What makes NHCS different?
We have exciting news! Since you all have been following Esther's story for the past year (we couldn't have fought as hard as we did without your prayers, meals, donations, and flexibility!), you have most likely seen and heard about #EsthersMiracle and EsthersMiracle.org. Since Esther charged Jim and myself "to help other kids with ports" (which is what she wanted to do when she grew up), New Heart Christian School is expanding to become Esther's Miracle, Inc. and host a number of special programs - in addition to NHCS.
Esther's Miracle, Inc. plan was adopted by the Board of Directors on 4/15/23. The goals of NHCS remain the same, with a slight change in emphasis on our community service projects to serve "kids with ports" (kids and their families impacted by cancer and other childhood diseases). NHCS' Facebook page will reflect this update for the rest of the year as Esther's Miracle / New Heart Christian School. We will also have a separate NHCS Group hosted by Esther's Miracle page. There will be individual Groups for each of Esther's Miracle programs (details to come soon).
We're excited to continue partnering with you and your families as God continues to grow this mission. We're blessed beyond measure to partner with you, your children, and both our local and global community to see EVERY child grow up and fulfill the special plans God has for his/her life.
What makes New Heart Christian School different from regular public and private schools?
All Children are smart!
Traditional schools group children by birthday only, and teach primarily the core subjects through books - reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and science. As a result, many children who do not learn well "through the books" infer that they are "not smart" and that they are failures. Every year that they are passed on to the next grade level only exaggerates these assumptions and increase their level of frustration (or decreases their level of motivation to keep trying, because, honestly, why bother? - "I'll never learn anything at this point"). This frustration and lack of motivation leads to discipline struggles as children are punished because they are simply not created to learn the one and only way traditional schools are designed. And as a secondary result, children graduate from high school with less than the necessary skills to thrive as independent, confident, and critically-thinking citizens in society. Yet the schools continue to push students through the "system" like they're building automobiles in an assembly line...after all, school has become an "industry" just like a common automotive manufacturer, all about the bottom line and test scores on a spreadsheet.
At New Heart Christian School, we are not okay with the traditional status quo of education. At New Heart Christian School, children are honored and respected as the young and adolescent, unique, creative, and individual human beings that they truly are!! Every one of us is hand-crafted uniquely by God Himself, and we should not raise our children like we would "raise" a robot (is that even possible?). Children are handcrafted masterpieces, not machines to be programmed.
So our school looks and sounds completely different than the assembly line system of regular schools. Children are not grouped by age, but by interests (or their specific area of intelligence)...the unique desires and curiosities that God has placed in their hearts from the youngest of ages (even babies and toddlers already have specific personalities and interests that God placed in them for His eternal purpose). Children are not passed through the assembly line at New Heart Christian School without care or inspection - children will "grow" through four levels of education, and reach each level at their own time and pace. Children still learn reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and sciences, of course - but not through books alone! They learn these core subjects through their God-given interests - their personal channel for learning (learning for life and for eternity!).
The Multiple Intelligences theory of Howard Gardner is our model, which aligns with the Biblical truths about how and why God created each one of us. We are created in His image to fulfill our eternal purpose (growing God's Kingdom) and to glorify Him. While book/language smart and mathematics smart are two kinds of intelligences...there are also seven more! And we can see God's fingerprints over all of them... check them out below!
What are multiple intelligences?
Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences
The theory of multiple intelligences challenges the idea of a single IQ, where human beings have one central "computer" where intelligence is housed. Howard Gardner, the Harvard professor who originally proposed the theory, says that there are multiple types of human intelligence, each representing different ways of processing information.
from Edutopia.org
from: https://sites.google.com/site/michaudtechandcareers/multiple-intelligences
from: https://gshscareerplanning.weebly.com/multiple-intelligences-definedcareer-chart.html