This put a lot of pressure on me to perfect my college resume. I became somewhat of GPA junkie, doing extra credit whether I needed it or not.

There were clubs I joined, paid dues to, and never attended. Why? Not because I had an interest in the activities, but because I was collecting memberships for my college resume. My obsession led to many sick and sleepless nights, but it was all worth it when I got accepted to a “prestigious” university.

(Make sure you check out the giveaway at the bottom of this post!)

Even with a huge scholarship, my college education was going to cost about $30,000 a year. No big deal. I heard somewhere that college graduates earned a million dollars more over their lifetime. That bit of misinformation had me signing for massive loans with the same hesitation I might have signed a check for lunch.

Even with my above-average GPA and SAT scores, I am ashamed to admit that it took me until my junior year to figured out that college wasn’t adding up. I finally saw passed the sales pitches and slogans, and I no longer felt like a smart college kid; I felt like a sucker. So, do you know what I did?

For the first time in my life, I thought for myself. Heading into my senior year of college, I quit.

People thought I was crazy, and to this day, they still ask if I plan to go back and finish. I am not saying that I haven’t been tempted. Many people esteem degrees and degreed people. In our society it is an automatic qualifier, whether it deserves to be or not.

But I just can’t do it, I’m no longer a believer.

That is not to say that no one should go to college. If you plan to work in a profession that requires a degree, then you have no choice. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is, and so you will have to submit to the system.

Still, before any kid throws a small fortune at college here are some things that they should know:

What Kids Should Know About College

1. True Cost

You have probably noticed that college is outrageously expensive, but you may not be aware of the total cost. On the low end, with room and board, you will pay about $10,000 and on the high end, maybe $60,000 a year. So, the cost of a 4-year degree runs $40,000 to $240,000, right?

Actually, it can be a lot more than that, because there are other costs, hidden costs, that most high schoolers don’t consider.

Unless the 18 year-old graduate has a trust fund, he is going to need a loan. On $40,000 at 6% over a term of 10 years, our college student is going to pay an additional $18,237 in interest. So, the apparent cost just went up nearly 50%! On $240,000 at 6% over 10 years, he will pay an additional $109,423 interest! Ouch!

Then there is the unearned-income cost. For instance, if you devote 8 hours a day, between school and homework, to college, that is 8 hours that you could have been working. If you only made $10 an hour, that’s $1600 a month – $19,200 a year. Multiply that by 4 years and that’s another $76,000 of unearned income that your four year degree is costing you.

Some people will protest that kids could go to college and work. That doesn’t change a thing because they could also take the extra time to work two jobs.

Oh wait, there might be more! Most of the high paying jobs that require degrees, require more than just a 4-year degree.

For instance, if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, you are going to need to budget for an additional 3 to 4 years. And the bad news is that graduate degrees always cost more money than undergraduate degrees. So again, factor the cost of room and board, the interest on the loans, and the unearned income.

You start adding it all up, and even if you do make that promised million dollars more, you might need it just to break even!

2. Financial Aid:

Financial aid is rarely that at all. It should called financial enslavement, because that is usually what it is. But if you are going to go to college, you need to know the difference between college grants, college loans, and college scholarships.

A grant will cost you nothing – not now anyway. However, before you get all excited about free college money, understand that there is no such thing as “free money.” The federal government collects money from taxpayers and grants it to you, no strings attached right? Wrong.

Once you graduate and have your degree, you will be a taxpayer, forced to fund other students college grant money. And unlike your student loans, you will be on the hook paying for other students’ college grant money for the rest of your working life!

A college loan is not free money either, it is debt that will be paid with interest.

You are selling banks a substantial stake in your future earnings.

And college loans are the worst, and most dangerous loans because there are no qualifications. When you apply for a home loan, the banks look at your debt to income ratio to determine the loan amount. But most college students have no income, and there is no guarantee that they will have the income to cover the loan after they graduate.

Filing for bankruptcy isn’t likely to help you, as students loans are nearly impossible to discharge. Thanks to the low quality of our schools, most high school students don’t know any of this. That’s why banks love to loan to college students, who will sign their life away without any comprehension.

Scholarships are probably kids’ best option. Still don’t get overly excited. If a school offers you a scholarship, they are simply selling you their services at a discounted price. You are still on the hook for the remaining balance. And you aren’t likely to get a full ride scholarship without strings attached.

Say you earn a full ride scholarship to play football. You haven’t won the lottery! The college is simply paying you in educational vouchers, while they reap real monetary benefits. For most college athletes, their sport is a fulltime job.

Between practice, games, travel, meetings, conferences, and workouts, most spend at least 40 hours a week working for the college. Yet, that college rakes in all the sponsorships, advertising, licensing deals, and ticket money.

Subtract the tuition our full-riders save from they money they could earn working a minimum wage job, and most would come out ahead working the minimum wage job!

