Stories of the Saints, by Carey Wallace

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us….” Hebrews 12:1

Rarely do we see religious books for children being published through secular publishing houses these days, and rarer still are inspirational books of such high caliber. Not only are the size and materials of this book beautiful, but the storytelling, the artwork, and the layout are top notch.

The subtitle, Bold and Inspiring Tales of Adventure, Grace, and Courage, assures the reader that the author is presenting positive stories meant to build children’s character. There is no careful disclaimer “as the legend goes…” or the winking “some people believe…” before each miraculous event. Rather, Wallace writes of Thomas Aquinas with the full-throated, “Another monk saw him in the chapel, floating in the air before an image of Jesus on the cross, with tears running down his face. He was having a vision.” (p. 140) He was floating, Joan of Arc did hear God’s voice, and Bridget’s cloaked stretched far enough to cover two Irish monasteries. Wallace is not here to argue; she’s here to tell the story according to the saints and the believers after them.

Each of the 70 stories begins with a gold-edged box with the saint’s name, birth and death dates, location and emblem, “patron of,” and feast day. This brief summary is followed by a two- or three-page story embellished by striking artwork. Nick Thornborrow’s illustrations use bold lines and deep colors to create images that are sometimes symbolic, sometimes fantastical, and often resemble woodcuts. The saints march through history in chronological order from Polycarp, who was born in 69 A.D., up to Theresa of Calcutta, who just died in 1997.

This handsome volume would fit well into a social studies curriculum, as world history details are woven throughout the tales, particularly names of rulers, wars, and religious persecution. There is a brief introduction, an afterward, a map of the Mediterranean area, and a list for further reading. Richly inspirational reading for every Christian child.

Very highly recommended.

Disclaimer: I read a library copy of this book. Opinions expressed are solely my own and may not reflect those of my employer or anyone else.

This Is My Home, This Is My School, by Jonathan Bean

On watercolor and ink pages, author Jonathan Bean remembers his childhood fondly. Picture books about home education are rare, and this one is almost too realistic! There is nothing didactic here, no pictures of children in neat, little rows. The Beans’ home life is like a whirlwind: learning, eating, sleeping, and go-go-go. Mom and Dad are both involved, and Bean points out all the ways that his homeschool is both like, yet different from, traditional schools. For example, the “cafeteria lady” is Mom, and the lunchroom is their kitchen. The kids learn in the house, in the pond out back, and even in the yard in the middle of the night! One of my favorite pictures is of Mom fast asleep in a lawn chair during Dad’s star-gazing lesson out back. The house is piled with common homeschooling detritus: books (of course), science experiments, art supplies, papers, and pets of all kinds.

When Michael was about seven, we lived in a rural area in South Carolina for just a few months. One day we were out walking and found some really clear deer tracks. We ran inside and mixed up some Plaster of Paris, then went back out and were carefully pouring it into the tracks when our next-door neighbor drove by with another woman who exclaimed, “What in the world!?” Our neighbor simply said, “They’re homeschoolers.” “Ohhh.”

This Is My Home, This Is My School beautifully conveys the all-encompassing passion for learning that a loving homeschool family pursues 24 hours a day. Cozy, happy, crazy, this colorful book paints a true portrait of so many of the wonderful families I’ve known. Perfect for home educators and anyone who wants to understand them better. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: I read a library copy of this book (which means I bought 49 of them). Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not reflect those of my employer or anyone else.

The Goochland Inquisition

In one of the more outrageous examples of government overreach—and the field is crowded—the Goochland County, Virginia, school board decided to hold inquisitions for every fourteen-year-old homeschooler in their district. This story has me so incensed that I hardly know where to begin.

Virginia law allows parents to teach their own children by either filing a letter of intent or stating a religious exemption. I am not very familiar with Virginia law, but it seems that the religious exemption option would lead to less government oversight, whereas the letter of intent requires some reports of progress. Therefore, for those families who are religious, taking the religious exemption makes sense.

Doug and Carla Pruiett discuss the homeschooling law with the Independent Sentinel

On January 9^th, according to this article, among others, the Goochland school board ruled that when a child being homeschooled under the religious exemption reaches the age of fourteen, they have to make a statement of faith within 30 days of their birthday. If they do not comply, they burn at the stake. No! I made that up. Seriously, their parents can be criminally prosecuted. Furthermore, if the school board has any misgivings about the statement of faith, the child can be called to testify before the school board. In my opinion, it is cruel to force a fourteen-year-old to defend himself—and, by extension, his parents—in front of a bunch of adult strangers.

There are so many problems here. The first is that this governmental body seems to be under the impression that it owns this child, including his soul, and is only allowing the parents to be caretakers for the state. While I might, grudgingly, concede that there are truancy laws in this country, and that parents should make some assurances to the local school board so that they won’t worry, let’s keep in mind that compulsory education in institutional schools is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was not until 1852 that Massachusetts became the first state to pass a law requiring the towns to build grammar schools and force parents to send their children for at least 12 weeks every year—and the parents were not happy about it! Today, if anyone sees a child accompanying her parents anywhere during “school hours,” they will ask her, “Why aren’t you in school?” As if our children are born incarcerated.

