Sam Sorbo shares how she and husband Kevin Sorbo instill Christian values in their three children.
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Sam Sorbo is a talk
radio host, actress and model.
But her greatest achievements
are that of a wife and mom.
Sam met her husband, Kevin,
while playing his leading
lady in the hit TV
series "Hercules."
Both have been
successful in Hollywood,
yet remain outspoken
about their faith in God.
In her book, "Teach From
Love," Sam offers 180 lessons
to instill Godly qualities
in your children, one
for every day of
the school year.
Well, Sam Sorbo joins us now.
And it's great to
have you with us.
Thank you.
You know, a lot
of people would
look at your life, and
your accomplishments,
the activities you're
involved in and say,
what, it's not enough?
Now we're going to home school?
[LAUGHING]
What made you-- because
it is a commitment, Sam.
What made you decide to do it?
You know, OK, what
made me decide to do it?
The school was not succeeding
with my child to the degree
that I thought that they should.
And so I started doing
homework with my child
after school every day--
which, by the way,
why is there homework?
TERRY MEEUWSEN: Yes.
If the school is
succeeding, they
have the child for seven
and a half hours a day,
why is there a need
to do homework?
TERRY MEEUWSEN: Amen and amen.
And the reason is
because the parents do not
forego the responsibility
of educating their children.
They're just leaning
on the schools.
And the schools or
are underperforming.
We've seen the results.
The schools are underperforming.
There's plenty of evidence
out there for that.
There's nine overhauls of
the public school education
system in 27 years.
That's one every three years.
Each one purporting
to fix the problem,
and each one not
fixing the problem.
So I just got to a point where
I'm like, the schools not
serving my child.
What should I do about that?
Maybe I'll try it myself.
And then, honestly,
I never looked back.
I love it.
I don't understand why we
should send our children
to institutions everyday.
I don't get it.
Children belong--
It's the way it
used to be years ago.
We've been conditioned, right?
We've been conditioned.
TERRY MEEUWSEN: Well, in
the process of all of this,
you've jumped in with both feet.
And you've taken on the task of
teaching Godly characteristics
and qualities to--
specifically, in your book,
you talk about seventh graders.
And there's a point at
which a child can really
begin to grasp, and receive,
and be responsible about some
of that information.
How do you teach a seventh
grader Godly qualities?
With discussion.
Because seventh graders
are just at that age
where they're grappling
with and learning to argue.
And they're really trying
to get these things--
sort of decide for themselves,
what makes sense for me?
What makes sense in the world?
And where do I fit in the world?
And I think it's important
that we teach children
where they fit in the
world and who they
belong to in this world, right?
TERRY MEEUWSEN:
So by discussion,
you're really helping
them learn to reason.
Yes, exactly.
That's exactly the point.
And I started with
classical conversations
before my child reached
the seventh grade year.
And then when we got
to seventh grade,
I realized that they
teach apologetics.
And I went, ah, brilliant!
Why aren't we-- and I said
this to a friend of mine
who ran the little
co-op that we are.
And I said, why don't they
teach this in high school?
And she said, Sam, why don't
they teach this in church?
Why aren't we teaching
our children--
Hello.
--a defense of
our faith, right?
And so this grew organically
from being in the classroom,
and having these
discussions with these kids,
and reasoning that
I don't know where
they're going to get this.
So I mean, obviously, there
are other places that--
I got it from somewhere, right?
But I just wanted to offer this
as an encouragement for parents
who home school.
And then I realized, wait,
everybody needs this.
It's not just for homeschoolers.
So it's for families.
But in fact, if
you have a teacher
that you like and your child's
going to public school,
get this for the teacher.
Because this is a great
resource for them to just
have these discussions
with their students.
Well, and a
wonderful thing to take
to the dinner table at night to
sort of have family discussion
be meaningful.
This is your second book
actually, "Teach From Love."
Tell me about your first book.
