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.
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Tags: homeschooling, ICHE, Illinois Christian Home Educator, Kirk Smith, Podcast, Spotlight
Education, Faith & Religion, Marriage, Family & Culture, Religious Liberty | Alyssa Sonnenburg | 
June 29, 2024 6:00 AM | 
Comments Off on SPOTLIGHT: How Can You Mess with Success?
Written by Robert Knight
Home-schoolers consistently outscore government school students in every academic area. It’s no wonder that the public school establishment hates and fears home schooling.
The clearest evidence yet came in this past Thursday’s Washington Post. “THE REVOLT OF CHRISTIAN HOME-SCHOOLERS” (all caps in original) is a voluminous, front-page article almost entirely about one Loudoun County, Virginia, couple who had home-schooled their children before opting to enroll them in public schools.… Continue Reading
Tags: Bernie Sanders, COVID–19, Fundamentalist, Home Education, homeschooling, pandemic, Peter Jamison, Taliban, Ten Commandments, The New York Times, Washington Post
Education, Media Watch | David E. Smith | June 5, 2023 4:00 AM | Comments Off on Washington Post Hit Piece on Home Schooling is Thinly Veiled Attack on Christianity
IFA Staff Reports
We were very impressed with his presentation and the question and answer session with Woodford County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dennis Tipsword, Jr. Not only does he have 27 years of law enforcement background, with a specialty in drug interdiction, he owns three small businesses, including an ammunitions machine shop.
Dennis is passionate on the right to life, ethics in government, responsible spending, and preserving Second Amendment rights to protect our families. His experience as a police officer also informs his opposition to the expanded “comprehensive” sex education mandate which, in our opinion, is nothing more than grooming innocent and vulnerable children for early sexual activity.… Continue Reading
Written by Emily Burke
Parents are taking their children’s education into their own hands in record numbers after a disastrously tumultuous school year.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s experimental Household Pulse Survey, which is an online survey recording social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrates a dramatic shift towards homeschooling within the past year and a half. The survey included roughly 22–23 million American households spanning from the spring of 2020 to the fall of 2021.… Continue Reading
Tags: Classical Learning Test, comprehensive sex education, COVID-19 lockdowns, COVID–19, critical race theory, Dr. Anika Prather, gender theory, homeschooling, Household Pulse Survey, Howard University, Jeremy Tate, Joyce Burgess, LGBTQ History Bill, Living Water School, Mask mandates, National Black Home Educators
Education | David E. Smith | September 2, 2021 8:24 AM | Comments Off on The Explosive Growth of Homeschooling
Kirk Smith, executive director of Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE), wonders what will be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back – the backs of Christian parents, even the backs of moral, non-Christian parents – when it comes to deciding to leave the cesspool of government schools? Will it be the recently passed legislation that requires availability of feminine hygiene products in both female and male school restrooms or will it be the mandate to teach hardcore sex education to public school students as early as kindergarten?… Continue Reading
Tags: Bourbonnais, Christians, government schools, homeschooling, ICHE, Illinois, Illinois Christian Home Educators, Illinois Legislature, kids, Kirk Smith, left, Monte Larrick, Olivet Nazarene University, proficiency, public schools, the left, Woke, wokeism
| Benjamin D. Smith | June 22, 2021 12:21 AM | Comments Off on “It’s Not Education, It’s Perversion” (Illinois Family Spotlight #256)
Written by Benjamin Smith
Every homeschooler who’s had any home education experience at all has heard the myths about homeschooling. The most familiar ones are cautionary tales about the “unsocialized homeschooler,” the homeschooler who lacks any extra-curricular opportunities, or the “disadvantaged” homeschool student who will never gain admittance to college. Here to permanently put to rest these unfounded myths are David Smith, executive director of IFI and IFA, and Richard Hartian, chairman of the IFA board of directors.… Continue Reading
Tags: American Heritage Girls, Eliana Hartian, Home School Legal Defense Association, homeschooling, Jenna Smith, Kenna Hartian, Liberty University, Richard Hartian, Trail Life USA
Education | David E. Smith | June 8, 2021 7:00 AM | Comments Off on SPOTLIGHT: Busting Myths, Homeschool Style
Producer’s note: I apologize for not apprising listeners that last week’s podcast (#253) would be one segment and not two. This podcast will have the same format, likewise the third part next week. David Smith, Rich Hartian and their daughters recorded this series of podcasts all at one time, thus the questionable ending last week.
Any homeschooler who’s had any homeschooling experience at all has heard myths about homeschooling. These include the “unsocialized homeschooler,” the homeschooler that has no extra-curricular opportunities, or that poor homeschooler who won’t be able to go to college.… Continue Reading
Tags: Christian education, Christianity, David Smith, education, Eliana Hartian, Hartians, homeschooling, Jenna Smith, Kenna Hartian, Richard Hartian, Smith, the Bible
| Benjamin D. Smith | 12:20 AM | Comments Off on “Busting Myths, Homeschool Style” (Illinois Family Spotlight #254)
Written by Monte Larrick
Finally, 2020, the year many have proclaimed the Worst. Year. Ever, nears the finish line. Joining us for the last podcast of this extraordinary year is Ben Smith, the producer of Spotlight. Ben is a 20-year-old college sophomore, part-time employee of IFI and IFA, and the son of Executive Director, David Smith. Follow Ben on Twitter @realbs19.
Our “eclectic conversation” includes a discussion of Michael Madigan’s future in the Illinois House of Representatives, the perpetuation of racial division in America, the relevance of biblical authority, Ben’s online interactions with Marxist professors and peers at the University of Southern California, the fate of religious freedom in a Biden-Harris administration, indoctrination in government schools and government intrusion in homeschooling, election integrity, the pandemic, President Trump’s potential post-White House role in the Republican Party, and much more.… Continue Reading
More parents are looking to homeschooling and private education as government schools in Illinois face uncertainty because of the CCP virus and pro-LGBT history in classrooms starting very soon. During this time of racial unrest, leftists are pressing the U.S. Senate to pass The Equality Act: the game-changing legislation which would raise sexual attraction and “gender” perception to the same level as race in our laws. BreakPoint commentator John Stonestreet weighs in during this edition of Illinois Family Spotlight.… Continue Reading
Written by Michelle Thomas
Here in Georgia, the mass hysteria about the coronavirus has caused the governor to declare a “public health state of emergency.” He has advised public schools and daycare centers to close for two weeks in order to curb the opportunities for the virus to spread. It’s unclear which is causing more panic in the hearts of Georgia citizens—the coronavirus, the toilet paper shortage, or the fact that parents will have to be home with their children nonstop for two weeks straight.… Continue Reading
