SEPTEMBER 2001 NEWSLETTER
What’s
up ???
Spring
Fair Þ don’t miss the fun !!
Report
back on Winter Workshop Þ what you missed
!!!
Update
on legal issues Þ what you need to be prepared for
Email
and viruses Þ some practical knowledge
Network
news Þ lots of activities on the go !!!
Edgemead High School
Entrepreneurs’
stalls, Art & work display, Recitals & performances, Kids activities,
Workshops, Vendor displays, Info wall, Network corner, etc
Calling All Intrepid Entrepreneurs !
Join
the fair. Bring your goodies, bring your
crafts and bring your activities – have your own stall at the Spring Fair !
Kids
of all ages are invited to market : crafts, baked goods, home-grown produce,
jewellery, healthy and not-so-healthy munchies etc.
Some
innovative ideas to inspire you : face-painting, candle-making, hands-on craft
stalls, games, jumping castle, pony rides, puppets, fish pond, plants ….. ….the sky is the limit !!
Call
Catherine 761 4999 to reserve your stall before 6 October !!
Display your work !
Perform for your fellow homeschoolers !!
Hey kids
!! Inspire your fellow homeschoolers with your
projects, art work, nature journals, and any other examples of your
creativity. Enquiries ? Call Catherine
761 4999. In the same venue, we would
like the performers to play their musical pieces, recite their poetry, present
their skit, enact their drama.
Performers are asked to call Anne-Marie 715 6809 (evenings) to indicate
their interest, and to facilitate the planning of the items. Can anyone offer an electronic keyboard for
this activity ???
Presentations
1. Legal affairs – an update and a call to
action
There have been many changes recently in the legal domain, and WE NEED TO ACT
! Ensure that you are informed – come
and participate in an update and discussion session. See the information elsewhere in this
newsletter.
- Practical Homeschooling
Covering : Who is your child ? Aims in homeschooling your child, Practical teaching methods, Evaluating your successes and challenges, Dealing with learning problems, Communicating with your child.
- Motivation – how to keep going
when the going gets tough !!!
- New Homeschoolers
– How do I start ?
Are you a new home schooler or do you have lots of questions about home schooling?
This workshop is for you! Join us as we answer your questions, give general information on starting out and getting established as a home schooling family. Bring your questions and problems regarding curriculum choices, should I be doing this, what is best for me and my children,……. If you are planning to be at the spring fair you can even mail us your questions in advance, this will help us meet your needs. We will supply people who can answer your questions and point you in the right direction, and send you home with a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and answers!)
Little ones
:
A room of supervised activities and games will be set aside for children whose
parents would like to take advantage of the workshops without leaving their
children unattended. Your precious ones will be looked after and entertained by
a few responsible teenagers for the duration of the talks.
Kids activities – games for
toddlers, and older children
Teenagers – there will be space
for you to do your own thing ! – anyone like to volunteer to co-ordinate or contribute ??? call Reggie : 915-7383
Family portraits – a
professional photographer will be at the Spring Fair to take photos of your
family – take advantage of this opportunity !!!!
Second time around – sell your
no-longer-needed educational materials – you set the price – if it is sold, WCHSA get 10%.
Costs – WCHSA
members : free, non-members : R20 per
adult or
R40 per family (if you join the WCHSA at the fair, entrance is free)
Directions – take
Next Event
1 DECEMBER: Prize giving and recognition of achievements.
What ABOUT socialization?
|
|
Two women meet at a playground, where their
children are swinging and playing ball. The women are sitting on a bench
watching. Eventually, they begin to talk. W1: Hi. My name is Maggie. My kids are the three in red
shirts -- helps me keep track of them. |
“Train a child in
the way he should go”
I remember
reading a lovely analogy of a homeschool mom from KZN where she spoke of how when we plant a sapling tree we
don’t leave it out in the garden with no support nor protection. We give it a
stake and maybe some hessian to keep it during
Winter. When it is mature and its trunk is solid we would remove the support
structures. So too are our children like these saplings. We as parents are to
be their support covering them in Godly morals and values until they have a
firm foundation on which to draw from.
