The Fruit of my Labour

Today has been an uplifting and oddly sobering day...

I have spent the afternoon dwelling on how deeply thankful I am that I am disciplining my children the way I am.

I know I don't always do it the right way, and I may not always say the right thing....but when you see the fruit in your children's lives: the life, the hope, the affirmation they get from knowing that you are disciplining them out of love...then it is well worth it. I am so thankful that healthy, involved, hands on parenting was modeled to me and that I started shaping and molding them early...because again, the benefits are just so worth it. All the days of consistency, the perseverance in repeating the same thing over and over, the patience, the tears....IT ALL PAYS OFF...eventually. And today, I saw a glimmer of that. A bright shining shimmering ray of hope.

And that glimmer makes me want to help other women who seem to be in the darkness, who admit to me with tears and gut wrenching sobs that they don't know how to do this. As mothers, we all need tools. We need to share with one another and carry one another. How is it that in mothering, we can too often be locked into our own silent cells?

And this evening...an old pupil of mine from my teaching days in Zimbabwe came to have dinner with us. Again, fruit of my labour - two years of inspiring this student whilst teaching her about geography has led her to be doing the most amazing work with the WWF (and no, not the wrestling acronym!) now. She has au paired in America, and pays me compliments on my children (what every mother loves to hear). But as I chat with her my heart is heavy...to hear how much I played a role in her life and yet how distanced and hurt she is from  her parents. My heart is heavy with prayers of hope, and of healing.

And again I am struck. This mantle of parenting is no easy task. But it is, beyond a shadow of doubt, the most important one...

Homeschool - Truth or Dare?

It is 6am on a Saturday morning, and I am not in bed, and I am not on the road, but sitting on my new couch (yipee!) writing.

I am not in bed because some strange voice over the wall woke me up - just weird. And sometimes, when I'm awake, I'm awake. No going back to sleep for me.

I am not on the road as Braveheart desperately wanted a sleep in, and my foot problem has taken a few steps back. Cutting the shoes did nothing. The pain has diminished on the balls of my feet, but those inserts made the rest of the shoe too small which caused the sides of my feet to be in agony! However, I am now the very VERY grateful owner of a pair of Body Geometry cycling shoes, and again, have met an amazing cycling shoe specialist. I am eagerly yet nervously anticipating a ride, as this investment had better work....

These weeks are passing in a blur and it's just no good blogging in my head (thanks M for my nudge :)).

Homeschool. This journey we have embarked on is going to change me more than anything else, I suspect. So far, I have realized that it is time to re-prioritize things. For example, being the task focused, product vs process, achievement orientated person I am, I am realizing that all of that must come second to my relationship with my children. Inverting that order almost seems unnatural to me, but it is the path of life. It is more important to honor, respect and develop a relationship with each of my children than it is for me to get somewhere on time, or be able to tick off all that we have done in a day.

Secondly, my teaching background is not necessarily an advantage. It is TOO easy for me to recreate school at home, and forget that homeschooling is more about the HOME in schooling. So it's just as important for King Arthur to bake with me, or be exposed to the drudgery of chores or the monotony of errands as it is for him to do seat work, etc. I need to relax a lot more, and allow for inspiration to over take me. Being handed a curriculum that is spelled out for me, rather than a framework where I have to make individual lessons also means I can be lazy, and see Sonlight's way of doing it as something to achieve, rather than allow my natural bent to take over. I've just started tutoring again (?!), and find myself able to make those lessons inspiring and creative, whereas King Arthur's are pretty mundane. I'm learning to see his education as something fluid, not set in stone.

I am spread thin. Getting Aragorn and Belle to school is the most stressful part of my day. The round trip takes me about 45 minutes, and then within about 3 hours I do it all again! And there are two things at work here:

• I feel the pressure to get King Arthur's work done when they are at school so that I can enjoy Aragorn and Belle when they return from school
• I have seen that I do not yet posses enough grace to have them at home with me. They've been sick this past week, and trying to do school with them at home is just ... frankly impossible. I know it was the exception and they were sick, and I am in sure in normal circumstances I would find a rhythm, I am sure I would learn, but right now, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God knew what he was doing - he's easing me into it, one child at a time!

