Reason 627 to Home School Your Children
January 29, 2008
There are so many reasons to home school, it is not funny. I DO realize there may be some extenuating circumstances that keep you from teaching your kids at home. If that is you - post a comment here and tell me what the circumstance are that you can’t home school. I really want to know. I have been racking my brain trying to think of reasons people would not be able to home school and I can only think of a couple.
Here are four news articles for you to look at. They all involve guns and they are all from last week. Please leave your comments to these articles. I really want to know your thoughts on this, especially if you are a parent who sends your children to public school. How can you go to work every morning knowing that you sent your child into an environment like this? I really, really want to know. I really do.
Gun Found In Elementary School In Berkeley
Created: Thursday, 24 Jan 2008, 9:15 PM CST
KTVI - myFOXstl.com) — A scare at an elementary school when students find a gun in a bathroom. FOX 2’s Summer Knowles reports the gun was found at the Airport Elementary School in Berkeley. A letter went home to parents Wednesday and it didn’t sit well with them. WATCH THE VIDEO
First Grader Suspended After Bringing Gun To School
AP - 1/24/2008 1:46 PM - Updated 1/24/2008 2:02 PM
SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) — A 7-year-old first grader in Sallisaw has been suspended after taking a loaded pistol and a knife to school. Sequoyah County Sheriff Johnny Philpot says no one was injured and it appears the boy was showing his father’s gun to friends at Central Elementary School Wednesday.
Philpot says another student told a teacher about the weapons and school officials say authorities were called immediately.
Philpot says the boy’s parents kept the gun in a nightstand in their bedroom for protection.
Child Arrested for Bringing BB Gun to School
01/23/2008 1:51 PM ET
DOVER, Del.- A fourth-grader at North Dover Elementary School is in big trouble after being arrested for carrying a BB gun in his bookbag.
Dover police say the incident occurred Wednesday morning, Jan. 23. According to police, school officials were made aware the student had displayed the BB gun and as a result his bookbag was searched and the BB gun was uncovered.
Dover police responded to the school and took the student into custody. He was charged with possession of a deadly weapon in a safe school zone and was later turned over to his mother pending arraignment in family court.
Principal Proposes Gun Buyback Program For Kids
Thu Jan 24, 6:35 PM ET
A Cleveland elementary school principal is calling for a gun-buyback program for children after the shooting death of a 15-year-old Wednesday night.
The shooting occurred at a home in Glenville, when a 16-year-old allegedly shot and killed Michael Mosely with a gun he bought from another boy for $40.
Empire CompuTech Principal Valerie Flowers said it’s just too easy for children to get guns.
Flowers wants children to turn in their weapons in exchange for cash or a gift card.
The school district is working on details for the program.
My words… Brilliant! Creating a way for kids to make money. How many guns per child per year can be sold to the school? A new business for those entrepreneurial kids?
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January 29th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
I would LOVE to homeschool our kids, however we cannot. They are still our foster children and the state will not allow us! However, as soon as the ink is dry on those adoption papers, we are all for it!!
January 30th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Good for you, Shannon. I was blessed to be able to hs most of my foster kids, and my adopted kids were too little to have to ask. Therefore, they have never seen the inside of a school, either (not counting needed physical/occupational therapies)! Jeff, have you seen this site: http://www.101reasons.org? It’s pretty interesting!
January 30th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I have seen that before - it has been a long time since I visited their site.
January 30th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Even though both my husband and I were public school products, it never even crossed our minds to send our kids to public school. Every single school teacher we met said “please, don’t ever send your kids to ps”. Our oldest 2 children did go to a private Christian school up until this year, and I have to say, that really was not much better. My kids are just blossoming at home. They have become so mature and responsible and they have so little stress I cannot imagine ever going back to that life. I cannot think of a single circumstance in which I would send my kids back to someone else to educate. Even if tomorrow I found myself a single parent, I would do whatever it took to keep my kids out of a mainstream school, public or private. No one could ever love or care for my kids the way I can. Their education could never be as important to another person as it is to me. Their success could never be as important to someone else as it is to me. Not to be harsh, but pretty much over my dead body would be the only way someone could get my children back in that environment.
