time

Guard your heart…

5 Comments / August 2, 2011

If you have read my blog for any amount of time you would know that I am a huge fan of Andy Stanley. He started a new series on his greatest hits podcast called “It Came from within” In the first message of this series he talks about how we are trained to change our […]

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Retro Post: How to change Minute to Win It Games for kidmin.

4 Comments / July 27, 2011

We started doing minute to win it games as a way to transition to different parts of our service and build excitement at the same time. We do three rounds of boys vs. girls whichever team wins gets 100 bonus point to our Uptown Store. The kids love it! It adds a great level of

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Just say NO!

4 Comments / July 19, 2011

This is something I struggle with given my personality I don’t like to let people down so I always end up doing to much. I have found the more knowledge and giftedness you have in any area of life will always lead to people wanting more and more of your time and energy. I have to be

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Retro Post: You'll always get a zit on important days.

Free Online Collaboration Tool: Teamlab.com

6 Comments / May 25, 2011

I came across this tool the other day on Techcrunch. It is a free open-source collaboration tool. A few months ago when we were working on God To The Rescue we used Google Docs. It worked but it was a bit cumbersome. We are about to start working on a curriculum for Summer of 2012 and Christmas

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Guerrilla Parenting: Active time vs. Passive time

Homeschool, Public School, Christian School: Conclusion

28 Comments / May 5, 2011

Before I went to the Orange conference I wrote a series of blog posts talking about why I think you should and should not send your kids to Christian, Public or Home School. I know a few people were offended by some of my posts, I never intended to be offensive in any way, my goal was

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4 reasons NOT to send your kids to Public school

13 Comments / April 20, 2011

Here are the reasons that should make you think twice before sending your kids to public school 1. Class size – Public school is publicly funded so it is the default choice of many. As a result there are more kids per grade than Christian and Homeschool. It is not even an option for even

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13 responses to “4 reasons NOT to send your kids to Public school”

Tom Bump

April 20, 2011

Sam,
I agree my wife and I chose to start our kids in a Christian school until moving to PA. At first the move and all the rules on homeschooling here in PA forced us to put our children back in public schools. IT was a terrible time for my youngest 3. My oldest did well in a public school but he had a Christian school education up to 7th grade. The others did not have that benefit and struggled with all of the pressures and the "teaching for tests" meaning, the teachers had to teach to help their students past the achievement tests so the schools could get funding. We pulled our kids and now have them doing a cyber charter school, The difference is amazing, we have regular contact with teachers, we know the curriculum, kids can do reports on Christian subjects without harassment and no more teaching for tests. They still must do the achievement tests here in PA but, the teacher do more than teach for those

Reply
Henry Zonio

April 20, 2011

I agree that these are concerns to take into account, but I see them more as "counting the cost" rather than reasons to discount a public school education. In my experience as being a student in the worst junior high in my district as well as now being a parent with kids in a school that does not rank high in our school district, there are hard working teachers doing their absolute best to teach kids being creative with the resources available to them. The key in making a difference is what happens at home. Whether or not parents can be directly involved within the school, they can have influence in the life of their child and how they view learning, what they learn and know their kids well enough to step in when needed. My parents did that for me, and I am doing that for my kids.

Great thoughts, Sam… can't wait for the rest of the posts!

Reply
Marci Johnson

April 20, 2011

Ok, I don't usually comment, but I'll bite this time. I should probably preface this by saying that I am a product of public schools (K-12), rec'd my undergrad from a Christian university, and graduated from Bethel Sem last spring (MACFM). My husband has been a public school teacher (middle school) and is now Tech Director in a public school district. My two kids (15 and 17 y.o.) both attended Christian preschool thru kindergarten and have attended our local public schools since 1st grade.

My firm belief is that there is no one right answer for every child – some will do fine in public schools, others in private Christian schools or homeschooling. (I know of families who have had their different children in each of the three settings.) I have always maintained that regardless of where my kids' "attended" school, we would be homeschooling. As Henry said above, "the key in making a difference is what happens at home." Regardless of the setting that your child receives their education, parent involvement is key in their young lives. There is a great mission field in the public schools – my 15 y.o. daughter is a great evangelist and not at all ashamed to stand up for and share what she believes.

Reply
Marci Johnson

April 20, 2011

Sheepishly coming back to say I just now saw that there was an earlier post presenting the other side. I'm so sorry. I hope my comment didn't sound overly critical of this post. Each of these posts presents great thoughts and things to consider. Every parent must evaluate their individual child's needs, learning styles, personality, and more as they prayerfully consider the best options.

Reply
Tom Bump

April 20, 2011

Sam,
I agree my wife and I chose to start our kids in a Christian school until moving to PA. At first the move and all the rules on homeschooling here in PA forced us to put our children back in public schools. IT was a terrible time for my youngest 3. My oldest did well in a public school but he had a Christian school education up to 7th grade. The others did not have that benefit and struggled with all of the pressures and the "teaching for tests" meaning, the teachers had to teach to help their students past the achievement tests so the schools could get funding. We pulled our kids and now have them doing a cyber charter school, The difference is amazing, we have regular contact with teachers, we know the curriculum, kids can do reports on Christian subjects without harassment and no more teaching for tests. They still must do the achievement tests here in PA but, the teacher do more than teach for those

Reply
Henry Zonio

April 20, 2011

I agree that these are concerns to take into account, but I see them more as "counting the cost" rather than reasons to discount a public school education. In my experience as being a student in the worst junior high in my district as well as now being a parent with kids in a school that does not rank high in our school district, there are hard working teachers doing their absolute best to teach kids being creative with the resources available to them. The key in making a difference is what happens at home. Whether or not parents can be directly involved within the school, they can have influence in the life of their child and how they view learning, what they learn and know their kids well enough to step in when needed. My parents did that for me, and I am doing that for my kids.

