Dad: ‘Who made you?’ Three-year old: ‘God made me’ Dad: ‘What else did God make?’ Three-year old: ‘God made all things’ Dad: ‘Why did God make you and all things?’ Three-year old: ‘For his own glory.’ It is morning and we are catechising our kids. I think we have been through our ‘Catechism for Boys’ …
Several years ago, I came across rather an aggressive post on Facebook that has stayed with me. It must have been posted by somebody who was in the process of adopting a child and the article, highly sarcastically, answered lots of the most common questions put to adoptive parents from friends and relatives. I realised …
Several weeks back I made an error at the opticians. Approximately forty-five seconds into our appointment he discovered that we are a home educating family. I was taken aback to find that he was fully supportive of our educational choice. We agreed that bright children thrive and struggling children blossom when they are allowed to …
Hiding Behind What is Good: The Real Reason We Home Educate Read More »
If you have home educated for any amount of time, somebody will have asked you what opportunities your child has for socialisation. There is a strong temptation to immediately reel off a long list of all the activities and meet-ups that your child takes part in outside of the home. I know this because I …
If we are Christians who home educate our children or who have taken the decision to send our children to a Christian school, then at one point or another we are certain to come across the ‘salt and light’ argument, namely the idea that as Christians we should be ‘salt and light’ in the government …
Christian Education and the ‘Salt and Light’ Argument Read More »
The unknown can be daunting. I wonder how many Christian families abandon the idea of home education in blind panic because they cannot comprehend how to teach mixed ages a full curriculum with housework, shopping, cooking and meet-ups thrown in. What a tragedy to disregard a wonderful educational choice for our families because we more …
Home Education is Not 0-100 in Sixty Seconds: The ‘One-Thing-at-a-Time Rule’ Read More »
Mothers with younger children whose hearts have been warmed towards the idea of home educating their little ones are often plagued by a nagging doubt, ‘I am just not clever enough to teach my children’. After all, the mental image of our three-year-old sitting down to do exams at the age of sixteen is understandably …
‘I’m Just Not Clever Enough to Teach My Children’ Read More »
I think this is an extremely honest objection to the idea of Christian home education. After all, little children are HARD WORK. I do pretty much everything with my children around. Whilst I am busy cleaning one room, seven pairs of hands are busy turning another room into disarray. I cook and resolve arguments simultaneously. …
You have just had a really great conversation with a friend about the benefits of Christian education. They agree with you that there is a much better way to the secular state alternative. There is already a thriving home educating community at your church; there is even a true Christian school a mile up the …
The pens and pencils are out, the Maths book is open, the white board is up. It is Day 1 of Home Education ‘in earnest’. Expectations are high; nerves are jangling. The first morning goes astonishingly well; the first morning goes astonishingly badly. Perhaps it falls somewhere in between. A few months down the line and it …
Home Education, Great Expectations and Those First Wobbly Steps Read More »
