The Old Schoolhouse - March 2012

. . . It all begins with
helping children develop
a sense of adventure.

For many years, our organization (www . archersforthelord.org) ran a resource center in the Atlanta area. All of the social studies classes we taught were also thinly disguised speech classes. In seventh grade, we began by having students do group projects. As we studied an area in our “World Geography and Missions” class, we would also study the indigenous religions and culture and the lives of any missionaries who worked in that part of the world. For example, as we learned about India, we studied Hinduism and also learned about the work of Amy Carmichael. We studied the basic beliefs of both the Hebrew faith and the Islamic religion when we learned about the Middle East and tried to understand the roots of the con;ict there, which can be traced all the way back to the story of Sarah and Hagar.

We studied Shintoism as we learned about Japan, and we discovered how the belief systems of the young Japanese Kamikaze pilots in World War II were rooted in their views of the a;erlife. We studied Buddhism when learning about Southeast Asia and tied it into a study of the architecture of their beautiful temples.

As the students reached ninth grade, they began giving individual talks. We let them choose their own topics so that they would be interested in the material, which helped ease their initial fear of public speaking. We told those who were still scared, “Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain!” By the time they were seniors, these students were teaching an entire sixty-minute class twice a year.

Our center closed its doors about five years ago, and most of those young people have finished college. Many of them have contacted me to tell me that these classes helped prepare them for college and life . . . classes that stimulated their thinking, encouraged the development of a desire to reach the world for Jesus, and also taught them valuable speaking skills.

But be careful! My kids have now
been to China, ;ailand, Greece, Korea,
England, Italy, and other countries whose
www.; eHomeschoolMagazine.com
names I can’t even pronounce! I miss
them desperately, but at least they are
forcing me to become a world traveler
too! ;is year my schedule includes a trip
to England for my daughter’s wedding
and a trip to Germany with my son. So
hop in the car and start your own jour-
neys! ;at’s the beauty of homeschool-
ing—you can take your studies with you
wherever you go!

Mary Hood, Ph.D., and her husband, Roy, homeschooled their ;ve children since the early 1980s. All have successfully made the transition to adulthood. Mary has a Ph.D. in education and is the director of ARCHERS for the Lord, Inc. (;e Association of Relaxed Christian Home Educators). She is the author of ;e Relaxed Home School, ;e Joyful Home Schooler, and other books, and is available for speaking engagements. Contact her via her website, www.archers forthelord.org.