So my first book just came
out of having homeschooled
for a while and realizing
that the system is not
what it used to be.
And this is a problem.
It's difficult for
people to understand
how the system, how the
bureaucratic educational
system, has shifted.
We see little snippets of it.
We
We see a teacher
taking it upon herself
to do a transgender ceremony
for a five-year-old.
And at the end of that
article that I read,
it was questionable whether
he believed he was transgender
or not.
And we see parents that are
outraged that the teacher would
take this upon themselves
and being told by the school
system, it's out of your hands.
You don't have the right
to opt out of that.
In my school
district, we have we
have books that feature
pornographic imagery in them
for ninth graders.
And we are told
that we can opt out.
But the problem is, you're
stigmatized if you opt out.
So there's a system in place.
And it's not in favor of
the child nor the parent.
TERRY MEEUWSEN: And while you're
getting homework assignments
at home, moral values are
being taught during the school
day, which are
something that should
come from every child's family.
Well, they should.
And I would argue, some of
them are immoral values.
I don't know that they're
teaching moral values anymore.
Because they're
teaching children
that they are
accidents of nature
and that survival of
as the law of the land.
And if you're a
Christian, I don't
know how you marry that with
your worldview, in which you
believe that every
life has value.
Because survival of the
fittest is what ISIS
is performing right now.
TERRY MEEUWSEN: Yes, exactly.
So I mean, we--
Think it through.
Yeah, we need to think
these things through.
So a lot of people, Sam,
are intimidated by the thought
of homeschooling.
What would you say to people
who are even moderately
contemplating it?
Moderately contemplating it.
Well, first of all, get my book.
TERRY MEEUWSEN: The
first one, by the way,
is called "They're Your Kids."
"They're Your Kids."
So in this book,
I go through what
the problems we have in our
public education system today.
And it's systematized.
It's not the teachers.
The teachers are great.
Most of the teachers are great.
There is some bad
teachers out there.
TERRY MEEUWSEN: Of course.
But most of the
teachers are great.
But they are hamstrung
by a system that insists
that they teach certain things.
Now with Common Core, it's
been absolutely bureaucratized.
And so they're stuck.
So the first part of the book
goes through the problems
that we have with
our education system.
And listen, we're competing
27th in the world.
We're America.
We're the United
States of America.
And we're, like, 27th in
the world for education.
TERRY MEEUWSEN:
How's that possible?
The second part of the
book is how I did it.
It's just a little
glimpse into little tricks
that I learned, my
mistakes that I made,
so that you don't make
the same mistakes.
And the thing that I want
to really impart to parents
is, it's fun.
You responsible anyway.
So accept the responsibility.
And then learn to enjoy it.
Learn to enjoy your kids.
Because homeschooling is
really about the relationship
with your children.
And there are co-ops out
there that are wonderful.
There's a lot of support.
So you don't have to be
a science genius or a math
genius.
No.
And in fact, you
shouldn't think that you
have to know everything.
What you should be for your
child is the lead learner.
So when your child says,
why are frogs green?
You say, I don't know.
Let's go find out.
We have the internet now.
We have everything
at our fingertips.
And we need children to
be lifelong learners.
Because they're going to
have six different careers
before they're 30 now.
It's not like it used to be.
I want to say, the new book
is called "Teach Them Love."
The first book was called
"They're Your Kids."
And very quickly, because
we've just got seconds left,
you've got a new
movie coming out.
Lettherebelightthemovie.com.
It's about the darkness
that's enveloping the Earth.
And the way to cure the
darkness is through the light.
It stars my husband, Kevin
Sorbo, from "God's Not Dead."
It's the story about an atheist
who has a near-death experience
and--
TERRY MEEUWSEN: Kind
of changes him up.
Changes him up a little bit.
[LAUGHING]
We'll look for it, October--
October 27th.
--27th.
Watch for it.
Go to
lettherebelightthemovie.com.
OK, great.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
You're doing good things.