News

MOUNT VERNON - Commencement exercises for the Knox County Christian Home School Association Class of 2013 were held on Saturday at Lakeholm Church of the Nazarene.

“Don’t float aimlessly through life,” graduation speaker Sarah Fowler urged. “Have a godly vision for the future. Take what you have learned from your parents and build upon it.”

Fowler, member of the State of Ohio Board of Education, talked about the advantages of growing up in a Christian family and encouraged the seniors to pass those values on to their own future children and grandchildren.

She suggested to the graduates that they take 2 Timothy 3:13-15 to heart as they go forth into the world, to stand firm in what they have learned and believed, to strive to live a godly life.

Read more: KCCHSA graduates 11 - Mount Vernon News 

Members of the Knox County Christian Home School Association announce a workshop to assist area parents interested in home schooling their children in the fall. There is no charge for the meeting, “Home School 101.”

“Home School 101” will be held Thursday, June 6 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. in the basement meeting rooms of the Mt. Vernon Library.  Veteran home schooling parents will explain the basics of home education, answer questions related to home schooling in Ohio, and present curriculum options for various ages.  They will also introduce the many support groups available throughout Knox County for students, kindergarten through high school.

“As the school year ends, many parents are looking for a different kind of education for their children next fall,” said Melanie Hexter of Apple Valley, the organizer of the meeting.  “We want parents to leave this workshop knowing that yes, they are more than capable of schooling their children at home, including high schoolers.  We want to give them access to resources and support so they will be able to teach with excellence.”

Topics such as Ohio legal guidelines, learning styles, curriculum options, teaching multiple children, and student socialization will be presented.  This is the seventh annual Home School 101 workshop.  Childcare will not be provided and no RSVP is necessary.

Home education is a rapidly growing and successful educational option in Ohio and around the country.  Parents are choosing home education due to its tutorial instruction and academic excellence, guided social interaction, freedom to teach spiritual content in the curriculum, and for students’ physical safety.  An estimated 2.0 million children, grades kindergarten through high school, were being home educated in the U.S. during 2009 (National Home Education Research Institute website, www.nheri.org).  Locally, over 160 families were members of the Knox County Christian Home School Association during 2012-2013.

Parents interested in attending Home School 101 or who have questions prior to the June 6th meeting may contact Matthew and Melanie Hexter at info@kcchsa.org.

Join us for a fun and encouraging night out with home school dad Todd Wilson.

Discussing real issues and real problems, Todd reminds his audiences “about what’s most important" using Bible-based answers with practical ideas and a lot of humor.

*THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC*

DATE: Monday, February 11, 2013

TIME: 7:00pm - Doors open at 6:30 for a fellowship time.

LOCATION: Mansfield Christian School, 500 Logan Road, Mansfield, OH 44907

COST: $10/couple or $5/individual
*Registration limited to the first 200 people!

BRING: An appetizer or dessert to share. We will supply coffee, tea and table service.

PARKING: Please park in back and enter through door #16

Co-sponsored by Training Leaders for Christ, Knox County Christian Home School Association, and the MCS Independent Studies Group.

To pre-register, visit www.kcchsa.org.

Sign up today!

During the first part of his farewell speech to Congress, Rep. Ron Paul suggested that the homeschooling movement would play a “revolutionary” role in restoring limited government.

“Expect the rapidly expanding homeschool movement to play a significant role in the revolutionary forms needed to rebuild a free society with constitutional protections,” he said. “We cannot expect a federal government controlled school system to provide the intellectual ammunition to combat the dangerous growth of government that threatens our liberties.”

Read more here and watch the entire video

FROM THE MOUNT VERNON NEWS: A trio of candidates vied for Allen Stockberger’s seat on the Knox County Board of Commissioners during Tuesday’s election. One candidate cleared the way to victory garnering nearly half of the votes - Thom Collier.