January 30th, 2008 at 10:33 am
We homeschool our two boys! We love it! We are a few months away from adopting from the state of Georgia. Until the adoption is final we will have to put them in the system. We decided to try and time our placement with the summer break so as to have as much time with the kiddos before the much dreaded school year. Also, we are moving to Idaho (if all goes as hoped) at the end of the summer. We will be able to take the children who are placed in our home. Idaho’s rules are a lot more relaxed then Georgia’s (or so we’ve heard…need to check on that)so we are praying that once we are in Idaho we will be able to homeschool them instead of sending them to school. As Shanon said above….as soon as the ink is dry…
An example of one reason we are homeschooling: My neighbor drops her 5 year old off at my house at 6am so I can put her on the bus at 7am. They don’t pick her up from “after school” until 5pm. Then she has to come home eat dinner, do homework (at 5) and then try and get to bed by 8pm so she can once again be sent off the next day. It’s so sad!
January 30th, 2008 at 10:39 am
We currently hs our oldest 2 (9yo). They are boy/girl twins and we adopted them from Africa when they were 3. They have been in ps since K and this last Christmas we decided to bring them home. We also have our 7yo and 5yo girls still at the school. We will bring them home at some point too but we believe that our older 2 need intense time with mom right now. School has always been a matter of prayer for us. Each summer we bring it before God again what we should do for school that year. I agree that ps doesn’t have a lot going for it anymore and it becomes less and less each year. We are blessed that we have a lot of Christian teachers at our ps as well as the freedom to be there a lot. I appreciate the articles that I see from time to time regarding what’s going on in schools. I appreciate them when they are informative and help me to make good decisions for my family. Sometimes I feel like folks(not you) are trying to spread a spirit of fear and that concerns me. I know that bad things happen all over. In schools, on the roads with a crazy maniac, in the grocery store, at church and even at home. It’s up to each parent to make their family a constant matter of prayer. I don’t want to live in a state of fear everytime I walk out the door and I don’t want to teach my kids that either. For us we have a peace where our kids are at. When that changed for the older 2 we brought them home. I’m not sure if our 3yo will go to school or stay home altogether but we will pray about it. We are loving the benefits and changes in our kids that we are seeing with homeschooling. I do agree with you Jeff, just maybe not as strongly. I enjoy reading about your family very much. Thanks for the interesting discussion.
January 30th, 2008 at 10:42 am
#1 reason I don’t homeschool my school aged children. My husband says no.
#2 I tryed to use Ohio Virtual Academy (this is public school at home) it is for very advansed learners. It deffinately was not for my ADD student who needs a interesting curriculum.
#3 I cannot/willnot do homeschool with a complete curriculum for the first year at least. This leads to #4
#4 I cannot afford to pay for a curruiculum that would be best for me to teach my special needs fella.
Shell
January 30th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Ah, the subject of special needs…. that one always gets me that parents feel that the PS who can not give undivided attention to a special needs child is better off than at home with Mom and Dad! I have a feeling you brought that concern up at the right place with Jeff and his kiddos. :-)
I have all special needs kiddos (Yup pediatrician and PS therapist diagnosed ADHD, some very close to almost RAD too, one is visually impaired as in legally blind in one eye, sensory integration issues, muscle delays, close to FAS in many of them and I’ll stop here because there are just too many special needs in the realm of post institutionalize, adopted children…) I still feel they are better at home with me using a FREE curriculum or no curriculum at all. You can get a free FULL curriculum online called ambleside if you are interested for the first year you are speaking of. Personally, I would ditch the whole curriculum thing but since you said you needed it I gave a free suggestion. I find most special needs kids just need to be loved up and informally taught as life unfolds.
As far as the Hubby saying no…. might that have a lot to do with how you present your information or your feelings that you cannot teach your children? If I presented those four points to my dh he would say forget it too!
One thing you want to keep in mind is don’t try to create PS at home. It sounds like you just had a bad experience with one curriculum and I can see how that made you feel inadequate to teach your child with ADD. I would be pounding my head against the wall with that curriculum too.
