Sometimes, it feels so good to write and to really express what’s on my heart!
Then at other times, something is written so eloquently and so much better than what I could have said, that my hat is off to them and you’ll find my rooting for them on the sidelines! This is one of those times.
There has been so much debate on homeschooling vs public school, that it makes anyone’s head swim. In many of them there is so much mud slinging toward the other side that it makes the reader sick. And quite done with the whole deal.
However, this article is very different. There is no mud slinging. No name calling. No put-downs. No “I am holier than thou” kind-of attitude. Just a strait forward look and talk about the age out debate “homeschoolers won’t know how to deal with the real world when they’re grown.”
I am a home schooling mother. So I do believe it is what’s best for our children in this day and age. I graduated from public school myself, and while I did have a good education, there was so much more that wasn’t good from it. I realize that not all parents share this belief and this difference doesn’t make them horrible parents for choosing the state run schools. Anymore than it makes me a better parent for choosing to home school.
I am not a better parent. Just ask my children!
The point of sharing this article is to make you think. To see this situation from different eyes. Perhaps in a way you’ve never thought of. We all need different views sometimes, no matter what side of the issue we are on.
In any discussion with critics of home education, the objection will eventually crop up that “homeschoolers won’t know how to deal with the real world when they’re grown.” It seems safe to assume that those who raise this objection aren’t worried that homeschooled children won’t be able to figure out how to buy groceries, drive a car, or effectively conduct personal business, given the fact that they are raised by people who do these things right in front of them every day.
Instead, the questioner seems most of the time to be referring to the cultural and moral differences between Christian homes and the non-Christian public schools. The objection could be accurately restated as “Homeschoolers will see so little of the brazen sinfulness of mainstream American culture that they will be shocked into helpless paralysis at the sight of {insert popular but blatantly sinful and unbiblical behavior or attitude here}. As if Good were such a weak little thing that the first whiff it gets of Evil will cause it to clutch its girly skirts and faint!
I don’t like mudslinging, but even if I did, I hope I wouldn’t sling it at Christian people who use public schools. I do urge them to think about alternatives, if at all possible. Many have no choice, and many others simply don’t have the same vision of society and family that I do. They do serve the same God, though, so I try to get along, as much as possible. Often, I’m accused of being judgmental anyway. Your post came at exactly the right moment, because I was just wondering if I could do a better job of tiptoeing around the issue with grace. I think there’s always room for improvement, but I’m encouraged by your post. 🙂 Thank you!