I do believe that parents need to decide for themselves what kind of schooling their children should receive, but if you are undecided, let me share with you something I recently read.
In an essay titled 'Art in the Bible', Francis Schaeffer writes, "The arts and the sciences do have a place in the Christian life- they are not peripheral."
I wish someone had told me that when I was growing up. My life then was divided into seven days, with church on one day and school on five. My time at school was divided into seven periods, with each period focused on a different subject. Rarely did the subjects mingle, and NEVER did they touch on what I learned at church. The atoms, plants, and animals in science class had nothing to do with the God who created them in seven days. History was just a series of random events, full of the names of dead people. Math and language arts were useful, but only because I needed them to get by in life. Art and music was even more removed-- it was extra-curricular, just the 'cherry on top' in life, but definitely not necessary.
Homeschooling my children is the exact opposite of that. Right now, we are studying the amazing human body, and we discuss how God had designed everything in us to coordinate so precisely, and how creative and artistic He was in doing so! Then, when we study art and music, we talk about joy, beauty, and how we are reflecting God's creative nature and communicating his beauty to people. Sometimes, we incorporate world cultures and history play into the subjects. And, to continue the chain, history, which was always my least favorite subject growing up, involves language, cooking, even math! And I have learned that it is anything but random. God weaves all people, places, and events together to create a tapestry stretching from creation to present day.
Education is not about teaching my children the three R's. It is about life. Reading is used in studying scripture, writing for encouraging friends in a letter, and 'rithmetic is used in cooking, building, shopping, and sharing. In a Christian school, my children might get this if the teachers were mindful and coordinated well with each other. But at home, this is a typical day. We have our formal teaching time to focus on a subject, but most of our real teaching and learning are done through conversation. And though I'm not an expert on the American educational system (and even less so, the educational systems of other countries), I feel that my children have a better foundation in life that I ever did at their age.
Education is not about teaching my children the three R's. It is about life. Reading is used in studying scripture, writing for encouraging friends in a letter, and 'rithmetic is used in cooking, building, shopping, and sharing. In a Christian school, my children might get this if the teachers were mindful and coordinated well with each other. But at home, this is a typical day. We have our formal teaching time to focus on a subject, but most of our real teaching and learning are done through conversation. And though I'm not an expert on the American educational system (and even less so, the educational systems of other countries), I feel that my children have a better foundation in life that I ever did at their age.
If you are interested in knowing more about why we homeschool, you can read this post from 2011: Taking the Schooling out of Homeschooling
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