Monday, March 10, 2008

The Homeschooling Thing

In case anybody cares about my thoughts, I thought I'd give them. Heehee.

In case you've been living under a rock somewhere, a judge in California ruled last week that it was illegal for children to be taught by teachers without teaching credentials. Therefore, the 166,000 kids who are being homeschooled there are suddenly, technically, truants.

Two things:

1. I don't think we've heard the end of this yet. Schwarzenegger seems fully intent on fixing the whole issue so that parents can homeschool.

2. Even if the ruling stands, parents can probably get away with hiring credentialed teachers to help plan lessons and still keep their kids home if they want to. Actually, this is how my parents did it to comply with California law (which hasn't changed at all, this is just a new interpretation) starting in 1985.

But, when I first heard about this it was frightening to me anyway. I think there may very well come a day when we as parents aren't allowed to make the decisions we feel are best for our children - in the U.S. and in other countries. We'll have to decide at that time if we want to move or break the law, following what God asks us to do rather than what man asks us to do. It's not really the issue of homeschooling that bothers me, because I do believe it is possible for children to be well educated in the public schools (not easy everywhere, but definitely possible.) It's more the issue of a parents' right to choose how their child will be raised. How much does the government get to tell us is right for our kids? Do they get to tell us how to feed them? Clothe them? How much tv they can/should watch? If we can teach them our faith? Which kids they can be friends with? I mean, how far does it go?

The conclusion I have come to is this: Today, I can raise my children to fear God. I can teach them whatever I know is best. I can love them and do what I know is the absolute best for them. Tomorrow is not here yet, and God is already there. So for today I will be faithful to seek God and train my children in the way they should go. Easier said than done, and I will still keep an eye on California. But this doesn't surprise God, and He is directing those in authority exactly as He pleases. (Prov 21:1) We can trust God to direct us. He loves our kids more than we do.

4 comments:

  1. Good Evening,

    I am Joanna's sister-in-law and currently HS my girls. We have MANY friends in Ca still as we have just moved from there this fall. Most of them HS their children. HSLDA (www.hslda.org) has a petition that ANYONE can sign to pursuade the Ca Supreme Court to depublish this ruling. The right to educate your child is truly yours. Thank you for taking note of it here. As the old saying goes... what happens in California doesn't stay in California.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TJ - your girls are watching my kids on Tuesday nights now. Hearing they are homeschooled makes me like them even better than I already did. :) We'll have to call them to babysit for us!

    Off to go sign that petition...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know my 2 cents isn't any different from anyone else's, but I just have to say how completely scary it is that the government thinks they have the right to determine how parents choose to educate their children. We all know that biblically, parents are primarily responsible for the education of their children and the fact that the government is trying to regulate this is just crazy. Besides that, tackle a real issue! Homeschooling is not a problem that needs to be fixed. Immigration is. Homelessness is. Unemployment is. Put your time and resources into fixing those, for starters, and stop trying to take control over something that is not your right to control. OK there's my little rant. :) Thanks for this post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't believe that they would even try to control this. It's fightening to think about what the world will be like as our Children grow, but you are right we just have to trust God.

    ReplyDelete