January 30th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I did not think about the one reason I would not homeschool, and that would be if my husband said no. I would respect his wishes. As far as curriculum, being a first year homeschooler myself, I feel like your first year you are just feeling out the water and how your child(ren) learn best. I purchased a curriculum used and pretty much threw it out after 2 weeks and have since used the TONS of free resources on the net. I don’t know if my child is ADD because I would never label her, but she is often lost in her own world and needs my direction to keep her on task. Why would I want my child in a classroom for “special needs” children so she can carry that label with her for the rest of her school career? With gentle guidance and love from someone who actually cares about her (me) she is thriving and is amazing me daily with how smart she is! When she was at school I would hear comments like “oh, Mariah, I just worry about you sometimes” or as happened in first grade, her teacher got tired of waiting on her erasing too many times and came over and bit the eraser off her pencil! Do you really think that the teachers at your school (no matter how great you think they are personally) really care as much for your child as you do? How did parents care for their children before there were no “special needs” teachers? I guarantee you there were many children who went on to be very successful and productive adults that would in our day and age now have those labels put on them. Sorry if I stepped out of line here, but I am very passionate about this.
January 30th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I too foster/adopt and have special needs kiddos. It can be a challenge to educate them if I am attempting to duplicate a PS setting.
We are under a “private school umbrella” which has satisfied our caseworkers (with me educating the CW, GAL’s etc). We are not unschoolers as we do some textbook work. more of a relaxed environment. We use a lot of hands on activities and when it will “click” there is much to rejoice about. We do we are getting through, teaching them the needed biblical and living skills.
There is much concern with sending the kiddos to school..curriculum, wrong socialization, sex abuse (big in UT), weapons, the list is long!
Laura in UT
January 30th, 2008 at 11:49 am
My only reason for not homeschooling my kids is that my husband says “no”, at least not at first. He wants them to start off in public school (or private if we can find the funds…ha…where???) Teaching them at home is a backup plan if things don’t work out in his mind. I’m doing as much as I can with them while they are at home with me. And I still have a year and a half to pray pray pray about the situation.
His no has nothing to do with my abilities but he thinks that they need to be around kids in a school setting. I won’t list all of his arguments because they are all flawed with so many holes that I really don’t need help pointing them out.
We are doing preschool stuff which means we are playing a lot and reading lots of books! Although my oldest, who just turned 4, wants to do more and more. So really, he is doing a lot of things that kindergardeners in public schools do. If Dustin doesn’t change his mind, he’s going to have two very bored sons sitting in a classroom.
January 30th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
[…] Oh My Dad! […]
January 30th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Yes, absolutely and a huge reason is safety!
When our oldest son was in K a child threatened to bring a gun to school to shoot the teacher. Of course police were called and there WAS a gun in the home. This was in a nice CT town.
Right then we decided to homeschool, though we knew nothing of it.
When it’s in the elementary schools, it’s just too scary for words. That was almost 8 years ago and none of my children have since or ever will step foot in a school of any kind. Until college that is :)
~Becky
January 30th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Keep praying Crystal. I dropped the subject with my husband and he brought it up all on his own after God changed his heart.
January 30th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I was also going to recommend Ambleside Online, if you’re looking for a free curric. My kids are getting an impressive education IMO and it’s free!!
January 30th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
When I was in school, students were caught with guns and suspended. One gun was brought to kill a teacher with, that had failed a student. Drugs were passed in class etc. My child is three, but we have already started homeschooling her, and will continue to. Our world gets more frightening every day.
January 30th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Here’s another article from back here in AZ to add to your list:
Proposed bill OKs guns in schools
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0126gunbill0126.html
Just what we need…more guns on campus. So what happens when Johnny finds the gun in Teacher’s desk drawer?
No thanks, I’ll keep my children home with me!
January 30th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Thank you Ginger for the Ambleside tip. I’ll google it sometime after the kids are asleep.
As for Sarah, you need to reread my post. My husband said no. I didn’t explain why. Please don’t presume your own answers. I have six children also. Not just one special needs student but two.
As far as my special needs kid; I didn’t say he was in special education classes. He is in regular classes and is very intelligent. He is very loved and is a sweet gentle child. I didn’t say I didn’t have time for him. ??
