Education, something all parents stress about. As a mother, I want my three daughters to have the best education possible. But to me, education is not just about learning about science, or math, or English. Education is learning about life. Sure, science and math are part of life, but its not all of life. What I am talking about is Christian education to go along with the other education.
Here is the problem. Public schools, while useful in educating children, are harmful because they leave out religion. I know what they are saying when they say it would not be fair to teach the Bible because of families who do not believe the Bible (pray for those families), and I would not approve of teaching every religion in schools (like Islam, Buddhism, etc.), but I think its wrong that they see Christianity as a crime. Prayer in public schools is not only frowned upon, it is strictly prohibited. Teachers are told to teach students that every belief, as long as its the child's own, is good. But there needs to be teachers out there teaching children about the Bible and teaching them that life is about both knowledge and the spirit.
So we look to private schools. I am a fan of private schools and I think they are terrific. I have lots of friends who send their children to private schools. Those schools teach Christianity, having specific Bible classes. Prayer is utilized in the classroom. Children are taught along with the Christian worldview. Not only that, but the discipline of those schools are top notch. Children grow up in the classrooms that stress the importance of obedience and respect. Children in public schools, while having generally the same rules, have a different atmosphere. They are taught that any behavior that harms another person is wrong. But there is no acknowledgment of morality. This I think is wrong. Morality is a huge part of society, any society. Morality is being taught to children in public schools- there is no standard for morality except that standard which respects your fellow humans. I think this is good, but it is not enough.
Plus, the peers of children are one of the most important things. Many of the children in public schools do not have a good Christian background. Their sense of right and wrong, their sense of life, can be influential and destructive to your own child. Private schools have very similar peers, with the "bad ones" being in the far minority. So when your child makes a friend, you can bet that that friend is being raised in a Christian family. This makes a safe environment, one that children can grow in.
Unfortunately, I just cannot afford a private school. Being a single mother of three daughters, private school is not really an option. So I decided to homeschool. I was nervous at first, not knowing if I would be able to teach. But once I began, I noticed that teaching came naturally. I think any mother can teach. I think being a mother builds in a sense of educating your child. Whether its teaching your child how to behave, about objects, about people, whatever; raising a child is a teaching process. So when you use textbooks, you basically go through them yourself, teaching them to your children. I found there are tons of homeschooling programs out there too that aid in your curriculum. I use very basic ones at the moment, with my Sasha and Paige being on the 5th grade curriculum. But I'm sure once it starts getting really advanced I will get extra help!
The next thing I was worried about was controlling my kids. Discipline is a difficult thing for any teacher, I think. Its hard to make children want to learn. I don't know how public school teachers do it. From what I've heard, there are a lot of disinterested children in the classrooms, and the teachers have to try to influence them to attempt to learn. In private schools, education is revered more, so the students tend to try harder. Plus, the parents of private school children expect their children to learn and do well, as they are paying money for them to attend the school. As a homeschooling mom, I wasn't sure how to motivate my children. But God blessed me with three smart girls. My children generally enjoy their schoolwork. I work hard to be an encouragement, and to always be positive when it comes to schoolwork. If they do a good job, I compliment them. If they are having trouble understanding, I tell them its okay and work with them to help correct whatever problem they are having learning the material. And with behavior, you do not want children getting distracted from schoolwork, or misbehaving. Both public and private schools have detentions for that, which seem to work very well from what I hear. However, a lot of parents of public school children do not correct their children at home, from what I understand. If parents do not seem to care that their children got a detention, why should their children care? In private schools kids behave because they know that, besides their teachers giving them a detention, they will be corrected at home. This could be nothing more than a parent talking to them about a detention. I think that reinforces the idea that detentions are bad, and not a "not a big deal" but rather "a big deal." One mother I know sees detentions as defiance and teachers her children that getting a teacher is dishonoring to both the teachers and the parents. So, when her children get a detention, they get punished when they get home with a spanking. Her children never get detentions, she tells me. Now, of course, Christian parents can stress this in public schools as well, but like I said earlier, their peers may not have similar parents. As for my kids, its simple. Since they are at home, they are under the same rules as home. They need to respect and honor me as their parent, they need to obey, they need to respect their sisters, and they need to follow all the rules I have for behavior conduct. I don't change anything. If they refuse to do schoolwork, they are not doing bad in school, they are disobeying me as their parent. And they know what happens when they disobey.
As part of my curriculum, I include Bible teaching. I found this great book that is meant for Sunday school teachers. I use that to teach my kids. Each week is a lesson from the book. I go over the lesson each day, backing it up with different Bible verses. I have my kids pick a verse that I give them to memorize. If they memorize two verses they get a reward (ice cream on Friday). I think that teaching the Bible is very important in childhood, because, if for some reason they stop going to church or reading the Bible as adults (something I don't advise anyone to do), they will still have what they were taught as children in the recesses of their minds. And I think that the Bible is a strong basis for morality and ultimately, making good decisions in life.
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