I'm back! Home Schooling vs. Public

Hey everybody and nobody in the internet world. My login went down for a bit, but I'm back for another edition of Sweater Vest Wednesday. Today's topic: Homeschooling

With our son coming up on the age where we have to decide if we are going to send him to public school, private school, or homeschool; Tara and I have had some great conversations with each other and friends. Here are my thoughts:

My buddy passed on a link to me written by CBN (http://m.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2007/May/Socialization-Homeschooling-vs-Schools/) and so I read it. Now, I was public schooled from K-12 and thought I got a great education. However, I know that I married a great woman who is a certified teacher and tremendous educator so homeschooling has come up. As we have discussed it with other people also and read articles it seems as though there's a need to demonize one side in order to justify your decision. I've never felt that way and most of our friends don't, but articles like this one certainly do.

Now, the way I see it, the argument goes something like this from the pro homeschool corner (extreme, not the people who are in the middle, more on this later). The public sector is full of socialist and selfish ideologies that will find there way into your child. They are only concerned about money and have no regard for your child's education. Your kid will grow up around drugs, alcohol, and sex and probably fall into them. Homeschooling gives them a more intimate education that can be bent and oriented towards their individual needs and prepares them better for the life that is ahead. If you care about the future of your child(ren), and you can afford to do so, then homeschooling is the only way to go. From a God perspective, you can train your child up and not the government teachers, making better disciples. Evangelism will happen in God's sovereignty and through other people, possibly their own kids. The primary concern is Christian discipleship, not necessarily the evangelism of the lost.

The opposite argument goes like this: Homeschooled kids grow up to be naive, sheltered adults who have no social skills. They cannot interact well with people in normal relationships because they have an entirely different upbringing than most. They will be book smart and lack common sense street smarts. Placing your kids into the public or private schools allows them to understand what it means to work with and interact with peers every single day. The schools also typically only hire qualified, educated teachers who are in fact passionate about teaching. Let the professionals do what the professionals do. If you care about how your kids develop as adults, you will give them the opportunity to experience life in the public sector. From a God perspective, your kids should be in the world, but not of it. Allowing them to lead normal American lives will allow them to share their faith and work it out while they are in your home and control. Greater is God than he that is the world and God will be with them while they are in the schools and only 15-20% of people make decisions for Christ after high school. Evangelism should be the primary focus while trusting in the sovereignty of God in discipleship comes second.

Ok, so the truth is sort of there in both arguments, but the demonization of either is completely unnecessary. Why do we feel the need to bash either side when making a decision? Does it make you feel better about the decision that you made? I went to public school and didn't become a communist who only cares about myself (how can a true socialist only care about themselves?) and I have plenty of well adjusted friends who were home schooled. Make your decision and talk about the positives about it, not why the other side is bad.

The real question that we all need to be answering is, how do we make disciples of our kids? This will probably change per kid! Schooling is merely a part of the equation. If you are only putting them in public school because you just need time to yourself, then perhaps your motives are selfish. If you are homeschooling because you are afraid of the world, perfect love has driven out fear. This decision is also made in sin. Ultimately, either decision is right so long as it is made prayerfully and taking into mind the above question.

So, how will you disciple your kid(s)?