Recorded live from the 2025 Illinois Christian Homeschool Convention (ICHE), Monte Larrick converses with Abraham Hamilton III. Hamilton is a husband, Bible teacher, a national radio host & TV host, a lawyer & homeschool father who was a keynote speaker for ICHE’s 2025 Conference, themed “This We Believe.”

Hamilton encourages listeners to prioritize homeschooling, because:

“For far too long, people have failed to recognize that mind cultivation is essential to disciple making.

Recording from the annual Illinois Christian Home Educator’s (ICHE) Convention at Olivet Nazarine University in Bourbonais, Monte Larrick conducts his annual interview with ICHE’s executive director, Kirk Smith.

The Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE) is a not-for-profit Christian organization dedicated to supporting families who choose to home educate their children throughout Illinois. Founded in December 1983 by four Christian families, its core mission is to encourage and equip parents to glorify Jesus Christ by discipling their children through home-based education.… Continue Reading

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The 2019 Illinois Christian Home Educators Family Conference (ICHE) in Bourbonnais was the setting for Monte Larrick’s recent interview with ICHE executive director, Kirk Smith. At the start, Smith details the reasons for a new venue and new focus – the importance of the family unit – for the conference.

The conversation moves on to the problem of government overstepping their jurisdiction in public, private, and home education and the imperative for families and the Church to proactively engage in the culture wars.… Continue Reading