By Mimi Rothschild
When some parents think about teen drug use, they usually think of high school seniors getting together for an occasional joint. Unfortunately, this image is a startlingly optimistic perception. Here are some shocking statistics from this recent SAMHSA study:
These statistics should be enough for parents to want to take their children as far away as possible from this atmosphere. When illicit drug and alcohol use, among other dangers, is so prevalent in our schools even in grades as low as middle school, a parent’s natural reaction is to get them away from these influences.
I think it’s important to postulate the causes of this drug use. When teens are asked why they turn to drug use, an overwhelming majority lazily reply, “There’s nothing else to do.” Consider the following from DrugFree.org:
“Teens who can’t tolerate being alone, have trouble keeping themselves occupied, and crave excitement are prime candidates for substance abuse. Not only do alcohol and marijuana give them something to do, but those substances help fill the internal void they feel. One boy’s statement captures this sentiment. “When I’m stuck in my house with nothing to do,” he said, “all I can think about is going out to party.” Alcohol and drugs become false friends whose glittery promise of a good time is alluring to a bored adolescent. These false friends also help restless, bored, risk-taking teens to forget about troubles that they often face, like family conflicts, school failure, and peer rejection.”
Wow. As a mother of eight, this mentality is so foreign to me. And yet, it rings true with many of my friends’ kids. These teens turn to drug use because life is boring. There is a lesson here for homeschoolers. It’s important that we cultivate in our children an innate desire to learn and explore God’s creation. The internal void described above is all too common in children who have never tasted the excitement that comes with knowing that God has a plan for each child’s life. Each new day should be an adventure. Our house is a flurry of activity throughout the day and well into the night. Compare this to the daily routine of the public school student. They spend eight hours of their day being shuttled from class to class, learning passively rather than actively. When they get home, they tend to sit in front of the television for the remainder of the evening. Who can blame them for eventually turning to drugs in a desperate effort to fight boredom?
I can’t remember the last time I heard, “Mommy, I’m bored.” Try to think of ways to make your homeschool a buzzing hive of learning, growing, and “fullness of life.” Also, pray that God will infuse your children with enthusiasm for drug-free living.
By Mimi Rothschild
Free Range Learning is a term I’ve been hearing tossed about in the homeschooling world for some time. Regardless of its connotation, I love the sound of the term. It implies learning without boundaries.
Some unfortunate souls have the misperception that homeschoolers are stuck in a jail-like building, as if they stare teary-eyed out the window at the lucky kids catching the school bus in the morning. On the contrary, to the homeschooler, the world is a classroom. It is in fact the public school student who is forced into a cell-like classroom confined by rigid strictures and stifling monotony. There are many ways to take advantage of the limitless nature of homeschooling. Here are just a few:
Libraries: This one’s pretty obvious. Area libraries are a wealth of information. Most have high-speed internet access in addition to plenty of print materials. Taking full advantage of your local library can really supplement your homeschoolers curriculum well.
Museums: Another no-brainer. Museums offer kids a visual and sometimes hands-on supplement to their learning. If you live in a rural area, plan a weekend trip to the closest city and go museum-hopping. Many museums have a “just for kids” section that will provide hours of fun learning. Older homeschoolers will also be enriched by the regular exhibits.
Colleges: Why not have your high schoolers take a college course or two in a particular area of interest? It’s a great way to expose them to an environment that they will most likely transition to in the near future. If you have a family friend that is currently enrolled in a college, you can even allow your child to spend a weekend with that friend. They will get a taste of dorm life and even attend the same classes. This is also a great way to supplement your homeschooler’s search for the right college.
Friends and Relatives: Last year, I set up an assignment for which each of my homeschoolers interviewed my parents about their experiences during World War II. Not only was it an engaging and informative history lesson, it was an unforgettable bonding experience that they will no doubt carry with them long after my parents have passed. I would encourage you to think creatively about what your homeschoolers could learn from family friends. Perhaps you have a friend who is a farmer that they can shadow for a day. Maybe a friend has just given birth, and you would like your daughters to learn how to care for a newborn baby. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination.
The Internet: Having 24/7 access to the internet will give your homeschoolers an enormous edge over public school students. If your students have a question, encourage them to find out for themselves on the computer rather than instantly providing the answer. This will cultivate essential web-browsing skills and will also build an innate desire to explore and learn on the web. Here are some helpful hints to guide your search for knowledge on the internet.
Field Trips: There are plenty of untraditional places to visit that aren’t generally considered places of learning. Get together with other homeschool families to plan field trips to factories, historical sites, conservatories, zoos, and more. Every once in a while, you can all head out to an amusement park just for fun.
By Mimi Rothschild
I recently had a phone conversation that broke my heart. A mother that currently homeschools with The MorningStar Academy called my office to express her concern about her son’s sociology lesson for that day. She was very upset because her son was required to write a short essay regarding the theories of Karl Marx. While I was very grateful that she had taken the time to call, I was saddened that I was unable to quash her fears.
She explained to me that she had pulled her son out of public school because she didn’t want him learning “worldly knowledge.” While I applaud her decision to homeschool, I could not help but take issue with her stance. All of our courses are deeply rooted in Biblical teaching. However, we do not whitewash history.
I tried to explain to her that we as a school and as believers don’t necessarily agree with what Karl Marx had to say. However, to ignore his contributions, positive or negative, would be to gain a very limited understanding of modern sociology (and economics and politics for that matter). To teach a sociology class without a thorough discussion of Karl Marx would be like teaching a World War II course without discussing the politics and motivations of Adolph Hitler. Obviously, by learning about who Hitler was and how he thought, we do not condone mass genocide.
