The Journey Parent Podcast

Loving Your Child AND Your Christian School: One Dad's POV

Guests: Jason Spodnik, President and Head of School, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (Cuyahoga Falls, OH)

 

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

Parents, here is some wisdom from a guy who has been in the private Christian education world for many years:

1. There is so much to learn, so don’t let pride get in the way as we look to steward the incredible gifts of our children for the greatest good of advancing the Kingdom!
2. Parenting by Paul David Tripp is a great reminder that God fashions Himself as a parent so He can not only relate to us as parents, but He models the way for us in this amazing endeavor!
3. God used Christian education to move Jason from Christianity as a religion to a relationship - such an incredible journey!
4. More is “caught” than “taught” - how we interact with students is even more important than what we are “teaching” them in terms of curriculum - students will learn from how you say things, not just what you say…

 

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

 

Christmas Traditions: The Desire to Keep Christ in Christmas for Your Family

Guests: Amy Petrof, Kristin Dysart, and Gabe Boyd

 

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

We hope you enjoy this fun conversation with some PCA parents about their holiday traditions as they desire to keep Christ in the middle of Christmas!

 

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Executive Functioning: What You Need to Know to Help Your Student Grow!

Guests: Dr. J’Aime Balogh, Jenitta Eskew, and Nena Graham

 

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

Executive Functioning - are all of the cognitive skills necessary to regulate your thinking, feelings/emotions, and behaviors to reach a goal.

 

Executive Functioning skills are necessary for all of the other cognitive functions - these are the primary functions that make up what we call “executive functioning”:

• Memory
• Attention
• Motor Skills
• Verbalizing
• Visualizing
• Completing Learning Tasks

 

Executive functioning skills include

• Task initiation - starting and stopping tasks
• Response inhibition - keeping yourself from responding impulsively
• Focus - how to stay on task and not get distracted
• Time management - planning good use of your time and avoiding procrastination
• Working memory - holding information in your mind long enough to do something with it
• Flexibility - being able to shift ideas and plans
• Self-regulation - being able to reflect on your actions and make changes
• Emotional self-control - managing your emotions and reflecting on your emotions
• Task completion - sustaining levels of task and attention to complete a task

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Gladiator II Review: The Power of a "Good Name"

Guests: Stephen Bryant, Chris Housewright, Mike Thornberry

 

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

First of all, just a reminder that Gladiator II is Rated R, which means that you’ll want to proceed with caution - a great place to learn more about why movies receive their ratings is either PluggedInOnline (from Focus on the Family) or MovieGuide.

 

Next, it is wise to look for “lessons” from every source to use as teachable moments with your children so that they are not just “consumers” of entertainment, but are able to watch and listen with discernment. What messages are being extolled, what virtues are being promoted, and are these good, right, and true?

 

Watch or listen to our conversation about Gladiator II to learn more about some of the things that we took away from the movie - and leave some comments on our YouTube page about what you learned as well.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

What Do I Say When? Parent Book Discussion

Guests: Amy Petrof, Kristin Dysart, and Gabe Boyd

 

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

Parents, you'll want to get this valuable resource that will equip you to have meaningful and age appropriate conversations with your children on a variety of important topics including human dignity, abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, technology, and politics. Authors Andrew Walker and his wife Christian do a great job of presenting a brief, but very informative, overview on these issues then give you some general biblical principles that you can introduce to your children depending on this age and maturity level - as they mature, the depth and complexity of the information you supply as well as the questions that you ask increases to match.

 

Two important reminders after reading this book and having a wonderful conversation with Amy Petrof, Kristin Dysart, and Gabe Boyd - first, you want to make sure that you’re raising your children to see you as the “expert” on cultural issues - not because you are the first to introduce the subject to them or because you know all the latest information and lingo, but because you resource God’s Word as The Source of Truth on all issues - you need to know God’s Word and ground your conversations with your children in Scripture. Second, this book isn’t about gaining information so that you can win arguments and look smart, it’s about being able to present truth in a loving and winsome manner to those who are lost and hurting in need of God’s mercy and grace. Remember that as you engage with others on these controversial topics - the goal is to win people to Christ, not to your opinion.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

PCA "Lifers" Reminisce about the Past as They Prepare for Their Future

Guests: Audrey Letcher, Chandler McGaha, Landon Murphy, and Campbell Panetti

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

What makes PCA so special? Listen to four “lifers” (seniors who have been at PCA since Kindergarten, and before!) talk about their incredible years at PCA - from Kindergarten Circus to Boosterthon Fun Run, Let George Do It to HOCO and Minimester and AP classes! But PCA is more than just academics, it’s about relationships - with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ and with some really incredible faculty and staff who have poured truth into these students as they did life together at PCA. What a blessing each student is at PCA - these four seniors represent hundreds of others who have walked the halls of PCA as they have been equipped for their Kingdom calling.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

What Our Feelings Are Trying to Tell Us: Learning More about the Language of Emotions

Guest: Erin Williams, LPC, PCA Upper School Counselor, Plano campus

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

Many of us were raised to ignore or stuff our emotions, but research today suggests that we learn how to better identify our emotions so that we can learn from them. We “name” them so that we can “tame” them - and not be prisoners of our own feelings.

 

In her book Untangle Your Emotions: Naming What You Feel and Knowing What to Do About It, author Jennie Allen encourages you to engage in meaningful conversations with others about your feelings - and when you’re listening to others, don’t just look to fix their problems, but really allow them to feel how they are feeling.

 

We shouldn’t be ashamed or afraid of our feelings - but we also don’t need to allow our feelings to be the engine that drives our lives. Learning more about our emotions will help us learn more about ourselves, how God has designed us, and how we are to respond to the world around us in a way that honors God.

 

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

 

Election 2024: What We Learned & Where We Go From Here

Guests: Ron Kelley, Sharayah Colter, Audrey Sol Loyola, Scott Turner

 

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

What were the top issues that voters identified as important as they went to the polls and what can we learn from those issues and the outcome of the election? Listen to this informative and fast-paced conversation with several informed friends about how we, as Christians, should be thinking about the days ahead now that the election is behind us.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Conversation with the Colters about a Biblical Perspective on Political Issues

Guests: Scott and Sharayah Colter, The Danbury Institute: A Coalition for Life and Liberty

 

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

This is the second of a two-week conversation with Scott and Sharayah Colter, founders of The Danbury Institute. This week we examine several of the current cultural issues, many of which have become important political issues as well. The Bible gives clear and effective principles that can be used as a frame/matrix by which to properly understand and evaluate these current cultural issues - which makes it imperative that we know our Bibles as we seek to understand our culture and speak truth and wisdom on the issues of our day!

 

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Conversation with the Colters about America's Godly Heritage

Guests: Scott and Sharayah Colter, The Danbury Institute: A Coalition for Life and Liberty

 

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

 

This will be a two-week conversation with Scott and Sharayah Colter, founders of The Danbury Institute. Week one will be a conversation about America’s Godly heritage - the influence of God’s Word on the Framers and the ideas that led to our Constitutional Republic. I asked Scott and Sharayah for additional resources that they would recommend for those wanting to take a deeper dive into this topic and they recommended resources from the following:

 

Hillsdale College - which offers free online classes on the Constitution, Marxism/Socialism/Communism, American heritage, etc.

 

WallBuilders - David Barton and his son Tim have some outstanding resources including America’s Godly Heritage (book, CD, or DVD) and The American Story series.

 

Sharayah also encourages you to read the words of the Framers - George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and many others - go online and read some of their letters and speeches and learn more about this incredible period of world history from those who were there. I would also recommend reading The Federalist Papers, written by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison as well as the original text of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!