Parents often start off the year with lots of ideas, plans, and momentum, confident that they will keep that momentum through the year. But as the weeks pass by, parents may be finding themselves slipping into a rut, and they might find their child staring longingly out the window and letting out long sighs of boredom. If this is you, you are not alone! Many parents struggle to keep their children engaged as the routine starts to drag and the excitement from the beginning of the year drains away.

Take a deep breath and start with some of the following tips to help re-engage your child to learn while at home!

Students taking technical courses online face different challenges in an online learning environment. Parents, teachers and students are familiar with the traditional, ‘brick and mortar’ approaches to education. It’s what we were raised with. In that environment, students are gathered into an assigned space at a specific time where a teacher provides the instruction. The teacher leads in the presentation of the content and then moves to a lab-based activity. This is a linear focused approach that has instructional milestones and sets evaluations (i.e. quizzes or exams) to confirm student understanding and mastery of a set of objectives over a fixed period of time.

What model and approach works for the students today?

As an English teacher, I encounter idioms constantly.  As a student of languages, I find them constantly fascinating. As a Christian who seeks wisdom from scripture, I found biblical idioms reflected in God’s Word.

An idiom is a phrase that has a different meaning than the one suggested by the words that make up the phrase.  There is no logical reason that we say “It’s raining cats and dogs” or tell children “Don’t cry over spilt milk,” but we do.  What’s more, we understand each other.  Finding the correct meaning in these phrases is “a piece of cake.”

Over the last century, the doctrine of Inspiration (i.e. inspiration of Scripture) has become a centerpiece of discussion and interest, which in effect has raised many questions. For example, how can one know that the Bible is in fact inspired? If men wrote the Bible, how can it be of divine origins? How much of Scripture is actually inspired? Etc.

Part 2: How to prepare for a successful online school year

I promised to return with some more things to keep in might throughout the new school year.

Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

This Bible verse says it all. The most important thing to remember this school year is Who you are working for. Here are some helpful thoughts.

Common Core standards have been adopted by the many states and the District of Columbia. In light of their widespread adoption and implementation, you might expect general agreement on what they are, their benefits, and their acceptance. Unfortunately, the debates surrounding the Common Core standards often serve to confuse those they affect most deeply: you and your students.

Here are some basic facts about the Common Core Standards in the high school years to help you gain a better understanding of the system your school is using, and the possible alternatives.

As a new school year draws near, many of us seek inspiring back to school Bible verses. As with all of life’s endeavors, as graciously granted by the Father, Son, and Spirit, it is of the upmost importance to start off on the right foot in order to procure a successful and fruitful finish.

One way of entering the 2015-2016 school year in good form as parents, students, and teachers, is to begin with a biblical perspective. We have the wonderful privilege of fulfilling our end goal of glorifying God through bearing His image rightly wherein academic pursuits find their most glorious and rightful place.

The United States has a rich history of homeschooling K-12 students. Did you know that in 1840 almost half (45%) of all of the students in the U.S. were educated at home? Today, many parents are looking into a homeschool option for their child due to various reasons. The top reason for parents homeschooling is their growing concern about the traditional school environment.

Today, the nature of homeschooling looks a bit different with the introduction of K-12 online education. Here is a look at the journey of the past, present and future of homeschooling in the U.S.