<![CDATA[Anchor Christian Academy - Foghorn Blog]]>Tue, 14 Jul 2026 18:16:15 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Will You Step Up?]]>Mon, 13 Apr 2020 16:52:40 GMThttps://www.anchorchristianacademy.org/foghorn/will-you-step-upIn our current cultural moment and place, responsibility has stealthily slipped from the prescribed biblical entities to those that seem to be more convenient, but are actually less effective in creating a thriving society. 
For instance, rather than the church being ultimately responsible for the care of the poor, orphans, and widows, most people turn to the government to assume this responsibility. Instead of parents owning their responsibility to disciple their children in the ways of the Lord, churches, youth pastors, and children’s ministers step into the void. A quick survey of Scripture confirms that parents are ultimately responsible to instruct their children according to the ways of the Lord throughout each day.​​
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Deuteronomy 6:5-7
In modern terms, this lifestyle discipleship could be reworded as “Talk about them when you sit around the dinner table and in your family room, when you drive along the road, before bed, and when you prepare for each day in the morning.” ​
What rhythms and structures have you intentionally established to maximize key moments of each day? ​
Picture

​Sitting at home
  1. How many times per week do you eat meals together as a family?
  2. Do you have "no technology, no distractions" rules set for meal times?
  3. How intentional are you with the movies and video games that you sit to watch or play? Do you use them to teach truth? 
  4. Are you thoroughly aware of what your children are learning in school in order to reinforce God’s truth while they are working on their schoolwork? 
  5. Does your child’s school schedule or athletic, youth group, and fine art activities erode time to sit together? 

Drive along the road
  1. Does media hamper your ability to hold conversations while you are driving? Are you able to be comfortable with the silence that precipitates reflection and conversation? 
  2. ​Does your harried schedule eliminate your ability to focus on conversations in the vehicle?

Morning & bedtime
  1. Does your schedule allow you to participate in a morning or bedtime routine with your children? 
  2. ​Have you established morning and bedtime routines that remind your children of the goodness and truth of the Lord?

During this time of forced slow-down, make it a goal to maximize the time you have at home to establish new rhythms, set into place new rules and structures, and embrace your God-given responsibility to disciple your children throughout the day. As you look forward to the end of this period of social distancing, take a hard look at your family’s schedule, including athletics, fine arts, youth group, and your child’s educational model to be sure that you are setting your family up for success by ensuring plenty of time with each other. 
Will you step up?
Author: Julie Phipps, ACA Dean of Students
]]><![CDATA[Screen Use During Isolation]]>Mon, 13 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.anchorchristianacademy.org/foghorn/screen-use-during-isolationWith students now at home rather than in classes a few days a week, parents have the added responsibility of monitoring screen usage. There's the obvious need to monitor and filter content, but let's embrace the opportunity to build character and life skills while we are at it!! 
Intentional Concentration
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Concentration, mental energy continuously directed towards something specific, is a crucial life skill which is rarely practiced nor intentionally developed. As students become accustomed to online conferencing lessons with teachers, distractions have drawn some of them away towards multi-tasking. Multi-tasking at the surface may seem to be a strength, and there are certain situations where it can be a strength, but research shows multi-tasking actually hinders learning. 
For this generation of digital natives, multi-tasking has become second-nature while concentration skills are lacking. 
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​Here's how you can encourage your students:​
  • Set clear expectations. "The only window you may have open during class is your video conference window. No games, no email, no chatting, no texting. Let's strengthen your ability to focus."
  • Students should always sit where the screen can easily be seen by other family members at a glance. 
  • Install an internet filtering/monitoring system that allows you to check browser history to ensure they are focused on classes. Some filtering platforms allow you to check history from another room adding another level of accountability. ​​

Practice strengthening the concentration "muscles" with a few exercises. These could also be used to illustrate the need to strengthen those concentration skills! 
  • Say your name silently (keeping eyes closed) over and over for 2 minutes straight. If you mess up or open your eyes, restart the timer. 
  • Draw colored shapes on a paper for 15 minutes without stopping. If you stop, restart the timer. 
  • Stare at a tree and name as many adjectives as you can for 2 minutes. Bonus points if you do not repeat any! 
Intentional Screen Time

We must help our students go beyond a black & white thinking about technology in order for them to be effective ambassadors in the digital culture they will find themselves navigating as adults. Simply setting a time limit will not teach students how to limit themselves. 
Essential questions about screens MUST become second nature:
  • What is this specific use of screens moving me toward?
  • Is it toward consumption and mindlessness or creating and learning?
  • ​Is it pushing me away from relationships or helping me grow relationships?

Another way to evaluate screen time is to review the 5 lies of technology (Kathy Koch):
  1. Does this teach me that I am the center of my own universe?
  2. Does this teach me that I deserve to be happy all the time?
  3. Does this teach me that I must have choices?
  4. Does this teach me that I am my own authority?
  5. Does this teach me that I do not need teachers because I have information?

Each challenge brings new opportunities for parents to redeem the struggle looking for ways to teach and model new skills and character traits. Comment below with any ideas that might help other parents with technology as we navigate this isolation adventure. 
Author: Julie Phipps, ACA Dean of Students
]]><![CDATA[Book Review Resources]]>Mon, 16 Apr 2018 22:53:46 GMThttps://www.anchorchristianacademy.org/foghorn/book-review-resourcesOur Anchor students are great readers!! As parents, we encourage reading, and our hearts often swell with joy when we see our students choose reading over screens. Stories capture the imagination, and imagination motivates and provides direction for behavior. Therefore, wise parents need to be relentlessly diligent at helping our students discern the underlying messages of the stories they are reading.
For instance, a popular middle grade series is the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. Rick Riordan is a talented writer who draws his readers into a story before dropping in characters and actions which seem morally right, but are not. One underlying premise of this series is that Greek gods have affairs with mortal women, resulting demigod children. The author then continues to gradually insert darker themes including beastiality and homosexuality. While it is not wise to completely shelter our kids from secular and even pagan ideas, exposure must be appropriate based on the maturity of the student and must be in conjunction with discussion based on biblical principles. We need to help our students learn how to discern absolute truth in a culture convinced that truth is never absolute.

Busy parents do not have the luxury of pre-reading every book our students pick up, but there are some resources available to inform your decisions and provide ideas for conversations.
  1. Plugged In 
  2. Redeemed Reader
  3. Common Sense Media (This site has summaries and some warnings such as violence and sex,­ but will not give warnings pertaining to worldview or morality.) 

​In addition to these resources, we have Anchor families who are willing to offer further ideas on how they manage to have great conversations about books and stories. It has been a blessing to watch the Anchor community of parents supporting and encouraging each other throughout this year. Let's continue to support and pray for each other as we navigate this cultural moment together.  Thank you!

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