OK. So that's me. Now onto King Arthur. He is doing so well, and is somewhat so content ( I say that because there are some grumbles about it being boring, or about having to do the same things every day (red flag to self - change something!!!!! Spice things up a bit!). Not once has he mentioned friends, or missing them, or wanting to be at school. Sure, I've organised a few play dates, and we have co-op, but he is happy. I can see him just soaking up all this time that he has with me.

reading to his brother and sister
(on the OLD couch!!!!!)

doing maths whilst baking
feel-good muffins

Singapore maths blocks

Ancient Egypt - lego pyramids and
Egyptian collars

Measuring weights on a homemade scale

Sonlight is delivering every one of its promises. He loves listening to the stories, and there are certain aspects (the doing parts) he loves more than others. His boredom with some of the phonics and Maths was because it was just too basic for him, so in his reading program I have jumped him ahead 10 weeks. The beauty of homeschooling - a tailor made education! I've yet to figure out exactly where to peg him in Maths without missing any foundational concepts, but again - such freedom. Were he in school, he would be so bored waiting for the rest of the children to catch up.

A friend calls them "A-ha" moments, and I love getting to be alongside him whilst he learns, watching that proverbial light bulb go on. I am enjoying my learning moments too, although they are a lot more challenging than I thought they would be!

Kids are awake - enjoy the weekend all!

Day One Done!

Here I am at the end of the day, with a dawning realization that anyone who homeschools is a saint!

We began with a really special time as a family, talking again to King Arthur about why we believe this is the right road for us to be on, and me sharing some things that God had laid on my heart for him - he responded so well, and again, was just SO eager to get started.

The reality? A day full of challenges. Firstly, trying to meet King Arthur's expectations. I'll need to examine what mine were/are. Secondly, juggling Aragorn and Belle. To you women who do this from scratch - well I take my hat off to you all! I am so glad I made up some play dough yesterday - Belle just got stuck in, and then ahem, I had to remove the play dough from the walls!

just so cute!

Third challenge? Honoring King Arthur's heart - he didn't want anyone else to listen/look/do  'his' homeschooling books (despite me trying to explain they were for us a family!). Aragorn has just been gorgeous and as warmed my heart. All he wanted to do this morning when we started was pass all the books to King Arthur, and then watch him do homeschooling! Lucky for me, I remembered I had an old math activity book at his level, which I pulled out. And all Aragorn's done all day is Maths!

Challenge Number 4 - where does King Arthur fit in exactly? With some things, King Arthur is much more advanced than this program (like with his letter recognition) but will need a slower pace else where (like handwriting!). Despite his enthusiasm of the day, at dinner he said his day had been boring {cringe}, so there's certainly room for improvement and space for us both to grow. O Lord!

I selected just three four things to do today, and made a ladder, each rung representing one of the subjects we can cover. I let him choose the order of what we did today which was interesting too.

We also interspersed the day with fun - a picnic walk mid morning (complete with brain food!), jumping on the trampoline and an afternoon tea party, that Belle hosted for us - loved watching her use a tea pot!

As I sign off, I'm trying to hang on tightly to my 'feelings'of yesterday, and look forward to us all finding our rhythm and pace in this journey....

Tomorrow's the Day!

This is the conversation I overheard as I walked down the passage tonight as the boys were settling in their beds.

King Arthur: I'm so excited. Tomorrow is my special day!
Aragorn: Why? Is it because of homeschooling?
KA: Yes. I can't wait. I'm so excited I'm going to do homeschooling as soon as I wake up.
A: Oh. (clearly a bit puzzled by his brother's enthusiasm)
KA: EC (a friend of his) has already started school, and I've had to wait. But tomorrow's the day! I don't think I can sleep...

And then the conversation degenerated! But I cannot tell you what a gift overhearing that conversation was to me, just to know how much enthusiasm is in my little boy's heart. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have made the right choice for him.

