Why Homeschooling?

A few months ago I read Write These Laws on Your Children: Inside the World of Conservative Christian Homeschooling, a very interesting report by a man critical, but not completely against, homeschooling.  His main concern is how homeschooling families define civic participation and duty to country.  Some families homeschool because they feel the government and, by extension, the public school is hostile to their Christian values; therefore, they desire their children to spend the formative years in a more supportive environment.  Some completely shelter their children from the world, filtering all things and exposing them only to those opinions and beliefs which match their own.  Others homeschool so their children can experience an individualized education, learning at their own pace and in their own style.  Some felt, as Christians, our civic duty is to make America a "Christian nation", typically by electing officials who makes laws out of our Christian morality.  Others understand that one cannot legislate a relationship with Christ, and while they do vote based on their beliefs, they are not proponents of forcing Christian behavior on non-Christians. 

Overall, I found Kuznman's report helpful and informing; some families he interviewed provided examples of what I truly want our homeschooling experience to be like and others are examples of what I want to avoid.  For me, it is important for all subjects to be taught from a biblical worldview, while also allowing discussion and debate on opinions and viewpoints that do not agree with that worldview.  I believe that instead of pulling out of the world, Christians need to engage the world and be able to understand and have compassion on those who think differently from us. 

Of course this brings up the question: "If I believe it is important to engage the world, why am I deciding to homeschool?  Wouldn't it be better for your children to be in public school, since that would be a great opportunity to engage the world?".   Yes, the public school is a great place to engage the world, but do I expect my 5-year old to engage the world with much success?  No, not really.  This is not to say that parents who choose public school are doing their children a disservice, some children are better suited for the environment than others.  Kayleigh is already beginning to believe her teacher over her parents, and that concerns me.  She actually told me she thought her teacher knows more than I do!  She probably does in some things, but ack!  Kayleigh is also very concerned with fitting in, although her choice of dress some days causes me to question this concern :)  And don't get me started on the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing already starting Kindergarten...ugh.

So, if my goal is to somewhat control my children's exposure to the world, how will they learn to engage?  This is a major concern of mine.  I do not want my children to grow up niave and unable to cope outside the protective walls of our family. Therefore one of my goals while homeschooling is to be involved in a Co-Op and, perhaps, a sport not associated with the church.  In searching for Co-Ops I came across Denton Classical Education Cooperative and about jumped for joy!  Denton Classical is not a strictly Christian Co-Op, although most of their members are Christian, and that makes it appealing for a couple reasons: one, it allows for open discussion and debate; two, there is no denominational bent, which I see in many of the other Co-Ops around here. This area has a number of Christian Co-Ops, but frankly some of their codes of conduct are a little too strict for my taste--I really don't care if kids have more than one earring in each ear, or that boys wear their hair long, or that someone has a visible tatoo.  Another reason I like Denton Classical is the most of the subjects they offer are core subjects and not just enrichment: history, science, literature, and writing are the core, with PE, art, and Spanish for enrichment.  This will actually lighten my load a bit, since science and history projects will be done through the Co-Op and I will not need to spend time trying to find all the stuff to do them!  As for sports, we haven't quite decided what to do on that front.  We would really like to get our kids into gymnastics, but that can get rather expensive.  I'm thinking of just letting them play a season is all the different sports and then seeing what they like best.