Homeschooling article

This article was sent to me by a non homeschooling parent who has no hard feelings toward homeschoolers. It was recently brought up at Park Day and was asked to be put on the buzz. In light of others opinions...well, we all have an opinion of our own, don't we?! These are opportunities to pray for lost people. When lost people act like they are lost we don't shoot them, we pray. I hesitate to even send it but since several of you wanted it....it is here for you! > > *SONNY SCOTT*> > 6/8/2008 9:39:01 AM> Daily Journal> > You see them at the grocery, or in a discount store.> > It's a big family by today's standards - "just like stair steps," as the > old folks say. Freshly scrubbed boys with neatly trimmed hair and girls > with braids, in clean but unfashionable clothes follow mom through the > store as she fills her no-frills shopping list.> > There's no begging for gimcracks, no fretting, and no threats from mom. > The older watch the younger, freeing mom to go peacefully about her task.> > You are looking at some of the estimated 2 million children being home > schooled in the U.S., and the number is growing. Their reputation for > academic achievement has caused colleges to begin aggressively > recruiting them. Savings to the taxpayers in instructional costs are > conservatively estimated at $4 billion, and some place the figure as > high as $9 billion. When you consider that these families pay taxes to > support public schools, but demand nothing from them, it seems quite a > deal for the public.> > Home schooling parents are usually better educated than the norm, and > are more likely to attend worship services. Their motives are many and > varied. Some fear contagion from the anti-clericalism, coarse speech, > suggestive behavior and hedonistic values that characterize secular > schools. Others are concerned for their children's safety. Some want > their children to be challenged beyond the minimal competencies of the > public schools. Concern for a theistic world view largely permeates the > movement.> > Indications are that home schooling is working well for the kids, and > the parents are pleased with their choice, but the practice is coming > under increasing suspicion, and even official attack, as in California.> > Why do we hate (or at least distrust) these people so much?> > Methinks American middle-class people are uncomfortable around the home > schooled for the same reason the alcoholic is uneasy around the teetotaler.> > Their very existence represents a rejection of our values, and an > indictment of our lifestyles. Those families are willing to render unto > Caesar the things that Caesar's be, but they draw the line at their > children. Those of us who have put our trust in the secular state (and > effectively surrendered our children to it) recognize this act of > defiance as a rejection of our values, and we reject them in return.> > Just as the jealous Chaldeans schemed to bring the wrath of the king > upon the Hebrew eunuchs, we are happy to sic the state's bureaucrats on > these "trouble makers." Their implicit rejection of America's most > venerated idol, Materialism, (a.k.a. "Individualism") spurs us to heat > the furnace and feed the lions.> > Young families must make the decision: Will junior go to day care and > day school, or will mom stay home and raise him? The rationalizations > begin. "A family just can't make it on one income." (Our parents did.) > "It just costs so much to raise a child nowadays." (Yeah, if you buy > brand-name clothing, pre-prepared food, join every club and activity, > and spend half the cost of a house on the daughter's wedding, it does.) > And so, the decision is made. We give up the bulk of our waking hours > with our children, as well as the formation of their minds, > philosophies, and attitudes, to strangers. We compensate by getting a > boat to take them to the river, a van to carry them to Little League, a > 2,800-square-foot house, an ATV, a zero-turn Cub Cadet, and a fund to > finance a brand-name college education. And most significantly, we claim > "our right" to pursue a career for our own> "self-fulfillment."> > Deep down, however, we know that our generation has eaten its seed corn. > We lack the discipline and the vision to deny ourselves in the hope of > something enduring and worthy for our posterity. We are tired from > working extra jobs, and the looming depression threatens our 401k's. > Credit cards are nearly maxed, and it costs a $100 to fuel the Suburban. > Now the kid is raising hell again, demanding the latest Play Station as > his price for doing his school work ... and there goes that modest young > woman in the home-made dress with her four bright-eyed, well-behaved > home-schooled children in tow. Wouldn't you just love to wipe that > serene look right off her smug face?> > Is it any wonder we hate her so?> > Sonny Scott a community columnist, lives on Sparta Road in Chickasaw County> and his e-mail address is sonnyscott@yahoo.com.>