I'll bite. Hmmmm....I will say that our MAIN reason for home education was the spiritual side of it, and over the last 6 years that we've been doing it, we've gotten exponentially rigorous academically. Academics are important to me, so what I'm about to say is not meant to say it's not. I've done a lot of soul searching about the WHY's of homeschooling this year. And realized that you can't just isolate ONE thing as what makes it important. There are so many factors that make it ALL important. Do I want my kids to be brilliant? Of course I do. But I think NO MATTER what my focus is in homeschooling, if my kids are brilliant, they will BE brilliant. I think education is very important. But I think being taught HOW to think and how to learn on their own is so much more important. We don't STOP learning when we walk out of school, graduate, etc. LIFE is a learning process. I know a ton of people who have genius IQ's who never even graduated high school. That doesn't change who they are. It changes the options open to them, yes. That's what scares me about the society we live in today. It places so much importance on a slip of paper....and so little importance of life experience. I mean, what do the call a person who graduated in the last half of his class in medical school? Doctor. Does that make him a good doctor, because he has the paper that says he graduated? I've really changed this coming year to refocus on the WHY we chose to homeschool. Am I tossing academics out the window? No way. But I'm making them part of that refocus. Fitting Academics into the WHY, rather than fitting the WHY into the academics. I hope this makes sense. I hesitated to answer because I was trying to figure out how to word it correctly without being offensive.
One of the main reasons we homeschool is our disbelief in the school system...We don't push rigorous academics but, unlike "school", we don't strive for the dumbing down of our children. I teach them at a steady pace and we take summer breaks. I try to show them that learning pays off. That you learn not because you have to, but because it betters who you are...trust me, this is a lesson not easily taught...but I'm hoping in the long run the idea will come across! lol..Maybe when they are in their 20's they'll look back and say.."Now I get what she was trying to say"
Krista-I agree. Love the Dr example. I agree our society is beginning to put to much importance on that piece of paper. Experience should count for something too. One of the smartest people I've ever met-had only an 8th grade education! And their are different types of smart, some people will never be book smart, never do well at college, never win jeopardy. But it doesn't mean they are stupid. Just because you are not a doctor or lawyer or scientist, doesn't' make you a less valuable person. My kids are expected to try their best at everything they do. Be it schoolwork, or chores or coloring or anything. But I'm not concerned with them learning to read at 3 or doing calculus at 6. Like someone else said, I'm not concerned with them being on, above or below grade level, so long as they are making improvements and advancing. There is sooooo much from school I don't remember. I remembered it long enough to test, then forgot it. I am REALLY learning now, at 33, things I was 'taught' in middle school about history. I hated history in school. It was boring. I now LOVE history, now that the most important thing isn't the date but now I explore the how and the why and truly understand the things I'm learning about now. I didn't discover my love for history until I was almost 30! THAT is what I want for my kids, the depth of understanding in what they choose to study. Yes, there are some things they need to learn whether they like it or not, but those are a basic things, like, like math or not you need to know how to budget, balance a check book and count change. But for the most part I'd much rather their education give them a true understanding of what they are studying not just memorizing the answers for a test.
I would say we do strive for academic excellence in the way of practical application in the service of the Lord. I am of the mindset that the only real purpose of any education is to serve the Lord; any other reason is just vanity. I have seen way too many academically gifted people waste it away, while those with hardly any education put what they have in good use for the Lord. Who then has the better treasure stored in heaven for a very long eternity? Isn't that by far the better goal than how smart a child can be during this short life on earth? The number one reason we homeschool is because we know without any doubt we were called to do it. As I see it, all else considered advantages in homeschooling are gifts from the Lord because of that. Whatever He wants in the education of our daughter, we trust that He will lead us to do as He has done and continues to do. That is what true academic excellence is to me.
I want my kids to strive for the best in academic excellence. I want kids who are creative and critical thinkers. Academics is one of my top three reasons to hs.
Wow, so much feedback and conversation . Yeah, I find that I'm of a similar mind to those who feel that the True Understanding and ability to appreaciate ones knowledge is more important than just test score.s
This is how I feel. Having a child with a learning disability gave me a whole new perspective. I also read an article recently that stressed that our goal is not to prepare our kids as the ps system would, but for what they are going to do in life. If your child is going to be a doctor, you'd certainly focus heavily on academics (especially the sciences) along with volunteer posistions in the health care field. If your child wanted to be a mechanic, you'd provide the basic education and give him/her an apprentice opportunity. You'd give your budding artist good artist utensils and time to be creative. Although my faith certainly plays a role in homeschooling, it was not my initial reason. I do think that God put the things that led me to homeschool there to guide me to choose hs'ing.