Lets keep our
saplings close to us and train them in good and Godly habits : the habit of
love, kindness, gentleness. The habit of attention and diligence. The more I do
this with my children the easier our days are and the more we want to be
together. Keep them close when doing chores, reading, working and playing.
“Train a child in
the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6
God Bless you all
in your homeschool journey
Wendy Young
www.gentlelearning.co.za
Report back on Winter Workshop
Comments from the
co-ordinators
Firstly we would
like to thank the committee members for a job well done. Much time is spent
planning, communicating and then working on the day to make events such as
these a success. We all have busy lives and these members have given
unselfishly of their time.
Also a big thank
you to the vendors who displayed their products and supported this event. We
look forward to seeing them all again at the Spring Fair.
Martie Du Plessis of Dynamis was very well
received. Her insight and knowledge of
the needs for homeschooling families is an encouagement to all. Very positive feedback and comments
have been received. Thank you Martie.
Our thanks also
go to Suzanne Blanche from the
Gaby McKellar brought a tender hearted close to the afternoon.
We appreciated her being with us and sharing thoughts on the Charlotte Mason
philosophy. Gaby has a wonderful
indirect way of letting us all know that we have made the correct decision to homeschool.
We do feel that
it needs to be brought to the attention of some homeschooling
parents that we all need to be aware of developing hostile attitudes towards
people who are "outside" of homeschooling.
They are not the enemy ! We need to be
aware of taking people to task on issues they simply do not have any control
over. Harbouring an "us and
them" attitude is dangerous for all of us and will not serve the greater
population of homeschoolers. We need to engage in meaningful discussions
with the relevant people in decision-making positions.
The function ran
well and on time and we look forward to co-ordinating the Spring Fair on
God bless
Kevin & Henriette Bruton
The seminar and presentation by MARTIE DU PLESSIS
Report by Catherine Wood
Martie Du Plessis is a remedial therapist whose ministry, Dynamis Home Education Information Centre is founded on her strong Christian faith. Therefore both her morning seminar and afternoon talk had a powerful Godly influence. Martie’s highly professional computer-based presentations were inspiring and motivating. We each left the hall with a new spring in our step, sure of our purpose and challenged to tackle homeschooling from a fresh perspective.
In the morning seminar Martie firstly compared the basic philosophies of homeschooling to those of public education. She challenged us regarding our motives behind homeschooling as well as the goals that we as families are striving towards. We should not just be modelling the classroom in our homes, we are preparing our children for life. We need to look at each child with their unique talents, personality, learning styles and seek God’s destiny and purpose in their life and facilitate their learning in that direction. We need to look at the whole child; their body, soul and spirit; and train their hearts, heads and hands, not just their heads. Martie then went on to show us how the parent is the curriculum, not the system of books which we choose to use. These are merely tools to aid us in training our children. Life is the lesson we are learning. Our relationship with each of our children is so important in the development of their self-esteem. Our children need our time more than they need their books. They also need balanced training and discipline.
Martie then discussed various learning styles and showed how we can cater
to these styles using different models of teaching. Martie
also looked at home education from the perspective of government requirements
and addressed the question of socialisation. She gave us a detailed
presentation that covered all the local curriculum providers as well as some
other educational resources available both internationally and in
After lunch, Martie gave a presentation entitled Home Schooling in the 21st Century. What an eye-opener! She compared the past industrial era with the information era in which we now are. She looked at the changing educational requirements dictated by the economic changes. She predicted some of the effects that genetic engineering, the science of the 21st century, will have on our children’s lives. Finally, Martie brought all of this into a Christian perspective and showed us how we can train our children in a Godly way to empower them to succeed in the 21st century.
Dynamis; what an apt name for a business which truly empowers homeschool families to walk the path set before them with boldness.
Enquiries: Dynamis martcham@mweb.co.za
tel:033-330 5947 082 574 1433
Gaby McKellar
on the Charlotte Mason Method
Report by Catherine Wood
The heart of the Charlotte Mason Method is well represented by Gaby McKellar with her inner beauty and gentleness of spirit that was so evident as she spoke.