Here is how responsible parents should interact with the local school board when they plan to teach their children at home.

Parent: “Hey, we’re going to homeschool Suzi Q. next year, so you don’t have to expect her at the local public school.”

School official: “Thank you for letting us know.”

That’s it. Just informing, not asking for permission, because they’re your kids!

The second, screamingly ridiculous problem is that the school board is setting itself up as a theological examining board. Is an M.Div. a requirement for Goochland School administrators? As I understand it, the point is to see whether the child agrees with her parents’ religious convictions, and if not, the school officials would probably consider themselves the great liberators of this child from her parents’ backward notions. If your fourteen-year-old has cemented his spiritual convictions already, he should go set up his own church. Most of us find this to be a lifelong journey. Furthermore, I’d give my last indulgence to watch the school board respond when the child stands before them and says, “My parents are paedocommunionists, but I have to confess that I am not sure that their position can be supported by Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.” If they could figure out what that meant, would it be grounds for terminating parental rights? Will they start in on straightening out all those quibbling denominations next?

It is so ironic that this is happening in Virginia, the home of Thomas Jefferson, who wrote, in a letter to the Danbury Baptists:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.

Many people misinterpret this “wall of separation” to mean that the church cannot interfere with the government, but it was obviously meant to affirm that the state cannot interfere with the church. Jefferson wrote this letter in response to one he received from the Danbury Baptists in which they worried that the state was going to collect taxes from them to support a state church, which would probably have been Anglican, but in any case would certainly not have been Baptist. Jefferson reassured them that this would not happen, based partly on the First Amendment to the Constitution.

It was announced Wednesday, after the case was taken on by the Home School Legal Defense Association and became national news, that the Goochland School Board suddenly realized that perhaps this was not such a good idea after all. We should all be alarmed, however, that this incredible bit of arrogance ever passed a vote by people who were at least respectable enough to have been elected to their positions.

I fear that the people of our nation have become too willing to surrender their rights to those in power—or if not their own rights, the rights of their neighbors. Perhaps they think that it could never affect them, but the government is a ravenous creature, ever seeking more power and never satisfied. Freedom of conscience and freedom of thought are enormously important to our liberty. In the same way that I do not have to enjoy Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons to support their right to publish them, we do not have to agree with our neighbors’ religious beliefs or educational choices to support their right to live according to their own values. Not only does the government have no right to decide whether our religious beliefs are correct, they have no right to even ask what they are! And they certainly have no right to question our children’s opinions about this or anything else.

Teach. Believe. Be vigilant.

__________________

Spanish Inquisition drawing from Getty Images.

Photo of the Pruietts taken from the Independent Sentinel website at http://www.independentsentinel.com/virginia-school-board-demands-home-schooled-teens-justify-their-religious-beliefs/, accessed January 14, 2015.

Take Heart, by Mari Fitz-Wynn

A couple of months ago, the adult nonfiction selector in our library system came over to my desk holding a new book, pointing to the author’s name. “Is this our Mari?” she asked. I looked at the name. “Well, I know that her last name is Wynn, and she did homeschool.” We were both amazed that a woman with whom we work every day had written a book and didn’t tell us!

Some of Mari’s older children had already started a traditional school when she and her husband decided that they want to teach their kids at home. Two of her children have learning disabilities, while others are natural students, so she has covered the gamut of learning styles and teaching methods. Take Heart: 26 Steps to a Healthy Home School is a gathering of much of the wisdom and knowledge of a mother of six over a span of eighteen years.  Mari takes the 26 letters of the alphabet and discusses a home schooling topic for each one. For example, C is for character, E is for expectations, P is for pitfalls, and S is for support groups.

Mari Fitz-Wynn

This slender volume offers practical advice on many issues, such as burnout and unit studies, but it really glows when Mari offers support and assurance. I have to admit that I was surprised to learn that Mari has been a speaker at homeschool conventions, since she is probably the quietest woman I have ever met. However, she certainly has many valuable things to say! Her sweet, calm presence shines through these pages to offer guidance when younger moms might be frustrated or discouraged. Coming from a thoroughly Christian worldview, she offers prayer and scripture to lead moms through the tough times or to offer praise for the privilege of spending our lives with our children.

Testimony time! Two of Mari’s children, a son and a daughter, have worked with us at library administration. I knew them both years before I met Mari, and they are living proof of her success in childrearing. They were hard workers, kind, respectful, and reliable— everything mothers everywhere want their children to be. We sent them off with fabulous reviews. Her daughter went on to graduate school in Australia and is now an office administrator for a local health and nutrition company, and her son is finishing up his senior year in college and working as a tutor. They were both proofreaders and editors for Take Heart.

Congratulations, Mari! Beautifully done.

Disclaimer: I read a library copy of this book. Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not reflect those of my employer or anyone else.