The beginning of this journey has been interesting for me. Last week I was convinced that my children would all start school tomorrow, the 19th of January. But on Monday, I made some calls and realised that Belle only starts on Thursday, and Aragorn next week Monday (24th)! And this after I'd been counting down the days with King Arthur in "sleeps to go".  I knew I could not deny him another few days, it would break him. His natural curiosity is full blown and he is more than ready to actually LEARN something. Madly i had to re-shuffle my expectations of the week, and the way in which I had envisaged starting teaching him.

But true to form, whilst spinning this evening God spoke: I really believe this is the best way forward now, because I see that this staggered start is great - each of them gets a special day to start their journeys this year - and we will pray and bless them on their INDIVIDUAL respective mornings. And Elijah gets to start this journey with his siblings around so that he doesn't notice the huge shift to having no class mates. Each way I look at it, I see His hand and this is perfect.

And I'm choosing to see me not being as prepared as I wanted to as part of his Hand in this as well - I need to relax!!!

Half the Sky

Women hold up half the sky

Chinese proverb

I was chatting with a frind recently about the incongruous nature of what I am feeling with regard to education and the female gender (groan, I am NOT in any way a feminist!), but she pointed me to this article written by Nicholas D. Kristof (a New York Times Op-Ed columnist) and Sheryl WuDunn (a former Times correspondent), which was absolutley fascinating to me!

IN THE 19TH CENTURY, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape....

... in a large slice of the world, girls are uneducated and women marginalized, and it’s not an accident that those same countries are disproportionately mired in poverty and riven by fundamentalism and chaos. There’s a growing recognition among everyone from the World Bankto the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to aid organizations like CARE that focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism. That’s why foreign aid is increasingly directed to women. The world is awakening to a powerful truth: Women and girls aren’t the problem; they’re the solution.

Food for thought huh?

This essay is adapted from their book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” which will be published next month by Alfred A. Knopf. You can learn more about “Half the Sky” at nytimes.com/ontheground.

The flip side of the coin

Our good friends, the Albertyn's are back in Zimbabwe, and making a difference. (read their full story here)

They are changing the future of school children in an epic way.

Life altering.

Truly.

Each time I get an email from them it shifts my life into perspective: it helps me to see what really is important and what I think is important.

I was surprised by my reaction to one of their recent emails though, that included some photographs and information about some schools even more rural than the one in which they are working. Conditions which you and I would never consider schooling possible in.

Can you make out the writing above the door?
This is the headmaster's office.

One of the rural classrooms. This school was on a farm
the government bought back from white farmers
in the 1980's.

These kids just break my heart. The odds they
are facing....

Another classroom

One of these far out rural schools is next to a gold mine, and Mark commented that many of the girls do not complete their schooling as they are taken as wives for the mineworkers.

That simple fact has done me in. Here I sit, with an education that is probably worth hundreds of thousands of rand in today's economy, writing about how I think girls should be educated about how noble motherhood is, and how important it is. I'm not necessarily using that education to its full potential. I spend my time writing about how angry I am with Western society that it applauds academia at the expense of family....but at the same time, on the other hand, I am so saddened that these girls don't seem to have a choice, an opportunity, to 'do' something with their lives. Incongruous huh?

Where does that leave the argument? Or me? Is it the complete imbalance between the rich and poor societies? I'm trying to figure this one out.

Food for thought huh?

Have you future-proofed your child?

I have had a superb day with close friends who came over for a birthday tea - about 12 ladies, many of whom had their children with them and the house just absorbed them - I am again, need I say it, supremely thankful!


This came to my inbox a few days ago on an e-loop I'm on. I found it a fascninating read - the future will truly be unlike anything we know...read on!

The times they are a changin’” never before has the title of this Bob Dylan classic been more relevant. Baby Boomers, those born between 1945 and 1964 have witnessed some truly amazing shifts in the world. They watched the dawning of the internet age, they saw the amazing star trek gadget called the personal communication device (cell phone) materialise, and computers that used to take up an entire room can now fit into the palm of their hands.

