ADDENDUM as of 2/5/09: While I am still excited about the materials I discuss in this post, it is with great sadness that I feel compelled to note I have discovered there are reasons for caution with respect to the sources referenced herein. With respect to Vision Forum Ministries and Doug Phillips, I call your attention to the series of articles at Ministry Watchman and Jen’s Gems. And with respect to Geoff Botkin, see Who is Geoffrey Botkin? at the Under Much Grace blog.

As with my previous posts, I can only offer a small fraction of the richness contained in the Vision Forum 200-Year Plan CD set.

In describing how he drafted his own 200-Year Plan, Geoff Botkin said two considerations motivated him in his quest: Read the rest of this entry »

As you may know, I am a co-owner of Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd., and Sonlight has a very active online forum community.

One of the moms, “Brenda in GA,” wrote a story about doing a road trip with her almost-14-year-old daughter. I asked her for permission to reprint it here — permission which she gave willingly.

Why would I want to reprint her story? Because, as one of the other forum participants commented in response to Brenda’s post, “I love road trips . . . [because, as you said, t]hey are quite a bonding experience.”

Brenda’s story, and the follow-up comment inspired me to urge you: Long before you seek to establish your own family government, you’ll want to do everything in your power to establish good relationships with your children, grandchildren, or others among your progeny.

More about that “message” in a moment. But first . . . Read the rest of this entry »