Rise them UP! is underwritten by The Wicks Family Grace Foundation

Guest: Riley Lee, President & Founder Skytree Book Fairs

Introduction, Riley’s background-she worked previously with actor Kirk Cameron

How difficult it is for parents navigating the world of children’s books…what’s Christian, wholesome & family friendly.

Riley explains how she never thought she would get into the publishing world.

How I attended a Drag Queen Storytime library board meeting. How I pointed out how they were a tool of the American Library Association. How I pointed out to them how the drag queen’s outfit was the indoctrination.

How her 3-year old daughter attended with her a Scholastic Bookfair. How Riley discovered LBGBQi & DEI books are being sold at those fairs. Subtle, but indoctrination none the less.

The difference between what the Left defines as book banning, but is simply parental efforts to make sure their children are not exposed to books that are not age appropriate. Even the movie industry has age-appropriate ratings systems.

How does Skytree Book Fairs find their books since they are not a book publisher?

How their review board reviews books. Riley introduces their mascot, a golden retriever, named Scout and what Scout stands for.

What children are looking for in books, excitement, adventure, humor & fun, not social justice agenda.

How their bookfairs work, usually runs 3-5 days. How they partner with nonprofits, schools, churches and ministries splits a percentage of sales.

Skytree sends boxes of books and whatever does not sell is returned. But, host of the bookfair

does not incur any upfront costs. But, they get to share a percentage of the sales for hosting.

Underewriter mention.

No upfront costs for the host, but they do screen the applicants and what Skytree as a nonprofit can handle.

Riley does then explain how their program works. How much monetarily does the school or church have to sell as a minimum to get a share of the profit?

How does a church or school contact them. Website: https://skytreebookfairs.org/Skytreebookfairs.org, email: [email protected].

Introduction of Guests: Trent A. Rogers serves as the Dean of Theological Studies & Associate Professor of New Testament & Greek at Cedarville University. Jonathan A. Wood serves as Vice President for Student Life & Christian Ministries and is an Associate Professor of Theological Studies at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio.

They discuss how long they have been serving college students & the two years it took to write the book.

Then we focused on how to choose a major to pursue. Then the professors discussed how to choose a major; however, we need to focus more on God’s desire for us versus what are our passions. They encourage students to think about how best to serve the world on behalf of God? What are they prepared to do? What are they passionate about? And how one makes that all come together for a student to make a living.

We discussed iPhones and technology and its influence upon the college experience.

100% of the money for the Compassion Grant Program comes from donors, many are former homeschool parents, and others who support educational choice.

We talked about the HSLDA and their core mission of legal defense for homeschool families. Organization is 40-years old. Nearly everyone who works for them homeschool or is a homeschool graduate.

HSLDA is a membership organization & what it costs. Here is where podcast listeners can apply for curriculum grants: https://hslda.org/explore/applying-for-a-curriculum-grant

And, Lorraine talks about what the requirements are to apply for the grants. Families receiving funds from the state via an ESA, families are not eligible to apply.

We talked about references needed to apply they can validate the general circumstances of the family apply and that they will use the money towards homeschooling.

All the processes are explained on the HSLDA website via short videos. Or, you can email the Compassion grants team to ask questions.

Base amounts in the grants are $300-$400 per homeschool student for core curriculum. HSLDA does not dictate what curriculum you can purchase with thee money. Special needs students and their needs are eligible.

Lorriane & Dianne stressed that you use Google Chrome to apply. That works best for applying for the Compassion Curriculum Grant.

Earliest opportunity to apply is by JUNE 30th! However, if you miss out, we discuss the two other times of the year to apply.

If one’s application is submitted by June 30th of this year, applicants learn if they’ll receive a grant in about 6-weeks, or mid-to-late August.

Applicants can call HSLDA Compassion with questions not found on the website at: 540-338-8688.

Recap of what it costs to join the HSLDA and financial aid available

How does one donate to the HSLDA to fund the compassion grants.

Over ¼ of the grants distributed the recipients found out about the HSLDA curriculum grants via word of mouth. And, applicants can apply more than once from year-to-year.

