Welcome to the Home Schooling section of the Peacemaker Ministries website. This area of our website is designed to encourage and assist you in applying the principles of peacemaking to your home school process and to your entire life.
Young Peacemaker
Provides detailed plans for teaching biblical peacemaking to 3rd-7th grade children in families, Christian schools, home schools, Sunday schools, VBS, and youth groups. $17.95
While sharing with a friend about my position as home school specialist for Peacemaker Ministries, I emphasized how well peacemaking and home schooling go together. My friend smiled, looked at me, and replied, "Peacemaking and home schooling... sounds like an oxymoron to me." We both laughed, but in reality, many families live this contradiction every day. What should be times of nurturing and joy become times of struggle and pain.
Perhaps that is why you are visiting this website. When you began home schooling, you had a vision for special family times of learning together, but that vision is dying a slow death as you watch your family explode into arguments and dissension. Or perhaps your home schooling is being hampered by conflicts you are having outside of your home. Conflicts with family, friends, and even brothers and sisters in the church can have a crippling effect on the spiritual lives of those involved.
If you are tangled in conflict, let me offer you hope. 1 Peter 1:3 reminds us, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Jesus is our hope, even in the middle of a conflict.
Whatever your current situation, there are several specific steps you can take to move toward reconciliation and begin dealing biblically and effectively with the conflicts you face:
Begin with Prayer. We are instructed in 1 Peter 5:7 to "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." The best place to begin is by calling out to God and entrusting the problem to him. Surrender obediently to his work in your life through the conflict: "Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this" (Ps. 37:5; see v. 6 as well).
Learn God's Peacemaking Principles. Visit the Biblical Peacemaking section of this web site, especially the articles in the Foundational Principles section. God has given us powerful conflict resolution principles in Scripture. Through these principles, you will continue to find hope, encouragement, and direction as you learn to serve God and give him glory in the midst of conflict. You may also find several articles helpful that I have written (see below), describing my own experience in implementing the basic principals of biblical peacemaking into the home school setting and addressing issues such as socialization.
Teach Your Children to be Peacemakers. One of the best ways to reinforce your own learning is by instructing others. I challenge you to consider using The Young Peacemaker as part of your home school curricula. Home school parents frequently share with me how teaching The Young Peacemaker to their children was the best thing they did in their home school process. Teaching these principles to your children will have a powerful impact on them and on their work in God's Kingdom.
Help Others Be Peacemakers. You may already be familiar with peacemaking and find yourself coaching others in conflict. Further training will assist you in this process. Our section on Training and Events lists specific opportunities for you to learn more about peacemaking and better equip yourself as a peacemaker.
Peacemaking for Families
Introduces the basic principles of biblical peacemaking and directly applies those principles to marriage, parenting, and other family relationships. $12.95
If you are in a serious conflict that you are unable to resolve on your own, please read the section Get Help with a Conflict to learn how our ministry can assist you.
Finally, remember God's promise to keep us in perfect peace as our minds stay steadfast on him (Is. 26:3). As you practice the peacemaking principles found in his Word, keep your minds focused on his glory. And you will find that the peacemakers are truly blessed!
Human problems are opportunities God can use to draw the people around us into fuller and deeper fellowship with him. This higher agenda is present in every relationship and every situation. God is working redemptively in all of them. We want our words to contribute to what he is doing. However, we will not be instruments of reconciliation if we are living in broken, unreconciled relationships with other people. -- Paul Tripp, War of Words
It is my prayer that this website, along with the other resources that Peacemaker Ministries has to offer, will help to facilitate biblical peacemaking in your family. Serving our Lord through peacemaking will revolutionize your lives!
In Christ,
Annette Friesen
Home School Specialist for Peacemaker Ministries
The articles listed below are related to the topic of teaching children to be peacemakers in the home school environment:
by Annette Friesen. In this article, Annette discusses the misguided expectations that often accompany the holidays, and then introduces three helpful responses to conflict.
by Annette Friesen, Home School Specialist for Peacemaker Ministries. Relationship struggles are often a part of the home school experience. In this article, Annette Friesen discusses God's purpose for our relationships—to be ambassadors of the message of reconciliation.
by Annette Friesen, Home School Specialist for Peacemaker Ministries. This article introduces the concept of peacemaking, especially in the context of the family and homeschooling.
by Ken Sande, President of Peacemaker Ministries. How is it that children learn to get along with each other? The same way as adults—by learning to be a peacemaker!
by Annette Friesen. Excited about the idea of helping to prepare homeschoolers in your family or region to respond well to conflict? Annette Freisen gives some solid ideas here for leaders regarding what to do next.
by Corlette Sande, Author of The Young Peacemaker. From the perspective of a school teacher and mother, Corlette Sande unpacks the concept of forgiveness and how necessary it is to help our children be true peacemakers.
These testimonies, ranging from the experience of a home school mom to that of a Christian school principal, talk about the lessons they've learned and the benefits of teaching children to be peacemakers.
How can we "accept one another" (Rom. 15:7) and "look out for one another's interests" (Phil. 2:4) when an issue threatens to divide our church? With the help of wise leadership, one congregation puts these verses into practice in this story of the disagreements over Christian education in their church.
Lying... blaming... these responses come all-too-easily to children who are caught in a misdeed. This story demonstrates a different response from a second grader who had learned an important lesson from The Young Peacemaker.
by Annette Friesen. Even in life's pressures and "failures", Annette Friesen brings us back to the most important things we can teach our children.
For a list of related articles, please click here. If you still are unable to find what you are looking for, you may click here to view a list of all the articles on the Peacemaker Ministries website.
It is my prayer that this website, along with the other resources that Peacemaker Ministries has to offer, will help to facilitate biblical peacemaking in your family. Serving our Lord through peacemaking will revolutionize your lives!