Yesterday I wrote about some of my reasons to homeschool my daughter. Today I'd like to talk about my obligation to her. It's not enough to clothe and feed her. She needs more than toys and video games. She needs an education.
Why does she need an education? God commands me to educate her. God wants her to be knowledgeable so that she can protect herself. She needs to know when people are trying to hurt her and persuade her to do things she's better off not doing. Why can't she get that at public schools? Well you used to be able to. Now we are so worried about being politically correct and not offending anyone that kids don't get a chance to learn anything. Let's talk about history for a minute. We have short history compared to other countries. Not all of it is very "pretty", for example slavery. The act of one human being claiming another human being as property. It's a horrible practice. A lot of schools nowadays are downplaying slavery in U.S. history. Others are using it as an excuse for poor behavior by their students. What is the reality of slavery? Do your children know? Do they know that a lot people question who sold the slaves to the slave traders? Do you know this? What about the fact that this is not a new practice? Nor was it new in 1800's. What about the Israeli's? They were slaves for hundreds of years. Should we shield our children from the harsh realities of history? Should we pretty up what really happened? Throughout history people have been raped, murdered, taken hostage, turned into slaves and prostitutes. Smart, intelligent, happy men and women have been turned into drug addicted, depressed homeless people. Do we ignore this when teaching our children?
I believe we have an obligation to teach our children not only the "pretty" version or the "ugly" version. The story has to contain both to give our children an accurate picture of the world in which they live.
My obligation to her education is to make certain she is prepared for the world in which she will live. And if I don't think she's getting that education in public school, then to find another alternative. If I can't find a suitable substitute, then my obligation is to educate her myself. It's not enough to say the schools are not doing a good job. It's our duty to our children to give them the best education we can. Whether it's us personally teaching them or keeping tabs on their public or private school. Only we can decide for sure.
Have you met your obligation to your children's education today?
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