I also didn’t say why I quit the curriculum either. Maybe you should have asked. I was having severe morning sickness and couldn’t function and, was going to be hospitalized Sarah. I also had no idea what to start with as I had never done this before either Sarah.
I wanted to start with a simple curriculum. And when I got sick, and the curriculum sucked, I put the children back in school out of no choice. My husband never wanted them in homeschool anyway and used that as an excuse to keep them there. Didn’t know that did you.
If you wanted to convince me to homeschool, you have just turned me away if everyone acts like you. From this blog, I can see everyone doesn’t. Your not wining me over by being judgemental, critical, and presuming things you don’t know. I hope you would consider this next time you answer and ask questions before you jump the gun and start cutting me.
Michelle
January 30th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
We intend to homeschool our children, when they are born. The only thing that makes me nervous is MO’s homeschooling laws, which I am completely uneducated about. Since we have a couple more years before we start having babies, I’ve got time to figure it out.
Although I made it through public school relatively unscathed, my husband went to one of the giant public schools here in the Saint Louis area. The idea of sending my children to a school where they will be one of hundreds, if not thousands, terrifies me. I felt lost when I become one of a couple thousand in college - I can’t imagine doing that to my preschooler!
Beyond that, I want my children to be adequately educated for the inevitable questions they will face as a Christian. Therefore, I want them to know about other religions and other cultures, the realities of sinful life choices, and how the world really works. My husband and I are a little more open minded about things than most traditional Christians (don’t make any assumptions based on that statement) and I want our kids to be able to seek knowledge on whatever subjects catch their fancy.
I would be lying if I said the added bonus of being able to travel with them whenever we want didn’t play in to this. My husband and I both like to drop things at a moments notice and fly off on a trip. With the school schedule, that wouldn’t be possible. With homeschooling’s flexibility, anything is a learning opportunity.
Yes, the whole Biblical call to home educate does play in to our decision - but I can’t understand how even non Christians can stand sending their kids to public schools. The violence and horrible “education” those kids get is frightening. That’s a generation of poorly educated fools that will be running our country one day. Very sad and scary to think about.
I fear that we’ll face criticism from our families for choosing to keep our kids home for schooling purposes, but there are plenty of other opportunities out in our community to socialize them. Dance classes, art classes, karate, swim, playgroups, Mommy & Me classes, Kindermusik, etc. Once I figure out what the state will require of us (when the time comes) I have absolutely no reservations about home education. Luckily, my husband is on the same page about this as I am.
How’s that for a coming out of the woodwork and delurking comment? :-)
January 30th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Hi Jeff-
I have enjoyed reading Katie’s blog for some time and now yours. I have learned a lot and have been inspired everyday by your lives - the foster and adoption part, the homeschooling part, the family closeness, the cooking and sewing, etc. You guys are doing great things!
I am also a Christian and try to do my best for my family everyday. I am a psychologist and work in the public schools. My children attend another public school in the town where we live and where my DH is a professor. I have to say that they are thriving and that we feel we have made a great decision for them and for our family. I also think that homeschooling our kids would also be working out well for them if we had chosen that path.
As much as I respect and admire homeschoolers with strong convictions, I do feel some resentment when I feel judged for making the other decision. It has turned me away from wanting to read your thoughts and feelings and wisdom. I think it is human nature to justify whatever path we have taken. It is unfortunate when that justification changes to judgement on other people who have made equally good decisions for their families.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I will second much of what Andrea said. I have no problem whatsoever with homeschooling. My problem is when those who do homeschool judge and criticize me for not making the same choice.
The reason we do not homeschool our children is very simple– we do not feel God has called us to do so.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
What’s ironic to me about the whole “You’re judging me” argument is that those of us who do homeschool and receive plenty of flack for it: “What do you *do* all day?” and etc. rarely feel judged. It doesn’t bother me one bit. Why don’t public school parents have the same confidence in their decision? I’m not attempting to be sarcastic, I genuinely don’t get why it’s different.
