Home Schooling: A Place of Learning
(from The Woman’s Study Bible, Thomas
Nelson Pub., 1995.)
God has
given to His people commands that are to be passed along to their children so
they ‘may fear the Lord’ and keep His commandments that their ‘days may be
prolonged’.
As the children of Israel trekked from Egypt to the Promised
Land, the teaching of children was not an activity isolated to a particular
location or a limited time of day. Rather, it was instruction interwoven with
all the activities of life. The teaching was to be while they were sitting,
walking, lying down, and rising up (Deut. 6:1-7).
Home schooling is one way many families are fulfilling this
command to pass on godly values and to instruct their children about life from a
godly perspective. Even though they want their children to be exposed to other
people and other ideas, most home schooling parents feel that they have the
primary responsibility for influencing the lives of their children. Home
schooling allows them the opportunity to present information in the context of
values.
Home schooling families have many reasons for educating their
children at home:
-
Children are encouraged to grow in
all areas at their own pace – emotionally, spiritually, socially, and mentally.
This education accommodates the uniqueness of each child, including
physiological and neurological differences.
-
Many of the negative effects of peer
pressure are minimised.
-
An opportunity for children to
pursue their respective interests in particular subjects is provided. In a
relaxed home atmosphere, the child’s natural curiosity can lead to learning
experiences.
-
A unique family bond is created
since parents and children are together many hours each day. Much of home
schooling involves a one-to-one tutorial approach, considered the finest method
ever devised for formal instruction.
-
Domestic skills, hobbies, earning
and managing money, responding to the needs of others, and other practical areas
of life are included in the training.
Home schooling is a big responsibility, but many parents are
discovering the enriching rewards of teaching their own children, and they take
it seriously enough to make the investment of time it requires. Home schoolers
have a great deal in common with the early Hebrews, as well as with the many
parents who have instructed their children at home throughout history.
|
|