Great thoughts, Sam… can't wait for the rest of the posts!

Reply
Marci Johnson

April 20, 2011

Ok, I don't usually comment, but I'll bite this time. I should probably preface this by saying that I am a product of public schools (K-12), rec'd my undergrad from a Christian university, and graduated from Bethel Sem last spring (MACFM). My husband has been a public school teacher (middle school) and is now Tech Director in a public school district. My two kids (15 and 17 y.o.) both attended Christian preschool thru kindergarten and have attended our local public schools since 1st grade.

My firm belief is that there is no one right answer for every child – some will do fine in public schools, others in private Christian schools or homeschooling. (I know of families who have had their different children in each of the three settings.) I have always maintained that regardless of where my kids' "attended" school, we would be homeschooling. As Henry said above, "the key in making a difference is what happens at home." Regardless of the setting that your child receives their education, parent involvement is key in their young lives. There is a great mission field in the public schools – my 15 y.o. daughter is a great evangelist and not at all ashamed to stand up for and share what she believes.

Reply
Marci Johnson

April 20, 2011

Sheepishly coming back to say I just now saw that there was an earlier post presenting the other side. I'm so sorry. I hope my comment didn't sound overly critical of this post. Each of these posts presents great thoughts and things to consider. Every parent must evaluate their individual child's needs, learning styles, personality, and more as they prayerfully consider the best options.

Reply
Shelly

April 20, 2011

You've nailed it with your reasons for and against. I am pro public school for my kids(not everyone has this call) for all the reasons you stated and more. Daily I see the horrible flaws in the system and have to stand in the gap for my kids–we pray and are involved. I hope my kids will know how to live in this world and share their faith no matter what they come against. I love that my kids invite anyone to church and are exposed to classrooms of kids that don't share their faith. They each learn to wrestle with it and stand up for the love that Christ calls them to. I had a Jewish parent tell me that my daughter was the only loving one to her daughter–she said my kinder stood up and was her friend when others were picking on her for being different. I've taught in public schools and have been a children's pastor–and I can say that my faith and walk with Christ seems to be the most awake when I'm loving on people who don't know Christ yet–and I hope this will be true for my kids!

Reply
1. samluce
  
  April 20, 2011
  
  Love this. My son's teacher has come to church 2x at our church I am not sure if she is a christ follower or not but I do know because my son is in her class she has heard the gospel at least twice. She is a lovely woman and I am thankful she does what she does.
  
  Reply
Shelly

April 20, 2011

You've nailed it with your reasons for and against. I am pro public school for my kids(not everyone has this call) for all the reasons you stated and more. Daily I see the horrible flaws in the system and have to stand in the gap for my kids–we pray and are involved. I hope my kids will know how to live in this world and share their faith no matter what they come against. I love that my kids invite anyone to church and are exposed to classrooms of kids that don't share their faith. They each learn to wrestle with it and stand up for the love that Christ calls them to. I had a Jewish parent tell me that my daughter was the only loving one to her daughter–she said my kinder stood up and was her friend when others were picking on her for being different. I've taught in public schools and have been a children's pastor–and I can say that my faith and walk with Christ seems to be the most awake when I'm loving on people who don't know Christ yet–and I hope this will be true for my kids!

Reply
1. samluce
  
  April 20, 2011
  
  Love this. My son's teacher has come to church 2x at our church I am not sure if she is a christ follower or not but I do know because my son is in her class she has heard the gospel at least twice. She is a lovely woman and I am thankful she does what she does.
  
  Reply
Lori Bethran

March 28, 2013

I resonate with Shelly. We choose to send all three of our boys to large public schools in the Chicago suburbs, as a way for them to learn how to reach a hurting world. And yes it has taken some extra work on our part to make sure they had all their academic needs met. But one of our boys is a senior this year, heading off to college in the Fall, and I think his testimony shows God’s blessing on this act of faith.

In the last few months alone he has seen school friends ,that he built into the last four years, come to Christ; he was able to minister to classmates when one of their friends passed away suddenly; and most of all, for the last two years he has served as a peer counselor. I have lost count of the number of kids where he intervened because these kids were ready to commit suicide or were cutting themselves. I just asked him how many it has been over the last four years. We counted 8 kids! And really it was 8 kids who needed a peer to listen to them, to let them know there was hope, and to guide them to the help they needed. 8 kids lives that could have had VERY different outcomes. I will be forever thankful that we choose the path of public schools as a way for our kids to learn to reach a hurting world with the love of Jesus. And on a day in Holy week when I remember that we have a savior who washed the feet of his disciples, I would not have changed any aspect of this decision.

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