I’ve been in the army for a little over a year now, and so I’ve acquired a certain set of new vocabulary. For the most part, I haven’t had much use for these new forms of speach. But this article brings some colorful phrases to mind; things that begin with “What the…” and “why in the…” and “who…”
But it boils down to this: Why does everybody always associate every kind of parenting flaw to homeschoolers? And if anyone ever associates homeschooling with the word “sheltered” to my face, they may suffer physical harm.
There is a difference between schooling and parenting. Parenting is what all parents do, either badly or well. Schooling refers to the choices parents make regarding the way that their children learn new information and specific ways of thinking. Sending your children to an institutional school is not a decision to farm out your parenting. If you send your children to a school, you cannot hold the school responsible if your children aren’t raised well. Conversely, a decision to educate your children yourself does not mean that you are suddenly responsible for raising your children in some new sense. Raising children is what parents do. The only difference that homeschooling your children makes toward raising them is that you have more time with which to do it.
This article has some excellent warnings for folks who are inclined think that they can force their children to be good by keeping them from ever seeing anything bad. It’s a silly idea, when you think about it, since we all know that wickedness comes from the heart, and that “folly is bound up in the heart of a child.” But a lot of people want to replace the gospel with a strict disclipline regimine, and attempt to control their childrens minds by controling their experiences. These people believe the gospel applies to themselves, but somehow not to their children, who will be saved not by grace but by strict parenting.
As I say, excellent warnings, but it doesn’t say one word that has anything to do with education. So why the expletive is it addressed to homeschoolers?
neumatikos 