3. Education or Degree:

Colleges still maintain a monopoly in degrees and certifications, but they are no longer the sole educators. We live in the information age. I swear, anything college can teach you, Youtube can teach you better!

So, unless your chosen profession requires a degree, educate yourself and keep the change! You want to study art? – then take your tuition money and build yourself an art studio. You want to study business? – then take your tuition and use it as startup money. You want to study history? – then take your tuition and travel the ancient world!

Take your tuition money and get an education, not a degree!

4. A Million Dollars More:

Okay, but in the end isn’t it all worth it? I mean, don’t college students earn a million dollars more over their lifetime?

The answer is no.

This rhetoric is closer to a bold-faced lie, than it is to the truth. It is a lie that could only be bought by an uneducated, schooled population, one that is accustomed to swallowing and regurgitating any line thrown their way.

Homeschooling Teens Giveaway!

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The post 7 Things Every Teen NEEDS to Know About College (giveaway) first appeared on True Aim.

He quickly folded his hands, placed them in his lap, and looked very remorseful, but only for a moment. As soon as I looked back to the preacher, Jonathan rolled out of his seat and began crawling under the pews. That was the last straw. I chased him down, and we left church early.

This was not the first time I left a sermon early because my little Jonathan refused to control himself. But it was the first time that I wondered, if it was beyond the realm of possibility for a three-year-old to sit still and focus for a 45-minute service that was entirely beyond his understanding.

Maybe he was just too young, the service too long, and too boring. And then it occurred to me, maybe he just lacked training?

I lacked self-control until my sophomore year in high school. Then, I was sent to a boarding school in Virginia; a place called Fork Union Military Academy.

There, I, and many other boys just like me, learned self-control in just a few weeks. This amazed our parents, who had been working for years with teachers, principals, councilors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and sometimes even law enforcement; all which had failed to reform us. So, parents thought that our boarding school was working miracles; but we knew the school’s secret was no miracle.

Fork Union Military Academy simply put us all through self-control training.

How Do You Teach Kids Self Control

In the past, our parents and schools always told us to behave, but this was the first time we had been trained to behave. Our school used the same method that militaries have used for hundreds of years, to give soldiers discipline and self-control: the practice of coming to and maintaining attention.

To stand at attention, you must stand up straight, roll your shoulders back, head up, and chin slightly tucked. Put your heels together with toes spaced 45 degrees and clasp your hands at the seams of your pants. You look straight forward, and not just with your head, but also with your eyes. Your face must be void of all expression. You can’t move at all, not even to scratch. And you can’t talk.

You have probably seen soldiers standing at attention during formations or parades. It is not just some traditional display or ceremonial performance.

Fort Union Military Parade

The practice of maintaining attention was developed to take undisciplined, civil men and turn them into disciplined soldiers, with the self-control to tune out all the distractions and temptations of the world, in order to focus on the mission at hand.

In the military, self-control is a matter of life and death. Because war involves the ultimate terrors, pains, sorrow, and chaos, soldiers require the highest levels of self-control.

However, self-control is not only beneficial for soldiers in war. Children need it to learn how to read and write, clean their rooms, and sit through a boring church service.

And so, whenever any parent comes to me seeking advice for anything from teaching kids math or problems with picky-eaters, I always recommend that they start with self-control training, because once children have the ability to control themselves, the learning flows naturally.

A child who can sit still and focus when he is not being entertained, can learn anything he sets his mind to.

Master the art of training character!
Order the guide!

Self Control Game for Kids

That is how I helped my little Jonathan sit through church service. Instead of scolding him time and time again, I had him sit at our dining table for a simple game of attention.

At first, we set a timer for just one minute. We had Jonathan sit up straight, with his eyes forward and his hands at his side, without talking or fidgeting. He failed the first few times, but soon maintaining focus for a minute was too easy.

We made it fun by having his siblings make funny faces or loud noises to try and distract him. We bumped the time to two minutes, and so on, until little Jonathan could control himself as long as he needed.

Try It For A Child With Learning Issues

Many people think self-control is inherent, or tied to a child’s personality or maturity. So, when little children can’t focus on their school work, parents look for external solutions, like ways to make learning more fun, or they hirer special tutors, or even resort to medication, to help their kids focus.

But, self-control is largely a matter of training. The first time you go for a long run, you might get sick, and start cramping, and your muscles may feel like Jello, but there is nothing wrong with you. You don’t need a special coach or medicine, you just need to run more, to increase your body’s strength and endurance.

In the same way, children who can’t control themselves, often need more self-control training. How do you encourage self control in your children?

Check out more Character Development tips!

Get more tips on Parenting and Homeschooling

The post Increase Self Control in Your Kids with One Simple Game! first appeared on True Aim.

The other day, President Trump asked the question, “Why did the Civil War happen?” He actually knows what he is talking about, but is so inarticulate that he should have just left it alone. Now, everyone is laughing at him, stating the obvious: the Civil War happened to end slavery.

