I think it’s a shame that the pro-abortion crowd has claimed the term “pro-choice”. I’m exceedingly anti-abortion (if you want to get me going, tell me you’re a pro-choice Christian), but I believe that we do have choices in a lot of areas and I believe that we need to give our children choices if we want them to be able to deal with life once they’re out of the house.
The topic that started me thinking about this is homeschooling. *sigh* Where to begin? I’m not going to homeschool my children. We have a perfectly good public school just down the road, and that’s what our children will most likely attend. My beef is that there are other Christian parents (mothers, mainly) who are quite outspoken in their belief that homeschooling is the only valid option for Christian families anymore. Some will allow for sending your children to private Christian schools, but since private schools tend to be rather expensive and don’t always provide a good all-around education, most of them still think homeschooling is the preferable option.
Quick side comment… I’m all for school vouchers. I think anyone should have the option of sending their child to what they consider to be a better school than the one their child is currently attending. This is another example of where I’m “pro-choice”.
Anyway, I have a couple of arguments against the homeschooling idea. There are plenty of good things about it, too, but right now I choose to focus on why I won’t homeschool rather than why other people might.
My first argument is that not everyone is cut out to teach their own children. Since I really don’t feel like facing any slander lawsuits, I’ll stick to some general examples, but if you search for homeschooling articles on the web you’ll see what I mean. Many of the homeschooling articles and encouragements that I’ve seen are fraught with grammatical and spelling errors. Note: I make errors as much as anyone else, but if you’re trying to make a point that anyone can teach their own child, can’t you at least take the time to edit your own work so it looks presentable? Admittedly, this is a pet peeve of mine since I was an English teacher. I learned (and taught) that informal writing was different than formal writing. Articles would be considered formal writing and should therefore follow the formal rules dictating grammar, punctuation, etc. Of course, English is the area of study that’s easiest for outsiders to judge since we don’t regularly communicate using math, science, geography, or the other subject matters touched on in a classroom. Perhaps the authors of said articles are better in other subject matters and are relying on someone else to teach their children English skills. I would still suggest they use an editor so they don’t make homeschooling look like a ridiculous option.
My second argument is that too many Christian parents use homeschooling as a way to further shelter their children. (Here’s my “pro-choice” theme again!) If we don’t give our children well-rounded information and let them actually choose for themselves what they believe, their “adopted” beliefs aren’t going to stand the test when faced with what the secular world thinks. This does not mean saying, “Ok, so some people believe the world was created while others think that everything evolved. You decide.” It means presenting your child with both sides of the issue and explaining why you’ve chosen to believe the side that you have. Hopefully, we all have reasons for our beliefs. If not, it would be good to figure them out. A good resource for the Creation vs. Evolution debate (as well as scientific evidence for the flood, how to explain dinosaurs, etc.) can be found at the Answers In Genesis website. They have info for adults and children.
Of course, how in-depth a person goes with their child should depend on their age. I’m not going to try to tell my 2 year old about evolution and creation. However, you can start with the basics when they’re fairly young. Answers In Genesis has family devotional and educational materials for children as young as 4 years old. For older children and adults, resources such as Know What You Believe, Know Why You Believe, and Evidence That Demands a Verdict are excellent.
Do I believe I’m cut out to homeschool my children? No. I might be able to teach them, but they would never make it out of the house to socialize. Besides, it seems to me that homeschooling is a calling, and I simply don’t feel it’s mine. Will I stay involved in my childrens’ educations? I hope so. I plan to be involved at least as much as my own parents were, as they looked over homework, took a look at what we were studying, etc. If I keep up with what’s going on in my chidrens’ classrooms, I should be able to provide any supplemental education they’ll need.