SPOTLIGHT: Banned Books Week & Parents’ Concerns

Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg

In case you missed it, the week of September 22nd was announced as Banned Books Week according to the American Library Association (ALA). The ALA wants the public to believe that raising concerns about obscene material in children’s books is the same as Nazi book banning.

Thomas Hampson sits down with Monte Larrick to combat this false narrative. Thomas Hampson is a contributing writer for IFI serving as an intelligence analyst, U.S.… Continue Reading

Is The Educational Tide Turning?

Written by Robert Knight

For the last 30 years, E. Ray Moore has been persuading Christian parents to get their children out of government schools and into homeschooling or private education.

“I was swimming upstream for years, but I’m now swimming with the tide,” he told me recently while preparing for an educational summit in Lynchburg, Virginia. “I can’t keep up with it. There is too much going on.”

What began as a trickle when Mr. … Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Creation and Culture

Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg

This special episode of Illinois Family Spotlight features an interview with Ken Ham at the 2024 Illinois Christian Home Educators conference.

Ken Ham is the CEO and founder of Answers in Genesis, a Christian organization aimed at giving Christians real answers to deep questions about the world. He is the author of over thirty books and is also the founder of the two popular attractions: The Creation Museum and The Ark Encounter.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: How Can You Mess with Success?

Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg

This episode of Spotlight focuses on the topic of homeschooling.

Kirk Smith, ICHE’s (Illinois Christian Home Educator) executive director, gives encouragement to parents who don’t know how to homeschool, gives direction on how to choose good curriculum, and much more.

Parents, especially moms, feel like they’re unworthy- that they are not capable of homeschooling… if it’s [homeschooling] is a principle of God, it works– regardless of how good or how unprepared we feel as parents.

What’s The Big Deal About The Ten Commandments?

Written by Dr. Everett Piper

Did you know that the 11 words inscribed on the Liberty Bell, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the Land Unto all the inhabitants thereof,” were written by Moses?

Did you know that Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams originally proposed that the Great Seal of the United States include an image of Moses with the motto “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”?

Did you know that when the nine justices of the U.S.… Continue Reading

Success in Classrooms

Written by John Stossel

Government-run schools keep failing. It shouldn’t surprise us. Monopolies rarely serve customers well.

People call them “public schools,” but “government-run” is more accurate. After all, charter schools are available to the public. Privately run supermarkets are open to the public for more hours than “public” schools are.

International tests show American kids don’t learn as much as kids in other countries. During the pandemic, they did even worse because our teachers unions kept schools closed.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Be Like Nehemiah

Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg

In this episode of Spotlight, David Smith and Richard Hartian continue their discussion on fatherhood with Kent Evans.

Kent Evans is the co-founder of the ministry, Manhood Journey and is the author of Bring Your Hammer, a book that gives fathers tools on how to biblically disciple their children. Kent notes, “The only way we know about Jesus Christ is through discipleship.”

When asked why discipleship is so important, Kent notes,

I disciple my boys because God told me to, and if I am going to be faithful like Jesus was faithful, then I am going to do what God said… If I have children in this world, I am their primary disciple-maker.

The Fruit of Government Schools Is Bearing Itself Out On Our Streets

Written by Dr. Everett Piper

[Last] week’s news was dominated by the anti-Semitic protests taking place on college campuses across the nation. Columbia, Yale, Berkeley, Harvard. Over 120 American institutions have reported disruptions to the point that classes have been canceled and police have been called in to restore order.

So how did we get here? Who caused this mess? The answer is simple. All these childish antics and temper tantrums dominating the headlines can be traced back to one key source: the terrible ideas we have been teaching our children for the past 50 years. … Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Don’t Be a Lump of Human Dough

Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg

This episode of Illinois Family Spotlight features Reverend Ceasar LeFlore.

Reverend LeFlore is the director of Public School Exit , an IFI-affiliated organization dedicated to facilitating the exit of children from government schools. He is also the director of Good Soil Good Seed (GS2), a scholarship foundation designed to help children afford to attend Christian schools.

Reverend LeFlore has an event on April 18th, called “Saving Our Children for God.”  Attendance is free and the discussion will focus on the danger of Illinois government schools.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: A Conversation with Scott Lively

Written by Alyssa Sonnenburg

In this episode of Spotlight, Monte Larrick interviews Scott Lively, author and founder of Biblical Worldview Resource Center.

Scott Lively emphasizes the importance of pushing against the status quo of the culture. He also has a strong message to send to parents who continue to keep their kids in the public school system:

If you are intentionally keeping your kids in public schools, you know the children are being indoctrinated in secular humanist presuppositions in every field.