Final thoughts
I'll admit the title is a lie; there will be more thoughts on homeschooling. But for now, these will have to do.
With apologies to faithful non-Catholic Christians who visit (and homeschoolers, too), I once compared homeschoolers to the original Protestants. Instead of getting involved and fixing what they saw as wrong, they withdrew from the system. They were the kind of intelligent, caring, involved, motivated parents our public schools needed! How could they deprive my child of such a classmate, or me of such a student?
I've since realized that, while superficially they may seem to have things in common, homeschooling and withdrawing from the Church are not the same animal. Jesus Himself said, "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18), as well as "I will be with you until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20).
No such promises have been given to any public education system.
Labels: homeschooling
2 Comments:
That's true, though I do see it as kind of a "strategic retreat from the battlefield", as Jonah Goldberg once described it. The only thing I mean by that is, would most of us consider it if our public schools or our Catholic schools were fully in line with our goals for our children? Back when I was young, hardly anyone I knew homeschooled. Why? Probably because the religious were still running schools and taking anyone would couldn't pay, still teaching the Faith (even in the '80s I was really lucky there) and teaching real academics. And when I switched to public schools (because of the culture thing that Amy Welborn has described well), I was met with no hostility to the Faith, still got good academic training, and got to interact with peers and play sports at a more competitive level.
Now? I'm really lucky that I have options, but as you have described, the options are fewer for those living in school districts where math is imagined and spelling is creative. They are even fewer for those whose Catholic schools are run like a business and not a mission, like they should be. Maybe someday all three will jive with the childrens' best interests, but I'm not holding my breath.
Daisy-- I know what you mean about when we were younger. I'm a product of public schools, as I've mentioned, but my neighborhood was so overwhelmingly Catholic that all we lacked was a special for religion like we had for gym or art. We got release time instead where we were bussed over to church.
And the school lunch menu changed during Lent, so Fridays were fish sticks or mac & cheese instead of the usual pizza.
It's not like that anymore.
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