Generation X’ers (those born between 1964 and 1980) can hop on a plane as easily as a bus, play high definition games on their laptop computers against opponents on the other side of the world. They can view news as it happens instantly via satellite transmissions, and those same satellites can get us from A to B via a GPS - a tool previously reserved for the military.They are now employed in jobs that did not even exist in 1964.

According to Nikki Bush, co-author with Dr Graeme Codrington of best-selling parenting book, Future-proof Your Child, it is anticipated that our children will have had 10 – 14 jobs by the age of 38!  “It is a future we can’t even imagine and we are going to have to bring up our children to be incredibly resilient in the face of change, and who love learning, they will quite literally be learning on the job.”

Children are going to have to ramp up their creativity as innovation will be the life-blood of companies in the future.  With much more automation of jobs coming down the line, our children must be able to do that which computers can’t – utilize creativity and imagination.

Bush explains that entire new industries will become mainstream when our children reach the world of work sometime between 2020 and 2030 including robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space travel and nano-technology, to name just a few.

Commenting on the impact of the global economic recession, Bush says that if there is one thing that has been highlighted, it is that a job no longer equals security.  Companies can no longer promise you a job or an income based on your commitment and loyalty, because they can’t guarantee employment. Everything today boils down to economics.

We need a generation of children with a huge entrepreneurial mindset because many of them will be self-employed.  Understand that EMS (Economic and Management Sciences) is now a very important subject in the curriculum.  Support it as essential and not just a “soft subject”.  The global trend is to downsize head offices and to outsource or micro-source, in other words, to buy in the skills or talent required for particular projects for a limited period of time, and not necessarily to employ the person who has them.  Automation is also another trend that will replace people in the workplace.

Bush says, ‘being an entrepreneur demands a very different skill set to being employed precisely because there are no guarantees and because you are the master of your own destiny.  The message for anyone who is still employed is that everyone today is at risk, we all need to be able to reinvent or re-engineer ourselves at will, in order to remain current and employable (as an employee or an external consultant or service provider).  You need to be constantly building your brand wherever you find yourself. ‘

By encouraging your children to build their own unique brands, whether they are employed or self-employed, you will be ensuring that your children learn the lesson that they will be their own teachers.

Because we don’t know for sure exactly what jobs are coming down the line we need to future-proof our children so that they are ready for whatever life throws at them. Bush believes that children will need more than just grades to thrive in the future; they will need X-factors for success:

• Creativity,

• resilience,

• a love of learning,

• relating to others, and

• self-knowledge.

So what does this mean in financial terms? Well there is one more shocking prediction to digest, it is estimated that the chances of a child born in 2000 living to the age of 130 are 50%. This means that if we stick with old paradigms they will retire at 65 and have another 55 years to fund in retirement. So in effect we are trying to educate our children to prepare for their futures 65 years from now. This is inconceivable given the speed at which the world is changing. For the first time in history we have no clue how to prepare for the future because the future has no guidelines.

Risk products like dread disease, medical aids and disability will become even more important as job security dwindles and life expectancy increases. The only solution is to keep your finger on the pulse of change, you are back in the school room with the best of the best and you need to keep up. Those of us who just ‘let life happen’ will be in a fight for survival. 

Now more than ever we need to learn how the world of money works and instill healthy savings habits in our children. Who knows, by the time they reach retirement age (perhaps at age 110) the worlds governments may have got a whole lot smarter and will have developed an economic system that takes care of the aging population in comfort. Who knows? As it stands, we don’t, all we can do is embrace the challenge and enjoy the ride!

By Lindi Dlamini, Executive, Retail Operations for Liberty Life

What's the point?

Have you ever stopped to ask what the point of education is? I really felt God ask me this the other day. Surely there's got to be an end point, a reason that we believe it is necessary to educate our children. And I think if we stop to examine that and look at it in detail, it'll be telling in showing up what we believe about our lives.


Do we believe that education ensures our children a good job? Do we believe that it will cause them to be successful (and what does that mean to you anyway? Money - if so how much is enough? A job - what kind?). Do we believe that they need a good education to get into the 'right' university, or university at all - and why is that our end goal?


