Author Archives: Mark

PHP Example for Amazon Signed Request

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Simple Example of PHP software changes to comply with Authenticated / Signed Request / Query to Amazon’s AWS / Product Advertising API for affiliate websites – which may affect some homeschool websites. Amazon documents hint at how to do this, but there’s no sample code for PHP programming – Here’s how I got it to work… // example starts with… Read more »

Wisdom from Proverbs

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Regular reading and study of the book of Proverbs is an outstanding way to examine your decisions, plans, and attitudes in light of God’s will. For years, my practice has been to read a chapter of Proverbs each Saturday and Sunday, along with other bible readings. I read the chapter corresponding to that day’s date – Proverbs 8 on the… Read more »

Music History and Appreciation

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Everyone should understand music. Not that everyone is called to be a musician, but understanding the basic structure of music and its place in history and society is crucial. By age 14-16, your students should understand enough history and culture to be able to appreciate the importance of music throughout the ages. Or, if you’re a middle-aged adult like me,… Read more »

Job: When the Righteous Suffer, John Piper

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John Piper was in Austin last month for the 2008 Desiring God Regional Conference.  The subject was the book of Job and the suffering of the righteous.  No one questions why the wicked suffer, but all are perplexed when the upright and blameless go through great difficulty. John Piper presented his study of the book of Job, born of 28 years of pastoral… Read more »

ACCS – Take Home Message

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The Association of Classical Christian Schools annual conference was a wonderful feast of insight and wisdom. The conference fulfilled its theme of “Truth, Goodness, and Beauty”. As homeschoolers, attending this conference aimed at private school teachers was a good sanity check of our methods and ideals. By and large, our family’s approach was confirmed. As with any great conference, a few… Read more »

ACCS – School of the Future

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Several of the ACCS Conference speakers remarked that their greatest joy is in seeing some of their former students return to their schools – as teachers.  The movement is maturing and the second generation is emerging.  Teachers who early on were not sure they were making an impact are thrilled to see that many of their students did actually learn… Read more »

ACCS – Rhetoric/HighSchool Challenges

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I attended a workshop by Chris Schlect in which he present results of a recent survey of longtime teachers and administrators in the ACCS. As we homeschool, I’m not in the classical school movement directly. It was fascinating to hear the inside scoop on where educators see the movement as succeeding, making progress, or struggling. There were 114 respondents, all… Read more »

ACCS – Nathan Wilson on Story and Rhetoric

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Nathan Wilson spoke on “Story and Rhetoric”. Rhetoric is the final stage of classical education, in which the student learns to present their knowledge and wisdom persuasively and beautifully. The talk focused on the idea of “proof”. Nathan presented “proof” not as mathematical certainty but as “that which obligates belief”. You may prove your point even if folks don’t agree…. Read more »

ACCS – Ken Myers on Culture

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*UPDATE* Here’s the link to this lecture. As this site attests, I am interested in education in general and greatly interested in time-proven “classic” methods that have endured through the ages. I would have enjoyed the ACCS conference for this reason alone. But the reason I leapt for the mouse and the online registration form way back in April was… Read more »

Light in the Heart

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2Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2Timothy 1:9-10 [God] has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His… Read more »