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| A cross section of a 700 year old fir tree at the Discovery Center on Saturday |
The subject of home schooling has been hashed over and studied and practiced for years--in fact before the first public school was established in 1635 home schooling was the only option other than expensive boarding schools and private schools. Many of our American Presidents were home schooled. However after several generations and a couple hundred years of public schools, folks have forgotten the roughly eight thousand years or so that man existed without public education, and home education has become new all over again.
In the last thirty or forty years, learning at home has gone from a crazy new idea that only hippies and fundamentalist Christians did and sometimes went to jail for, to the latest fad and acceptable part of our society, a solution to behavioral problems and bullying, to the up and coming best and only way to learn thanks to the Internet. You can literally obtain a complete education up to the high school level and many college diplomas through online curriculum, such as the Khan Academy which is completely free and well accredited through large donations from many well respected companies and individuals. Thanks to the information age, by the time a public school curriculum is written up, approved by PC individuals, and printed, it's literally out of date already. Home schooling has become easier, cheaper, and better than it's ever been before, and I am looking forward to using these resources with my own children--in fact YouTube has already proved invaluable and thanks to YouTube videos my girls and I know the alphabet in sign, and the girls know their letters, colors and numbers.
The thing that's on my mind this morning is the many parents of the previous generation who used home schooling not as a positive resource enabling them to give their children a better education, but as a way to keep their children isolated out of fear of the world, or as the laziest possible way to raise kids. Sadly enough I've seen far too much of both! I've known home schooled kids whose parents focused completely on academics to the exclusion of all else, and they were ready for college by age 14 but knew nothing of how to integrate into society and get along well with their fellow man. I've known home schooled kids whose parents focused completely on religion to the exclusion of all else, who could quote chapters of the Bible but knew little to nothing of math, chemistry, and biology. It breaks my heart to see children handicapped for life because of the lack of wisdom on the part of their parents, and yet with all it's flaws home schooling still tops the charts when it comes to academics, and I've known far more home schooled kids who are bright and well rounded and socially adjusted, having traveled the world, learned other languages, and overcome more challenges than many adults have faced. The issue lies with the parents. With government education, a child's schooling experience is only as good as the government makes it. It is varied as to the region, the size of the class, the teacher, and the school district. But it is essentially a homogenized education. You are not allowed to fail, or excel either (unless you are Mr. Galbraith of Cheaper By The Dozen and actively teach your children alongside the public school and brazenly demand that your bright kid be allowed to skip years).
Home education is only as good as the parents who school at home, and so it lies as an awesome and heavy responsibility on we who choose to teach our own children to actually TEACH OUR OWN CHILDREN!!! And in the day of the Information Age, we have literally no excuse. It doesn't matter if you have a teaching degree or not. If you don't personally know the knowledge that needs to be imparted, you can find that knowledge. Schools and libraries are no longer the source and center of knowledge like they used to be. The world is literally at our fingertips, with smart phones ready to answer any question one might possibly ask, and teachers making videos and podcasts aimed at sharing their knowledge with others.
The dangers of public schools have also vastly increased since our parents' day. School shootings are becoming horrifically common, where some deranged person decides to kill as many young people as possible and sometimes small children (Sandy Hook makes me sick!) Bullying is becoming such a problem that the government is devoting millions and millions of dollars to "combat bullying". The curriculum is becoming watered down and sickeningly politically correct, with California schools teaching sex education to kindergartners with an emphasis on the LGBTQ agenda. The overcrowding of classrooms making it impossible for good teachers who care to help the children on an individual level, essentially turning them into free babysitters.
Even though I believe home schooling is so much safer, I still choose not to make that decision out of fear, but out of love for my babies and a firm belief that it is the better option socially, economically, and educationally.
It is wrong to make life choices out of fear. I have memories growing up of running and hiding whenever the school bus drove past our house, terrified that it might stop and kidnap us (because why would children voluntarily get on the bus? Didn't they kidnap kids to cart off to their evil schools?) One time, oh horror of horrors, the bus actually stopped! But the friendly driver only wanted to buy a dozen eggs (we had a sign out front and sold eggs). Fear is never a good thing. It cripples and distorts and paralyzes everything good and brave in your heart and soul. I was raised with an incredible amount of fear of the horrible world out there just waiting to devour me if I dared exercise the smallest amount of independence from the sheltering arms of my parents. When I actually ventured out on my own in my early twenties, I discovered an amazing, beautiful, challenging, and ever changing world, a world with dark and bright threads weaving together a tapestry called Life. I discovered that Harry Potter wouldn't automatically suck me into witchcraft. I discovered that wearing clothes that weren't loose and baggy from neck to ankles didn't automatically get me raped. I also discovered that even with the failings of my parents, I actually received a decent education and an excellent work ethic, and was able to get a job almost anywhere I chose.
All together told and averaged out, home schools still excel public schools and I suspect they always will. Who knows what the future holds, the way it keeps changing! I was 19 years old when I bought my first digital camera, and digital technology was fairly new. I remember when phones had cords and attached to the wall, and there was only one per family. I remember when a computer was something large and bulky and only owned by nerds. I remember being excited about a 32 MB storage card, and now I have a 32 GB card in my camera and a 2 TB hard drive. I learned to type on a manual typewriter where you couldn't type too fast or the keys would bunch up and get stuck. My children are growing up in a completely different world, and my generation is proving how adaptable the human species is.
My challenge will be to teach my children to be not just decent human beings, but excellent human beings and good people to know, to fall in love with, to be friends with, to hire in the workplace. I don't believe in mediocrity. I don't believe in accepting changeable human behavior as "everybody fails, so failing is OK." I believe that along with being the best person you can possibly be, humility is key and it's important not to look down our noses at others who make different choices than ourselves. It is a balance that I am still learning--to love others for who they are, and yet to make the choice to be a good person and surround myself with good people. Jesus hung out with prostitutes and sinners, loving them and accepting them yet without accepting their sin, bringing them with him on the journey to new heights and a better life and ultimately into the kingdom of Heaven.
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| Learning about tree rings |
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| Elizabeth was fascinated by the fish tank |
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| Climbing and playing is an essential part of education! |
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| Lights! |
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| This is how Elizabeth toddled around the Discovery Center, reaching out and squealing about all the new things to learn. Children are sponges who soak up information if you are willing to teach them! |
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| Pushing buttons on the big computer |
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| One year old Lizzy learning about the solar system |
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| Science is such a big wonderful world to explore! Children are never too young to learn. |
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