AN UPTICK IN HOMESCHOOLING

            With the ongoing angst regarding the COVID, many parents are considering home-schooling their children.  This tried and tested method of educating children has been around forever.  Some parents find it intimidating - - allocating the time and the energy needed to excel in this arena can be challenging to say the least.   However, once undertaken, quite a few parents have found home-schooling to be both satisfying and rewarding, for both parents and students.  In a year when many find themselves nervous about the virus, not a few moms and dads are opting for schooling their child-ren in the safety and privacy of their own home.  In these uncertain times such an approach seems to have much merit.  

            Many public and private schools do a wonderful job of educating our children.  They offer a varied curriculum in a diverse setting which in and of itself can help produce a well-balanced child.  In addition to the abc’s of a wide-range of subjects (far beyond just reading, writing and arithmetic), they also provide integration and sociability.  This latter be-havior:  how to get along with others, is vital in the development of a well-rounded personality.  “Smother-love" has its drawbacks.  Putting a child in a bubble seldom brings about a fully-developed psyche.  Children need interaction. 

            If we could offer a deeper meaning to the concept of home-schooling, it would serve us well.  This version of home-schooling remains alive and well even when a child is enrolled in a local public or private school.  This type of education demands a hands-on approach by a child's parents.  It requires parents who are diligent mentors.  It also necessitates that the domain of our instruction encompasses far more than just a general knowledge of diverse topics. 

            The kind of home-schooling that works best is when parents incorporate the Word of God into the educational plan of their children.  It is a call for dads to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph.6:4). It compels fathers and granddads to provide sound teaching from the Bible to the benefit of their young ones (Prov.3:1ff and 4:1ff).  It includes moms and grandmas who labor lovingly to implant faith in the hearts of their youngsters (Prov.1:8-9 and 2Tim.1:5).  Far too often parents abdicate their primary responsibility to be their child’s foremost mentor.  They relinquish their role to the so-called “experts”, be they a high school science instructor or a Sunday-school teacher.  Some may argue that “it takes a village” to raise a child, but what is most needed is a mommy and daddy who are well-versed in the Scriptures and are fully committed to training their children with the wisdom from above (Js.3:17).  Some may say this is the secret to great parenting, but it's really not a secret - - the Word of God shouts it repeatedly! 

                                                                               Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