Léo's Insights
A place where issues related to the Christian walk and its application to home education is discussed.
Topics are meant to challenge you to think differently, to make a difference in this world, starting with the children you have been blessed with.
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Who Should I Register With for Home Education? Choices (Part 4)
Have you ever made a bad decision? I certainly have. However, I do believe it is better to take the risk of making a bad decision than not to make any decision at all.
I made a bad decision several years ago while enjoying a bit of warm winter weather in California. I could see the relationship with our associate school at the time was becoming strained, but I decided to wait and see what would happen. Shortly thereafter, our contract with the school was terminated and the school attempted to take over our families.
This put us into a do-or-die situation, as we had no time to apply for our own accreditation. Another school came to our rescue and we continued for another six years, during which time I did nothing toward the establishment our own school. This turned out to be another bad decision as this agency also came to threaten our demise.
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So, What’s The Attraction? Choices (Part 3)
Talk about failure! Every time I am informed a family is leaving Education Unlimited for another option, I am tempted to think we have done something wrong or failed to properly enable, equip and encourage them.
People are certainly free to choose the option that works best for them. Our job has never been to argue with parents so we respect parental decisions even when we disagree. Still, I always wonder what could possibly be the attraction of the replacement institution, particularly when people are sending their children back to school?
First things first. I am not so naive as to think everyone should home educate. There are situations that require students to attend school. Even so, most people can and should choose home education simply because parents are best able to meet the individual needs of their children.
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A Big Decision – Where Should Your Children be Educated? Choices (Part 2)
The fact that I became a public school teacher many years ago is somewhat of a miracle. I always liked learning, but I never really liked school, particularly not grade school. How did I end up working in a place like that? I never aspired to be a school teacher, that’s for sure, but I needed a job. I believed it would only be for the short term, but this career decision now includes nearly fifty years of history!
Even though my negative school experience challenged me, I decided that if I was going to be a part of that system, I would do my best to improve it. This turned out to be a major case of naivety as I quickly learned the system is inflexible. There was no changing it so the best I could do was give my all in the classroom where maybe, just maybe, I could make a difference. Once a teacher, I realized very few of my colleagues were dedicated to training children and those who were tended to stay away from the staff room where true colours went uninhibited.
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Decisions, Decisions! Choices (Part 1)
The other day, my wife, Faye and I decided to take a break from our increasingly busy workload to go to an outdoor music event. Strangely, we could not decide when to head out, and once we got there the indecision continued. Where to sit? What to eat? What to drink? Sit alone or with others? For some reason, neither of us could decide. Too tired, maybe. We found ourselves temporarily paralyzed by this indecision. I finally picked a place to sit, setting us free from our paralysis, and the rest of the decisions came easily.
While later reflecting on this unusual experience, I realized that the inability or refusal to decide is what prevents people from moving forward, even from learning and growing. When one thinks of it, life is actually made up of decisions, many decisions. And every decision has outcomes, be they big or small, good, bad or inconsequential.
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Embarking On A New Venture: Part 4 – Have a Good Summer
I don’t want to say this but this has been an awful year. Actually, the last two years have been very trying. However, it’s all been worthwhile because of the establishment of the Education Unlimited Academy. This new development is the pinnacle of my entire career as an educator. I cannot hide my glee with our new school situation!
No doubt there will be a lot of work and more than a few frustrations and disappointments, however it is nothing if not worth fighting for.
I want to end this year and this era by reminding you that June 30 will mark the end of Education Unlimited Inc., the private third party home education provider working on behalf of an associate school. This September will mark our inaugural year as a private school, the Education Unlimited Academy.
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Embarking On A New Venture: Part 3 – A Miracle
Most true believers know there is a reward for faithfulness, but most believe this is only obtained when we get to heaven. I am convinced this is true, but I also believe that in this world, you reap what you sow. Unfortunately this is too often quoted when people who are making bad decisions are threatened with bad consequences.
However, the Bible does not support an only-bad-consequences narrative. Those who sow good seeds reap good crops. This is not a big deal if you understand our job description as representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our job is to do everything with two things in mind: do everything to the glory of God and give Him thanks for the accomplishments. A perhaps more common sense approach is: “If you are going to do something, aim for excellence”.
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Embarking On A New Venture: Part 2 – Education Unlimited Explained
Last week, I shared about my long and continuing career in education. Today, I want to focus on how Education Unlimited came to be.
You will remember that a bad experience in my daughter’s school prompted my wife and I to reconsider what we had unquestioningly accepted as the only way to train and teach our children. That wake up call led not only to our decision to home educate, but also to me transferring to a large high school in Edmonton where I saw out my public school teaching career, fourteen years later.
Ironically, while I was still teaching in public school, I became a consultant for home education in my local school division, as well as a leader in our local support group. Because of my newly gained expertise in home education, I became a facilitator with a home education provider and soon became an expert on successfully moving students to the post-secondary level without needing high school credits and diplomas.
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Embarking On A New Venture: Part 1 – Some History
Yes, we are engaged in a new venture. Perhaps even my final big venture. This is certainly my biggest venture and most likely to be a really exciting adventure. This could be the culmination of my career in education, but God only knows that for certain. Before I get into what this new venture is, I think it would be a good idea to review a bit of history.
My wife, Faye, and I started our home education journey during the late 1980’s. I had been teaching in a variety of capacities for over ten years at the time and I was very disappointed with what I saw inside the school industry. Like most teachers, I had tricked myself into believing that while the school I was teaching at may have been less than ideal, the ones my children attended were somehow better. That “lie” was exposed when I was transferred to the school my daughter was attending.
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Lessons Learned (Part 4)
In the last few blogs, I discussed how simple life can be when we choose to serve God rather than man and prioritize our lives to include God, family and friends. I then went on to show how we end up being directed in life by things we believe to be true, but we end up misguided because we do not question what is being presented. We have come to trust the “science”, the “experts”, the “professionals” and the “authorities” without considering that they could be wrong, or worse, intend on doing wrong.
When filled with the false information we have come to believe, we end up pawns in a game that almost always takes us away from God and/or the purpose for which we exist.
However, it is not always because we have come to be filled with bad information that we stray from reality. It can certainly be as a consequence of being so busy there is no time to stop and evaluate. There is also the problem of familiarity which often causes us to miss two important issues.
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Lessons Learned (Part 3)
A few years ago, I heard some sound wisdom while helping a friend at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. This is a place were you will find no pretensions. Everyone is genuine and sincere. All understand that they fall short of the glory of God.
At this gathering, people shared their sad stories without fear of being judged by others because everyone is well acquainted with their own faults. As I listened to these accounts, an old man not only shared his story of profound loss and destruction, but offered his advice for recovery from alcoholism. I will never forget his wisdom and even though I cannot point to a specific Chapter and verse of the Bible in direct support of his statement, I can testify from a lifetime of experience that his insight was genuine and most certainly true. He simply said he finally came to a place where he could seriously deal with his problem the day he stopped believing his own bullshit!
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