I am about 95% sure that when it comes time for kindergarten registration this year, I will not be signing Kyle up.
The more I read, talk to people, and soul search, the more I lean towards home schooling my children. This is not a decision that I take lightly- as it is definitely a "Tier 1" type of decision to be put next to marriage, career choice, or other highly important decisions that can have lifelong consequences. The good thing about this choice is that unlike a lot of Tier 1 choices, it can be decided over and over again...committing to one year is not committing to 12.
It is easy to make the "default" choice, sending your kids to public school because, "it was good enough for me, it is good enough for them". But, I am approaching this from several different angles- and not one of them is "default". Let me explain.
God gave us a lot of instructions and plans for life and fortunately for parents, he didn't leave out education. There are numerous scriptures that challenge parents, reminding us that WE have the responsibility to raise, educate, disciple, and train our children. A specific one reminds fathers of their role to direct their children and raise them in faith. There is also advice that knowledge should not be separated from God, but should be built on faith and character. Unfortunately, this is not what our public schools are doing when there are lawsuits to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. In home schooling, there are opportunities to study scripture and to learn character...even a sibling dispute can turn into an opportunity to learn about conflict resolution, creating kids who know how to work with others.
Another thing is that all kids are individuals...putting them all into one room with one teacher and a set curriculum (that is very secular in nature) does not challenge each of them. There are times they might feel "dumb", and probably a lot of times when they will be "bored". Home school curriculum work is customized and tailored to fit an individual child- allowing many to thrive and finish age-appropriate work much quicker than in the traditional school setting. If a child likes the computer, a portion of his lessons can be using it as a tool. If they need to see an instructor, it can be a parent or even a DVD of someone else teaching a lesson. Maybe the home school family down the road is doing something fun-- bring the kids over and then return the favor next week. There are home school co-op groups in every town. Studying history? Go to the museum...no permission slips required. I can definitely see the freedom in this choice.
My other, more personal reason to home school my kids is that I want to get to know them. I want to teach them concepts to help them succeed in the world. I want to be there developing their character and work ethic. When they socialize...I want to make sure they can socialize with more than just kids their own age, but make sure they can also have a conversation with a grandparent or help to care for a two year-old child. I want them to talk to me. I do not want their week to be filled with activities that take them everywhere besides home....I want to have dinner as a family. I want to shift the priorities from the direction they are going towards back to where they are supposed to be.
A personal choice, definitely- but I think I am making the right one...and if I am not, I have the opportunity to make it again next year.
Comments