Quote From: kschmittz"Here's the basics: you take a child and stick them with peers who give very bad advice and moral lessons for the majority of the day and then try to reverse the thinking to coincide with your Christian beliefs. This works for you, good. I choose to educate my children on the way things should be done (according to our beliefs) for the majority of the day and the other part of their day is spent with their peers who (undoubtedly) try to reverse the thinking to more along the lines of the "social norm". It only seems like common sense to me that the more "training", "lessons" or "experience" a child receives on one subject the more they will accept the teachings. "
To start with this....maybe just maybe if you instilled the proper values correctly (assuming you acutally live them yourself) they would choose the "right" friends from the start. I don't "stick" my kids with immoral peers anymore than you hide yours from the world. Now who's view is skewed? Also, as for what works for me , you have assumed this whole time and never asked. My kids (as most) are still young and do accept our beliefs. Will this change as they get older? I expect it will but hopefully as human nature runs its course they will return to our values. Every child, regardless of upbringing, will experiment and try things outside of their world...I choose to be honest about that and work with it instead of try and avoid the inevitable. I cannot control or pick who they run into in life....that is for God to decide. Meaning, I may think this friend or that one is not "good" for my son but ultimately he makes the choice. If they have good self esteem and see the value of making a good choice then they will do so.
"IOW, my children are shown the right way most of the time and the wrong way a small part of the time. How hard is it to figure out which way I believe works best? "
I'm assuming the acronym IOW stands for In Our World? If so, that is exactly that type of mentality that keeps me from homeschooling. Why do you feel you need to create another world for your kids? They will be living in this one. Also, the right way...hmmm...who decides that? To me, that is a matter of perception. For example, in my house (not my world) we don't believe in divorce but someone else may feel justified in that decision. In my house, we don't steal or cheat...for others who are starving that may be a means of necessity. You see, Mamma, anything can be considered right or wrong depending on the circumstances. My husband said it best and at first I was confused but now I get it. He said there is no place for Christian kids in a Christian school anymore than Jesus belonged in a church.
"BUT, I won't allow you to interfere with my parenting. You suggest many regulations on homeschooling. LOL! We see how good regulations are in other areas of government schooling, do you really think they would work? ;)"
Tell me ...how do my opinions interefere your parenting? If someone else's point of view in another state affects your life that much then maybe you need to regroup and see how strong your values are. In my house, they are age-old philosphies that withstand the test of many things. You see, it is a struggle (one we call life) to teach kids right from wrong and how to apply that in the world. Life is not always fair just because you'd like it to be and because you are nice. However, I teach my kids that if you are nice and good to people it will come back someday and some time. Not sure what goes on in your house that is so different but to each his own.
"How comical is this? What world do you live in Kira? In my really real world we have police officers, government officials, etc.... Hell, even a shop owner is considered an authority figure if you are in his store. :)"
I agree on this being comical. Police officers are not part of our everyday decision making with our kids but yes, we do teach them to respect them when we see them. As for governement officials you seem adamant they don't do much anyway but screw up the schoools. As for respect of shop owners...I don't know who owns the Wal Mart but I can tell you my kids don't treat a place of business like a playground. When I talk about authority figures, I 'm referring to everyday influences - parents, teachers, family friends, coaches. If you are the ever present denominator in all things they will depend on you forever. In turn, I am not at school but he is supervised. He (my son) has choices to make without me present. That's when the true test of our teachings matter- does he make a good choice even when I'm not there?
"Maybe your peers talked about... not respecting parents or teachers, wanting to party all the time, being soooo bored in school, not caring about grades, etc..... These are the social lessons my children are free from. "
As I said, many kids stray from what the core family values are at some point- this is human nature. To me, the above scenario happens when parents only want to control and shelter kids from these things. Instead I choose to accept they exist and impose consequences for rules my child breaks along the way- ditching school, dis-respect. You assume that these are the only social lessons that exist at a public school. You are naive...these things are everywhere...this is society as of late. That is why I show my kids what I do....let them decide how they feel about what they see and hear. IMO, if they are "free" to develop their own choices, opinions and feeling about this or that they are more likely to stick to them when the time comes. Again, my kids are still young so much of what you talk about is not really applicable to me. Also, if you think that by only showing them positive things (however you do that) they will only choose that way...God help you later in life. This is what bothers me most about homeschooling- the contradictions. How can you possibly expose your children to the world but show the the majority of "good" things most of the day?
"I choose to educate my children on the way things should be done (according to our beliefs) for the majority of the day"
The only way to do this is to keep them at home....exactly the reason I don't agree with homeschooling! The things I choose to educate my kids on are best used in life while they are living it- not avoiding it. There are good things everywhere and lessons to be learned from every situation.
The only way to do this is to keep them at home....exactly the reason I don't agree with homeschooling! The things I choose to educate my kids on are best used in life while they are living it- not avoiding it.
So, you don't agree with all homeschoolers or only those who are avoiding life? Because, and maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see me or my kids avoiding life. Nor do I see most homeschoolers doing this.
There are good things everywhere and lessons to be learned from every situation.
I agree 100% That's why we're unschoolers.
Parents want the best for their children, but what’s the best way to educate them? Dr. Phil’s guests face off in a debate about whether to school, homeschool or unschool. Dana and her husband, Joe, call themselves radical unschoolers. They say education happens as a side effect of life, and they don’t believe in tests, curriculums or grades. Are their three kids learning what they need to know? Then, RaeAnn says public schools are death traps and wants to homeschool her children. Her husband, Steve, says their kids are safer at school than they are at home. Can this couple reach a compromise? Plus, Nicole feels like an outcast at 26. She says she hated being homeschooled, and couldn’t relate to other kids. Share your thoughts here.
