Home school isn't about withdrawing your children from the world. It's about preparing your children in a safe environment to take on the world. You don't put a tender plant in the garden in February, you start it in a cold frame and let it get strong enough to withstand the weather. That's what home schooling is all about.
So keep 'em close in the early years and teach them to be critical thinkers and to flee from evil. Help them grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. And when they're ready, send out little soldiers in the Church Militant to lead a fallen world back to Christ.
More Catholics choosing homeschooling = the death of the Catholic school system in America. Which might not necessarily be a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a cute picture!
ReplyDeletePerfect picture for the subject, Mary Ann. I really appreciate your blog from which I get lots of help to have healthy views as a Catholic. I enjoyed the book in which I found your contribution . . although I found the whole book a bit boring. : ) But that's only because I'd been a trad Catholic for a long time then.
ReplyDeleteI live in Ave Maria where we have an excellent Catholic school inside the city. This made me hesitate for a long time whether I should send my children to the school or still homeschool them.
They are still too young to go to school so I don't have to decide for the moment but your comment on 'keep them close when they are young' reminded me of the book I read 'Hold on to your kids'. Excellent book. Have you read it? The peer pressure/culture in public schools which lead the young children to great confusion must be avoided.
I will 'keep them close', and will do so until they are ready for the good fight.
Thank you for your writing, Mary Ann.
Yunah, thank you so much for your kind words. I haven't read the book, but I like the title. I agree that some of the essays in the book were a little dry (not mine I hope - LOL!). I know some of the people who wrote which was interesting to me because it gave me new insight into them.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite benefits of home schooling is that siblings stay close to each other. I was at the bathroom in the airport once and two little girls were there with their mom. The older was helping her younger sibling and they were both very calm. I asked the mom if they were home schooled. She was shocked. I said I could tell. And since then it's happened in other circumstances. Home schooled kids are comfortable with each other and they make eye contact with adults. That is not typical of kids in the sardine can at public school.
I wonder...where's Daddy possum?
ReplyDeleteDaddy possum is at work, of course. With such a large family he has to work hard. Momma possum is taking her home schoolers on a "field" trip.
ReplyDeleteNo, yours was not 'dry' as I sought to find you online and got to know your blog/website after I read your piece.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the siblings! I also heard one time that when other moms in, say, Target, struggle to calm their children who yell to ask for what they want to buy, homeschooling moms peacefully stroll along the isles with their well-disciplined children. :)
Did you homeschool your own children?
I learned about home schooling when my oldest (of 5) was in 6th grade. It took me another seven years and a year teaching in a parochial school to decide to homeschool my two youngest. The older wanted to go back to regular school after a year, so she only home schooled 7th grade. The youngest I home schooled for five years. I loved it! My only regret is that I didn't start home schooling sooner and longer.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask why the older one wanted to go back to school? Did she exhibit any 'withdrawal' (from her school) symptoms? (sounds so serious but I am just lightly asking) Do you then think that it's not good that a child is homeschooled after she's already been in a public/private school first for a few years?
ReplyDeleteWhen I decided to home school, I gave my older daughter the choice and told her she could make the decision to go back to regular school if she didn't like it.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a good year. She went from being on the verge of being boy crazy to going back to playing with dolls and directing her younger sister in plays, etc.
There were very few home schoolers her age in my local group, most were younger, and she missed having friends. So she returned to a Catholic girls school that started with 7th and went through high school.
I think it's fine to home school at any point. Whatever works for the family.