
Education Portals
What if the best learning for our children looks different than what government schools have been presenting for the last sixty years? At Portals we are building new tools for learning at home, in micro-schools, and supporting Christian private education. Let's explore current research, digital media, Biblical wisdom, classical models, and transformative projects for developing a new framework for local learning.
Episodes
15 episodes
Planning a Great Lesson
In this episode, Dr. Seann Dikkers talks with the Portals Lesson Planning team about the importance of creating effective lesson plans that go beyond merely covering content. They discuss their approach to designing lessons that are clear, enga...
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1:01:21

Small School, Big Lessons: Lessons I Learned Starting a Microschool
In this episode, Dr. Seann Dikkers has a conversation with Alfrieda Baldwin—retired attorney and visionary founder of Laurel Community School. What began as a simple act of service in a local school district soon unfolded into a powerful callin...
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42:19

Teaching Your Child to Read: Tips from a Literacy Expert
In this episode Dr. Seann Dikkers has a conversation with Dr. Bonnie Houck, literacy consultant and author of Literacy Unleashed. From a young age Dr. Houck recognized the importance of being able to read. It created opportunities for her imagi...
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49:50
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Homeschool Resource Roadmap: Making Informed Curriculum Choices
In this episode Dr. Seann Dikkers has a conversation with Tina Hollenbeck, creator of the Homeschool Resource Roadmap. Have you ever walked into an exhibit hall filled with curriculum options, or done a Google search just to be overwhelmed by t...
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37:56

Homeschool to Higher Education: Insights from an Admissions Director
In this episode Dr. Seann Dikkers talks to Inder Singh, Director of Traditional Admissions at Crown College. Ever wondered whether your child would be able to get into college as a homeschooled student? This conversation will encourage you, and...
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28:58
Empowering Home Education: Why Research Matters
Our first episode of the Homeschool Insights: Conversations for Educators and Parents podcast series features a conversation with Dr. Douglas J. Pietersma, from the National Homeschool Education Research Institute, summarizing research conclusi...
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Episode 10
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58:46

End of Year Announcements!
As you are wrapping up the year, we wanted to say thank you! Here are a few announcements: - Email and Dashboard are both getting new features for you to customize next year. - 10% less reading load for 2024-5 AND...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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4:58

Studying Other Religions
As students approach Thinker and Leaders curriculum, you'll find some book choices, videos, articles, and podcasts that are presenting a non-Christian worldview. Why? Dr. Dikkers provides the Portals approach to book choices and se...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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39:24

Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators (MACHE)
Portals sits down with MACHE's Dayle Annand to talk about state organizations, the MACHE conference, and lobbying functions at the state.
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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39:56

Teacher Licensure
Minnesota has a whole new set of criteria for teachers to demonstrate prior to getting a license in the state of Minnesota. Not is there room for abstaining or remaining silent on controversial leftist religious opinions. Portals e...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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11:21

Critical Social Justice All Over the Place
Minnesota is passing a collection of bills engraining Critical Social Justice religious beliefs into every area of government schools from race-based hiring law, 'culturally sensitive' discipline, and 10th grade required 'ethnic studies' course...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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11:18

Christ-Centered Learning
What do we mean when we say Christ-Centered Learning? We put it in writing at PortalsAcademy.com under Philosophy, here we share out loud. 1) Starting with God Each Day2) Whole Counsel of God 3) Christian Worldview a...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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8:00

CLT Test Results - Homeschoolers Show Highest Scores
The CLT test is a standard measure of reading using classic text scripts and evaluating understanding. Results like these are why Portals is leveraging homeschool resources to build lesson support for learning.
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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5:26

Review: Hostages No More - Betsy DeVos
Betsy DeVos new book documents her time as Secretary of Education, what we need in American education, and advocates for Education Savings Accounts. Portals strongly recommends giving this book a read, and here are our notes on it.
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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18:37