But did it really? If you feel so confident, please explain it to me because I’m having trouble answering the following questions.

1. If the Civil War was fought to free the slaves, why did Lincoln wait two years after the war started to issue the Emancipation Proclamation?

2. When congress debated the War effort, why didn’t anyone mention slavery?

3. When Lincoln made his first address after the War had started, why didn’t he say anything about slavery being the cause?

4. When South Carolina first seceded from the Union, why did they claim unfair taxation and tariffs were the primary cause?

5. Why did some slave states, like Maryland, Missouri, Delaware, and Kentucky, side with the North?

6. Why did Lincoln exempt the Northern slave states, like Maryland, Missouri, Delaware, and Kentucky, from freeing their slaves after issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, claiming that if the Norther slaves states thought the War was about ending slavery they would change sides and fight with the South?

Look, I take no pleasure in asking these questions. The “history” our government schools spoon fed us about the Civil War was much tastier than the truth. But if we want to teach our children the truth, slavery was not the primary cause of the war.

The post Was Trump Right About the Civil War? first appeared on True Aim.

Homeschooling should be outlawed…

1.  Because nothing motivates children to learn like a standardized test!

2.  Because if we just spend a little bit more money, public school is bound to work.

3.  Because ignorance is bliss!

4.  Because we’ll never have a level playing field, as long as homeschoolers keep over-achieving!

5.  Because bullies build character!

6.  Because homeschoolers aren’t social; they have little interest in sex, drugs and alcohol.

7.  Because who will authorize bathroom visits?

8.  Because learning to sit down, shut-up, and follow instructions is essential in any democratic society.

9.  Because sure George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln were homeschooled, but just look at Clinton, Bush and Obama!  They all went to school!

10.  Because if students didn’t spend all their time sitting in classes, practicing sports and studying homework, their non-union parents might impact their lives in an unauthorized way.

11.  Because insanity ISN’T doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.

12.  Because how else will children learn to raise their hands?

13.  Because it’s the only way governments can ensure children have the freedom to learn… the “official” truth.

14.  Because government schools are doing such a great job!

15.  Because is learning to read really that important?

16.  Because nothing helps children grow into mature adults, like spending all their time with immature children their own age.

17.  Because science is believing “bang” everything came from nothing and “poof” man crawled out of a mud puddle.

18.  Because a student-teacher ratio of 30:1 isn’t crowded – it’s cozy!

19.  Because no one can tie childhood obesity to school lunches and 7 hrs. of sitting.

20.  Because if the Government has to force you to do something, you just know it’s for your own good.

21.  Because Common Core is going to cure everything ailing our schools!

22.  Because teachers have to eat too.

23.  Because teacher unions were created to help kids learn better!

24.  Because God commands schools, not parents, to raise their children in the Lord.  Right?

25.  Because Bibles are overrated anyway.

26.  Because more adults can join the rat race when governments provide “free” babysitting.

27.  Because school is the only way to teach children where babies come from.

28.  Because irresponsible parents can’t be trusted to give their children free condoms and birth control.

29.  Because when Russia, China, and N. Korea have school, it’s indoctrination.  But when we do it, it’s EDUCATION!

30.  Because government bureaucrats care more about our children than we do.

31.  Because gangsters, pot-heads, goths, sluts, jocks, nerds and class-clowns AREN’T socially awkward.

32.  Because nothing prepares a child for the real world, like being excluded from it!

33.  Because medicated children are happy children!

34.  Because parents see energy, while teachers know it’s really ADHD.

35.  Because great leaders like, Hitler, Marx, and Stalin all agree that homeschooling is really bad!

I’m sure this list is incomplete.  So please leave a comment, letting us know what you would add to the list and let me know which reason is your favorite.  If you like this post, please follow us on facebook.  Also, check out The Dumbest Argument Against Homeschooling EVER!

Discover What School is REALLY Doing to Kids

The post 35 Reasons to OUTLAW Homeschooling! first appeared on True Aim.

Somewhere around the twenty to thirty minute mark, I started to squirm, “What time was it?  When will we finish?  Doesn’t he know we have real work to do?”  From forty-five minutes on, all was lost.  While my face smiled, my heart quivered with rage!  “Just stop talking!  Shut your mouth!  Will this meeting ever end?!  If I could have shot lightning bolts from my eyes, I would have!  But of course, I had no choice but to sit there and take it.  So I sat in silent protest, secretly day-dreaming, refusing to focus and refusing to remember.  My wife says I just had a bad attitude, but if that was true, then 100% of my co-workers were suffering from exact same “bad attitude.”

