FAQs
What is H.I.S.?
What is H.I.S. Ministry’s mission statement?
What is the H.I.S. Ministry’s Statement of Faith?
What is H.I.S. Ministry’s educational philosophy?
What is the commitment of time and talent?
What if I am not confident to teach?
What do I do during class time when I am not teaching?
Is there preparation work to be done each week?
Do I need to stay at Co-Op all day?
What is H.I.S.?
H.I.S. (Home Instruction Support) Ministry is an inter-denominational ministry committed to honoring God and providing support to home schooling families. It is specifically designed for families desiring to join together in Christian community to help each other “train up their children in the way of the LORD” and attain certain academic goals aligned with the Classical Approach. H.I.S. Ministry has been serving the Puget Sound area for 35 years.
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H.I.S. Ministry’s Mission Statement
Home Instruction Support (H.I.S.) Ministry is an inter-denominational ministry committed to honoring God and providing support to home schooling families. It is specifically designed for families desiring to join together in Christian community to help each other “train up their children in the way of the Lord” and attain certain academic goals.
H.I.S. Ministry supports families who hold to the essential elements of the Christian faith, who are “like-minded” as to the need for the moral character development of their children, whose children desire to be discipled in their faith, who have need for academic support and strive for high academic standards aligned with the Classical Approach, who desire to work in Christian community through the contribution of time, talent, energy and financial support, and who are instructing their children to remain emotionally and physically pure for marriage (i.e. courtship principals).
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H.I.S. Ministry’s Statement of Faith
THE SCRIPTURES We believe in the plenary-verbal inspiration of the Word of God, and that both the Old and New Testaments are inerrant in the original writings and are the supreme and final authority for faith and life.
THE GODHEAD We believe the Godhead exists in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three Persons are one God having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfection’s.
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST We believe in (a) His eternal existence as God, (b) His Incarnation and Virgin Birth, (c) His death on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for sin, (d) His literal, bodily resurrection from the dead, (e) His present ministry of intercession in heaven, and (f) His personal, future return to earth.
THE HOLY SPIRIT We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, convicts men of sin, regenerates, baptizes, indwells, seals, and sets apart believers unto a holy life; that He keeps and empowers believers day by day; that He is the Teacher of the Word of God and the Guide for daily living.
MAN We believe that (a) man was created innocent and pure, and (b) Adam fell through the sin of disobedience. Therefore, (c) all men are corrupted in body, soul, and spirit; and (d) all men need redemption.
SALVATION We believe that (a) salvation is by grace, a free gift of God apart from works, (b) salvation requires repentance, a turning from one’s own way to God’s way, (c) salvation is through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, (d) all who receive Jesus Christ are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become children of God, and (e) true salvation will be manifested by a changed life.
THE FUTURE We believe (a) in the personal, visible bodily return of Jesus Christ to earth, (b) in the bodily resurrection of the just to eternal abode in the glory of God’s presence, and (c) in the bodily resurrection of the unjust to judgment and everlasting separation from God.
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What is H.I.S. Ministry’s educational philosophy?
Our educational philosophy is based upon a “Christ Centered – Classical Approach”. H.I.S. Ministry operates under the classical education model laid out in The Well-Trained Mind, A Guide to Classical Education at Home, by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. Every member of the ministry is asked to read this book in order to (1) understand the classical education model, and (2) see how the teaching and journal assignments at co-op work together to assist the parent in providing a classical education. This book instructs you on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school.
We use a four-year rotating plan which is outlined in The Well-Trained Mind. This model takes us from 5000 B.C. through the present in a four-year cycle. The elements of science studied each year roughly coincide with the four years of history being studied. This four year plan is completed once during a child’s K-4th grade years, a second time during the 5th-8th grade years, and a third and final time during a child’s high school education.
A Classical education follows a specific three-part pattern called the trivium. The trivium has three levels: the grammar stage (K-4th grade), the logic stage (5th-8th grade), and the rhetoric stage (high school years). The whole structure of the trivium recognizes that there is an ideal time and place for each part of learning: memorization, argumentation, and self-expression.
Instruction received in the co-op classes is targeted to the specific trivium level. It also emphasizes “hands-on” experiences, simulated experiences, and the Providential view of history and science. The unit teams work hard to bring the teaching alive by using a variety of experiences such as dramas, re-enactments, discussions, debates, impersonations, experiments, contests, and games. We continually strive to bring information down to a personal level so the child can experience history and the impact of scientific discoveries from the perspective of the individual.
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What is my commitment of time and talent?
Since we operate cooperatively, every mom (or dad) commits to plan and teach one 6-week unit per year and is required to be on campus with their kids the full day. Every family also takes a weekly clean-up job to be completed before their departure.
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What if I’m not confident to teach?
Nearly every mother has had some trepidation in agreeing to teach a unit. The Grammar and Logic Coordinators oversee the planning and teaching of each unit. They are there to help and support the teaching parents.
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When not teaching, what are my responsibilities during class time?
Each mom (or dad), when they are not teaching, is assigned a bridgeboard job for half of the day. The rest of the day they are free to fellowship, plan for the teaching of their upcoming unit, or sit in on any class.
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Is there any preparation work to be done before each week?
Yes, co-op is designed to provide you with an ongoing educational opportunity for your children. The units are designed to have assignments completed during the week at home. This work is used as a springboard for learning on co-op day.
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Is it necessary that I stay at co-op all day with my children?
Yes, every family has a parent onsite all day. This is a support community not a school atmosphere. Parents are responsible for their own children during the day, and we all benefit from the fellowship with one another.
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