Re-education

This "school" year has been a tough one for me. The toughest. Not because of the kids but in my own mind. I've been under attack and have questioned myself and I've been asking a lot of "what if's".

After a sleepless night in December, because during the dark is when the enemy seems to attack that most, I got up and got on the Internet to see if I could find "help" for what I was struggling with. I came upon a website. It touched me. Was this God guiding me after my prayers of "Help!"?

I decided to look into it some more. I'm taking a "season" to "re-educate" myself. I've laid it at Jesus' feet. I've pled for redemption, for my efforts, our family, our "school". Redeem means "to make good." More specifically, it means "to take something of little or no value and replace it with something of great value." I'm seeking God to lead me on what He wants me to do. I'm relying on Him to show me what each child needs. I'm reading articles to help change my thought process on what "learning" and "education" really is.

Here is something I read today and it really made me think. I have to share.
_______________________________________________________
Excerpts from The Great Escape by Geoffrey Botkin
The bold print is me talking.

...Socialization does have a profound influence on the child, but that influence is normally more harmful than helpful. The idea originated with a few radical 19th century educators who were self-professed socialists. They advocated public school socialization as the means by which to reduce an average child's rugged individuality, creativity and intellectual curiosity, so that adult compliance with change in society is easily achieved. I see this and it's scary at how many people are blind to it.

Of course, most parents are not worrying about the finer points of mass social engineering or the real intentions of John Dewey. They simply want their child to learn how to be popular and happy and comfortable among his peers. If a child is deprived of the regimented socialization of the public school environment, will he grow up to resemble a social freak, a nerd, or an egghead?

Homeschoolers have provided the answer. The evidence shows that when social graces, resourcefulness, personal confidence, and leadership abilities are measured, homeschooled youth turn out superior to their peers from school... socialization is merely a fancy term that describes how children become like one another, dependent on one another, dependent on a collective society and mentally and emotionally compliant. Wow!

This is something I've heard a LOT from non-homeschoolers. Parents may ask, isn't it necessary to prepare a child for the real world? Of course it is. But it is not necessary to surrender a child to this world to prepare him to endure it.... Read that again! Amen!! and Amen!! Family life is the real world, and the reason so many young families and marriages are failing is because our over-taxed, public school-dependent culture created dysfunctional families whose member rarely interacted with one another as they were growing up. I realize that this is tough for some to read but if you really think about it, is he wrong?

I wish that every parent could understand that if what is desired is academic education unlimited learning opportunities, broad career horizons, then public school can no longer be an option for any family in America.
___________________________________________

I think that is enough to chew on and ponder for a while.