Homeschooling
As I mentioned in
Re: Living within our means: no TV, smartphone, or fancy clo -... school for children of like-minded souls, then to have any children go there. Barbara, I think that you do not really understand the concept of homeschooling. First, not one spouse, but both, must decide together, because they have to support each other in the venture. Second, a collective home ...
by NadirGP - Tue 15 October 2013 4:26 pm
Homeschooling your children today is a MUST and not just an alternative.
First, I have to say we lived 15 kms from the nearest town and we lived in a 40-acre property on the other side of a river, (which means at times it flooded and there was no way to cross it) thus stuck at home for days. The school bus stop, initially, was 5 kilometres from our home, so our first boy had to ride his bike to catch the bus every day.
My wife and I home schooled our three children from grade 3 for our first son, grade 2 for our second boy and from grade 1 for our daughter. That was a tough decision we made in 1988. We didn’t know much about homeschooling then. As for myself, being an Italian, I knew even less because homeschooling in Italy was unknown, and for the few people who know of it, it is a very wild subject matter.
The reasons for homeschooling our three children, initially, were because they were learning very little at school and that little learned was inconsequential. Not only that, but our first boy was beaten a few times on the school bus by other boys. The children on that bus were wild and the bus driver did nothing to stop this bullying. Not a few times, I had to accompany my son all the way to school and only then, because of my presence on the bus, the boys’ behaviour changed for the better.
It was only when our second boy was in his second grade that I realized how bad the state school system was. He could hardly read or write a word and when asked, “What did you do today at school, son?”
“I forget…” was always our boy’s’ reply. In addition, I went to talk with the school principal and teachers. I asked them to show me the curriculum. We argued over the actual learning hours and I deemed recreational time was much more than the learning time. The curriculum was not any better, completely void of moral values let alone God.
To make a long story short, our three children completed their education at home. We never asked permission for this.
Incidentally, all learning was out of books, conversation or hands-on practical work. We did not have TV, both from preference, and because we were off-grid. We hardly knew what a computer is, let alone using one.
Our first son went to the university and studied the ancient languages, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Syriac and Aramaic. He joined a religious order and today, after six more years of theological study, he is an ordained Catholic Priest. Our second boy, after he got he matriculated through TAFE became an electrician. Our daughter went to the university to nursing study and is today a graduate registered nurse.
"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."
