Academia or Character — is it an either/or question?
Last weekend in Jacksonville at the HERI fair I picked up a free copy of Volume #82 of this magazine. Mary’s editorial lamented the fact that homeschooling parents have to spend so much time educating their children that they don’t have time to “instruct in righteousness.” At the end of the article Mary listed a couple of options for parents to consider in order to compensate for this dilemma (one such recommendation was having students attend Summit Ministries leadership camps) and then she said, “Parents, if you have more suggestions, let me know.” So I emailed her . . . and wrote the following:
Mary, Mary, Mary … have I got some exciting news for you! This past weekend I went to Jacksonville, FL to help John Stonestreet (executive director Summit Ministries) at his table (he was keynote speaker). I picked up Volume 82 of Practical Homeschooling and read your opening article bemoaning the fact that homeschool parents have to spend so much time preparing their children for college that they have little time for anything more than academia. You closed with, “If you have any additional ideas, I’d love to hear them.”
Boy howdy, do I have additional ideas!! At the end of this I will past URLs to several recommended programs. You did mention Summit Ministries in your article and I wholeheartedly agree with that suggestion!
It’s a good thing I had nine children because it took getting to #5 to realize, in regards to homeschooling, the importance of instructing in righteousness w/o spending 100% time preparing for college. Our family is passionate about training our children to understand, embrace, and live out a Biblical worldview. We are 100% sure that if our children’s hearts are right that they can be used by God in a huge way regardless of whether we adequately prepared them academically during the teen years or not (not that we are purposefully avoiding academia). However, realizing the importance of training for life, we made several changes by the time #5 (Jon Jon) became a teen. One decision we made was not to allow him to have a “real” job. He could earn money working with his dad or working temporary jobs, but he couldn’t be tied down to a job. Why? Several reasons — some of which had to do with negative experiences encountered by our older children in their work environments — but primarily we didn’t want Jonathan to hold a job so he would be free to go to all the “non negotiable parentally mandated” places we made him go — to worldview seminars, worldview camps, worldview debates, speech and debate conferences, mission trips, political events, etc. Have we reaped positive results with this? You bet we have! So far our 19 year old son has heard the following speakers in person:
He has been to a multitude of programs but two of them you may not be familiar with. Last year he attended Impact 360 — a gap year program started by Chic fil A. What an amazing year he had. This fall he will attend Summit Semester. Eventually he’ll attend Summit Oxford Semester. Right now he’s staffing at Summit in Tennessee. Our family organizes and conducts worldview seminars and the children are the teachers!
Take a look at these sites:
Summit.org (Summit Semester — our son will attend this program this fall)
http://www.summit.org/institutes/
Impact 360 (our son attended this last year)
http://www.lifeshape.org/Impact360/
Our Youtube Worldview Seminar promo (not as professional as Summit, but we’re getting there)
(uploaded yesterday — our pix is on first slide)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YQ2plNruZhs
Youtube for Summit (my son is the first speaker):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1jfVdPz50mQ
Impact graduation Video (they are in the process of producing a promotional video — this video was made to show the students at graduation)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oboaPCU6H98
Worldview Academy (one week camp for students as young as 13 — my son staffed with them last year)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xtpQSMbhfWc
Worldview Weekends (we’ve attended numerous worldview weekends)
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/
Communicators for Christ (we’ve participated in the speech and debate conference as well as the Masters conference)
http://www.communicatorsforchrist.com/
Teen Pact
http://www.teenpact.com/
Bryan College Worldview Team
http://www.bryan.edu/wvteam.html
Worldview 101 (our ministry)
http://worldview101.com/
We’re conducting seminars in TN, GA, and FL in August. One of these days we’ll travel all over the US. We are planning to travel with the Bryan College Worldview Team in October during their fall break.
Also, below my signature are comments about our seminars from John Stonestreet, Ben Williams, and Bonnie Ward. (Titles included in the endorsement.)
Marveling at God’s providence to have placed Volume #82 in my hands, I am, sincerely yours for His kingdom,
Pat Wesolowski
From John Stonestreet, executive director, Summit Ministries:
Children who have a Biblical worldview and who understand worldview issues are less likely to walk away from their faith when it is tested by life. I have taught alongside the Wesolowskis at worldview seminars for several years, and I am impressed with the information presented to the students and how it is presented at their level. Through their seminars, students grasp a clear understanding of what it means to hold and live out a biblical worldview.
From Ben Williams, director Bryan College Worldview team:
Having worked with the Wesolowskis in a number of different situations, we have always appreciated the depth and professionalism they bring into a worldview seminar. As the Director of the Bryan College Worldview Team, I conduct multi-media, Christian worldview conferences for schools, churches, and homeschool groups around the eastern U.S., and I look forward to the opportunities where I am able to partner with the Wesolowskis to expand our ability to connect with a wider ranges of ages.
From Bonnie Ward, administrator with The First Academy (First Baptist school) in Orlando, FL:
Thank you so much for the excellent worldview seminars which you have presented at The First Academy. Your presentations were timely, thought provoking and meaningful to both parents and students. The times are indeed challenging and preparing Christians to think from a Christian Worldview perspective is very relevant as our culture no longer recognizes truth. May your ministry continue to impact other families to be prepared to influence the culture for Christ.