In reality, our boss had simply failed to observe the Law of Diminishing Return.  He had good intentions, but his long meetings irritated and tortured us all.  Unless we want our children to suffer in the same way, as homeschoolers we must observe this law and form a teaching strategy around it.  The law states that as time progresses, our children retain less and less of what we teach.  And at a certain point, their inattentiveness could even grow into burnout and disdain.  For some children you will have their full attention for hours, while others will begin to lose interest after 20 – 30 minutes.  For very young children, 10 minutes is likely all they will be able to stand.  Of course, the student isn’t the only factor.  The subject has just as much influence.  For example, you may find that a child who loves math is able to focus tirelessly for hours, but the moment you turn to his attention to spelling he grows weary in fifteen minutes.  Unfortunately, once you have passed this threshold, everything you say and do will have less and less impact.

5 Teaching Strategies

Listed below are five teaching strategies to help you avoid the painful effects of the Law of Diminishing Return.

1.  Front load the good stuff.  Teaching a lesson is one time you can forego saving the best for last.  As a general rule, the mind is most fertile during the first ten minutes.  So, prioritize your lesson into categories of Extremely Essential, Essential, and Kinda Essential and then teach your way through in that order. This ensures that you have their utmost attention for the Extremely Essential information and if you are forced to end your lesson prematurely, only the Kinda Essential material is lost.

2.  Have a conversation – not a monologue.  I have fallen asleep to many sermons, but not once to the sound of my own voice.  Children are no different.  Give your children active roles in their own lessons and you will be shocked by how much farther their attention span stretches.  Have them ask questions, answer questions, and teach parts that they already know.  In fact, at a certain age you could have your children present their lessons to you.  Have them teach it and you be their audience.

3.  Break it up!  If possible, break your lesson into smaller portions and chew on it throughout the day.  For example, if you have an hour lesson and you know your children lose interest after half-an-hour, you could divide your lesson in two.  Teach half in the morning and half after lunch.  That way your children’s attention is maximized for the entire lesson.

4.  Be flexible.  Children’s focus-span will change from day-to-day.  You might have planned an hour lesson, but twenty minutes in you see the Law of Diminishing Returns taking its toll on your little one.  This is a hint to start wrapping the lesson up.  The reverse is also true.  At the end of your hour lesson, you may find that your children are begging for more – so give it to them.

5.  Warning.  Your children’s ability to focus should grow over time.  If your little ones’ eyes start glazing over minutes into your lessons, this is a sign of “lazy” children or boring lessons.  Either way, you will need to fix the problem, or homeschooling will be a long and painful process for you and your children. Your children’s ability to focus can be improved over time. Think of it was practicing training for a marathon. You wouldn’t start by running the full distance the first day; that would kill them! You go for a short run, and then increase the distance over time. You might have to start with 5 minute lessons, but if you are persistent, you’ll soon see your child’s endurance increasing into hours.

I hope these teaching strategies help.  For more teaching tips, be sure to subscribe and follow us on facebook.

The post Teaching Strategies: Law of Diminishing Return first appeared on True Aim.

Well, let me first reassure any doubting parents out there that not only do uneducated, inexperienced, low-budget moms compete with public education, but they out perform it  by radical margins.  The results are the same for private schools, although not quite as drastic.   And don’t think these are rare exceptions.  Regardless of ethnicity, income, and geographic location, homeschool students test better.  These results seem to contradict logic.  How are these under-qualified moms, beating the best efforts of the “professionals?”

The reality is that homeschools are the ideal educational environment.  Whatever advantages large budgets, professional teachers and modern facilities offer, they are quickly neutralized by other more important factors.  Although I could write a book on the advantages of home education, the most important factor is often over-looked.  YOU ARE THEIR MOTHER (or father)!

Why Moms Teach Best

No one will ever love your children like you do.  Their success, is your success.  Their future and your future are one and the same.  You also share genetic and personality traits that help you relate to one another.  And as far as young children are concerned, there is no one that they love more, want to impress more, and trust more, than Mom and Dad.

And no matter how much a teacher cares, that teacher is still a “stranger” in the eyes of your children.  That teacher can never be trusted or loved the way children love and trust their mother and father.  That is because love between parents and children is natural and unconditional.

In fact, no stronger bond exists in the world, than that between a young child and his parents.  Perhaps, that is why God Himself assigned the raising of children, not to villages, but to families.  Therefore, the monumental fact, that you are your children’s mother or father, makes you uniquely over-qualified to homeschool them!

Don’t underestimate yourself.  Just being MOM is more than enough.

Need more reasons you don’t have to worry about teaching your children? Watch our video!

Check out Our Curriculum Store for Homeschool Help!

The post Homeschool Moms are Over-Qualified! first appeared on True Aim.

I broke the 15 minutes up into 2 parts: picking out a book and then conducting my great charade. Roughly 5 minutes were dedicated to picking out a book. Other kids brought books from home, or picked a book from the teacher’s library and read it every day for weeks until they finished it. But I didn’t have that luxury.

