. Home-schooling is something we’ve been intrigued with lately. But we’ve also been apprehensive about it because we didn’t know much about it. But then I stumbled on a website to help.

In youth ministry, I was always looking for a curriculum package that made the role of educator and staff administrator as easy as possible. To be able to set up a month or more of curriculum for myself and my teachers as well as a way to track progress and concerns was something that was very important to me. To have an on-demand help center was even better. StudentLife (which is now a part of Youth Specialties) did this for me.o

When it comes to home-schooling, I would like the same set up. The Southern Baptist Academy Homeschool is a website that accomplishes what I am (or will be) looking for. This website takes all the work out of setting up a home-schooling system. From day to day lesson plans that extend beyond the textbook with video and web information, to a social center where the parent can find ways to socialize their kids. There is even support thru the academic counselors.

My Dear Wife and I are still pretty far away from actually needing a service like this, but it looks like The Southern Baptist Academy Homeschool is on the leading edge of what parents like me will be looking for. I’m interested in seeing what the future holds here.