Christian Home Educators of KY Blog

Arguments I most often hear or read from people in favor of more government oversight of home schoolers come from a misunderstanding of two things.  Let’s see if we can get those cleared up. The first argument goes something like this: “Most home schoolers are doing a good job, but we both know that some parents take their kids out of school to ‘home school’ when they get in trouble or are about to fail a grade and then don’t school them.  Those kids are slipping through the cracks.  Surely, most home schoolers wouldn’t mind a little extra oversight if it would help locate those kids whose parents aren’t doing a good job.” No and yes. No, those are not home schoolers.  Those are truants.  There are already laws on the books in every state to fight truancy.  All the education personnel, law enforcement, and court designated workers have to do is use the truancy laws already in existence to prosecute those who are breaking compulsory ...

Did you know ... that CHEK is run completely by volunteers? Board members, social media, blogging, yahoogroup liaisons, Conference Team, legal counsel and more are all homeschooling parents just like you, giving their time and energy to keep you informed!  If you're waiting on updates, email responses, or other information from CHEK keep in mind no one is ignoring you... we're doing our very best! Additional job descriptions and volunteers are being added, so be patient with us. Over the course of the last year, CHEK volunteers have donated well over 2100 hours !  What CHEK is working on right now:   A response to the Senat e Bill re: Compulsory Educatio n CHEK Conference, 2013 Common Core Standar d s and their impact on homeschooling Relig ious Freedom Restoration Act response and sharing of information Ongoing updates to our social media ministry pages: Facebook, Twitter, Googleplus to keep you informed. a growing number...

Three Things Every Child Needs From His Dad The Apostle Paul was a great one to use illustrations in explaining the Christian life to his children in Christ.   One of the most fascinating examples of this gives us insight not only into spiritual parenthood but also speaks volumes about the role of us earthly fathers.   It is from Paul’s words in I Thessalonians 2:11 that I draw the following article, which I call Three Things Every Child Needs From His Dad The text says, “As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children.”   There are three fatherly functions in a nutshell.   To exhort, to comfort, and to charge.   Paul reminds his spiritual children how he has ministered to them and uses a natural father as an illustration. So what can we dads learn from that will help us in the trenches?   Let’s look at each point in the job description: First, Paul says that...

Your Faith Matters to Your Family by Eric Jones As I was reading through the story of Noah this morning, I had some interesting thoughts about the importance of a father's faith and how it can bring blessing and protection to his entire family. Men, our faith matters. Noah was a righteous man and was considered blameless. So when God decided to purge the earth of the evil that man had created, He recognized Noah and made plans to save him. However, we see that God ended up saving more than just Noah. He also decided to save Noah’s wife, his sons, and his sons’ wives. It is interesting that scripture does not mention that any of these family members were righteous and blameless or walking with God. So why were they spared? Was it because God had to repopulate the earth and needed them for that task? God could have started all over with just Noah and his wife. Was it because the sons helped their father build the ark and this was their reward? Was it the faith of...

God and Country Ministry is a regular at the CHEK Family & Homeschool Conference each year in Louisville.  Brother Lee Watts, Chaplain to the Kentucky State Government would like to encourage all Christians to participate in this event. *This is not a homeschool event, per se but homeschooling is one of the topics to be discussed.

Concerned CHEK Member asks , "I'm catching a lot of flack from friends for saying I'm against the UNCRPD and one said that it is non-binding and does not affect US law. Can anyone  clarify this a bit?

Has your decision to homeschool your children ever left you feeling tired, overwhelmed or stressed out? As a student who was homeschooled (my family began homeschooling in 1978), I have learned a few things and over the years about how to avoid burnout in your homeschool. One of the most common reasons for weariness and frustration among homeschooling parents is the weight of self-inflicted deadlines and standards. It is good, of course, to have goals in mind, but we must always ask ourselves: "Am I seeking to do the Lord's will, or am I merely pursuing my own agenda?" As Christian families, we need to view homeschooling not as a glorious end, in and of itself, but rather as a means to an end. The main goal is to raise children who love the Lord, and are committed to following Christ. It is not to produce robots that can recite random facts and data at the drop of a hat. What a child knows is really insignificant compared to what he or she believes. ...

The U.S. Senate has scheduled a vote for Tuesday, December 4 on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). If two-thirds of the senators present vote yes, the United States will ratify this treaty, giving the UN unprecedented power over our parents and our nation. Contact your two U.S. senators and urge them to vote "no" on this UN treaty.   You can reach your senators through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 , or click here for more details and contact information.  For further information on this Treaty, please visit HSLDA's dedicated page, HERE . Please share this information with your family and friends, and continue to call and most importantly, continue to pray for our Nation! Thank you, Christian Home Educators of Kentucky (CHEK)

(from Michael Farris): Daily update on the Senate/UN CRPD battle The Democratic leadership stalled on the treaty ratification on the UN CRPD today. They have not yet filed the cloture petition. That is required to take the second of three required votes. There is a two day waiting period after filing the cloture petition before a vote can be taken on that step. Then another 30 hours must pass. (I know this sounds like a Rube Goldberg scheme and it kinda is. Maybe there is an exception if a Senator hops across the Rotunda on a pogo stick. OK...humor period over...back to the analysis.) What does this mean? YOUR CALLS ARE MAKING A BIG DIFFERENCE. We converted one of the "Yes" votes to a promised "NO" vote on final passage. I don't want to reveal the name publicly so that Harry Reid can lean on them. There are others leaning our way also. Of course, we don't know if the other side has converted some of our votes. So, we absolutely have to keep th...

2013 CHEK Leadership Summit     Choose you this day whom ye will serve.... Joshua 24:15   SAVE THE DATE!     Who : Support group or Co-Op leaders, Pastors, & people interested in starting a co-op or group When: Saturday, February 02, 2013 Time:  8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Where: Elizabethtown, KY Location:  Nolin RECC Conference Center   Cost:  There is no charge for the event   Breakfast and lunch will be provided   Speakers and schedule to be announced soon....     Click to register online

  Time and again I've listened to the naysayers "homeschooling is too hard"  it's too "teacher intensive"  and my favorite, "I don't have the time to learn something new!" All of these laments may be true in some regard (it is difficult to learn something new that is intensive and takes time)  but it is time for Christian mothers to step up to the plate and reclaim their American Christian history of learning to think and reason from the Scriptures and "by their own scholarship and character...effectively articulate and implement their knowledge in the family, the workplace, and civil government."1 What is learning ?  Webster's 1828 defines learning as, "Gaining knowledge by instruction or reading, by study, by experience or observation; acquiring skill by practice."  That sounds like work!  What we Christian mothers need is a Christian work ethic!  We need to embrace the "Christian charact...

It was a quick trip to the park on a Saturday evening. Nothing major, just a few minutes with the family to get out the hyper-activity. I didn’t notice it right away, but once it sank in, there was no stopping the waves of sadness, frustration, and anger. It might not be a big deal to you, but it still stands out to me. It doesn’t have to do with what I saw, but rather, what I didn’t see! Out of all the families at the park that night, there were no fathers. Not one. Plenty of moms with their children, playing around the monkey bars, walking the track, throwing a Frisbee – but no dads. There is a crisis of leadership among families – especially of godly, male leadership. Fathers are absent, too busy working to be present. Fathers are passive, too stressed and tired to be involved. Satan is attacking homes by attacking fathers… and it’s working! The US leads the world in fatherless families. Nearly 35% (over 1/3) of kids are without a father in their life. Twenty million children...