I wasn’t about to read Dr. Seuss; that was for little kids. I wanted to read, or appear to read, chapter books. However, that was very difficult because most just had pictures on the covers and chapter breaks. So, if I really, really, really took my time, I could still only make a chapter book last about five to ten minutes; then, my 7-year-old brain needed a change of scenery.

That was why I picked out a new book at the beginning of each session. Eventually, the teacher would hurry me along, and I’d end up at my seat hunting for pictures.

My finger raced under each line on the page and I mumbled to myself like I saw some of the other kids doing.

My teacher was always “amazed” by how quickly I finished each book. What took the other kids weeks to do I accomplished in 10 minutes. Sometimes my teacher would test my reading comprehension, and I would have to describe in great detail the stories as I imagined them to be from the pictures I’d seen.

I always got away with it, but I did have a few close calls, like the time I described a book that she had actually read herself. I quickly recovered by offering several logical explanations for the apparent discrepancies. Perhaps, I suggested, the book was different now, or maybe she had forgotten the stories because she read them so long ago, or maybe I was confusing what I had just read with some other book.

Back then, I thought I was very sneaky, but now I realize she must have known my secret. At times, she called me to her desk and tried to help me read. However, with so many other kids, there wasn’t enough time to catch me up.

The sad thing about school is that once you get behind, there is a snowball effect. By the third grade, I was several years behind my peers. I took a standardized test and was finally discovered.

I did everything right. I moved my finger under the lines and mumbled random words, and even filled in C whenever I didn’t know the answer. Yet, when the scores came back, my reading comprehension was off the chart, but in the wrong direction.

Now, you’d think that the school would have rushed to catch me up; but that didn’t happen. During reading time, I was sent with two other students to a trailer out back behind the school. There I received “special” help, yet it wasn’t any help at all. We read the same book as the other kids, but within a few weeks we were several chapters behind them. Soon, I realized the goal was not to catch me up. Actually, it felt like the opposite – they were letting me go.

They treated me with kid gloves; they talked slower; they demanded very little. In short, they made me feel stupid. And not stupid in an insulting way, but in a decisive and diagnostic way. I began to hate reading.

Luckily, a year later I moved schools. The teacher at my new school didn’t know how “slow” I was. She accidentally put me in a normal reading group and, in time, I caught up on my own. Still, it took me years to accept the fact that I was a “normal” reader.

So, if my brain could read as well as any other, where did I go wrong? It started with an assumption that my parents made – that school would teach me to read.

It was a fair assumption, and the school did try, but I sat at the back of my kindergarten learning circle with a buddy and we talked about bikes and Legos while the teacher droned on about letters and words.

That is when I began to fall between the cracks. Having daydreamed through a few lessons, I didn’t understand the new ones because they built off the previous instruction. I fell farther and farther behind.

And here is the major issue: No one noticed until third grade. By then, I was waaaaaay behind my peers. And the school’s solution to the problem was not to catch me up, but to slow me down! It was a bad strategy!

We aren’t likely to fix our schools any time soon, and I realize that not everyone can homeschool, but we all can make sure that our own children don’t fall victim to the system by teaching them to read at home before kindergarten. You simply cannot let them learn – or not learn – to read at school. It is too risky.

Reading isn’t like the other subjects. It is the linchpin. If your kid can’t read, or can’t read very well, he will likely fall behind in other subjects, too. He won’t be able to read instructions, examples, or lessons. Yet, if your child can read and he falls behind, let’s say in math, he will be able to read his textbook and catch himself up. So your child’s reading ability is directly tied to performance in all other subjects.

Perception and confidence are another good reason to teach your child to read at home. Before entering school, all kids think that they are geniuses thanks to their parents. But the second they enter the classroom, they begin to compare themselves to their peers.

Your kids aren’t going to know that some of the other kids learned to read in preschool or at home before kindergarten. Your children will just think that they are picking it up much slower than their peers. They will think the others are fast, and then deduce that they are slow. This perception often dictates the reality.

Of course, the same is true in reverse. If your children enter the classroom as proficient readers, they will perceive that school comes naturally to them, and they will feel confident. This is such a huge advantage, and the little time and energy it takes you up front will save you countless struggles in the long run.

I recommend starting to teach your children to read around 3 or 4; that is when my children began reading. Allowing yourself such a large head start will take the pressure off. You won’t have to ram reading down your children’s throats the weekend before kindergarten. Instead, you will teach 15 minutes a day over the course of a year or two.

Don’t think that you are depriving your children of a “childhood” by pushing them so young. If you take your time and teach casually, there won’t be any added stress. And once they can read, you will see for yourself how reading actually enriches their childhoods.

I recommend getting a curriculum. There are parents who teach their children to read from random books, but it takes them longer and often creates weaker readers in the long run because there is no rhyme or reason to the instruction; too many rules are introduced all at once, and kids get confused by the constant exceptions.