As Christians, we have a responsibility to know what “the other guy” believes. How can we expect to reach out to a lost world without a full knowledge of how that world thinks? I think it’s important that we use discernment in what we expose ourselves to. Children are impressionable, and we must remember to guard our hearts. But, I hardly think a one-day lesson on Marxist principles is going to transform a young learner into a card-carrying communist!
I feel as though in her efforts to protect her child from worldly thinking, she was effectually limiting his ability to discern. I think it’s important for kids to know what they believe and why. After all, they’re not going to be in the home forever. What happens when a young child who has never been exposed to other ways of thinking goes to college, where very intelligent and convincing atheist professors will no doubt attempt to undermine his faith?
As parents and teachers, we must equip our children with the ability to reason through concepts we don’t agree with in order to figure out why we shouldn’t agree with them. I would encourage you to discuss different political positions and even religions with your child. Let their curiosity run wild. Challenge them with questions like, “Why do you think people believe this?” and “What does the Bible have to say about this particular issue?” This will build a strong sense of discernment. With your guidance, your child will recognize why he has a Christian worldview. When the time comes for him to leave home, his faith will be unwavering.
By Mimi Rothschild
My eldest daughter doesn’t realize how blessed she is to be entering college in the twenty-first century. We have a pile of brochures and DVD’s from colleges that keeps growing, and the phone rings a few times a week. It’s not that my daughter is a brainiac, although she can hold her own in the classroom, it’s that she is a homeschooler.
Colleges are just beginning to comprehend the fact that homeschoolers are outstripping their peers on every academic level. Over the last few decades, we homeschoolers have come up against confrontation from the public school system. Colleges, however, have simply been a little wary. After all, each student is an investment. How can they ensure that their student body will be benefited by a homeschooled child? Homeschoolers were met with raised eyebrows and quizzical looks from all sides.
That’s all changing. A recent CBS News article confirms evidence that I’ve noticed over the last few years. Colleges are finally getting their act together regarding homeschoolers. When faced with an applicant pool full of apathetic public school grads who have no thirst for knowledge, homeschoolers with an innate desire to learn look very attractive. They are not just going to college because their parents are forcing them to do so. Rather, they have been prepared to excel in the college environment by years spent cultivating independent study habits.
As a result, colleges no longer see homeschoolers as a quirky anomalous question mark but as the cream of the crop.
A word of advice: take the time to prepare your children for SAT and ACT exams. Because colleges have no way of verifying the academic rigor of your child’s curriculum, grades mean very little to admissions departments. However, because these exams are standardized, the tests serve as a good metric to determine the capabilities of your child. In fact, it can be the defining factor in many cases. There are a variety of preparatory texts that parents can pick up in bookstores across the country. The MorningStar Academy offers an SAT prep course designed specifically for homeschoolers. You can learn more about it here.
Secondly, make sure your child schedules an interview with college admissions counselors. In an interview, your child can easily illustrate his or her experiences and abilities that are difficult to translate on paper applications. By clearly communicating, your child can also show admissions counselors that he or she is not a social misfit. Unfortunately, some still hold the inaccurate perception that homeschooled kids have trouble socializing. The interview can do a lot to put these concerns to rest.
By Mimi Rothschild
Did you know that October is National Gay and Lesbian History month?
Here in Philadelphia, area schools have made the declaration, going so far as to reprint the 2006-2007 calendars with October. Pioneers in gay and lesbian equal rights movements will be lauded, homosexuality will be upheld as a healthy, normal form of human interaction, and most disturbingly, guest lecturers are scheduled to be brought in to share with children about the struggles they have gone through in their journey to self-awareness.
Before I begin ranting against this practice, I would like to first say that I abhor the way many Christians have historically treated homosexuals. I believe we are to love the sinner, but hate the sin. If any good has come out of the gay rights movement, it’s that people are more understanding of the discrimination with which gays and lesbians have been faced.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’d like to illustrate the potential damage of this “celebration.”
James is a sensitive 12 year old boy. An artistic kid, James like to draw and paint. He doesn’t really like sports, and as a result, he sometimes gets picked on by the boys in gym class. Rather than face their cutting barbs, James prefers to eat lunch with the girls in his class. This only worsens the insults from the rest of the boys. They call him “sissy” and “girly” and James’s social anxiety magnifies. He doesn’t really fit in with anybody, so he mostly spends his leisure time alone with his drawing. Things aren’t much better at home. His dad was a star football player in high school and always wanted the same for his sons. His older brother seems to have inherited the athleticism of his father, leaving James an uncoordinated mess on the field. He doesn’t get much attention from dad. On top of all this, James’s body is changing and growing. His hormones leave him reeling with confusion and angst. One day, a man comes into school to explain what it means to be homosexual. James’s mind races, thinking, “Maybe this explains why I don’t fit in? Maybe I can finally figure out who I am? Maybe I can finally feel loved.”
Can you imagine how this might affect an impressionable kid going through the most confusing stage in his or her life? I won’t elaborate further; you get the idea.
Fortunately, some parents are taking action. According to a recent BP News article, Senita Watson, said she plans on homeschooling her second-grade daughter during October. She calls on other parents to boycott as well.
The MorningStar Academy welcomes all families who wish to take a stand against sexual immorality. Parents can be assured that their children will never be exposed to propaganda masked as history. Unlike school officials who have chosen to lie down to special interest pressure, our school is thriving by taking a stand in a wishy-washy world.