MESSAGE FROM OUR MANAGER

HEARTFELT PRAYER – THE ENGINE ROOM OF HOME SCHOOLING

Dear Friends,

Prayer is the secret weapon for us as home schooling parents, when it comes to the development of our children. The Scripture above talks about being in “distress”, and the person then calls out to the Lord, who in turn, answers their cry.

I don’t mean to suggest that you should be in a state of “distress” as a home educator. However, being very focussed in your prayer, clearly gets to the Lord’s ear and includes Him in matters that are very important to you. I do know that when I have been in a state of distress, my prayer has been more focussed, less superficial and undistracted. I call it “heartfelt prayer”.

Heartfelt prayer is when you are operating at a deeper level than you may when you just quickly give thanks for a meal or pray about the day’s normal routine. Heartfelt prayer can be described as when you have no petrol left in your own tank, you have no solutions of your own, you are at rock bottom, with few alternatives. It is when you NEED an answer. This is when you call out to God, almost with a sense of desperation.

I recall times when I have been in this condition and have called out to the Lord, and as the Scripture says, He has heard me and provided an answer.

When it comes to your children, their development and their future, I believe that you will be well-rewarded to make them the subject of your heartfelt prayer. Whilst you may not be in the state of “distress” for your children, if you are able to move yourself to a position of heartfelt prayer for them, it will open up opportunities for God to answer your heart’s cry.

Some of you, however, are in a very tough position regarding your children, so heartfelt prayer is a very important part of your moving forward to a positive solution for your children.

Heartfelt prayer does not make you a hyper-spiritual, super holier-than-thou Christian. It just enables you to do business with God in a simple, real and profound manner.

One of ACHS’s key Scriptures is Isaiah 54:13, which says:

This verse teaches us that as you make room for the Lord in your children’s life and education, that He is engaged in the process, working change and development into their lives. God is the great heart doctor. He can get to places in your child’s heart that you may not be able to reach. God is your great mentor and the invisible, ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in the raising of your children. He is with you and for you in your massive parental responsibility.

You can include heartfelt prayer when teaching your child to read, or any other academic learning; when dealing with illness, psychological damage, disengagement from learning, growing good relationships, seeking behavioural change, university and TAFE entrance, jobs, careers and any other issue that is important to your children.

The wonderful issue about your prayer life, is that it always available to you. You can call upon the Lord any time and any place. It is open to all people, no matter who you are.

Pray for the things that matter in your child’s life and watch God provide great answers that will cause you to thank Him and to work with Him and to rely on him more today than you did yesterday.

Yours for Christ and Christian home education,

Terry Harding

Manager.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Canvas is LIVE!

We are pleased to announce that we have completed the first stages of our online enhancements. Every family should have been emailed login details. If you have not received your email please contact ACHS. Online content is currently available for the ABC’s up to level 7. Some levels may be missing extra curricular subjects but feel free to substitute in the level above or below. To get our families started as easily as possible, we are automatically inviting students to join all levels so you can explore all the different resources and don’t need to ask us as you move up levels.

Material to supplement PACEs are now available for the ABCs, Math, English, Creative Writing/Literature, Social Studies, Science and Word building. There is also extra curricular content for Art, Music and health and Physical education.

Our committed Team at ACHS have been working hard on this project which has taken longer than expected as we take these steps to enhance our service. We are thankful to everyone for their patience. At this stage we have been able to manually transfer the content from Schoology into the new platform. Once we have completed the material up to senior levels, we will then start working on updating and improving the content. The Secondary roll out will hopefully be done within the next 6 weeks. As we complete a subject level we will publish it so keep an eye out for an invitation to join.

There are also ways you can get involved as a parent to get the greatest benefits from the enhancements. There is a link on the login page (top right) that allows you to create a parent account in CANVAS. A parent account can be used for communicating in the forums or seeing quiz results.

If you have any feedback on the content, issues with accessing some materials or suggestions for material, the best place for this information is the level forums in CANVAS. These will be regularly used by the ACHS staff.

ACHS’s Prayer is that this extra material will really benefit your child’s education greatly.

St Andrews College – The University of Sydney

The Dean of Admissions of St. Andrew’s College at the University of Sydney, Mr. Will Cesta has contacted ACHS to inform us of the opportunities the college offers.

The St Andrew’s Scholars Program is an elite program which provides 15 students with full fee relief for the entire duration of their undergraduate degree. This offer is open to students from all states and territories. The College Council has set aside $1.5m worth of scholarships for 2020, many of which will be awarded to interstate students.

For students who may be interested in studying at The University of Sydney, in this program, you can refer to the college’s Undergraduate Prospectus at https://www.standrewscollege.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/Undergraduate-Prospectus-1-1.pdf

STUDENT TESTIMONY

Dear Parents and Children,

My prayer is that my testimonial will encourage you in your journey of home-schooling using the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum.

I was home-schooled from Kinder to Year 12 using the ACE curriculum. I completed Year 12 at 16 years of age. The ACE Victorian Student Convention was a life changing event-literally! I met my husband and we are privileged to have two beautiful children.

Growing up, I always envisioned difficulties with pursuing tertiary studies without completing the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). To my astonishment, I received an offer to study a Bachelor of Nursing at Monash University. Being under the legal age of consent presented its own dilemmas for university entry; however, fervent prayer and God’s favour saw me through successfully.

I enjoyed working as a Registered Nurse Division One in the acute clinical setting, but I found myself looking for further challenges. I undertook a Master of Nursing in Management and consequently worked as a Nurse Unit Manager for several years. I was awarded a Royal College of Nursing Australia: Aged Care Nursing Scholarship in support of my study. Gaps in practice were evident, compelling me to discover a solution. This impetus led to commencing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at Monash University. My thesis seeks to determine the support and education needs of substitute decision makers for people with dementia at the end of life. My supervisors and I conducted an international systematic review on the experiences and effect of the substitute decision maker role; publication ensued in the highest-ranking academic journal (Quartile 1). I have recently been awarded an Australian Government: Research Training Program Scholarship and Australian Nurses Memorial Centre: Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women Scholarship in support of my project. Concurrently, I teach a diverse range of subjects to students in the undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing degree at Monash University.