Eventually,children learn to read this way, but it is often because they memorize the words, and not because they understand the phonetic sounds and rules. This limits their reading ability mostly to the words that they already know; new words are always a struggle.

I highly recommend Blue Manor’s Phonics Reading Set. It requires no lesson plans or teaching experience; it is super-simple to teach; and it has kids reading their first words in just a few minutes. It is also the most affordable.

My second recommendation is Usborne books Starting to Read Set. The books are beautiful and fun, and your kids will love reading them! However, it is more expensive than Blue Manor’s phonics curriculum, so if money is tight, Blue Manor is the way to go.

If you have any questions, please ask. I’d love to help. I’d also love to hear your thoughts, comments, and advice! Happy teaching!

The post You Can’t Let Your Kids Learn to Read at School first appeared on True Aim.

1. Wide, then Narrow: Before jumping into the finer details of history, start by giving an overview, from beginning to end. Knowing where the story is headed will give kids a better idea where the details fit in.

For example, when I teach Bible history I have the option of hundreds of different stories. If I start at the beginning and work my way through, my students will quickly get lost in the details. Instead, I break the entire Bible into six easy, yet central stories: Creation, Fall, Judgement (Flood), Promise (Abraham), Chosen People (Israelites), Cross (Jesus’ Sacrifice).

I strip these stories down to one or two simple details. I could literally tell each of these six stories in just a few sentences. This makes it easy for students to remember each story, and also to see how the stories fit together. The six stories then serve as bookends, and I simply go back and start filling in the gaps. I tell about Daniel and the Lions Den, and draw it back into the story of the Chosen People; I tell about Cain and Abel and point it to the Flood; I tie the Last Supper into the Story of the Cross. Teaching history this way keeps the stories connected.

2. Only Teach the Essential: If you are a mom who loves crafts, you may struggle with this one, but try to keep your content simple and relevant. If you are having your children dress up like turkeys to study the Pilgrims, you might be off track. The Pilgrims are not historical figures because they ate turkey!

3. Sequence, Not Dates: The order history unfolds is much more important than the actually dates (usually). If your history lessons become little more than the memorization of dates, your kids will learn to hate history. I’m not saying you can’t add dates, but again start with the basic elements of the story and then when your kids have mastered that, go back and sprinkle in the dates.

4. Explain BC and AD Early: As soon as your kids are old enough to understand the concept, explain the difference between BC and AD. Be careful not to just say that BC is Before Christ and AD is after His death. This confused me as a kid until learning that AD started 30 years prior to Jesus’ death. Also, be sure to point out how BC dates count backward; in other words, 3000 BC comes before 1,000 BC.

5. Don’t be biased: For the most part, the history taught in government schools is full of lies, misrepresentations, and half-truths. When I was in elementary school I lived in Lawrence, Kansas. During the Civil War, Lawrence was burned to the ground by southern Border Ruffians.

The way I was taught it, the citizens of Lawrence were just sitting there singing kumbaya, when all of the suddenly those darn rebels burst into town on a murdering and raping spree. And I couldn’t help but think that all confederates were evil-murdering-rapists. In fact, many years later, I learned about the true “Jayhawkers” and the murderous raids that they ran in Missouri. In a town that loves its Jayhawks, it is no wonder they left that bit out.

It is in our nature to divide the history into a struggle of good versus evil, and paint everything either black or white. If our side commits atrocities they were justified; when the other guys do it, it’s always without cause. It is easy to fall into this type of deception. We often pick a side and then filter history accordingly, teaching only what we want to believe.

In most cases, history is a struggle between evil and evil; when we pretend otherwise, we champion propaganda, not history.

6. Use Real History: Whenever possible forgo the publishing houses’ textbooks, and use real historical words. Read works like The Bible, Herodotus’ Histories, Thucydides’ The History of the Peloponnesian War, Tacitus’ The Annals of Imperial Rome, and Caesar’s The Civil War. These books and others are real histories, and far more interesting than dry schoolhouse textbooks.

7. Not Every Old Story is History: History is an account of the events that dramatically changed the course of human destiny. What some ate, how they dressed, when they went to bed is closer to anthropology, than history. It does not matter how the Pilgrims dressed, what their boat was called, what time they went to bed, what their houses looked like, or what their favorite dessert was; these aren’t the reasons they are historical figures. We remember the Pilgrims, not for what they wore, but what they did, and more importantly, their impact.

8. Geography is the Canvas of History: It is hard to understand history without a proper understanding of geography. You will read, “Hitler invaded the Rhineland,” but you won’t know where that was or why it was significant. The point is that geography allows us to visualize the events as they occurred. That is why at Blue Manor we begin teaching geography in kindergarten.

9. Retell the Story: Never quiz your children on history with essays or bubble sheets. History is a story and as such, it is best to have your children retell the story in their own words.