What is the point of education? Is it to show them the wonderful world that God has created and how much there is out there to enjoy and experience? Is it to show them how fearfully and wonderfully made we all are? Is it to equip them to teach others about God's love? Is it to allow them to grow into all that God intended to be so that they can be most satisfied in God and therefore bring him glory (John Piper)?


Just got me thinking - what's the point of education - at home or school?

"Avoiding the College Trap"?

Years ago I remember someone telling me that they didn't think it was right to send a girl to university if you wanted to teach her that motherhood was a noble calling. That irked me. Then just last year I recall someone telling me that in one of the Scandinavian countries, university education was free, HOWEVER, if you decided to be a stay at home mom, you were then required to pay back all the money to the state.

Then a few weeks ago I came across this article, really I am left with more questions than answers now.

There was a time when having a college degree almost guaranteed you a “good job,” certainly one that pays better than those not requiring a bachelor’s degree. Parents then determined that the costs involved added up to an investment in their child’s future—an investment that would undoubtedly pay off. The general public soon grew so assured of the value of a degree that it grew acceptable and common to borrow toward that investment. Today, student loans are the rule.

This entire process assumes several things, all of which might have held true at one time or in limited circumstances, hardly any of which remain true today or in general. Yet a blind faith that includes all of these assumptions rules the day for decisions about higher education. The results are disastrous.

Joel McDurmon gives this example:

Example: meet Miss Courtney Munna. She is 26 years old and has proudly fulfilled her and her mother’s dream of graduating from NYU, a second-tier private school. She is now the proud owner of an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree in religious and women’s studies. She also owns a $97,000 student debt.

Let’s evaluate the value of Miss Munna’s education: In the job market, a bachelor’s in either religion (from a liberal university) or women’s studies adds little to nothing to her marketability in the real world. An “interdisciplinary” degree—half one and half the other mixed together—actually reduces the value. A degree like this only has value in the academic world, and there it only holds value as a stepping stone to an academic teaching career. But this requires a Master’s degree (at least two more years and more debt) and almost always a Doctorate (three further years in the US, and more debt). For all practical purposes, Miss Munna’s degree has zero economic value.

But worse, $97k in debt has a value of, well, negative $97k; plus interest, part of which is at an adjustable rate (it will go higher). And this, not even for a marketable skill or knowledge, but merely a degree in religious and women’s studies. And what does such a degree provide?… Nothing more than a group of feminists’ assurances that all religions are equal and women should be in charge of all of them.

So Courtney has essentially paid over $100,000 in order to be propagandized with a message she could just as easily have gotten from a $1.25 bumper sticker.

Courtney’s mom helped finance this “education.” She herself now faces a tough time financially. She’s afraid she could lose her bed and breakfast business. And herein is the great joke. This woman owns a business. She should know something about finances. What on earth made her think a dead-end degree like women’s studies was worth selling her and her daughter’s soul? She should have known better.

She should have kept her daughter at home, trained her in the family business, marketed it, taught her how to keep it profitable, and lived a moderate middle-class life.

If after that she had a desire to learn “women’s studies,” she could easily have sated such a perversion without debt. She could have Googled “women’s studies reading list” and then selected one of several links from a major university, like this link: twenty-two pages of women-as-victim and women-as-equals screeds. Forget NYU, forget $97k. The New York Public Library is free. Free public libraries are all over the place. Even major universities will give full access and lending privileges for a small fee (for example, I just bought such at Emory University for $100/year—well worth it for projects I’m currently working on). For hardly any cost at all, Courtney could spend her free time indulging in all the feminism and gender diversity she could stand—and make money instead of borrowing it.

 And another excerpt....

 A college degree is certainly no guarantee of this ability, and in many respects is a great hindrance to it. It certainly won’t guarantee a job or even marketability.

So many young people fall for the illusion that a college degree has value. It’s an enormous deception, and parents will do well to insulate themselves and their children from it. This takes discipline and commitment to values, because the deception weighs powerfully on the ego and sense of destiny. It inflates hopes that may not materialize, and it caresses fond hopes of glory that lay in seed form in every depraved heart.

