We have always been the primary educators - it’s always been using the resources that we deem to be fit, whether that is an institution, tuition, modern day curriculum etc.
Didn’t even have to watch- yes! Homeschooling is best. It was my gateway to TLM ( I was a typical 80’s kid with all the Catholic school and none of the catechesis) and ultimately SSPX. Thanks be to God, the state I raised my kids in, has very relaxed rules. I used a hodgepodge of Catholic Curriculum…shout out to the Catholic textbook project! It’s where me and my kids learned proper history😅
Thanks for this overview Kennedy. I am aware that it was not your intent here to post a comprehensive review of various means of Childrens' education. I believe that there is one crucial concern of which parents considering where to educate their children need always to be vigilant and aware. It is simply this. Anywhere you send your children where they are aware you have sent them there to learn, they will learn everything, and I do mean everything that they are taught, no matter what they have been taught at home. I was always mystified that no matter how vigilant my wife and I had been at Catechizing at our Children, practicing the Faith, and minutely reviewing every word of what they were taught while exposing to them every lie and inconsistency with our Faith, that they each in turn abandoned the Church and embraced every vile immoral conviction their school teachers and mentors encouraged in them. I remember the day when I finally inquired of my daughter, then in her forties, why she had bought in wholesale every disordered conviction I had tried so diligently to defend her against. Her accusing response was as simple as it was shocking to me. "It was you who sent all of us there to learn didn't you? Well why are you surprised that we learned what we were taught there?" I was incredulous that my not understanding the extent of childrens' vulnerability to even the worst of lies had defeated my every effort to protect my four children. My own ignorance had been the cause. It is my hope that maybe next time this discussion gets a hearing that this concern will get an honorable mention hopefully saving some poor family like mine a whole lot of future grief.
As a homeschooling mom, I appreciate this episode. I’ve homeschooled all 6 of my kids ages 4-19 (number 7 is on the way!), and I can’t imagine doing it any other way.
I was raised by a single mom until she remarried when I was 12 and went to public school all through my education, even 2.5 years of college. It convinced not to put my kids in public school. In addition, I helped out at a Dominican Catholic school at a past parish in California, and it convinced me not to put my kids in Catholic school — the kids that knew their faith learned it at home not from the well-meaning conservative priests or lay teachers.
I was surprised to hear you say, Kennedy, that you have seen homeschoolers that did it just because they felt they had to and that some of them didn’t really instill a love for learning. I have yet to meet a homeschooler that didn’t truly want their kids at home to homeschool them. I believe the people you mention exist, but I haven’t seen that in the 4 states I’ve lived in while being heavily involved in various homeschooling communities. As for instilling a love for learning, I’ve seen a flaw in the opposite direction. Many homeschoolers are so centered on helping their kids love learning that they shy away from anything that their kids might feel is boring and leave huge gaps in their education. Honestly, when we first started homeschooling, I followed the “unschooling” philosophy for quite a few years, which follows the child’s lead. What a disaster! We have found that more rigorous and structured homeschool curriculums have been far better for our kids and honestly take a lot of stress off me! We personally use Seton Homeschool, which does have some Novus Ordo leanings, but it’s a solid education all the way through high school, has massive amounts of resources if you enroll, and is accredited, so getting into higher education is very easy.
Another consideration that I think is important is that it is FAR easier to have time for extracurriculars when homeschooling. I can’t imagine having my kids away for 6-8 hours a day, then having them in activities and trying to have some time with them when they have homework and need adequate sleep. My kids have been blessed with being able to take music lessons, participate in the local school track and cross country, take dance classes, and do various martial arts. If they were in school, I never would have been able to do that. And these aren’t just passing fancies; all of my kids are accomplished enough musicians to perform complicated music even at weddings and large venues, I have 2 daughters en pointe in ballet, and a son who ran at state for cross country all through high school.
We have also had the time to have a farm in the last few years which has been amazing with teens to help. We could not have done that with them in school either. They have learned farm chores and how to do many construction tasks in addition to knowing how to run a household from cooking and cleaning to organizing. Having been in school, I personally had to learn all of those things on my own in my first couple of years of marriage!
This all being said, I do have one child who I can see would benefit from the social aspect of school due to her outgoing nature. However, I think we’ve done a pretty good job with our two oldest going off to college and the SSPX seminary this year.
I do know lots of families choosing various different paths and I think families truly try to do the best they can for their kids. For us, homeschooling has been wonderful. I love being with my kids and watching them learn and grow!