The Charlotte Mason Method of education is not a curriculum, but rather an approach to education that is based on the teachings of Charlotte Mason, a Christian educator who lived in the early 1900s. Gaby’s presentation was an introduction to this remarkable woman and her ideas. It is all about enriching our children’s lives by giving them the best that the world has to offer; by using living, whole books; appreciation of classical art, literature and music. It is not about teaching children to know, but to care; and to love the beauty of learning. Gaby explained how to study nature via painting or drawing what we find while exploring outdoors. She touched on history lessons using a timeline, atlas and living books such as biographies and historical fiction. Charlotte Mason advocated narration by the child, as a tool for training the habits of listening and concentration. It is an accurate way of determining a child’s understanding of the subject that they are learning. Anyone can apply Charlotte Mason’s principles to enrich their homeschool, no matter what the choice of curriculum.
Gaby runs highly inspirational one-day workshops where she instructs mothers in the practical application of Charlotte Mason’s teachings. Enquiries: 021-7904012
For more information on obtaining Charlotte
Mason Resources in
What is the WCHSA?
A question we are often asked – some think
we provide and administer a curriculum, some think we are an extension of the
education department, some think we are a school where parents can send their
children !!!!!
Below are two responses – what do you say ??? We’d like to hear : wchsa@yahoo.com.
The WCHSA is a voluntary
association to represent, assist and support homeschoolers
in the
The Association is a source of information on legal
aspects, teaching methods, curriculums available and
many other areas of interest to homeschoolers in the
Membership of the Association offers an opportunity
for like minded people, who have taken the responsibility to homeschool their own children, to support and learn from
the vast pool of skills and resources available within the membership body.
The Association provides a forum for recognition of learner's achievements during their academic year.
The WCHSA is
the heartbeat of the homeschooling community in the
WORKSHOP On Children with Learning
Difficulties
Will be held in the near future – if you are
interested, please contact Juliette at 6899695
UPDATE ON THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF HOMESCHOOLING
This information is not intended to be comprehensive, and should not be taken as legal advice. The WCHSA continues to recommend that all homeschoolers join the Pestalozzi Trust – not only for legal advice, but to support the legal action that will be required on behalf of all homeschoolers in the near future to protect our rights to educate our children at home.
Homeschooling is legal in SA, and children have a right to education, in which
we, as parents, have the prime right and responsibility to guide them. But there is still much uncertainty due to
the inability of the regional education departments to formulate regulations
which are workable and do not infringe our rights. There have been recent developments
countrywide, monitored by the Pestalozzi trust, where
some provinces have introduced regulations and requirements which should be
challenged. In the
Of greater concern is the content of the
Draft Revised National Curriculum released on
The “vision” is a short list of characteristics that the student should have - for example the ideal learner should :
“display the skills necessary to work effectively with others and organise and manage oneself, one's own activities and one's leisure time responsibly and effectively."
The State will thus decide if a child is able manage his personal life, including his free time. How is this judgement made ? What intimate details of his private life and free time will a child have to divulge to enable judgement ? And will qualifications be granted or withheld on this judgement ?
A second example : the education system strives for “learners who are equipped to deal with the spiritual, physical, emotional, material and intellectual demands in society".
The same questions on this characteristic apply, but how does the State see the spiritual and emotional demands of society ? As we see these demands in our family, as our children do ? But again, the State has the right to enquire on these matters of conscience while they may not take urine or blood samples to test for drugs etc because such tests infringe on a child’s rights !!
There are no details on these judgements (or assessments) in the curriculum documents – these will be conveyed to teachers who will be trained as “assessors”. The education department might insist that our children can only be assessed by teachers in schools – meaning that our children would have to do the same tasks and projects as the children in that teacher’s class !!!
The curriculum document covers grades through to grade 9, when a child gains the General Education and Training Certificate (GETC). This will supposedly be the passport to higher education and entry to tertiary education institutions. Thus if homeschoolers do not participate in the assessment system, further education might be blocked !!!