I would heartily encourage you to read the full article here . Really good food for thought.

Reasons We're Homeschooling - the other ones

1. It's more about home than school (homeschooling). How is it that we have come to a place where we accept that our children, over time, identity more and more with their peer group than with their families? How is it that we accept that other adults get to influence our children with their thoughts and worldviews because they spend more time with them in their waking hours. I want my children near me in their formative years, where I can influence (yes I did say that) and shelter them (yes, I even said that). There's enough time for them to face the world. 
2. I want a better quality of life – for my children and for myself if I'm honest. Watching my friends rushing from here to there all day every day seems like school is a junior rat race, which quite frankly, if I'm given the choice I simply don't want to be a part of it! Their kids are shattered by the end of a day, and not always pleasant to be around because they are just exhausted. I don't want someone else to get the best part of my kids day, and to have to be content with the dregs.
3. I want my kids to have a golden childhood and to enjoy their youth. I want to be able to do 'school' on rainy wet days and enjoy the days with sunshine. I remember having a golden childhood because I was allowed to be a child... before I became a teenager. In today's world, children are forced out of innocent childhood far too early for my liking, (because of society, but enhanced by school) and thrust into adulthood earlier and earlier. That time will come – but I will guard their chidhood carefully.
4. I believe I can give them a better, individually tailored education – my children can steam ahead when they want to, and I can go painstakingly slow whenever they need to. I can catch their passions early and fan them into flame.
5. I want to inspire my children with a lifelong love of learning and discovery, I want to be there for their Euraka! Moments.

Reasons We're Homeschooling - the general school one

It's hard to actually know where to start.

• Hours of school (and here I refer directly to Junior school) - for a Grade 1 to be at school from 8am to 2 pm is lunacy – if you are telling me that you need all that time to instruct my children, then explain to me why you still need to send them home with homework every day? To reinforce a concept? Really? That can't be done in class? (or is the real issue the size of the classes hampers this individual attention?) And then why is time given to them so they can watch TV? Or do 'busy work' whilst a teacher marks other things/prepares something?

• I have a real issue with homework – Children are being sent home with increasing amounts of homework earlier and earlier. Why is there not enough time during class to teach this all? The endless projects, reading, etc. Either something is fundamentally wrong with teaching styles/methods, or there is too much required in the syllabus to cram into a short time. Homework is necessary evil because of the large sizes of classes in school today. This leads to incredible pressure on very young children. Something has to give...and I'm not willing to let it be my child's life.

• Class size: How can a teacher adequately monitor the progress of 35 children in a class? And here I speak from personal experience. Even at a high school level I could not help those that were falling behind...I simply had to let them go or refer them to remedial teachers for help. I focused on the core group of students, and tended to always aim to extend them and my students with higher capabilities. At junior school with fundamental building blocks of learning taking place all the time, this is even more critical.

• Different learning styles can seldom be accounted for, not only in the way in which learning takes place, but also with regard to the difference between boys and girls. (However a school in our local community does account for this, and very well I might add.)

• Starting ages of schools – without taking into regard the different developmental paces, schools, decided by the government, can start anything from 4-7 years across the globe. Who said that this was the best age to start teaching them? Has anyone ever queried the connection between the growing problems with literacy these days and the early age we're forcing their brains to make connections? And why is it that boys struggle so much – did anyone ever stop to think perhaps it would be better to start them later than earlier?

• I have a problem with the stripping of innocence - how children in today's world have little or no time to be children, to play and have fun – indeed, grade 4 (age 10) children are taught about anal sex...because the state says it is a good idea. How can it possible help a child so young to know such details? I don't want the innocence of my children shattered before they need to know just because some politician has adopted some liberal world view. I'm simply not ready to handing over my child's education to the State and have them taught only what the state tells me is relevant. (Just a teeny nursery school example – we're very strict with what we allow our children to watch, and how much time they can spend in front of the TV. So imagine my surprise when King Arthur came home from school telling me all the ins and outs of the Ben 10 – a show he had only watched once with us. He could name all the aliens etc – and purely from what his friends had told him in the playground – imagine what else he could learn in a few years time!)

