Homeschooling 
"Arguments over grammar and style are often as fierce as those over IBM versus Mac, and as fruitless as Coke versus Pepsi and boxers versus briefs." – Jack Lynch I love the em dash. It's probably my favorite piece of punctuation. Just look at it—not like those wimpy little hyphens or scrawny parentheses. That's a solid punctuation mark. Beyond the em dash, I'm not that passionate about English grammar. Come to think of it, I can confidently say grammar bores me. All that business about coordinating conjunctions, dependent clauses, prepositions, and predicates? No thanks. Still, at some point, kids have to ...Read More
The Family Guide to Summer Stargazing
If you know me even casually, you probably know that I am an astronomy geek. When I was a kid, I was fascinated with the stars, and that fascination drew me to books about black holes, distant planets, and supernovas. Now that I'm older and a little more of a fuddy-dud, I use astronomy as an excuse just to lay outside on a nice summer night. Stargazing can be a very enjoyable family activity if you do it right. Below is a simple guide for viewing the night sky this summer. (The following advice is good for those who live in the northern hemisphere.) Read the Sky Like a Map With just a little bit of training, ...Read More
50 Free (or Cheap) Adventures Kids Can Have This Summer (+ a free summer adventure journal)
It was necessary for our family to come up with a list of free or cheap adventures kids can have this summer. Summers can be exciting for kids, but for some parents (ahem), summers present a challenge. How do we keep our kids from getting bored and vegging out in front of a screen all day long? One way our family has overcome this problem is by teaching our kids to live intentionally—teaching our kids to find the adventures in daily living. Summer Adventure Journal: Better yet, as our kids have new experiences, have them create a Summer Adventure Journal. This will be a place where they can write ...Read More
Christians Parents Ask: What Should I Teach My Kids About Tattoos?
The other day I received an email from a Christian mother asking how she should talk to her kids about tattoos. Her family had recently made friends with others who had large, very prominent tattoos on their body, and her children were curious about them. She wanted to be able to address the matter of what to teach kids about tattoos from a Christian worldview. This was my reply... Christians have different convictions about tattoos. Teaching Kids About Tattoos: Does God Forbid Tattoos? Some look to Leviticus 19:28 which commands Israel: "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo ...Read More
The Unhinged Church (When Interfaith Dialogue Goes Wrong)
It seems like some segments of the church today have become totally unhinged from reality. Earlier this month a Muslim law student was asked to read from the Koran during a Christian worship service in Glasgow Cathedral in Scotland. The provost of the church said he allowed this reading to “build relationships” between Muslims and Christians in the city. An admirable goal, to be sure, but what a strange and (I would say) blasphemous way to try to accomplish that goal—and this story provided a wonderful opportunity to pass on a valuable lesson to my kids. The Muslim student chose for his reading Surah 19, a ...Read More
The #1 Mistake Christians Parents Make When Talking About Puberty
Talking about puberty with your kids can be tough. Especially as Christian parents. As far as phases of life go, puberty is probably the most awkward. Zits, body hair, strange new odors, breasts, cracking voices, and the list goes on. The transition from childhood to adulthood makes for some strange new life experiences. I meet the same segment of parents over and over: parents who talk about talking about the specific changes of puberty without talking about sex. Talking about Puberty: Unintended Consequences Parents are often tempted to avoid talking about sex to their kids while still talking about puberty. ...Read More
6 Practical Ways to Cultivate Joy in Your Home at Christmas
It isn't hard for kids to be happy around Christmas, especially if they think there's going to be a pile of gifts waiting for them on December 25th. But this kind of happiness is hardly the joy the Bible talks about. "Happiness" comes from the Middle English hap meaning "chance" or "good luck." Happiness, for many people, is a circumstance: something that must happen to them in order to feel satisfied. Joy is something altogether different. Biblical joy is grounded in something eternal—in Christ whose coming into the world should be a cause of great joy for all people (Luke 2:10). Here are 6 ways to experience ...Read More
A Unique Approach to Helping Your Kids See Christ at Christmas (not just presents)
More stuff. That's what Christmas means to my kids—at least, that's what they say in their most unguarded moments. Oh sure, even my 5-year-olds can tell you all sorts of details about Jesus' birth, but it's tough to avoid the fact that Christ is not naturally their preoccupation throughout the season. As Christian parents living in modern western culture, we've inherited this holiday monster we call Christmas. A strange beast, if there ever was one—a twisted melding of middle-class capitalism, ancient Roman customs, Thomas Kinkade paintings, and medieval nativity scenes. And yet somehow amidst the mixed bag of ...Read More