While all this sounds ominous – it does not mean we are in a tight spot !!! – far from it !!! Remember that homeschooling has only been legal for 5 years, and none of our rights have been asserted or tested in a court of law. Much of the work of the Pestalozzi trust has been in attempting to guide regional education departments to remain within the bounds of the law (often fruitless unfortunately). Sooner of later, one or more families will need to stand up for their rights, and use the legal system to assert their rights. For encouragement in this struggle, consider the USA – after 30 or 40 years of legal homeschooling, they currently have 20 active legal cases, across 9 states, with potential trouble looming in another 12 states. They have more than 20 000 members of their legal defence fund, each contributing $100 per annum – which allows them to staff a full time office and tackle all these cases. Full reporting on their successes and failures are reported on their website (http://www.hslda.org/). Even today, after 30 to 40 years of established homeschooling, they have families who give HS a bad name, claiming to be homeschooling, but are not, or other variations of parental neglect.
So – what do we do ??? The same as before – make sure that we keep ourselves informed, and stand together , by being associated with our regional association, and by joining the legal defence fund (pestalozzi) – not only for the legal advice they offer, but to support the effort. We also need to establish a body of knowledge in the region – a group of well-informed, well-advised and responsible members to assist the pestalozzi trust, and the members in general. When trouble starts, it is not likely that those who are informed will be targeted – it will be those homeschooling on the quiet, not members of an association or the trust.
Join the email discussion groups – send a blank email to
tuisonderwys-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (general HS issues – including legal)
Kurrikulum-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (discussion on the new curriculum)
HSKitchenTable@yahoogroups.com (a place to put your feet up and ask for advice from others)
The Fundamental
Rights of Parents
From the Crosswalk.com HomeSchool
Channel – www.crosswalk.com
By Scott Somerville, Esq.
Executive Director, Center for the
Original Intent of the Constitution
Home education
exists today because thousands upon thousands of families stepped out in faith.
Home schooling is legal in
Our nation supports the public school for the sole
purpose of self-preservation. The assimilation and education of our
foreign-born citizens in the principles of our government, the hopes and
inspiration of our people, are best secured by and through attendance of all
children in our public schools. We must now halt those coming to our country
from forming groups, establishing schools, and thereby bringing up their
children in an environment often antagonistic to the principles of our
government. Mix the children of the foreign-born with the native-born, and the
rich with the poor. Mix those with prejudices in the public school melting pot
for a few years while their minds are plastic, and finally bring out the
finished product—a true American.
(extract from a state law
passed in
The measure passed, and private schools were outlawed in
The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all
governments in this
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268
Private education was saved in 1925 because one private school
stood up against the full power of the State and won. Home education exists
today because thousands upon thousands of individual families stepped out in
faith, relying upon that freedom. Individual battles over home education raged
across
Homeschoolers - Who
are we ?????
Written by: Cathy D. Henderson of the School
Free Zone
We are thin, we are fat, we are curved, we are straight.
We come in all colours, all shapes and all sizes. We believe that One
Size Fits No-one.
We are married and single, separated, blended.
We belong to small families, large families, extended families. We live
in the country, in the city, on farms, in suburbs, in flats. Wherever we
live, small people are there.
We are Christian, we are Pagan, we are Moslem, we are
Atheist. We have found the answers, we have found part of the answers, we
are searching for the answers. And some of us have not yet figured out
the questions.
We are graduates, we are dropouts. We are
doctors, lawyers, mechanics and labourers. We are capable. We are
Professional Educational Facilitators. We are THE experts for the small
people in our family.
We are liberal or conservative or walk a road inbetween. We are left and right...or not...and
libertarians to greater or lesser extent. Some of us don't vote at all,
and some of us feel by virtue of our increased awareness, we should be allowed
to vote more than once!
We do not like government control of our lives.
Some of us Do Not Like It and some of us DO NOT LIKE IT. Some of us do
not believe that any entity should have that much power. Others believe
only their Favourite Flavour should have that kind of power.
We have rejected the public school system for
religious reasons or political reasons, or because our standards were higher,
or because we value creativity, or because we were round pegs hammered into
square holes. Some of us rejected public school knowing we could do
better, and some of us knew only that we could do no worse.
We have school at home, we deschool,
we unschool. Some of us are passionately
convinced that our method is not only the best but the only feasible
method. Some of us change our methods weekly.