Reasons We're Homeschooling - the system one

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

Abraham Lincoln

How powerful is that thought? What are the goals of the state designed curriculum? I'm really thankful that we do live in Africa, and that the South African education system is far better than the American, (and by the way the patriot in me wants to acknowledge that Zimbabwe ranks higher than SA being linked to CIE), but still!

Kelly Crawford, quoting Johan Wesley: 

“Let it be remembered, that I do not speak to the wild, giddy, thoughtless world, but to those that fear God. I ask, then, for what end do you send you children to school? “Why, that they may be fit to live in the world.” In which world do you mean, — this or the next? Perhaps you thought of this world only; and had forgot that there is a world to come; yea, and one that will last for ever! Pray take this into your account, and send them to such masters as will keep it always before their eyes. Otherwise, to send them to school (permit me to speak plainly) is little better than sending them to the devil. At all events, then, send your boys, if you have any concern for their souls, not to any of the large public schools, (for they are nurseries of all manner of wickedness,) but private school, kept by some pious man, who endeavours to instruct a small number of children in religion and learning together.”

I can’t help but wonder if people called Wesley divisive or extremist for making the aforementioned comments. Perhaps not. Perhaps they simply said, “That may be right for you, but it’s not what the Lord told us to do.”

Here's another thought provoking one from Van Til:

“Non-Christian education puts the child in a vacuum…. The result is that child dies. Christian education alone really nurtures personality because it alone gives the child air and food…. Modern educational philosophy gruesomely insults our God and our Christ. How, then, do you expect to build anything positively Christian or theistic upon a foundation which is the negation of Christianity and theism?…. No teaching of any sort is possible except in Christian schools.                                      

“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”

G. K. Chesterton

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

                                                                          Ronald Reagan

And let me once again state, that I know of two incredibly powerful families who function as God designed families to function, even though they send their children to a public school. They are shining beacons of light in an otherwise dark environment. It can be done....if you know that God has called and therefore equipped you to it.

Reasons We're Homeschooling - the personal one

Time and time again I have been convicted about the importance of family. Our families re the only thing of value in this world. The only legacy to last. There si a beautiful allegory that compares everything we do in life to building sandcastles on the beach that the tide of time WILL wash away. But the people with whom we build those sandcastles, and the time it takes, those two things can never be washed away. This is our legacy.
Braveheart and I hope to equip our children to enter this world as secure, confident men and woman who are unafraid. We hope to equip them with their identity and destiny with God's leading (an aside – this is one of the greatest tragedies I saw when I was teaching – teenagers leaving school unsure of what to do with their lives, unsure of who they were). We want to ensure that they fly out our hands as straight and true arrows, expertly crafted and equipped to land on target.

Unless the LORD builds the house,

its builders labor in vain.

Unless the LORD watches over the city,

the watchmen stand guard in vain.

 In vain you rise early

and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat—

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,

children a reward from him.

 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are sons born in one's youth.

 Blessed is the man

whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame

                                                  when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127

In the words of Charles Spurgeon:

A man of war is glad of weapons which may fly where he cannot: good sons are their father's arrows speeding to hit the mark which their sires aim at. What wonders a good man can accomplish if he has affectionate children to second his desires, and lend themselves to his designs! To this end we must have our children in hand while they are yet children, or they are never likely to be so when they are grown up; and we must try to point them and straighten them, so as to make arrows of them in their youth, lest they should prove crooked and unserviceable in after life. Let the Lord favour us with loyal, obedient, affectionate offspring, and we shall find in them our best helpers. We shall see them shot forth into life to our comfort and delight, if we take care from the very beginning that they are directed to the right point.

“We know the worth of dead, or rather lifeless treasures, but who knows the worth of living treasures?

