Ok, I’m not exactly biting my tongue on this one, because I am writing about it. A girl on my Facebook friends list commented that the curriculum for her daughter’s home school program arrived and she (the mom, not the daughter) was anxious to get started. I commented that I used to threaten my kids with home schooling to keep them in line. This comment started a whole slew of remarks from people who (obviously) home school.
Close to the last comment came from a person who, probably without even realizing it, cemented my reason about why I would never (exclusively) home school. It was a well-crafted slam towards me, which I couldn’t respond to without doing pretty much the same thing to her, so I didn’t.
She talked about how being Christ-centered can help you in every situation. I agree. What we probably don’t agree about is what “Christ-centered” looks like. Jesus was more than likely home schooled and lived in a homogeneous society. Even today, Jews in Israel tend to subdivide into small, like-minded groups. You won’t find a lot of them co-mingling with other ethnic groups, people of different religious beliefs, or even people outside their particular sect. That geographical region has historically been very ethnically divided. In the context of Jesus’ life, every time he interacted with someone of a different ethnic group, or sect, he was criticized for doing so. Yet he did it. He was tormented, ridiculed, tortured, and eventually crucified on a cross because he defied the established religious cultural norms. He didn’t defy a couple of them. He defied all of them.
Many Christians home school to control their children’s level of interaction outside their religious culture, which is the opposite of what Jesus did. Jesus created an entirely different culture, which basically said that no one is a “they.”
So my question is whether sequestering children in a home schooled environment can successfully produce people who are Christ-centered in their relationships with others, or does this environment merely advocate a “they” mentality? I think it’s an honest question.
i was also home schooled when i was younger and it is also a great weay to get your education.*.-
i was home schooled too but i would still prefer regular schools..-”