Hope that these tips were helpful. If you have history-teaching tips of your own, please leave a comment. Thanks for reading!

Check out True History on Blue Manor Academy!

The post How to Homeschool History: 9 Teaching Tips first appeared on True Aim.

But this isn’t a happy post. The fall has come much sooner than I expected, and I can see a bitter winter approaching.

There are hints of it on the news, from time to time. A few months ago, an Oregon couple lost their bakery because they were Christian. It struck me because I too am a Christian business owner. Today I read that a Christian woman named Kim Davis is sitting jail for her Faith; a Faith that I also share.

This post is sponsored by the NRLC. All opinions are our own.
Don’t miss the GIVEAWAY at the bottom of the post!

A few years ago, the Obama administration targeted a homeschool family and set the legal precedent to ban homeschooling. And just last week, a mother told my wife that we should not be “allowed” to homeschool our children because our Faith is “hateful” and shouldn’t be taught to children.

A blizzard of tyranny is coming. Can’t you see it, now?

I warned you. I wrote a book to warn you. But perhaps you didn’t have time to read it. I understand. You were too busy living your life, you said. I used to respect that.

We work our jobs; we go to our Churches; we raise our families; we homeschool our kids. We don’t have time to protest. We don’t have time for politics. We are too busy.

But guess what? Those who hate us and hate our way of life, hate our homeschools, hate our Faith, and hate our God, they make the time. They are motivated. They know how to fight, and they aren’t preaching tolerance anymore.

They are getting us fired from our jobs, attacking our Churches and organizations, redefining our families, and they want our kids back in their schools! Our Faith, Families, and Freedom are hanging on edge.

Enter to win at the bottom of the post!

I used to believe that I was safe because I live in Idaho, and we are certainly a “red” state. Then I heard the history of the Shippy family.

In 1985, they tore this family to pieces right here in Idaho. The Shippy family (three brothers and their wives and children) didn’t kill anybody. They weren’t a threat to anybody. They just had religious convictions and saw a government school leading their kids astray. The Shippys felt they could do better for their kids at home. And they did. Their kids were thriving at home.

But that wasn’t good enough for the officials. Kids weren’t allowed to learn at home; they had to learn at school… or try to learn at school. Homeschooling was a terrible crime.

No one could claim that the children weren’t doing well. No one could say that the Shippy kids weren’t learning at home, and learning much more than they had in school. No one could point out instances of neglect or abuse.

Still, that didn’t stop the authorities from claiming they had to intervene for the “good of the children.” And so, the three mothers and three fathers were arrested and thrown in jail. Again, “for the good of the children,” the Shippy kids were forcibly removed from their home by armed deputies, separated from each other, and scattered among various foster houses. Breastfeeding babies were deprived of their mother’s milk, once again “for the good of the children.”

Then something really terrible happened. Cecilia Shippy, a mother of eleven children, suddenly died. She died alone, separated from her husband who was still in jail.

If this was all “for the good of the children,” the public could no longer see it. The authorities hadn’t killed her, but suddenly people could see plainly the blood on their hands. And from this great tragedy, a greater cry of Faith, Family, and Freedom was raised. It was raised so loud and so high that today, Idaho is the freest state when it comes to homeschooling.

Can you imagine the horror these mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and babies went through as they were ripped apart? Yet, the authorities would have us believe that tearing a family apart was a lesser evil than letting that family educate its own children. It was not progressive, it was not tolerant, it was not liberal; it was Tyranny of the highest order.

I was born in 1985, the same year that the Shippy children were abducted by the government for homeschooling. I was being brought into a world where Faith, Family, and Freedom were openly trampled. Yet, while Cecilia Shippy did not live to see the victory she won, here I am exactly 30 years later, homeschooling my kids and loving it! Thank you, and God bless you Cecilia, and your beautiful family. I am sorry that more haven’t heard your story.

But, I’m not here to celebrate because tyranny didn’t die in 1985! It is back in style. And once again our Faith, Families and Freedoms are in danger. We are going to need the next generation of Shippys to stand the next wave of tyranny down.

The good news is that the Shippys were only six adults fighting for a right nobody had heard of. We aren’t just the Shippys anymore. There are millions of us now who have tasted the greener grass, and we aren’t going back!

And we certainly aren’t sending our kids back! We are going to come out swinging. And this time, we aren’t going to let them take our children, we aren’t going to let them put us in jail, and we aren’t going to wait for a mother of eleven to die to turn public opinion. Oh, and we aren’t going to “stand our ground,” we are going to take ground. We are going to rip ground out from underneath their feet!

That is what we should do, anyway. But whether the tyranny movement will be met by a stronger Faith, Family, and Freedom movement really depends you. United we stand, divided we fall. Will you join our ranks?

If you want to preserve your Faith, Family, and Freedom for your children’s generation, please attend or share the National Religious Liberties Conference. This is the organization we needed to bring us together to fight for our religious freedoms. Victory won’t happen without you! And as the Shippys proved, the battles we win and lose today will have a lasting impact.