HSLDA Compassion Grants Program distributes anywhere between 700-800 grants per year.

HSLDA can also assist families struggling through natural disasters with grant money, and those families do not need to be HSLDA members.

Guest: Dr. Janice Supplee, vice president for marketing and communications of Cedarville University of 6,400 students. Undergraduate 4,000.

Introduction to Dr, Janice Supplee, VP of marketing and communication since 2016 of Cedarville University in Southwestern Ohio.

Location:

Their advertising motto and how they came up with it.

Eighty percent of students live on campus, so it’s family-oriented, community-oriented environment.

Biography

Website: Cedarville University; https://www.cedarville.edu/

How second nature profanity has become in our society & even in Congress.

The way that we speak reflects the way that we feel.

Swearing is “lazy language.”

Cursing is an excuse for thinking.

Judy Gruen talks about being a religious Jew who tries to avoid exposing herself to flagrant profanity, including by comedians.

The sinful nature of cursing

Fred gives biblical examples-quotes Scripture verses.

Parents are the first teachers and it’s best not to curse in front of your your children.

Judy then gives advice on how to talk to children about cursing even if it comes from their mommy or daddy. Teach your children that “words can create worlds or destroy worlds.” Judy talks about how she wanted her words to count for the good is one reason she writes on faith issues.

How we turn the tide of reversing the cursing trend that is so prevalent. How she became aware how much cursing has become so prevalent. She recalls a specific incident in a parking lot when she was with her children.

Why she thinks the issue is broader than cursing alone. The broader issue is that we’ve become used to saying what is the first thing that pops into our head especially on social media. She advises us that we all need to be more disciplined and actually stop to think before speaking.

How vulgar and coarse has become thought of in the public as somehow sophisticated. She’s puzzled by that trend.

We then pivoted the conversation to her new book, Bylines & Blessings, and how she came to write one. It deals with the push/pull of being a stay-at-home mother and professional journalist. How to balance motherhood and a professional life.

There is a lot of humor in this book and how she believes humor is a life tool.

She then goes on to discuss other books she published and that she is a accomplished editor. How writing teaches one how to speak. Clear thinking leads to clear writing and speaking. She advises to slow everything down. Too much happens too fast and we’d all be better off.

How times have changed whereby there are fewer & fewer censors to police the language.

What book influenced her to be a writer? She loved the humorous & columnist Erma Bombeck. She expounds upon Bombeck’s influence. She explains how humor is a balm and how it helps heal especially, like her, how it helped her through personal tragedy.

We then discussed what the future of the print media is like newspapers, magazines and books.

We then talked about coaching young writers and where to look for good writing such as her Substack & the Free Press.

Judy then talked about the public speaking aspect of her career. She often talks about the intersection of a personal life and professional life and utilizing faith as a undergirding value.

She then encourages people to find a creative outlet no matter what you are creating. “Creativity is energy.” Find ways to creatively share what you have to share.

Don’t be intimidated by your creative status. Go for it no matter what!

She relates how she overcame such intimidation at a conference when she was sandwiched between two more prominent speakers. How she learned to be real as a writer and speaker. And, how to be honest with yourself and your audience.

How to use New Media as a tool for furthering your message.

Wrapped It Up….

How we all need to work together to push back against the culture,

Introduction-Sponsorship mention: Wicks Family Grace Foundation

Fred Pry: describes what is Child Evangelism Fellowship Ministry.

Announces that he is no longer “Acting VP of Administration, but the Vice President of CEF

Fred talks about how CEF was founded & how long it has been around and who they serve worldwide.

I reference the article what brought Fred Pry into the studio about Undertanding the 6-Vital Keys to Spiritual Growth for Kids after they accept Christ.

Parents need to be enthusiastic about going to worship and worshipping.

He then explained how CEF was involved in a Supreme Court case that ruled in their favor.

We then recap the 6-Vital Keys to Spiritual Growth for Kids he wrote about in his article. We briefly revisit those 6-keys.

Fred mostly edited the article, but a team at CEF wrote the main body of the article. That led to a discussion of CEF’s creative staff locally and around the world.

