Where Should My Children Go to School?
The summer is in full swing. Plans for vacations, swim meets, camps, and Vacation Bible School fill our minds and our calendars. And although many parents long for the lazy, carefree days of summer, they instead agonize over where to put their children in school this fall.
Gone are the good old days when nobody pondered the question of where their children would attend school. There was no need; kids went to neighborhood schools that reenforced values and beliefs that were taught at home. School was cozy - an extension of the home. My wonderful across-the-street neighbor was my first- and second-grade teacher; my dog walked me to school everyday and remained faithfully by my desk until it was time to walk home again; and we had devotions in the classroom every morning. Life was good.
Things have gone terribly awry during the last twenty to thirty years. Parents today do agonize over educational choices for their children, and rightfully so. Our society delights in profaning the very things we should honor: God and His Word, absolute moral values, marriage, and respect for the dignity of all human life. The U.S. Supreme Court has banned God and His Ten Commandments from the public school room. Classrooms - microcosms of our society as a whole - cannot remain cozy, safe havens when the society who fills them has become increasingly valuelesss and violent.
Perhaps more than any other generation in American history, parents today are being forced to evaluate educational options rather than merely accept the status quo. These choices include public, private, and home education. As you decide what is best for your family, remember that the primary indicator of success in any educational environment is parental involvement.
Why do parents choose to homeschool their children?
1. The Environment
Many Christian parents choose to homeschool because of the forum it provides to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Teaching children to love God with all that they are and have is time-consuming and life-encompassing. Homeschooling allows a parent to be his/her child's mentor and companion in this noble venture.
2. Homeschooling Works
Statistics compiled by private foundations and organizations, universities, and state departments of education all point to the fact that homeschooling works, and works well. Nationwide, homeschooled students consistently score well above average on nationally-normed standardized tests, usually out-scoring their traditionally-schooled counterparts by 15 to 30 percentile points.
3. Methodology
Homeschooling employs a tutorial method of instruction that is extremely efficient and effective. Parents can pay special attention to readiness, learning styles, giftedness, special needs, and individual interests.
4. Experiential Learning
The homeschool abounds with opportunities for non-vicarious, experiential learning through the implementation of unit studies, travel, internships, volunteer work in the church and the community, and service to the elderly, the infirmed, and the needy.
5. Parental Control of Curriculum
6. Maintaining Family Integrity
Building family unity and maintaining the integrity of the family is yet another motivation for homeschooling.
The lazy days of summer will soon give way to a busy, new school year. Consider joining the hundreds of thousands of parents nationwide who are experiencing great joys and success through teaching their children at home. There has never been a better time than now.
Come to think of it, maybe the good old days are now. Like their mother before them, my children were taught first and second grades by an intimate friend; they walk to school every morning; their dogs lie faithfully by their desks; and they have devotions (almost) every morning. Life is good.
Used by permission Lifeway.com
