February 2016 New Horizons

2 + 2 = 4 and Jesus Christ Is Lord

by Tom Sorkness and Joel Bacon

There is an anecdote, perhaps apocryphal, regarding the founding of the Christian school where we have taught for many years. Cornelius Van Til was part of a small group of people who helped to form what would eventually become Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian Academy. After it was established, Dr. Van Til visited the school one day and upon entering a classroom saw two things written on the board: “2 + 2 = 4” and “Jesus Christ is Lord.” This, in his estimation, was the epitome of Christian education: two great truths brought together in time and space and presented to young covenant children—two truths that should not be separated. This reality epitomizes the foundation of the Christian school. Built upon this foundation, Christian education should be covenantal, catechetical, cultural, Reformational, and doxological. Five Pillars of Christian Education It is the conviction of parents, following the demands of the covenant, that leads them to place their children in the Christian ... Read more

Our Homeschooling Experience—Plus a Classical School

by Thomas and Julia Church

We “officially” homeschooled our seven children, from pre-K through twelfth grade. Although they were homeschooled in name, we had lots of help along the way. During the grammar years, we relied heavily on Calvert School Home Instruction Courses, at times even using their teacher advisory service. As we had preschoolers and various grade levels, an organized course of enriched instruction was invaluable. Beginning in sixth grade, the day-by-day teacher’s manual was written to the student himself, encouraging our children to be more self-directed in their formal education. Since Calvert is not a “Christian” curriculum, it was necessary for us to apply biblical truth to what we were learning, which proved to be excellent preparation for when all seven of our children went to secular universities. Our Many Helps in Homeschooling For one particularly challenging grammar school year, we were able to hire a recent college graduate from our congregation to work with two of our young students. ... Read more

Homeschool Co-op Celebrates Twenty Years

by Elisabeth and Katherine DellaRova and Stephanie Farrell

“I’m very fond of popcorn,” said administrator Mary Capaldo, “and the beginning of the LEARN day reminds me of popcorn.” She described the administration office at LEARN (Liberty Education and Resource Network), a Christian homeschool cooperative currently serving about 170 families, which meets once a week at Faith OPC in Pole Tavern (Elmer), New Jersey. In the administration office, the photocopier is constantly running, and people are coming in and out with attendance sheets, questions about class changes, and requests for extra help in a classroom. It gets very noisy, at least for the first two hours. When she’s not answering questions, Capaldo tries to plan classes, teachers, and rooms for the next semester. How did a co-op of about fifteen homeschooling families in the mid-1990s turn into what it is today—five hundred people of all ages, from all over New Jersey, meeting in a church building? They’re all there for a common purpose—to enrich homeschool education and support ... Read more

Why We Chose Public School for Our Boys

by Barb and John Van Meerbeke

Since many people have strong convictions about how a covenant child should be educated, we thought that the best way to start the conversation would be to share some background about us and the experiences that influenced our decision about how to educate our children. We were raised in church-going families. To our knowledge, our parents didn’t consider anything but public education. My (Barb’s) dad was on the school board. Homeschooling wasn’t on people’s radar back then. Faith was meaningful to both of us as we set off for the University of Delaware, so we got involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) as soon as we arrived on campus. We connected with a large community of believers. God used Will Metzger, our IVCF staff worker, to encourage our growth in Christ. We were the “guinea pigs” for Will’s book, Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People , now in its fourth edition. We were plugged into small-group Bible studies, and we were encouraged ... Read more