I hear plenty of negative comments about homeschooling, but I don’t feel like I have to justify anything. I love what we’re doing and I don’t resent any public schooling judgment. Seriously. . .please explain.
January 30th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Oh, I hear you Ginger. I have gotten all kinds of remarks. Some examples “You need to make sure you are actually teaching them. Don’t just bring them home and ignore them like so and so did”. “Won’t they be missing out when they don’t get to have a Christmas program”. “Do you have to send your papers somewhere to be graded?” “You are really doing those kids a disservice.”
PLEASE don’t make it sound like homeschoolers are just a bunch of public school critics and act like we don’t take as much flack and much, much more as parents who send their kids to public school. I apologize if my defensiveness sounds like criticism, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with being passionate about my children and anything that involves them.
January 30th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
See, there you go. Why would you say that public school parents don’t have confidence in their decision? I read and re-read all the posts here by public schoolers and didn’t get that at all. Perhaps some don’t, of course, just as some HSers probably don’t. If you dont want all HSers to be painted with the same brush, please do others the same courtesy.
I get that YOU don’t feel judged by whatever people say. I’m so glad you don’t. But that doesn’t negate how others FEEL, and it certainly doesn’t mean that others are not being judged. Spend a little time on certain message boards and you will see what I mean — IF you choose to see it. PSers are held in extremely low esteem by some, as if we are willfully choosing to send our kids straight to hell. Arrogant signature lines have sayings like “MY child will never marry a PSer!” and other tidbits about how evil PS is supposed to be. And PSers are supposed to ignore that and feel welcome - as long as they have a “good enough” reason, like the father says no.
We send ours to PS and we both have full confidence in our decision. I realize that HSers get flak from the community sometimes, but it goes both ways, and in the conservative Christian community we are the odd men out — which wouldn’t be so bad if not for the insults. Sure, many will say “you just have to do what’s right for you” but their comments then seem to express their true feelings. We made our decision with GOD’S help, just as you all did. Our children are flourishing. I don’t mind that HSers are happy with their decision and want to shout it to the rooftops - I’m happy for them, too! - I just wish they could figure out how to refrain from insulting the rest of us along the way. That is not something I pull out of thin air. It is the way we are often treated.
Off topic…I often wonder why it is that Christians feel the need to compare and top each other. We are brothers and sisters. We are equals. None of us is better than the others for schooling our children a certain way. Aren’t we supposed to be above the ways of the world? I think we are often harder on others than we are on sin. I find that truly confusing.
PS. I realized I didn’t answer the original question. For one thing, I do not go off to work. I am a stay at home Mom. I spend about half the kids’ school hours working at the schools they attend, both in the classroom and out. Do the articles bother me? Yes, of course they do. I pray for my children, indeed for all children, and for the teachers and the schools. They are in God’s hands, whether in PS or not. Accidents happen and evil flourishes everywhere, whether in or out of school. God is in control.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:15 am
Michelle, I think you misunderstood my heart’s intent! Regardless, I am sorry I caused you offense. Please forgive me. May the Lord show you His wisdom and give you peace as you follow HIS desire for your family! =)
January 31st, 2008 at 5:33 am
Hey Ginger and Debbie!
I am not a judgemental person and don’t judge homeschoolers at all! I think it’s a fantastic decision and I have learned A LOT from my homeschooling friends. I hope to continue learning as I do a lot of activities with my kids outside of public school time. I know that’s not true of everyone and I apologize for those who choose to judge homeschoolers. I”m glad you have confidence in your decision. I have confidence in mine also. My only point is that I do feel uncomfortable and somewhat miffed when my choice is questioned and I am made to feel like I am letting my children down in some way. I really want to keep reading Jeff’s blog as I feel he has a lot to offer me as do the commenters, just not sure how welcome I am feeling. That’s all.
Have a great day everyone -
Andrea
January 31st, 2008 at 8:21 am
Andrea, I am sure you are always welcome to have your opinions. :) But as you yourself state “My only point is that I do feel uncomfortable and somewhat miffed when my choice is questioned and I am made to feel like I am letting my children down in some way.”. Please understand we feel the same way sometimes, but when we defend our convictions in our choices we are told we are being judgmental. I am made to feel like I am letting my children down all the time, not from you specifically, but I just wanted you to understand where the general “defensive” attitude was coming from.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:23 am
That sounds like wisdom, Andrea. The ability to gain maturity from those you don’t agree with is true wisdom. Plenty will leave because they don’t agree, but that’s where we lose our potential to grow. If we can only learn from those who agree with us, then what good is that?
