Parents+Eden: Protect & Prepare (Part 2 of 4)

No, we don't shelter our children. But yes, we absolutely protect them.

Far from the stereotypes (many of which were well deserved) of homeschooling in the 80’s and 90’s, the kinds of stereotypes that made us cringe when it comes to how awkward homeschool kids were socially, today there exists far fewer of those stereotypes. Part of this is how truly weird so much of our society has become. Nowadays, parents rightly say “If our society is what normal is supposed to look like, sign me up for the opposite of that”.

But the most enduring stereotype around homeschooling I am still aware of is that of sheltered. It’s such an impactful word, isn’t it? To shelter your child, in the normal meaning of the word, is to needlessly keep your children from experiencing the “real world”. It is to deny them access to information that you wrongly think is unhealthy for them to access. It is to foolishly believe that you can do better than trained, licensed, certified expert teachers who should be teaching your child all the things.

Sheltering is bad. Homeschooling shelters kids. Therefore, homeschooling is bad. Case closed.

Unless… unless sheltering is the wrong word and we should reject the premise outright and instead embrace a more accurate, and positive vision for what homeschooling is actually seeking to do. And, to no one’s surprise reading this, I do believe there is a better word. That word is protect.

Generally speaking, when someone needs protection it means they are vulnerable. They need to be kept safe from something or someone. I want to expand on this to include protection is not only keeping something away; protection also creates space for other things. To use the analogy of a garden, when you protect a garden bed from harmful weeds, you are likewise creating the environment for it to produce healthy and desirable plants and fruit.

So let’s talk about the dual role of protection in homeschooling: you are protecting from certain harmful things, and you are providing space for other good and healthy things to grow in the life of your child.

When you homeschool, you are seeking to…

Protect from ungodly influences
It is a perfectly valid thing to do to withhold your children from influences you know to be against God and his Word. There are reasons Christian parents choose to keep their kids in public schools and we should respect the person even as we disagree and choose differently. Homeschooling does not create a sinless environment (there are people still, after all), but it does cut off the source of a tremendous amount of the influence that directly contradicts Truth.

Protect from lies and propaganda
Speaking of Truth, homeschooling does protect from many (again, not all) of the sources of opposing worldviews that seek to indoctrinate our children against the Truth of God and his Word. Whether it be lies and propaganda about being male and female, or about what is true, good and beautiful in the world, homeschooling provides the opportunity for you to be much more involved in what comes at your children and when it comes.

Protect from manipulation
Children are vulnerable to manipulation from adults (and one another). It is natural to expect an authority figure like a teacher to be right in what he or she says, and so to absorb what they are taught and treat it as unassailable truth to be embraced and lived by. Being manipulated into repeating mantras and untrue truth claims - boys can become girls, love is love, and so on - harm children in devastating ways. Homeschooling protects from many (again, not all nor perfectly - do you get the point?) manipulative teaching styles floating out there in the world.

Protect to create space for age appropriate learning
Believe it or not, parents really do have solid intuition as to when their children are ready for exposure to a great many of life’s harsh realities. Arguments can be made around what age something becomes “appropriate” (and I’ll have more to say about this in later posts), but parents who homeschool create a fertile space for subjects to be explored in ways they believe their child(ren) are suited for at certain ages.

Protect to create space for creativity and wonder
Fostering creativity and instilling wonder in a child is a beautiful thing. It is something I admit I did not appreciate until recent years, really with the start of Eden. What I lacked in my own training around music and fine arts, I am increasingly passionate about as I get older. And even subjects like science, history and math have a beauty to them (not just a functionality) that help students see the incredible world God has made and is sovereign over.

Protect to create space for the gospel to be central
It is my conviction (again, to one’s surprise) that the gospel must be central to the schooling of your children. But why is that? Firstly, because schooling will provide ample opportunities for and examples of sin… and not just in your children. Second, because if Truth is being taught in its fullness, then Christ will be taught as the center and aim of all instruction in Truth. Thirdly, because discipleship is the school of Christ for all of life, and so these educational years must be part of their discipleship. Parents must remember that part of what homeschooling affords is an ongoing emphasis on the centrality and supremacy of Christ over all things.

This list is far from complete. But I hope it helps stir in you an appreciation for the concept of protecting your child in your choice to homeschool. And doing it with a community of likeminded believers is, in my humble opinion, the best way to go about it. And we’ll explore how partnering with Eden helps parents prepare children for effective living in this world in part 3.

SDG,
Chris Ritter