Homeschool Fear #2: I’m Afraid My Child Is Missing Out . . .
. . . by not being in a schoolroom with children his own age.
Has that ever been one of your fears?
Well, now, let’s think about this one. Usually God gives families one child at a time. Occasionally He gives them two at a time. Ray and I actually know a set of triplets who were homeschooling when we were homeschooling John, Bethany, and Mary Evelyn. We even have friends who recently graduated quads.
But, still, we’ve never known anyone who gave birth to twenty-five or thirty — on the same day. Evidently, God doesn’t think it is essential that children spend all day every day in a classroom filled with children.
Okay, get ready now. Loosen up. This is meant to be funny. My tongue is in my cheek. Here goes . . . . I guess if He did, we’d all have litters! Tee hee!
But seriously, keep the history of the world in mind. Since Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel, children have been spending their days with people of different ages. Since the beginning, that is how God has made families: one husband, one wife, and often children — who usually come into the world one at a time. I guess it must be okay to spend our days in a family with folks who are 43, 39, 19, 12, 3, 6 months, and maybe even 92 — or with folks who are 37, 34, and 11.
When we were homeschooling and making out our schedules, we included time with elderly people and little people and people of all ages in between. We taught our kids math and science and history and language arts and all that, but we have learned over the years that those relationship times with people of all ages have often been even more useful than those traditional subjects.
Here are a couple of pictures from a day the kids and I spent together in a classroom. When Ray went to a seminar near Detroit, the children and I tagged along. We found a little city park in a suburb that had several historic buildings, including a one-room school. I asked permission for us to return the next day and “have school” in the school. Our class that day included students who were seven, nine, eleven, and thirty-six — when we homeschooled, I was definitely one of the students, too.
Remember what happened to Solomon’s son Rehoboam. He did not listen to the wise older men. Instead he listened to people his own age.
But he forsook the counsel of the elders
which they had given him,
and consulted with the young men
who grew up with him and served him.
1 Kings 12:8
On, second thought, maybe your child is missing out on some things. Aren’t you glad?
Awesome message!!! I’m very glad for what my children are missing. They see it and they are glad too. 😉 Praise The Lord for His awesome design.
I’m so glad that your children are glad, too.
Oh yes, I totally hear this type of thing all the time. He needs to be with kids his own age. Really? and why is this? Our 2nd son is now working at the local grocery store (he graduated last spring) I’m pretty sure that there is no one his age working at the times he does. I can’t say that I have much desire for my boys to pick up the habits etc. of the “kids their own age” in the public school. (not to say there aren’t perfectly good kids in the public school)
There are wonderful kids in public school to be sure. It is sad, though, how much many of them suffer.