My point about feeling confident in the decision to public school was this: if public school parents are confident in their decision, then why do they feel judged? The reason I don’t feel judged for going against the grain is because I’m confident that we’re doing what’s best for *our* family. That’s what I was trying to get across: if you’re confident in your decision to ps, then you shouldn’t resent those who think you’re wrong. You won’t feel judged if you’re truly confident that you’re doing what’s best for your kiddos. You just won’t care. Being free from what other’s think is true freedom.
Thank you for expressing yourself so calmly, Andrea! Well-worded post.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:45 am
Ditto Ginger. That is exactly what I would have said. Well, not really… but that is exactly what I would have meant. For some reason when I say things they don’t come out as eloquently as that.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:45 am
I guess I don’t get why you all feel judged.
The articles that Jeff posted are real articles. The conversation that he posted from the other man’s blog…that was a real conversation.
Why are you offended that he is pointing out that these things happen. Because he is glad HE has chosen another way?
When I was in 6th grade a kid came into our classroom…it was big with four different classes going on…and shot up HIS class which was behind mine…he shot into the black board and into a desk…thankfully no one else was injured (that I remember)…he ran out through the door closest to my classroom and my teacher followed him…when he saw my teacher he turned the gun on himself…shot himself in the stomach. He did survive and came back to school about a year later…and then I moved so I have no idea what happened to him. The year was about 1981 (could have been late 1980). I think that experience may have influenced my desire to homeschool…are you offended by that?
What about the studies that show that academically homeschool kids on average score better than public schooled kids and at worst EVEN with private schooled kids…does that offend you?
What about the studies that show that 80 - 85% (I think) of homeschooled kids remain christian after graduation whereas 15% of public schooled kids continue being identified as christian…and private schooled kids also lose their christianity at a higher rate than homeschooled kids (although I can’t remember that figure)…does that offend you?
Why?
If you are secure in your choice, you truely believe that God lead you to put your children into public school even in light of the factual things that are coming out…than you shouldn’t be offended…just resolved.
Missionaries aren’t offended when people say, “You have a much greater chance of getting killed”…why? Because they KNOW…and they still feel the Lord has lead them to the job.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:00 am
Just a couple of words. Homeschooling is a privilege that could easily be taken away. I get tired of people who say that homeschool kids cannot function in society because they do not get socialization. Let me ask this? When ps has education to teach kids about sex in highschool, the birth rate increases. Then they move this education to middle school and the birth rate increases. Now they are taking it to the elementry schools, do they think all this is working, some socialization. I would like to see the school systems take some of the homeschool ways of teaching and implement it and see if the education of the ps kids will increase. Where has the three R’s gone, why are they worrying about how to teach kids about sex, how to be politically correct, how not to think for yourselves and believe what you are told, and few other issues I don’t want to mention, but you know what they are. I graduated a homeschooler who is more up on polictics, thinking for herself and has more pride in herself than to let the world dictate how she should think.
Sorry about the rambling. I just get tired of defending when others choose not to learn for themselves. We must be doing something right because HS gets more discussion in the government, on tv, and in the news. Why are they so afraid of what we do? We are not hurting them.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:32 am
Hi again-
Not sure I have much else to say - debates like this can (and have) gone on forever! I think that feeling defensive about a choice and stating that does feel like judgement to the recipient at times. At least I have felt that way. Maybe it is a fault of mine. Maybe we need to choose our words carefully. I know I do. I will continue to defend homeschoolers to the critics. I will also continue to defend my own choice. Ginger and Debbie, thanks for your gentle words. I hope I am still welcome here - I will continue to check in but probably won’t respond to any more comments on this - my brain is tired!
Enjoy the day everyone!