Fred Pry then explains the joy of serving the Lord and why he loves his job. We further discussed his background in publishing that brought him to CEF.

Outro and closing mention of our podcast sponsor the Wicks Family Grace foundation.

CEF’s website- https://www.cefonline.com/

On this episode of Raise Them Up! host Fred Zielonko talks to Katy McKinney, founder and headmaster of the Academy de Lafayette, whose student body was ranked by the classic learning tests as having one of the highest test scores in the nation for the 2023-24 academic year.

How Katy came to name the school she founded and is the headmaster back in 2017.

Her “ah-ha” moment that convinced her start her own classical education school.

Then we discussed what is classical education?

We discussed how much homework they have and how they started as a K-thru 7th grade, and now it’s through it is K-thru-12.

How COVID impacted the growth in her school.

Katy discusses her vision for her academy and that includes an online edition.

Then, we discussed her teaching of civics in her academy and reading via phonics.

Why her Academy also includes a music education.

Katy discusses how they are funded and if they are profitable.

Lafayette also teaches capitalism, financial literacy, and how they integrate field trips into the curriculum.

Then we discussed parental involvement in classical education-Lafayette welcomes all parental involvement.

We discussed when is the best time to apply for enrollment?

Katy lays out and explains the whole curriculum, faculty, mission and discipline.

Finally, we discussed the decline of liberal arts education and how she thinks classical academies will cause a resurgence of liberal arts colleges.

Concluded with her contact information and how to apply, grants, financial aid & scholarships.

Hillsdale.edu is where you can find information about classical education schools throughout the United States.

Katy’s website is: www. lafayetteacademy.org – where you can find her bio and background information.

Natalie is a homeschool mother of five. Four of the five children have graduated college. Still homeschooling one. Has been homeschooling for over 23-years.

Why she became a homeschool mom… When her military chaplain husband got transferred to California, she gave up her therapy license in Maryland and decided then to homeschool mom.

Not anti-public school but favors homeschooling.

She is now a public speaker and author. She talks about how God opened doors for you, but no need to walk through them at one time.

Please put in an amazon link to her book: 101 Tips for Homeschooling.

Her workshop is bloom, uproot, and replant geared towards military families who are reassigned every two years. She teaches parents how to adjust to a new environment and maintain homeschooling., what laws apply in what states and in what country.

Wherever you homeschool state laws apply.

We then shifted to talking about how she helps homeschool students adjust to being away from home for the first time. Parents must realize that their children will leave one day & it’s important to prepare them to live away from home. Raising them to launch somewhere, but it doesn’t necessarily be college. It could be a career, military service, etc. So, it’s important to play to their passions and gear their education to support their passions.

We then discussed the importance of getting children in outside interests such as clubs and groups. (She recommends some groups a few minutes later) It helps them flesh out their academic resumes for college as well. They need to learn to make decisions independently.

She found in homeschool families, the older siblings help raise the younger siblings and help them learn to listen to and trust MOM.

Participation in outside groups helps children think independently, make decisions, some good & some bad, and how to learn from their independence. That’s where parents need to step back and not be involved.

Natalie then discusses how she would incorporate their various domestic and foreign locations into learning, or the national election in teaching civics and citizen responsibilities. She suggested taking your children with you when you go vote.

Then we discussed MHA, Military Homeschool Association, a nonprofit to assist military parents. They’ll learn their rights as military homeschool parents. (This would be a good group to add to our Education Resource Page).

She then plugged her podcast, consulting, public speaking, and her website www.natalie-mack.com.

Natalie then discusses how God is using her and how she listens for His direction.

We close talking about her consultation business. First consultation is free.

She can help homeschool student athletes learn what they need to know to meet NCAA requirements for athletic scholarships.

Finally, how to pace oneself for all that God gave her to do.

Sikkenga, a political professor works at the Ashbrook Center in Ashland Ohio

He’s co-author of “It’s a Republic if We Can Teach It”

We discuss the book & the hunger for a deep civics’ education-but young people are not getting it- less time devoted to civics. Time is being devoted elsewhere.