We have always been the primary educators - it’s always been using the resources that we deem to be fit, whether that is an institution, tuition, modern day curriculum etc.
By we I mean the parent
Didn’t even have to watch- yes! Homeschooling is best. It was my gateway to TLM ( I was a typical 80’s kid with all the Catholic school and none of the catechesis) and ultimately SSPX. Thanks be to God, the state I raised my kids in, has very relaxed rules. I used a hodgepodge of Catholic Curriculum…shout out to the Catholic textbook project! It’s where me and my kids learned proper history😅
Thanks for this overview Kennedy. I am aware that it was not your intent here to post a comprehensive review of various means of Childrens' education. I believe that there is one crucial concern of which parents considering where to educate their children need always to be vigilant and aware. It is simply this. Anywhere you send your children where they are aware you have sent them there to learn, they will learn everything, and I do mean everything that they are taught, no matter what they have been taught at home. I was always mystified that no matter how vigilant my wife and I had been at Catechizing at our Children, practicing the Faith, and minutely reviewing every word of what they were taught while exposing to them every lie and inconsistency with our Faith, that they each in turn abandoned the Church and embraced every vile immoral conviction their school teachers and mentors encouraged in them. I remember the day when I finally inquired of my daughter, then in her forties, why she had bought in wholesale every disordered conviction I had tried so diligently to defend her against. Her accusing response was as simple as it was shocking to me. "It was you who sent all of us there to learn didn't you? Well why are you surprised that we learned what we were taught there?" I was incredulous that my not understanding the extent of childrens' vulnerability to even the worst of lies had defeated my every effort to protect my four children. My own ignorance had been the cause. It is my hope that maybe next time this discussion gets a hearing that this concern will get an honorable mention hopefully saving some poor family like mine a whole lot of future grief.
As a homeschooling mom, I appreciate this episode. I’ve homeschooled all 6 of my kids ages 4-19 (number 7 is on the way!), and I can’t imagine doing it any other way.
I was raised by a single mom until she remarried when I was 12 and went to public school all through my education, even 2.5 years of college. It convinced not to put my kids in public school. In addition, I helped out at a Dominican Catholic school at a past parish in California, and it convinced me not to put my kids in Catholic school — the kids that knew their faith learned it at home not from the well-meaning conservative priests or lay teachers.
I was surprised to hear you say, Kennedy, that you have seen homeschoolers that did it just because they felt they had to and that some of them didn’t really instill a love for learning. I have yet to meet a homeschooler that didn’t truly want their kids at home to homeschool them. I believe the people you mention exist, but I haven’t seen that in the 4 states I’ve lived in while being heavily involved in various homeschooling communities. As for instilling a love for learning, I’ve seen a flaw in the opposite direction. Many homeschoolers are so centered on helping their kids love learning that they shy away from anything that their kids might feel is boring and leave huge gaps in their education. Honestly, when we first started homeschooling, I followed the “unschooling” philosophy for quite a few years, which follows the child’s lead. What a disaster! We have found that more rigorous and structured homeschool curriculums have been far better for our kids and honestly take a lot of stress off me! We personally use Seton Homeschool, which does have some Novus Ordo leanings, but it’s a solid education all the way through high school, has massive amounts of resources if you enroll, and is accredited, so getting into higher education is very easy.
Another consideration that I think is important is that it is FAR easier to have time for extracurriculars when homeschooling. I can’t imagine having my kids away for 6-8 hours a day, then having them in activities and trying to have some time with them when they have homework and need adequate sleep. My kids have been blessed with being able to take music lessons, participate in the local school track and cross country, take dance classes, and do various martial arts. If they were in school, I never would have been able to do that. And these aren’t just passing fancies; all of my kids are accomplished enough musicians to perform complicated music even at weddings and large venues, I have 2 daughters en pointe in ballet, and a son who ran at state for cross country all through high school.
We have also had the time to have a farm in the last few years which has been amazing with teens to help. We could not have done that with them in school either. They have learned farm chores and how to do many construction tasks in addition to knowing how to run a household from cooking and cleaning to organizing. Having been in school, I personally had to learn all of those things on my own in my first couple of years of marriage!
This all being said, I do have one child who I can see would benefit from the social aspect of school due to her outgoing nature. However, I think we’ve done a pretty good job with our two oldest going off to college and the SSPX seminary this year.
I do know lots of families choosing various different paths and I think families truly try to do the best they can for their kids. For us, homeschooling has been wonderful. I love being with my kids and watching them learn and grow!