January 31st, 2008 at 10:45 am
I think a lot of the defensiveness stems from a previous blog entry entitled:
“The Number One Reason to Home School Your Children - Not G Rated”. To be called a liar, delusional, or just selfish because you are not homeschooling are pretty tough words to swallow and not become defensive. I found myself starting to post all of the reasons why I am unable to hs, but then the Lord reminded me of His grace and mercy. Plus to be honest it really isn’t anyone’s business. This is between my husband, me and the Lord.
The above article does make me cringe. But I do trust God and His sovereign will for my children’s lives. If for some reason they were to be called home early because of a lunatic at school, I believe God is in control. It would be very hard and knowing me I would blame my decision until the day I died, but the Bible does clearly state that God knows the number of our days before there is even one. My human side still worries though.
I will say that every day I send my kids to school I pray and pray and pray for their protection. We also pray every morning as we drop them off that God would use them to minister to the other children. I am very sad that I am unable to homeschool, which makes the above remarks about people who don’t homeschool even harder. I look at all of the fun stuff you all do and to be honest I am not content with the way my life is right now but I think we need to walk a mile in someone elses shoes before we can make such a harsh judgement call on them. It isn’t always as black and white as it might seem. I ask for prayer for our family and that God would help us to work out our situation so that we will be able to homeschool in the very near future.
Your Sister in Christ,
Donna :-)
January 31st, 2008 at 11:32 am
Donna, your honesty is refreshing! Your first paragraph makes complete sense to me. I totally get what you’re saying. I believe that Jeff is really aiming at those parents who naively believe that nothing harmful will happen to their kids at public school, which is not what you’re saying at all! Regardless of our educational method, we all have to trust God with our children. You sound like a very loving, prayerful mother.
I’m not going to argue that my kids need to go to public school *in order* to minister to the worldly kids. Jesus began his ministry at age 30, not 6. But you don’t appear to be arguing for “salt & light” either. Give yourself a little grace. And please don’t covet. That will make you miserable!
January 31st, 2008 at 11:37 am
Thank you Ginger for your loving response. I do not send my children to school to “minister” to the other children, but I do pray that because they are there for a season, that God would use them. I know that we are to be content in every situation, but sometimes that is hard.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:47 am
Ginger, I covet your responses. :) You are a gifted communicator, and like Jeff said, you always say quite well what I meant, but not what I said. ;)
January 31st, 2008 at 3:04 pm
OK, I’ve read most of the posts, with the exception of a few. I don’t get how some people can say, “well I divorced my dh because that is what the Lord wanted me to do, I had prayed and prayed about it and He led me to that decision…” I don’t care how much you prayed about it the Lord specifically says in HIS OWN words that divorce is a no-go. You can pray all you want about becoming a homeos*xual and feel that God himself is allowing you to be one, BUT His word says otherwise. The list goes on and on and on in regaurds to how we “pray” and feel led (I’ve been in this boat, as I am sure we all have, after all we are all sinners!). But I think it is at least time to take God out of the “He led us to put them in PS”, because you would have a tough time getting around His word. No, His word does not say…”thou shall not send your children to PS”, but it’s close. I’m not against anyone for putting their kids in PS, as it is indeed between them and God. I don’t judge them, and I expect them to not judge me. I just think we need to stop saying God led me to ……to justify going against what He already told us to do or not to do. Again, this is not soley related to homeschooling as there are a ton of other things we all do this with. I used to be that way with spanking. I was anti spanking….as God “led” me. Um, yeah, I had a hard time getting around that one when I was repeatedly confronted with my error. It took quite a few years and a lot of “bad pudding” to set me staight and see that man’s ways are not God’s ways. His word stands as is, and no amount of praying otherwise is going to change it.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Yes, we do homeschool. I worked and taught in the PS system before i had kids. I wouldn’t send my kids there for anything, except if my husband said i had to. I won’t go into all the myriad reasons and stories i could tell about working in that enviroment……let’s just say I, as an adult, had nightmares at night from being there.
Anyhow, i want to comment on that last article……they’re paying kids for guns???
What are they thinking?! I”m thinking the crime rate (burglary) is going to skyrocket as the kids try to get more guns to turn in for money. Lunacy.