                                                                     - Joseph Caryl

Children are compared to "arrows". Now, we know that sticks are not by nature arrows; they do not grow so, but they are made so; by nature they are knotty and rugged, but by art they are made smooth and handsome. So children by nature are rugged and untoward, but by education are refined and reformed, made pliable to the divine will and pleasure.

                  —George Swinnock, 1627-1673.

We realize that we must live out our marriage and our parenting with the big picture in mind always. We must ask the question—how is what we are doing now going to change the future and affect future generations?

                                                                Leah Smith, American Vision

Reasons We're Homeschooling - the God one

(Perhaps before reading this read the "Read Me First Page"!) I have thoroughly enjoyed the pursuit of understanding the ethos behind homeschooling, the conversations I have had with many homeschooling families, and the inner delight and excitement that has dawned within me. It witnesses within my spirit, that this is right for our family; that although we know of no one else who does this, it is for us, at this time.

God has shown me time and time again, that this is a season for me to stand on my own before God, and seek him for what is right for me, rather than watching women I admire and trying to emulate what they do...it's about vision vs formula. The endless guilt, and pressure to do as others do – this path is one God is leading me down to ensure that I can live free, and that I can trust him with all my heart and lean not on my understanding.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

  in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Surprisingly for me, there are a number of scriptures in the Bible that talk of education – instruction/teaching etc. This has confronted me on two levels – one, do we dare to take these scriptures literally and believe that it is our job as parents to teach and educate (a sidenote - I am sadly bemused how easy it is to selectively obey scriptures). Secondly, it doesn't make much sense to me how you can still do this if one's child is not at home interacting with you on a day to day basis. School takes them outside of the home for much of their waking time.

There are ancient paths that lead in the way everlasting - This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." (Jer 6:15-17)

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

(Deuteronomy 6 4-9)

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. 

(Prov 22vs6)

This is what we are called to, to train them according to their bent – some scholars believe that this includes training them up in their vocation – as parents we can so clearly see our children's strengths and weaknesses, we can see their giftings and abilities. With an ear close to God, we can channel them from an early age, and cut out years of wasted time and energy, and help them walk into their identity and destiny with a flourish! None of this ending school without knowing what to do!

Throughout these proverbs there are references to a father and mother teaching children, receiving instruction, with reference to young children being taught. Surely it should be our primary goal as parents?

Waiting for Superman

I am passionate about education and learning, and if you are at all interested in either of those things, grab a tissue and watch this. I am so thankful I live in Africa sometimes, and that I had a Zimbabwean education!

Another take...

I stumbled across this man today, and love what he has to say. Sir Ken Robinson is a man after my own heart, and although he is not a supporter of homeschooling per se, his views on education encouraged and excited me. Here is a man blazing the trail when it comes down to creativity and education. This is what we have lost, this is what our schools today are lacking, this is why we are choosing to homeschool our children.

Current systems of education are based on the manufacturing principles of linearity, conformity and standardization. The evidence is everywhere that they are failing too many students and teachers alike. A primary reason is that human development is not linear and standardized, it is organic and diverse. People, as opposed to products, have hopes and aspirations, feelings and purposes. Education is a personal process. What and how young people are taught have to engage their energies, imaginations and their different ways of learning.

In this talk, I make a passing reference to fast food. Let me elaborate briefly. In the catering business, there are two main methods of quality assurance. The first is standardizing. If you have a favorite fast food brand, you can go to any outlet anywhere and know exactly what you will find: same burger, fries, cola, décor, and attitudes. Everything is standardized and guaranteed. By the way, this “cheap” food is also contributing to the most costly epidemic of diabetes and obesity in human history. But at least the standards are guaranteed.

The other method of quality assurance are the star ratings guides, like Michelin. These methods do not prescribe what’s on the menu, when restaurants should open, or how they should be decorated. They set out criteria of excellence and it’s up to each restaurant to meet them in their own way. They can be French, Mexican, Italian, Indian, American or anything else. They can open when they choose, serve what they like and hire whom they want. In general they are much better than fast food and offer a higher standard of service. The reason is that they are customized to local markets and personalized to the people they serve.