Ohioans for Educational Freedom (OEF) is pleased to make the first set of endorsements for State Board of Education for the 2012 elections. OEF endorses Stanley Jackson for the 1st District, John Stacy for the 6th District and Philip Gerth for the 9th District. Please check our web site for information on helping these men in their bid to win in November. More endorsements will be forthcoming. This is a huge year for OEF. So many great things have happened. As you know, the SBE has purview over the Home Education Regulations, due to be reviewed next year in 2013.

District 1 includes, Allen, Auglaize, Champaign, Crawford, part of Darke, Defiance, part of Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Logan, Marion, Mercer, Morrow, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Union, Van Wert, Williams and Wyandot Counties.

District 6 includes, part of Franklin, Delaware and Knox Counties.

District 9 includes, part of Athens, Coshocton, Fairfield, part of Franklin, Guernsey, Hocking, part of Holmes, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, part of Pickaway, Perry and Tuscarawas Counties.

Please view our map to view the district at http:// www.ohioansforfreedom.com/ OhioSBE/SBEDistrictMap.aspx. We ask all conservatives and home educating families to consider volunteering campaign work and donating to Philip's campaign. OEF will be assisting these three men with as many resources as possible. The goal is for Stanley, John and Philip to be seated on the SBE in January 2013, the year the home education regulations come up for review. Please share this with your family and friends. More information will be released, soon.

HSLDA will be sending out an e-mail about how important this election is for our State Board of Education.

Administrative hassles, rigid schedules, and a lack of parental involvement are among the numerous reasons cited by families who are ditching these publicly funded schools to return to or begin privately educating their children at home under their direct supervision and tutelage.

One homeschool mom told HSLDA that she chose to enroll her children in Connections Academy (a virtual charter school) because of the attractive benefits including a free computer. However, it did not take long for her to realize that the rigid schedule and course assignments were not age-appropriate. She was also very unhappy about the amount of “screen time” her children were required to log. Studies have shown that there are health problems associated with too much time in front of the computer.

Other families expressed similar concerns about the curriculum choices. They told us that they were not permitted to choose a curriculum that taught their families values but rather had to teach the secular curriculum of the public school.

Although there may appear to be some similarities, particularly as to where the instruction takes place, i.e. in the home, HSLDA sees homeschooling as a distinct educational approach in contrast to enrolling in an online public school. Homeschooling enables parents to have much more influence on their children’s education.

Publicly funded virtual charter schools are really just “schools at home” and parents are simply “monitors or learning coaches.” In these schools the government is in the driver’s seatundefinedparents are just along for the ride. HSLDA encourages parents to count the cost before enrolling in “free” publicly funded virtual charter schools.

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Members of the Knox County Christian Home School Association announce a workshop to assist area parents interested in home schooling their children in the fall.  There is no charge for the meeting, “Home School 101.”

“Home School 101” will be held Thursday, June 7 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. in the basement meeting rooms of the Mt. Vernon Library.  Veteran home schooling parents will explain the basics of home education, answer questions related to home schooling in Ohio, and present curriculum options for various ages.  They will also introduce the many support groups available throughout Knox County for students, kindergarten through high school.

“As the school year ends, many parents are looking for a different kind of education for their children next fall,” said Melanie Hexter of Apple Valley, the organizer of the meeting.  “We want parents to leave this workshop knowing that yes, they are more than capable of schooling their children at home, including high schoolers.  We want to give them access to resources and support so they will be able to teach with excellence.”

Topics such as Ohio legal guidelines, learning styles, curriculum options, teaching multiple children, and student socialization will be presented.  This is the seventh annual Home School 101 workshop.  Childcare will not be provided and no RSVP is necessary.

Home education is a rapidly growing and successful educational option in Ohio and around the country.  Parents are choosing home education due to its tutorial instruction and academic excellence, guided social interaction, freedom to teach spiritual content in the curriculum, and for students’ physical safety.  An estimated 2.0 million children, grades kindergarten through high school, were being home educated in the U.S. during 2009 (National Home Education Research Institute website, www.nheri.org).  Locally, over 170 families were members of the Knox County Christian Home School Association during 2011-2012.

Parents interested in attending Home School 101 or who have questions prior to the June 7th meeting may contact Matthew and Melanie Hexter at info@kcchsa.org.