Friday, July 10, 2009

My PA Story

I was asked to interview for a job at a new P.A. school that was starting in my area. They asked me to interview for a high school history and English position. That doesn't happen very often. I had a child at home that was borderline ready to start kindergarten. We had decided not to start him, but I really felt God's tug to take the interview.

The school ended up only partially implementing the Principle Approach, but the part I worked with was fully implemented. I had been a career teacher and had always felt something was missing. Now I knew what it was.

My husband wanted our children to have the whole ball of wax, so he encouraged me to school them at home. I was nervous because I was a high school teacher, my children were young, and I had never taught reading. My husband encouraged me to go to a Spalding seminar, which I did, and we were off and running.

Having begun in a Principle Approach school gave me opportunities that most do not get. I was able to go to the Foundations course and Applications courses in mathematics, history, and English and Literature. It was through these courses and the fact that I became an Asst. Administrator in my school that I was able to develop my connections with FACE and interact a bit with James Rose (he helped me set up a PA government and economics class).

Before I was myself homeschooling I worked a Principle Approach booth at our Colorado Homeschool convention. It was there that God planted a seed to mentor homeschool families. There were many comments along the lines of 'it's great that you have all this support in the schools; I wish we had this sort of support all the time as homeschool parents.' Those comments never left me.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Michelle,

My name is Gina and I am new to the Principle Approach and seem intimidated about being able to do it by what I have learned about it so far. I have three children ages 8, 5 and 3 and I do not have a background in education. I first heard about the Principle Approach approx. one month ago through the bio of Ruth Smith of Pilgrim Institute because she came to speak at our local homeschool conference. I came to your blog through my online searching. Most of the searching I have done seems to lead me to The Noah Plan. One question I have for you is if you can tell me the difference between Pilgrim Institute and The Noah Plan? Ruth Smith will be returning to our area in August for a week long training on Rudiments of America's Christian History and Government and the preregistration for this course ends next week. I am debating on whether to take this course or order instructional dvd's through FACE on The Noah Plan. If I should wait on the Pilgrim Institute course, I may have to travel to another state to take the course in the future. I have ordered the self-study course from FACE which I recently received but am not very far along in it. I do not have any connections to anyone else that uses the Principle Approach but I believe the Lord is leading in this direction. Can you help me to understand where I should begin and what your thoughts are about the upcoming Pilgrim Institute course. Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Blessings,
Gina Hempen

Unknown said...

Hi Gina,
I would encourage you to attend the seminar. It is an excellent study and is one that everyone interested in the Principle Approach should go through. The Pilgrim Institute has very close ties to the Foundation for American Christian Education and they would teach this course through the Principle Approach. It also would give you the opportunity to be with like minded people and experienced teachers of the Principle Approach. You would have people you could talk to face to face about your questions, and that's always a good thing.

Also, remember that you may feel alone, but you aren't. You have the Holy Spirit as you guide and mentor. And I'm not far away and I'm most always available. My email is mheidemann@myedl.com. For some reason my son's got published here; I'm not certain how that happened--I need to change that, but you have what you need now.

Share with me your thoughts after you attend the seminar. I'll be excited to hear from you.
Michelle

Michelle Heidemann said...

Hi Gina,
I would encourage you to attend the seminar. It is an excellent study and is one that everyone interested in the Principle Approach should go through. The Pilgrim Institute has very close ties to the Foundation for American Christian Education and they would teach this course through the Principle Approach. It also would give you the opportunity to be with like minded people and experienced teachers of the Principle Approach. You would have people you could talk to face to face about your questions, and that's always a good thing.

Also, remember that you may feel alone, but you aren't. You have the Holy Spirit as you guide and mentor. And I'm not far away and I'm most always available. My email is mheidemann@myedl.com. For some reason my son's got published here; I'm not certain how that happened--I need to change that, but you have what you need now.

Share with me your thoughts after you attend the seminar. I'll be excited to hear from you.
Michelle

Michelle Heidemann said...

The Pilgrim Institute is a separate organization from the Foundation for American Christian Education, but they are acquainted and do similar work. They do work together from time to time.

The Noah Plan is a curriculum which is taught according to the Principle Approach (the method). The Noah Plan is published by the Foundation for American Christian Education. Their website is on the main page of the blog with the links at www.face.net. You can click there to go to their site. They also have www.facebookstore.net and www.principleapproach.org.

It's possible that the "Rudiments" course may be the next one we go through online here. We will be doing it eventually; I just haven't decided the order for certain yet.

It's hard for me to tell you what you should do since I don't know you that well. I would definately make it a matter of prayer. A group of us are studying here online and you are welcome to join us here instead or even in addition to the Pilgrim Institute course. I can tell you that they won't disappoint you if you choose to attend. You will learn a lot.

The Foundation suggests starting with the "Self-Directed Study in the Principle Approach". This is the study we will be doing online here. And you are very welcome to join us. Look on the main page for a posting telling which materials you would need if you choose to join us here.

Michelle Heidemann said...

Gina...sometimes I log on and Gabe's (my son) name lands on the page. I don't know why. My name is Michelle.