...to reopen a can of worms, but Melissa had a very good blog today about her decision to home school. I commend her. I know her, I have met (some) of her kids. Aside from having an absolutely beautiful daughter "L," she has wonderful kids. Maybe I got defensive because I couldn't do it.
Hello, my name is Bonnie and I would be a horrible home school parent. There. It's out.
Two people wrote to me on email regarding this blog discussion. I feel compelled to share their words. But, after re-reading them, I am not going to. I feel that it would be disrespectful to this topic. Some are pro-public school, some are pro-parochial school, and some are pro-home school. Melissa did not intend for it to be "anti" anything. I am not anti home school either.
Ultimately all parents want what is best for their kids. We want our kids to thrive, grow, love, be kind, respect, etc. Some of us disagree on what the best way to do that is. Let us not forget that we are all in this together (as my friends at HSM would say).
Violence is everywhere: church (as recently as two days ago in the news), malls, schools, homes of supposed happy families, and anywhere really. We all do what we can to best protect our kids. I commend all of us moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, and teachers for trying to do what's best for kids. They are our future after all.
10 comments:
Okay, I read and I totally abstained from muddying the waters. Honestly, I thought all sides had valid points. And everyone was articulate, passionate and stated their case well. I welcome bringing all the sides together, underneath it, you all cared! The beauty in all of this is that we have so many choices when it comes to education. Choose what is best for you.
Part of our decision making process certainly included education when we chose to move back to Minnesota. Its first rate here. And we have equally good choices whether its parochial or public. I obviously can't speak to home-schooling, I know it has its place too.
Amen Bonnie! Thanks for tackling the tough issues! I commend everyone too.
You said it so well, Bonnie. I can't completely agree with Vicky that everyone stated their cases well, but I do believe everyone who voiced an opinion did so out of heartfelt passion and love for their children.
I am like vicky... I read all of it and i knew that i needed to keep my mouth shut! I felt the subject got off topic at times, and didn't agree with most of what was said. Hence, I kept my mouth shut. This is the part of blogging that i have never cared for. I would rather leave the serious reading for CNN. I'd much rather read about Kate Puking and Ryan playing hocky.
When people feel as strongly as they do about an issue you are never going to make them see both sides. I went through it with Evan when he was sick as an infant. When I made the choice to medicate my baby, I had no idea the can of worms i would open. I heard everything from, It's because you vaccinated him to if you wouldn't have had a c-section you wouldn't have this problem. Really, it's amazing how passionate people became.
I do commend you for writing about your passion of teaching and how you are making a difference.
The bottom line for me is school choice. While parents can choose to not send their kids to public schools their tax money still goes into the system. I just wish that parents could make a choice where to have their money spent to educate their kids. The NEA fights this tooth and nail and I don't know why if they really care about kids first.
~R
p.s. Bon this is the last I'll post on this even if you bring it up again as I feel I'm beating a dead horse, LOL!
There are literally endless topics that can come up that will have people going at eachother's throats.
For me, it's about keeping your comments and opinions friendly. I don't think that you, in any way, "started" anything.
The person who made judgemental comments on your and Melissa's blog needs to look in to blog comment etiquette.
What is going on? Why am I lost?
Now I know why, I missed two blogs...I can't keep up you are a writing machine, love it! Thank you.
Hi Bonnie, I'm Laurie Schweitzer, wife to Matt Schweitzer, who posted comments on your and Melissa's blogs about this topic. I would like to add a few comments since you’ve decided to reopen the can of worms here. I thought Dennis and Melissa did a beautiful job of explaining why Bible believing Christians choose to educate their children at home, and I agree with everything they said and couldn’t say it any better.
I believe that there is a black and white truth, which contains laws for how things work best in this world. These encompass all aspects of life, and are revealed to us in God's Word and in his creation. It is our job as his creatures to search for and discover that truth, and then to apply it to our lives.
It is not the jurisdiction of the state to educate children. I believe the family is the foundational unit of society, and that the responsibility of raising and educating children rests upon their own parents. God gives each family, each parent, what they need in terms of wisdom and strength and resources, to fulfill that role. And yes, there may be instances where some outside help and guidance is needed, as with special needs children, but it should come from a private source and not from the government.
You would be a wonderful homeschool mom, Bonnie, don’t be so hard on yourself. You called your job as a teacher your passion, your life, and much of what you stand for. You want to make the world a better place by helping, assisting, protecting (from what?), encouraging, and enlightening the children in your classes. What if you put all that energy into your own children that God entrusted specifically to you and Thad? They would be helped, protected encouraged and enlightened by the one who cared for them the most and loved and knew them the best in the whole world. When I look back at my own life someday, I want to know that I did everything I possibly could to raise my children in the way they should go.
Imagine with me for a moment, that everyone homeschooled. Family relationships would flourish, children would be happy and confident, neighbors would know each other because they’d be around more, not gone at work. Husbands would make more money because there wouldn’t be as many women in the job market, so families could really ”afford” to have mom at home. Imagine if Dad could even be at home more because of being self employed in a home based business. I know it sounds fanatical, but the homeschool movement is growing, like Melissa said, and it will have a bigger and bigger positive effect on our culture as these million children reach adulthood.
I'm strongly resisting more comments here......
Maybe we should move this over to my blog so we can let it all out? I promise to just referee :D
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