Homeschool Freedom Giveaway!

If you love homeschooling, your family, and freedom, this giveaway was designed for you. Enter to win a Homeschool Freedom Package and get your family protected and prepared!

Prizes — Everyone Wins!

Simply enter the giveaway, and you’ll automatically receive a digital copy of Kevin Swanson’s new book, Freedom: The Historic Battle for Liberty from Tyranny. Read the gripping stories of courageous Christians who fought for freedom over the last 2,000 years, and get inspired to do the same!

• $1,500 All-Expenses-Paid Family Trip to the Freedom 2015 Conference
• 1-Year HSLDA Membership & Heritage Defense Membership
• In Freedom’s Cause — G.A. Henty Audio Theater Adventure
• Freedom: The Historic Battle for Liberty, by Kevin Swanson

10 Homeschool Freedom Packages

• 1-Year Heritage Defense Membership
• $200 Freedom 2015 Conference Family Registration
• In Freedom’s Cause — G.A. Henty Audio Theater Adventure
• Freedom: The Historic Battle for Liberty, by Kevin Swanson

Total Prize Value: $5,500!

Daily Winners & Daily Entries!

The giveaway will run from 9/15 – 9/30. HOWEVER, every day, from 9/20 – 9/30, we’ll be selecting a winner for one of the 10 Runner-Up prizes.

Don’t miss the daily entry options to gain more entries every day of the giveaway and increase your chances of winning! Enter early and often!

The post Are Our Freedoms Hanging on the Edge? first appeared on True Aim.

I hadn’t had a sip of water or bite of food since breakfast. I felt sick and my legs ached. I wanted to head home, but I still had to catch the tail end of a Christmas party.

My wife had long since eaten and was playing card games when I entered. I practically crawled over to her, rubbing my temples trying to soothe a pounding headache.

Being that she loved me, had already eaten, and hadn’t just worked a twelve-hour shift, she innocently did the unthinkable; she offered to get me something eat. Luckily, no one heard her. But then, I did the unthinkable. In my delirium, I said, “Could you just get me a glass of water?”

Several women looked up from their game. One said, “Oh for heaven’s sake, get your own water!” Several chimed in, attacking me for such a wild and reckless display of chauvinism. Others surrounded my wife, explaining to her that she didn’t need to “serve” me, encouraging her to stand up to herself.

And I will never forget that last, oh-so-telling remark flung at me, “You should get HER a glass of water!”

This was only the beginning. There seems to be an endless stream of people who feel the need to champion equality. If they see my wife doing the dishes, they feel it is their duty to inquire whether I have done my half. When they catch my wife changing diapers, they feel it their right to know when was the last time I had changed a diaper. These constant insinuations that I am a chauvinist really just spur me on.

The hypocrisy doesn’t bother me. Never once has a person seen me mowing the lawn, or shoveling the snow, cleaning the chicken coop, moving furniture, fixing the fence, taking out the garbage, etc. and stopped to ask whether my wife had done her half. Apparently, equality means, I’m supposed to do ALL the man’s work, and half the woman’s work.

Oh, but excuse me, I just uttered a blasphemy! How dare I say WOMAN’S WORK! Is a man too good to change a diaper, or wash a dish?! Is he too proud to cook dinner or vacuum the floor?!

Of course, not. My wife does the woman’s work, because I am a gentleman and let her. She likes to cook, but doesn’t enjoy scrubbing toilets. So of course, I clean the bathrooms. She doesn’t mind diapers, but hates mowing the lawn. As it happens, I mow the lawn.

To be fair, it isn’t all about my wife. There are things that we both hate. For instance, we both hate washing the dishes and cleaning the chicken coop. In this case, my wife sacrificially does the dishes and I sacrificially clean the chicken coop. And when one of us is overloaded, the other steps in to pick up the slack. We are a team. And if my phrase, “woman’s work,” is ruining your sense of worth, then I can change it. I can call it “Janine’s work.” That way you don’t think I’m suggesting that ALL women should be forced to do the SAME work.

But remember, the reason some jobs became referred to as “woman’s work” and others “man’s work,” wasn’t due to scheming patriarchs, conspiring to make their wives miserable, but because it was work that most women, or most men, preferred. And if some of us still prefer it, why should we be bullied?

I’m not worried about myself, but please stop shaming my wife. She doesn’t need your feminism. She doesn’t need your protection. She doesn’t need your condescension. She is fully aware what century it is. She doesn’t need you to free her from a traditional gender role, only to force her into a non-traditional gender role. She is a grown woman, capable of making rational decisions with her husband.

Besides, as her husband, I care more about my wife’s wellbeing than all the feminists combined ever could!

The post My Wife does the Woman’s Work; Please Stop Shaming Her. first appeared on True Aim.