We are nervous, we are confused, we are confident, we
are assured. We read and read and read until one day, lo and behold, we
are able to write the books we have been reading. We stop clinging so
fiercely to those who have taught and supported us, and offer ourselves to
those who are now turning to us, with a briefly-passing interval during which
we ask ourselves the question "Why are they asking ME?"
We have been taught that "United we stand,
divided we fall", and we have learned that Diverse does not have to equal
Divided. We have a foundation, and that foundation must run the length
and breadth. We must all make a conscious choice to stand upon it.
For whatever our size, our flavour, our method, our
value system, we believe that parents have the right to raise their children,
and that right includes each and every educational decision. If we
attempt to use any other tenet as our foundation, we will fall. If we will not
waver in that belief, if we will not dilute it with questions about the ability
of people with orange-and-purple hair, or people who don't clean house to our
standards, or people with no education, or people who do not share our
religious or political beliefs, or our cultural values, or people who use other
methods, then we will stand...diverse, but united.
While collecting the material for this newsletter, it
became apparent that some computer users have a pathological fear of viruses
! Not entirely unfounded – given the
press reports of billions of dollars damage at big companies !!! But with so much hype, and a little
ignorance, its not surprising that some people quake. Ignorance is our worst enemy – this brief
note will not give all the answers, but hopefully will be of assistance. If you need further information – go and look
for it !
The only way someone else can cause damage on your
computer is to get a program on to your computer, and then have that program
run on your computer. There are 2 main
ways to get unauthorised programs on to your computer – by a stiffy diskette (or other removable disk), or by
email. Loading software (especially
games) from dubious sources is a huge risk – rather don’t do it !!
The bigger risk today is email – but email cannot do
damage without your help !! The most
common way for email to do damage is through an attachment – a file which comes
with the email – when you open the file, it takes control and does what ever it
is programmed to do !!! So does this
mean “never open an attachment” ?? No –
but exercise caution !!!! All
attachments should be treated with suspicion – were you expecting it ??? If not – send a message to the sender asking
if they intended to send it – and don’t touch the attachment until you get a
confirmation. Not all attachments can
take control of your computer, so you should learn to distinguish the types.
Note that you cannot get a virus from sending an
email – nor by visiting a web site (but again, steer clear of “suspicious”
sites), and the bigger, well known sites such as amazon.com, or yahoo.com are
about the safest – the last thing they need is poor service or bad publicity.
There are also lots of hoaxes about the latest,
greatest, most devastating virus !!! – don’t react to every warning – there was
one recently which had people deleting useful and necessary files from their
computers !!!
There are 2 levels of protection – virus protection
software (which needs to be updated regularly – and even then may not catch the
latest virus), and data backups. You
should keep all the original software installation disks, and backups of your
data, so that if it comes to the worst, you will not loose any irreplaceable
data.
Network News
NORTHERN SUBURBS
Just recently, Mr Mandela told the whole of SA on TV
that he is busy with computer training, but instructed everybody not to tell
anybody.
As a network, we decided we cannot wait until we are
83 to be trained, therefore we are on this exciting venture of getting trained
!!
On 25 August we will be having our first workshop for
Moms & Dads on the Future Kids programme to enable us to train our children
at home.
This is a wonderful opportunity to get our children
from pre-school to grade 12 computer literate (and of course ourselves – but
don’t tell anybody!!)
We want to invite anyone to join us on the
venture. If you need more info contact Lizette Lourens 9033247 or Elzette Brown 9304709.
PLUMSTEAD
The Plumstead Moms have
been meeting once a month for encouragement, prayer and sharing. We have
had outings arranged for those who were able to attend. A big thank you
to Cathy Corkhill for organising our outing to the
Castle and Catherine Wood for the outing to the Planetarium. Tracy-Jean Rossouw planned our trip to the Tygerberg
Zoo but we were rained out and took our highly charged children for a work-out
at Jimmy Jungles instead. Thanks, TJ for
organising plan A and plan B! There are many pre-schoolers in our group
making our get-togethers highly social, incidentally educational, usually a bit
hectic but always a lot of fun.
The Plumstead
group sincerely appreciated the speakers at the
I would like to thank the group for their willingness
to share and encourage. We have all enjoyed getting to know and appreciate
one another as the group continues to grow.