So, what was my secret formula?

Throughout the highs and lows (many) of my life, I found my steadfast faith in God to be my anchor and constant source of help. I set my goals, studied hard, prayed fervently, and was awarded with God’s favour.

I am thankful to my parents for their unwavering obedience and dedication to God’s calling of home-schooling. All three of my siblings were home-schooled and each one obtained a tertiary qualification at Monash University, namely: Teacher, Engineer, and PhD Student in Arts (Literacy).

Parents, God sees your dedication and perseverance and will reward accordingly!

Children, God holds the key to unlocking your future! Set your goals, be diligent, pray, and success will be around the corner!

Blessings,

Sarah Cresp 😊

LOG-O-PHILE

We use spoken and written words every single day to communicate ideas, thoughts, and emotions to those around us. Sometimes we communicate successfully, and sometimes we’re not quite so successful. A good vocabulary can help us say what we mean. Here are some new words to add to your student’s vocabulary.

THE IMPORTANCE OF VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION

The best educators around the world agree that one of the most important aspects of developing a child’s education to an advanced level is to intentionally increase their vocabulary. This should be done for all children, from Kindergarten to Year 12.

In one study, linguistically “poor” first graders were found to know around 5,000 words, whilst linguistically “rich” first graders knew around 20,000 words.

Let’s work on making our children linguistically “rich”.

Improved vocabulary enhances the student’s:

• Reading comprehension
• Listening comprehension
• Written expression
• Spoken expression
• Overall educational success

An expanded vocabulary is the hallmark of an intelligent, well educated person.

The ACE PACEs present new vocabulary and their meanings IN EVERY PACE. It is important that parents ensure that students learn the new vocabulary and their definitions in the PACEs. This is a key factor in developing your child intellectually. There are not many educational systems that present the opportunity to develop new vocabulary on a regular basis, but you have a way to grow your child’s vocab IN EVERY PACE. Please use this opportunity.

Here are some ways for you to bring the practice of developing new vocabulary to your child’s learning experience:

• require them to learn the new words and definitions in the PACEs before they move to the next page
• sign your initial in Green Biro on the vocab page, when they have learned them
• encourage them to use the new words in everyday use. This can be a fun activity/competition for the family
• reading aloud to students
• wide reading by students
• high quality language use at home

From a Christian perspective, we can never overestimate the importance of words. Remember that God created the universe by means of words. One of the names of the Son of God, Jesus Christ is “The Word”.

Enjoy growing both your child’s and your own vocabulary.

Scripture Memory

At the start of lessons every morning, have your children read aloud, with you, the Monthly Scripture Memory Passage. Have them read either from their Bibles or from a printed sheet. Adjust the size of the passage to fit your child’s age and skill level. This exercise should only take a minute or so.

After a single, aloud reading every day for a month, your child may have memorised the passage. If not, they may need some dedicated time to practice e.g. at night after dinner etc.

When your child can say the Scripture passage to you by heart, record this on your Supervisor’s progress card and the Monthly Attendance Sheet. Put a Bible sticker on their Star Chart and don’t forget to give them a reward for this important achievement.

You are free to use any version of the Bible for this activity. You may wish to download an electronic version of the Bible, for printing the Scripture passages for your child to learn, or you may click on the passages below for a printable version.

Trading Post

Trading post will continue to be a place where you can connect with other families, who might be looking for 2nd hand score keys or resource materials. You may email us here at ACHS with your advertisements, and we will endeavour to list as many as we are able. When sending us items to be listed for sale, please follow these important guides:

1. Used PACEs and PACE tests are NOT ALLOWED to be resold. Only used score keys and resource materials such as literature books may be advertised through the trading post.
2. Ensure that you provide accurate contact details. The ACHS office does not manage the transactions listed in the trading post. If you would like people to buy your items, provide them with the best way to get in contact with you.
3. When listing your items, list them clearly and accurately.
   1. Maths SK 1037-39, 1040-42, and so on.
   2. English SK 1037-39, 1040-42, and so on.
4. It would also be advisable if you are able to identify if the Score Keys are edition 3 or 4. As there may be differences in content between editions 3 and 4, it will assist you in finding a buyer.

SCORE KEYS For Sale: $2.00 Each

Contact - Kate on 0420 929 006 or [email protected]

(Postage Paid by Buyer)

MATHS: 1037-1039, 1040-1042, 1043-1045, 1046-1048, 1049-1051, 1052-1054, 1055-1057

ENGLISH: 1091-1093 (Brand New)

S/STUDIES: 100-102 (Brand New)

SCIENCE: 1085-1087 (Brand New)

LIT & CW: 1037-1039, 1040-1042, 1043-1045, 1046-1048, 1049-1051

BASIC OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY: 115-117 (Brand New)

LITERATURE BOOKS For Sale: $5 Each

Contact - Kate on 0420 929 006 or [email protected]

(Postage Paid by Buyer)

Summer Fun with Ace and Christi

The Red Rag Riddle

Choice Stories for Children

Attendance Sheets

Keeping a record of your children’s attendance to their learning is an integral part of the procedure here at ACHS. Not only does it form part of your record keeping requirements for your homeschool registration, but it helps us see an overall picture of how the students are working. You may download the attendance sheets for August through October here:

August Attendance Sheet

September Attendance Sheet

October Attendance Sheet

2019 Attendance Sheets (Full Year)