Homeschooling

Why am I homeschooling......still....? Ok, this will be a long post, but this is an article that I wrote many years ago while serving as president of our homeschooling group here. It gives a glimpse of some of my feelings about why I believe our family has been asked to participate in this "grand-experiment" --because truly it isn't what I had EVER planned on doing. Does it mean that I believe homeschooling is the Only Best True Way to educate a child? NO I most firmly do not. I just know it is the best for our particular little family.

Butter and Honey Shall He Eat.....

“Kids need to be exposed early to the tough things in life so that they’ll know how to handle them as they grow up.”

“School socialization may not be the best, but it gives kids a dose of the real world.”

“If kids aren’t exposed to the world early, they won’t know how to cope.”

“Kids need to have lots of real-world exposure so that they can learn to tune out the bad stuff before it gets worse.”

I had been hearing many messages like these---- seemingly coming from all directions all during a small amount of time. My head tried to make sense of these ideas and my heart yearned to know how MY FAMILY needed to fit into these comments. They didn’t feel right, but at the same time, they rang true in some respects. My children DO need to be strong and not naïve. They need to be able to “deal with the world”, and to deal with what their time of life was offering them. After all isn’t that one of the reasons that we’re doing what we’re doing? Home schooling is supposed to support growing strong adults!! So the comments were hard to hear and confusing to my heart and mind. AND THEN… I attended a meeting where the speaker was a Media expert and took the time to make the point that:

“We just cannot expect to protect our children from everything, especially with all of the filth in today’s world.”

Ok, the protection thing really got to me, because of course we cannot protect them from everything, but what was I, the mother, supposed to protect them from, if not the filth of today’s world?? In yesterday’s world it was the river, and bears, and disease. In today’s world……. So I took it to the Lord. “How can I understand my responsibility to my children in today’s world? I have felt strongly about educating them at home for many reasons, please help me to understand this reason.” As I studied my scriptures with these ponderings in mind, I came across a golden thread of counsel. In 2nd Nephi, we are reading essentially from Isaiah. In chapter 17, in only 3 verses, he touches on Christ’s birth. In verses 14 and 15, I got my answer.

14: Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign—Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15: Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good.

So here it is…

Do you see that Mary raised our Lord and Savior on butter and honey?? Not necessarily literally—but figuratively—she raised him on butter and honey (the sweet, full things) “so that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good” Christ would not have to weigh the options, or waffle between what was good or not, he was able to KNOW to refuse the evil and CHOOSE the good because of the sweet, full things that He was taught as a child in His home. These things made sense to Him when he encountered them throughout his life. His mother gave Him these good things, not the “here deal with this because you’ll have a lot more to deal with when you grow up,” things. What a witness of comfort and truth these verses have brought to me. My job is to be like Mary and give my children all of the sweet and full things that I can. Exposure to the outside world will happen gradually as my children grow, but if nurtured correctly, their minds and hearts and their ability to know to refuse the evil and to choose the good will be strong. They will not be naive because I will spend the time to educate them about the world they live in and will be honest in giving them a clear picture of their responsibilities in it. They will be different. That is ok. In this world, different stands out, especially when it is clean, and bright, and full of truth. Isn’t that what we want? I give you my witness that this “different” path is a good one—not the only one, but a good one. If nourished by faith and a trust in the Lord, you will be successful in educating your little flock.