May God bless you indeed!
Henriette
FISH
HOEK - Vuurwarm debat in Vishoek.
Op Woensdag, 1 Augustus, het senior
en junior debateerders by die Presbiteriaanse
Kerk in Vishoek bymekaar gekom.
Claire Jooste en Matthew Laing
meen toe “Modern people
spend too much money on pets.” Pieka Grobbelaar en Bradley Lindau het dit geopponeer.
Die seniors, Adrian Moisey en Geoff Thom vs David Laing en David Gliddon se onderwerp was: “All
children should become ward of the state like in
Dit was ‘n lekker uitdaging!
Deur Rikus Geldenhuys,
gr. 8.
Foto 1: Die spanning
loop hoog! V.l.n.r: Geoff Thom,
Adrian Moisey, David Gliddon
en David Laing.
Foto 2: Dis
baie makliker om in die gehoor te sit en grappies maak as om ‘n toespraak te lewer. V.l.n.r: Bradley Lindau, Ross
van der Dussen, Pieka Grobbelaar en Rikus Geldenhuys. Agter: Sarah Stewart en Kerryn
Hinde.
FISH HOEK / NOORDHOEK
The
Fire Station
On a beautiful, warm Wednesday morning,
Leading Firefighter Morris met us at the
Fish Hoek fire
station. He divided us into two groups. Firefighter Tarryn was our guide
around the fire station.
While we were looking at the fire engine,
there was an emergency and we were
quite impressed with the speed they got
ready to go. There were four bells which means
there is a medical emergency but it was a
false alarm. We also saw the emergency
vehicle and the "Jaws of Life"
cutting metal as if it was chewing gum.
After that we played in the foam and got
all wet. We also had a ride in a fire engine.
I learnt you can call the fire station
for any emergency, even a broken leg. I enjoyed our
visit to the fire station, especially the
ride in the fire engine and the fun in the foam.
By Jesse Daniel Groenewald
(Age 10)
Photo 3: It was quite fun to pose amidst the foam.
TABLE VIEW OUTING TO RATANGA
JUNCTION
On Wednesday I went to Ratanga
Junction. I went on the Cobra and on the
Tarantula. It looked scary, but it
wasn’t. It was a homeschooler’s
outing. We had hamburgers for
lunch. After that we went on the
David Sinclair: 8 years old: Grade 3
On Wednesday, 14 March a group of homeschoolers went on an outing to Ratanga Junction. It was exciting for all of us, as none of us had been for a long time. There was also the new “Tarantula” ride to look forward to. We all stayed together as a group for most of the time; we only separated for lunch. It was a very exciting day and I was very happy to be with friends my own age. The best part of the day was the Tarantula rides because we stayed on there for 4 or 5 times in a row. We also went on the Cobra once or twice and you always feel brave afterwards. On the whole, I enjoyed myself, and I was quite unhappy to go home.
Tammy Sinclair: 14 years old: Grade 8
TABLE VIEW MTN
SCIENCE CENTRE
On Friday, 15th of June, we (the homeschoolers) went to the MTN SCIENCENTRE. It was great fun!
We built a house with bricks and cement and foam. Just as we were starting to build, another school came and they too started building, but they spoke another language, but even though we couldn't understand them properly, we got along well. The only way we could communicate was smiling at each other. We passed each other bricks and cement and built together. There were even two conveyer belts, which could pass the bricks on. The first conveyer belt was horizontal, so we put our small wheel barrows at the end, and collected the bricks when they dropped through a hole into a metal container. There was a crane as well, which stood about 2.1 meters high.
Opposite the house was a place to play games like Chess, Checkers, Jenga, Snakes and Ladders and more. There were also miniature Skate boards, Giant bouncing balls, Lego and extra large Takasimas.
There was a manual wave maker, It is a long rectangle with clear hard plastic around it, with liquid inside it looking like waves. There were two handles, one on each far end, so you go to one side, pull it down, watch the waves break and then push up.
There were also Jupiter Boots, they were metal sandals which go over your shoes, then you must start walking. When you walk that's how it would feel like if you were on Jupiter.
