Why I Home School

Back when I was thinking about starting the homeschooling adventure, I said I would come back and try to explain it more thoroughly, so here it goes.

It boils down to the fact that I hold a different philosophy of education than what the public education system holds (thank you, John Taylor Gatto for opening my eyes).  I don't believe children are meant to go through the educational machine and come out the other end molded for society.  I believe that God created them each as whole, separate beings with great plans in store for their lives, just waiting to be discovered (Jeremiah 29:11).  To this end, I have created a list of goals, one for "education" and the other for "social" - so he can understand and function in this day and age, but not be conformed to it (Romans 12:2).

Educational Goals

-to have a right relationship with God

-to love sincerely: love, respect, sensitivity

-to adopt a healthy lifestyle: mind and body

-to work responsibly: use time efficiently, appreciate productive labor

-to communicate clearly: listening, speaking, reading, writing

-to enjoy beauty: see and receive satisfaction from it, create it, share it

-to reason perceptively: clear understanding, good logic and creative application

-to conduct personal business prudently: earn responsibly, invest wisely, spend effectively, plan carefully

-to relate intelligently to the environment: understanding natural resources

-to understand our country and how it relates to the rest of the world

-to love learning and possess intellectual curiosity: retain an eagerness for life-long learning

Social Development Goals

1. Social graces – courtesy and good manners
2. Ability to make and enjoy friends
3. Respect for authority – parents, adults, government, Creator
4. Sensitivity to needs and feelings of others
5. Conversation and correspondence skills
6. Ability to give and take in normal relationships; grace to cooperate when things don’t go one’s way
7. Skill in defusing tense situations – with cheerfulness and sensitivity
8. Prudence in developing relationships – avoiding misunderstanding and proper precautions from dishonesty in business relationships
9. Leadership development, including good follower-ship

These ideas were drawn (mostly) from The Home School Manual by Theodore E. Wade, Jr. (I did edit them and boil them down to what fits for my family.)  As you can see, only some of these goals are covered in other schools, and much of that elusive love of learning is too easily stamped out as the children try to fit into the cookie cutters like the system expects them to do.  I only have once chance to raise him "right", and I don't want to miss it!