- Freedom from socialization. The #1 question of non-homeschoolers, to which I say nothing but know that random, unsupervised peer-socialization is probably the worst thing to come from Thomas Jefferson's brainchild of institutionalized public education. In these formative years, and for as long as the Lord gives me breath in my body, I'll teach my children how to be civil, and I'll choose and supervise the iron by which they will be sharpened.
- Freedom from anti-Christian teaching OR Freedom to build a strong foundation of Truth. Every teacher and every school is serving their religion whether they know it on a conscious level or not. Atheism is a belief system. Agnosticism is a belief system. Any belief system that is not for Christ is against Him.
- Freedom from the fear of failure and ridicule; home is a safe place to make mistakes.
- Freedom from being "cool." I want all my girls to be imaginative and whimsical in their play. They should not be unnecessarily stifled by "what the other kids will think."
- Freedom from "teaching to the test." Pouring names, dates, formulas and functions into the container of the mind for the purpose of spitting it back out at the prescribed test time leaves a child no good reason to retain it after the grade is received. The information is dumped from the memory and the time logged is a total waste.
- Freedom to love learning. No one has yet told my children that learning is boring or something to be avoided. Learning is beautiful!
- Freedom to enjoy beauty, through the pursuit of Philippians 4:8.
- Freedom to find her identity in Christ. Not on the soccer team. Not with the popular girls. Not through the invitation (or lack of) to Jane's sleepover party.
- Freedom to be innocent. Children who live, learn and play with parents, siblings and select friends don't learn about the depravity of man through experience. They aren't watching or talking about YouTube or Google image searches.
- Freedom to guard her heart against impurity. Romance is not recreational. Dating damages children.
- Freedom to nurture the relationships ordained by the Lord. Siblings who spend 8 hours a day away from one another at school, more often than not develop friendships that take them away for the remaining waking hours. Families who do not play together, don't often stay together.
- Freedom to master a trade. Home education can often be accomplished in a significantly shorter period of time than in an institutionalized setting, thereby leaving more hours to hone the skills that will keep them on their very individualized, God-ordained paths and purposes.
- Freedom from harm. While violent events can happen anywhere at any time, the public school setting has proven itself too big a risk for my conscience.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Homeschool Freedoms and Reasons
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Well said! And many of the same reasons I make that choice as well (in addition to consistency in education since we know God will move us more than once during their education years. I pray your girls see the solid foundational reasons you used as you made your decision for your family. Blessings.
Amen, amen and amen again! These are many of the reasons I'm thankful to be a homeschooler--both a graduate myself and a homeschooling mommy (because it's a lifelong venture, no? In our home, we consider our ten month old to be homeschooled already. :smile:)
I don't know you and don't know how this blog works but I joined so I could tell you how I loved your Freedom list I too Homeschooled my 3, years ago and these were some of the reasons. I now have 3 grandbabies and one more on the way, I can only pray that they too will be protected. I loved your 100 list too! I found myself in some of those too! I hope to stay in touch!
Many Blessings,
Karen
Oh, yes! YES! YES!
I read this list with my kids, and they nodded, agreed and even shouted a couple of "Amens!"
So good. So very, very good!
I feel exactly the same way. Good post and well-stated.
Well written. I am going to share this with my homeschooling friend. Our daughter is in Christian private school for many of these same reasons.
I have never seen you as judgemental at all. The fact that you use "restoring" and "grafted branch" in your blog name tells me that you see yourself as growing, not already there. This is why I read your blog.
I believe that you stand firm in your convictions, but you always exress them in love.
Thank you. :>)
I agree, well-stated. thanks for sharing.
I think this was a fabulous post and it strengthens my resolve to homeschool my girls. You said it so well! Now, if I could only figure out where and how to start. LOL! Rachel is wanting to homeschool already . . . in a more formal sense I guess. I'm just stuck in regard to where I should start. Okay . . . better send this off. My computer shuts off in 10 minutes and it might take me that long to fully formulate my thoughts.
Quite frankly, religion is not at the center of my life, but I agree with many of these points, especially 1,4,6 and 9. Those religious points are important too, don't take it wrong!
Thanks for sharing them!
Post a Comment