There were scales which you stood on and each scale showed different weights for each planet, some weighed alot less and some wighted alot more.
There were so many experiments, I can't tell you all of them!
BY:JAYD KROSSYNSKI, AGE: 11
BERGVLIET / HOUT BAY THE DIAMOND CUTTING FACTORY
By
Simon Goemans, 11
Last
month, the Bergvliet / Hout Bay
Homeschool Hockey side
A team of homeschoolers
entered into the schools U11 league this past season. All the players joined Constantiaberg
club for practices on a Saturday morning, and played as a club side. Although we were often 1 or 2 players short,
and did not win many games, the main objective was to get out and play a team
sport – which the boys all enjoyed. Next
year, we’ll be playing U12, and we’ll need more players !!!! If you might be interested (girls as well, and
under age also OK) – please call Brian Goemans 715
6809 (evenings) to put your name down for next year.
A short testimony on homeschooling
from Russell and Teresa Dennis.
We first
considered homeschooling our children when our eldest
daughter started Grade One (1996). At that time we knew of no-one homeschooling their children and didn’t even know if it was
legal. After three years, with our son
also at school and with our second daughter now one years old, God really laid
on our hearts to seek His training for our three children.
As we sought
direction from Him, we were firstly directed to the book “The Successful Homeschool
Family Handbook”, written by Dr Raymond and Dorothy Moore. We were very excited after reading this book
and especially with the concept of engaging our children daily in matters of
the “head, heart and hand” (a concept they explained and expanded on in their
book).
We then asked
God to direct us to a curriculum wherein this concept of child training was
central. We met with numerous families
each using a different curriculum and felt led to use the KONOS
curriculum.
After reading
through Volume 1 of the KONOS curriculum the
following was evident: Firstly, it was clear to us that our children would
daily be required to engage in matters of the “head” – in the formal learning
sections of the curriculum. They would also use their “hands” as KONOS has a very strong hands-on approach with lots of
construction, arts and crafts. But, most importantly to us was that they would
also engage in matters of “heart”, as the foundation of the KONOS
curriculum is The Word. Godly character
traits form the central themes within the curriculum and are woven into all
that they are required to do. Secondly,
we could also see that by taking the unit study approach and integrating the
ages of our children, we could learn together as a family – something God had
really laid on our hearts to do.
We contacted
Greg and Sonja Wood of Oikos Family Ministries in Howick. They had
first come across KONOS (some 8 years earlier) when
investigating the various curricula for their children. They were so excited by KONOS
that they contacted the authors in
After meeting
Sonja at the Spring Fair in September 1999, we removed our children from school
and started homeschooling. The richest blessing for our family has been
the training in Godly character, which is the central theme of KONOS. Godly
character traits are woven into all we do with our children. Whether we are
engaged in matters of the “head, heart or hand” we are constantly being drawn
back to Him.
Greg and
Sonja and a team of Pillar Families throughout
Since we
started this “learning lifestyle” journey, we have really felt and experienced
the hand of God in loving, encouraging, training and directing us as a family.
We continue to seek His best for our family.
WESTERN CAPE
Telephone : 0881274484
Email
: wchsa@yahoo.com
MEMBERSHIP
Is your membership up to date ??? If not, your annual payment would be appreciated by return post. Membership costs just R120 per annum (that’s only R10 per month !!!), and is renewed on the anniversary of your joining. Be sure to fill in a membership form (even when renewing) so we can check your address details ! If you don’t know why you should be a member – see inside !
Send your
membership fees to
WCHSA
Steenberg
7947
or deposit to
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Standard
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276306880
Branch code
02560920
(ensure
that your name is on our statement,
or send us the deposit slip)
STOP
PRESS STOP PRESS
URGENT MESSAGE TO ALL
HOMESCHOOLERS AND ALL PARENTS
The revised curriculum, and the manifesto of the education department are a cause for concern and ACTION. The Pestalozzi Trust is spearheading a campaign of objections – letter writing and telephone calls to the government. Contact the WCHSA or your local network for information – and follow the developments on the web : pestalozzi.org/curriculum or pestalozzi.org/kurrikulum