Views on Education

It is no secret that we homeschool our children. My parents started homeschooling me in my junior year of highschool. Having experienced public, private, and home school, there was never any doubt in my mind which direction I would take with my own children. By the grace of God, my husband eventually agreed with me before the older got to "school age".

Since my mind was already made up, I had several years of leisure in which I researched all the methods and approaches to this grand adventure. I was drawn to the more relaxed approaches, Raymond & Dorothy Moore, Charlotte Mason, notebooking, Cindy Rushton, delight directed, etc. Then God allowed major illness into my life. It forced me to go deeper. Much. Deeper. I studied Marilyn Howshall's message. And went deeper. I was formulating better reasons for homeschooling, and I was coming to understand that we needed to have higher goals.

Then came a setback in my health. There was a year when very little was accomplished. Then when I could focus again, God led me to the Robinson curriculum. Self-directed; the kids could read, write and do math daily with little input from me once it was set up. This was a major relief!

Now, as I start gearing up for the fall semester, God seems to be leading me in yet another direction. Not that any of them are all that different from each other, but now the oldest is in junior high and I feel the need to lead him deeper. So we're going with Barb Shelton's approach, which dovetails nicely with Marilyn Howshall's Lifestyle of Learning. (And everything else I've mentioned.)

What's my point? Well, there are a couple.

1. A Christian, hs'er or otherwise, needs to be flexible and willing to follow wherever God leads. You've heard that a lot, but do you really act on it? Really? Is there a situation in your life that's not working right now, whether it has to do with children, work, spouse, or anything else? What are you doing about it? Before you trot out your long list of things you've tried, which failed, and what else can you do, let me ask you this. Have you asked God what you're doing wrong, and what He wants you to do? Gotta open your mind up here. He has proven to me that when I humbly ask for help and am truly willing to change, He will lead me to Truth that makes all the difference. He will! He is faithful! Why do we box Him in? Why do we think He can't? He can!

2. My husband and I are finding ourselves increasingly isolated, not just in the carnal world, not just in "church", but even among other homeschoolers. Not physically isolated. Our children are active in 4-H, rodeo, and music. But we only know ONE other family who is determined to protect their children in the same way we do ours. We haven't gotten to know them well enough to know yet whether our beliefs line up all along the way, but for now it's nice to have friends with whom we can hash out these concerns.

Voddie Baucham (and John Wesley) says it better than I can. Go here and see what he says about education. Our goal in teaching our children at home should be to train them to keep the next, eternal world in mind as they walk in this one. This world's on borrowed time. Why do we make it so important in our daily lives? We need to shift our focus and that of our children! Parents, wake up!