Schools don’t teach civics along with U.S. History. Causing a crisis because it’s difficult to keep a republic when young people don’t know what a republic is.

Ashland University is educating teachers on how to teach civics centered on the primary documents of our founding such as the Constitution, Bill of Rights, sermons, etc.

The shift away from civics began in the 1960’s when the space race outlined by Kennedy put a greater emphasis on science & math. Then, it continued right up to today with the stem programs.

Sikkenga thinks the approach to teaching civics needs to change. Teachers don’t have time to dig deeply into our history to make it fascinating similar to the Bible.

The question most often missed is “why?” do have the government we have, the history we have. When asked, it brings history & civics alive.

More of civics and history needs to be tied to contemporary times to make it more interesting to students.

We started talking a bit about the Supreme Court.

Dr. Sikkenga talked about the Ashland way of teaching civics that sets it apart. Too much is just memorization, testing and then the students forget about what they learned.

Our public discourse is very thin when it comes to civics. For instance, we have lost sight of the Declaration of independence. New immigrants are better versed on American civics than native born citizens.

Why they wrote the book and aimed it at journalists & teachers to strengthen the public discourse as they report on the law and constitutional issues.

How civics & history has gone woke in how it is taught. Slavery is one such topic. Jefferson & Washington both wrote about slavery. They knew it was morally evil and hoped it would go away. But, slavery is complex, so if no scant look at it reflects well on our founding fathers.

Always a question of how to have an honest conversation in our woke society, about the bad aspects of our history. But, if addressed head on and directly the conversations remain civil.

How do we do things differently. His book offers solutions. History and civics have to be taught by teaching children how to think. In essence, teachers have to be taught what makes up education.

Policymakers can also have a role in educating teachers, helping them discern what documents are the most important to teach.

Then, we shifted the conversation and discussed how he came to write the book with the former President of Pepperdine University David Davenport. David keep pushing the project forward.

Both authors agreed when writing the book, that the crisis in civics education was: “we (our society & academics) have done less and worse and we need to do more and better civics education.” So, David, a policy guy focused on the more part, and Sikkenga focused the better part of how to teach history & civics better…so they complimented each other well.

Book has been favorably received because it cuts across political divides. Then, Sikkenga talked about Reagan’s final speech about patriotism. Link to amazon book: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=It%27s+a+Republic%2C+if+We+can+Teach+it+by+Davenport+%26+Sikkenga&crid=BRMR5T9ZAJSX&sprefix=it%27s+a+republic%2C+if+we+can+teach+it+by+davenport+%26+sikkenga%2Caps%2C79&ref=nb_sb_noss

Ashbrook Center (https://ashbrook.org)has a website aimed at teachers called “TeachingAmericanHistory.org” They have programs high school students can take from the Ashland Center over the summer in person at the Ashbrook Academy. Link to teachers’ site: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/

Their podcast is “The American Idea- link here: https://ashbrook.org/americanideapod/

Host: Fred Zielonko

Fred sets up a scenario for Dr. Gray to analyze his own 1960’s upbringing.

Then, Dr. Gray & Fred discussed what defines “play.” Dr. Gray determined it was self-directed by the children & self-controlled by the children. So, he wondered how these students learned anything being self-directed. He learned that the older kids helped teach the young kids, while the older kids learned to respect the younger children, sort of a throwback to a 1-room schoolhouse.

Play according to Dr. Gray is an activity initiated & directed by the children themselves. No adults involved. It’s how children learn how to negotiate, compromise, resolve disagreements, and to set their own rules.

How Charles Schultz’s cartoon strip “Peanuts” encapsulated the golden era of play

When the golden age of self-directed play began to decline and why.

In 1955, adults began to colonize child’s play. 1955 was the year more families had television than did not. And, then too, the Mickey Mouse Club started robbing children of their playtime because the program came on immediately after school.

1st time advertisers could reach parents through their children. Many new toys were designed for indoor play. So, Dr. Gray and his buddies began to go home and watch TV instead of playing outdoors after school.

Dr. Gray then begins to discuss the detrimental impact of reduced play on children as they grow older.