(Galatians 5:13) "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." A couple of weeks ago I used this verse to write a few posts about liberty. First of all, liberty must be accompanied by responsibility. Liberty will be of no value if we're careless with it. We'll wind up losing it if we're irresponsible with that freedom. Many people in our society today complain about the state our political system is in. The reason for that is several generations ago Americans became apathetic about the political system and they didn't involve themselves in the voting process like they should. Another problem was many people voted for a politician on the basis of what they could give them instead of passing laws that are good for the country as a whole. You have to be vigilant when it comes to liberty. Liberty can be lost. We must be vigilant to maintain that liberty. In order for liberty to endure, we must work to preserve it. We cannot forget God and the founding principles of our nation. People from generations past knew liberty wasn't an excuse for license. They were grateful and cautious with their liberty. They were responsible with their liberty. Neighbors helped each other. They didn't depend upon the government to take care of them. Today people want to use liberty as a license for pleasure, sin, etc. We must be vigilant with our liberties.
Today I want to spend a little time mentioning about the liberty of homeschooling. Homeschooling is a liberty or an option parents have when it comes to educating their children. I thought about this topic yesterday and I felt it would fit well concerning the liberty posts that's been written the last couple of weeks. I don't dispute the fact that the Bible tells parents to train up their child in the way they should go. Education is the first responsibility of the parents. Parents have the responsibility in choosing the type of education they desire to use upon their children whether it be the public school, private or charter schools, Christian, parochial, or homeschooling. Homeschooling, of course, is not a new phenemon. Homeschooling was the first type of education that was used by parents during the first colonial settlement in Jamestown. It was not a matter of choice. Homeschooling at that time was a necessity. Of course, the materials that parents had to educate their children were meager but they used what they had to educate their children with. The Bible was the only book many families had at their home at that time, so it became the textbook used by the children. Even when the children were finished with their lessons for the day, they had other chores to accomplish such as farming, milking the cows, splitting wood, and the list continues. Eventually that changed when America grew as a nation and other educational options became available. However, for the sake of time, I'm not going to chronicle the progression of America's educational system.
The recent homeschooling movement as we know it today probably began around 35 years ago. The reasons for the growth of the modern day homeschooling movement vary. Some of it is due to the negative influences of the public school system, some of it is for religious reasons, and other reasons are some families feel they can offer their children a better education that what the public school can offer. As said, before, homeschooling is a liberty that parents have. It's a liberty that's not to be taken for granted. It's a liberty that requires dedication, responsibility, and diligence. I'll speak on those particular aspects tomorrow. There have been many successes in the homeschooling movement. Many of the children that have been homeschooled have excelled beyond imagination and were accepted into some of America's elite universities. Some have won the spelling bee and the national geography quiz. There have been numerous examples where parents were successful in educating their children at home. However, just as there are successes to the homeschooling movement, there are also problems with it as well. With liberty you have a choice: use it wisely and accomplish something with it or waste and abuse it. The latter is what some parents have done with homeschooling.
Last year somebody through email mentioned to me that they were opposed to homeschooling. The reasons were varied but that individual cited two reasons why they opposed it. One reason for their opposition was there parents didn't set them on a strict schedule. The second reason was their children lacked social skills. I shared both of those sentiments with the individual that stated that to me. I stated that I approve of homeschooling as long as it's administered properly. That's the key: Administered properly. Homeschooling without a strict schedule or any type of structure is doomed to failure. Parents can't homeschool properly if they don't organize a schedule and enforce it upon their children. Children should be made to go to bed at a decent hour every night, they should wake up early every morning, dress themselves in proper attire, and start school at a certain hour. Failure to do so will inhibit their children in the future. There will come a day when they graduate they'll have to arise at a certain hour to head to work every morning. The time for children to learn that concept is when they are in school. Homeschooling shouldn't be treated differently because it's not in a public school facility. Homeschool students should be placed on a strict schedule or it will be destined for failure.
I have never been homeschooled in my life nor do I have children. I've never been involved in the process of homeschooling children. However, there are numerous families that I know of that have homeschooled and their success was due to maintaining a strict schedule as well as knowing how to teach the material. I've also seen some families who were a failure at homeschooling and the reason was partially because of the lack of a set schedule. Another problem that arises as well is some parents, especially when their children are in high school, may have some difficulty in teaching their children some of the hard core subjects in Algebra and the hard sciences. It's important for those parents that are involved in homeschooling their children to know the material that they teach their children. Tomorrow I'll conclude this post.
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