Saturday, August 1, 2009

Why Homeschool?

A friend tried to convince me a few years back that I would do my children a serious disservice if I did not send them off into the world (school) as early as possible so they could learn to deal with all the stuff the world would throw at them. I disagree.

"there is a big difference between sending fully trained disciples into enemy territory and sending recruits to our enemy's training camp. If we do the latter, we shouldn't be surprised when they come home wearing the enemy's uniform and charging the hill of our home waving an enemy flag." Voddie Baucham, Jr.

4 comments:

Teresa said...

Couldn't agree with you more!

Maile said...

Thanks for this encouragement. Sometimes I begin to doubt our decision to homeschool or wonder if I would still homeschool if we moved to an area with "good" schools, but this quote is a good description of one of the big factors that would keep me homeschooling regardless.

Amber said...

While I applaud you for homeschooling your kids, and definitely don't argue with your reasons (if I thought for a second I or my kids wouldn't go absolutely insane being around each other all day long, I'd homeschool too), it sounds to me like you're not even considering the benefits of sending kids elsewhere to school. There are definitely pros and cons to each, and I doubt, that with the right teachings at home and a lot of involvement and encouragement on my part, my kids will turn out worse than kids who were homeschooled.

Catherine Agnes said...

Chambers, I came away with an entirely different impression of this post than you did. It seems to me that Paula is advocating not sending children to school until they are ready, while you seem to feel she is advocating never sending kids to school at all.

I was homeschooled for kindergarten, first grade, and fifth grade. My mother was flexible and allowed me, within reason, to choose how I wanted to learn. My siblings chose differently than I (choices ranging from very little formal schooling to attending boarding school). While I don't know exactly what views Paula has on education, from this post her ideals sound similar to the ones I was raised with.