Are You OK With That Question #1

Are you OK with a non-Christian secular view being taught and promoted in public schools?

This first question in my "Are you OK With That?" series is one that didn't even cross my mind before sending my kids into public school. I had simply accepted the fact long ago that the school would teach the basic academics and my husband and I would be instilling in my children the love of Christ and what it means to be a Christ follower.

Trying to separate these two areas in a person's life is pretty much impossible simply because who I am in Christ affects all areas of my life, at home and outside my home. If I'm teaching my children what we believe to be truth according to our faith at home and then they are being taught an entirely opposite agenda at school, how do we as Christian parents combat that? That's a big conflict we're asking kids to face every day when they enter the doors of public school.

Recently I listened to a talk by Andrew Pudewa titled "Conquering Corrupt Culture By Raising Christian Communicators" and I had a huge "Ah ha!" moment. I was finally able to put my finger on what exactly the conflict was. According to Pudewa, it's the non-gospel of "relativism" being taught in schools: the belief that there are no absolutes when it comes to truth; that people can define their own truth. In other words, every student can have their own "truth" and we have to agree that everyone's truth is equally valid. How can we have two contradictory truths and have them both be true?

Think about it this way - every discussion with the teacher, every interaction with peers, every textbook that is approved is based on this fundamental idea that truth doesn't really exist, it's all just a matter of opinion. 

Pudewa goes on to give some rather startling statistics based on the book Already Gone. According to the book,of the "self-professed, Bible-raising church-going Christian families, 60 to 80% of their kids within one year of leaving home will stop attending church and will leave their faith".

Interestingly enough the statistics are opposite of those who home school their children. 80% of these children are still practicing their faith and sometimes even involved in missions work of some kind.

What do you think is the difference between the two? It's the programming of the public schools.

Well meaning parents think (like I did), "I'll put them in public school but then teach them the truth at home." But did you know that if a child goes to public school from kindergarten through grade 12 they will have had 14,400 hours of this "relativism message" being taught?

That's 14,400 hours, in my opinion, of the wrong message. How could I possibly undo that message with just a few hours of Wednesday night activities and Sunday church service? We can't.

My husband and I were handing over our children and thousands of hours of their time (and our time) for programming we didn't even believe in. Oddly enough, we didn't even see it at first. 

When I first withdrew my son from school, my number #1 reason was because I was tired of the battle. After spending countless hours volunteering at the school, in meetings with the school teachers and administrators, in PTA meetings and such that it finally dawned on me - why am I wasting so much time and energy when I could have him home with me and spend quality one-on-one time with just him? What a revelation!  And, getting all those hours back to include teaching him to understand and appreciate our faith in Jesus Christ was a bonus!

Now, teaching our faith to my children is my #1 reason for having them at home with me. I want my children to do all things for the glory of God. Whether they're learning math, science, history or any other subject, it's all created by Him for Him. 

Our history books include Biblical stories. Bible stories are no longer disconnected from history but they are part of history. (You'll never find Bible stories in public school textbooks.)

Our science books include the book of Genesis and explains how the world was formed and the different theories on how the world was formed. The "Big Bang" being taught as a theory, not an absolute truth (it's being taught in many schools as truth).

So, the question still remains, "Are you OK with a non-Christian secular view being taught and promoted?"

I would be remiss to not ask you one other question as well: "Are you OK with giving thousands of hours of your child's life (and your time) to the public school for their programming?"

I found that answering these questions with a resounding, "No" was easy for me but finding the solution of what to do next was more challenging.

That's why I've started putting together a Database of Resources for other families that might be looking for better education solutions. There are SO many out there! Take a look and begin to discover the joy and freedom in making a choice - don't just accept that public school is all there is. You have a choice on how you spend your time and your child's time. You only raise them once and you'll never get those hours back. How do you want to spend them?

I welcome your comments and feedback. If you have questions about resources, specific curriculum, or if you just want to know how to get started in homeschooling, please let me know.

I hope you'll take the time to answer these tough questions and then plan a course that is best for you and your family.

Blessings,
Christi

Are You OK With That?

Towards the end of the "My Story" page, I pose several questions that I think every family should answer; actually NEEDS to answer before even considering public school.

I think you will find that once you carefully and prayerfully consider each one, you'll become disheartened, disappointed, dissatisfied, and sometimes even disgusted with the state of public education in the United States. 

So let's take a look at the questions:

• Are you OK with a non-Christian secular view being promoted and taught?
  
  Kids who attend public school from kindergarten through 12th grade will have logged thousands of hours of public school programming. No amount of church on Sundays and Wednesdays or parental influence can compete and counteract those numbers.
  
• Are you OK with Common Core?
  
  Common Core contends that every child should learn the same material at the same time during the same grade level across the board. Are all kids the same? I should think not! What happened to individualized learning styles and interests?
  
  Just check out these 8 Problems with Common Core as stated by the Washington post article.
  
• Are you OK with state standardized tests?
  
  Watch this short video from a teacher titled "I'm Sorry Students" (posted March 4, 2016). Then decide if you're OK with these tests. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Check out the words of a veteran teacher of 33 years in the article 11 Problems Created By the Standardized Testing Obsession by the Washington post. 
• Are you OK with worksheets, packets and hours of homework?
  
  I had my kids doing these packets and I, unfortunately, was one of the ones assigning the work. What are they doing all day at school if I then need to spend an additional 2 to 3 hours every night doing homework with my child? If you're doing that amount of work every evening with your child, guess what? You are already 'schooling at home'! Interesting, huh?
• Are you OK with transgender bathrooms and other politically driven decisions infecting and being dictated by the schools?
  
  This decision was recently dictated by the superintendent of schools in Fort Worth ISD to all the teachers, staff, principals, students and parents without discussion, debate or vote. 

It was so ingrained in me that once my kids were 5, they would be going to the local public school. I only considered "which" school, never realizing the real question I should have been asking was "if" I should send them at all. I wonder how many other families out there have made the same mistake.

I will be taking a further look at each one of these questions in my "Are You OK With That?" series of posts. If you have kids in public school or will have kids getting ready for school, I highly encourage you to answer these questions for yourself. 

If you want to get a head start with an in depth look regarding these and other issues facing public schools today, I highly recommend the book "They're Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self Doubter to Home School Advocate" by Mrs. Sam Sorbo. 

The first half of the book looks at what's wrong with our current public school system (and the list is a lot longer than I've posted here). The second half then "guides you through implementing a better educational approach for your family, one that is tried and true." (excerpt from Amazon description).

Do the research for yourself. Do a quick search on these topics and others then ask yourself (and your family), "Are you OK with that?"