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
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
When I go to the grocery store, I often chuckle at the presence of the toy aisle that sits in between the dairy and bread isles. I inevitably see parents pacifying their children at the end of a trip to the grocery store with a new toy, “for being good.” I guess most parents think it’s worth the $2.00 to buy some peace and quiet, in addition to the removal of embarrassment from being seen parenting an obnoxious child.
Children are rewarded with ice cream if they finish their vegetables. I know of one young man who was promised the car of his choice on his 16th birthday if he would only get straight A’s. He never did get that car.
Of course, it’s not easy to see the detriment of this habit. The child comes to expect more and more just for not throwing a tantrum. It doesn’t take long before the parents are no longer able to provide that pacifier. Young people go out in the world pursuing pleasures that their parents can’t offer.
I see a similar problem within our system of education. Students are given pizza parties when they finish books and promised candy for behaving. As a result, kids see reading and learning to be a means to an end; a chore to struggle through just to acquire the prize. Children choose the easiest books to read just to make the quota.
There is an alternative! Let the learning be the reward itself. My children are all voracious readers. They have an inherent desire to learn because I don’t impose it as a chore. My youngest children don’t see books as a way to getting to the TV. My oldest children don’t see them as a way to get into college.
As per usual, the homeschooling environment is the richest soil for this kind of learning. Children are driven by internal motivators at their own pace. Compare this to the traditional schooling model. Children are given a mass-produced education with no concern put into tailoring the education for the unique needs of each child. It is the educational equivalent of shoving square pegs through a round hole. Pubic school teachers often end up acting as nothing more than a source of pacification, not unlike the parents at the grocery store mentioned above. They get paid just to make sure kids meet embarrassingly low standards. Homeschool parents, on the other hand, are able to devote time and energy into cultivating a desire to learn and grow.
Now, I’m not being naïve. There are times when students will be stubborn and a little enforcement is required. The key however, is not offering rewards for proper behavior, but punishing children for ill behavior. If your children are anything like mine, you will find that punishments will come few and far between. Their desire to learn almost always supersedes their desire to not be punished. In fact, you might even find yourself using a confiscation of books to be the most effective punishment!
By Mimi Rothschild
Most homeschool parents and children already recognize the absurdity of the notion that homeschool children miss out on learning about the real world by not being raised in a public school environment. Actually, homeschool children are quite aware, or at some point in their childhood will become aware, just like every other child, how mean, cruel, and dangerous the world and the people in it can be. As a parent, Christian, and homeschool teacher, it is your responsibility to tell and show your students how to properly deal with a world full of so much danger. The fact is, whether a child is taught in homeschool or is publicly schooled, there are realities of the world that don’t always set in completely until they’re facing them alone. How do you hope they will handle the harsh realities of the world? Do you hope they will fight fire with fire, or do you hope they will fight fire with water?
Your children should learn gentleness, compassion, and good intentions. You don’t want your children and students to add to the destruction and the declining morals of the human race. You want them to be a part of the soft, quiet, and humble revolution that’s sends God’s message of love and kindness. You teach your homeschool children to do this by expressing to them how important it is to be loving and kind. You and your children can help chip away at the jagged edges of today’s world and today’s. Teach them that it is just as important to be gentle with your words as it is your hands.
When you have made a choice to homeschool your children in your Christian home, then you have made a choice to teach beyond the facts of history, the interpretations of literature, and the scientific formulas of math. In a homeschool setting, you can incorporate your personal values, principals, and beliefs. As a Christian teacher and mother, it is not only your right to do so, but your responsibility.
By Mimi Rothschild
Many parents choose to home school their children because of the lack of a biblical worldview in public schools. While having a biblical worldview yourself is a great way to model it and teach it to your children, there are ways that you can incorporate it into your home school curriculum to make an even stronger impact on your children. By incorporating a biblical worldview into your child’s home school curriculum, you will show her how the Bible is not just for Sunday morning, but an important aspect of everyday life.
One of the things you can do to incorporate a more biblical worldview into your home school is to make sure that worship is an activity that is incorporated into everything you do. Make sure everything you do is influenced by God, not just “religious things” you do. Doing well in your schoolwork, for example, can be a worshipful act because it is fully utilizing and giving thanks for the mental power that God gave to your child. You can explore this more fully by looking at the role of God in history, science, math, and literature. God can be present in all these areas of your home school curriculum.
Of course, religious studies are an important component of the home school curriculum. When your child is young, you will most likely focus on stories and simple lessons of the Bible. As your child gets older, growing past some of these stories, you can start teaching her about the philosophical and intellectual underpinnings of God and Christianity. In today’s world, it is important for believers to understand why they believe what they believe and for them to be able to defend those beliefs, on an intellectual and philosophical level, to other people. Home school can help with that. By understanding the intellectual and philosophical side of her Christian beliefs, she will be more prepared to project her own biblical worldview as she gets older.
As a homeschooler, one of your most important tasks is to teach your child to have a biblical worldview. To that end, incorporating God’s role and the belief in God in all the content areas of your home school curriculum encourages a biblical worldview by showing how God impacts everything. Home school not only gives you the opportunity to model a biblical worldview for your child, but also the chance to strengthen it in her.
________________________________________________________________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children’s rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because “our current system of education has broken its promise…” Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.
Rothschild has authored a number of books about online learning published by McGraw Hill and others. Her daily RSS Education News Feed contains feature stories on alternatives in education.
Some of the online academies managed by Learning By Grace, Inc. include:
www.TheJubileeAcademy.org – The Premier Online PreK-12 Christian
Homeschooling Academy
www.TheMorningStarAcademy.org – K-12 Accredited Private Christian
Diploma Granting Online Academy
www.TheGraceAcademy.org – The Most Trusted Source of K-12 Online
Homeschooling Information, Tools and Support
©1999-2006. Reproduction other than via RSS feed is prohibited without expressed written consent. All Rights Reserved.