tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post3356634774667744775..comments2023-09-08T02:39:21.112-07:00Comments on Jessica Snell's blog: Homeschooling is School, IIJessica Snellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17185831697537364088noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-68350877062315138812010-10-05T11:50:39.426-07:002010-10-05T11:50:39.426-07:00This conversation has been helpful for me to sort ...This conversation has been helpful for me to sort out some ideas cluttering my mind. My husband is against homeschooling at this point. Why? I think because he agrees with Gabe's definition of education, and thinks it would be arrogant to think that as parents we could do a better job at this (cultivating the soul) than society. Namely, the child, being exposed to a bigger world than just the family during the day will have to learn to work with different teachers and classmates, and this will develop character more than just dealing with the same virtues/vices that he would deal with in the immediate family. <br /><br />Pulling our kids out of society, to be able to make them more brilliant, he would argue we are doing them a disservice by NOT giving them the opportunity to ripen their character. Of course, this ripening is only going to happen if the children are open with their parents, and they see their parents are the "home-base" out of which to talk through the situations they have encountered at school. Shorter school days (especially for little ones)would be very helpful in allowing time for this parent/child interaction to take place. <br /><br />Anyway, your posting helped me to realize the reason I am drawn to homeschooling is for the academic side of it. That was helpful. Thanks!Elisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678115194011501009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-64641002116934685552010-09-11T05:03:19.141-07:002010-09-11T05:03:19.141-07:00This whole subject is extremely interesting and on...This whole subject is extremely interesting and one that has never entered my mind over the last 4 years or so. I certainly never considered putting my children in public school because of character or spiritual reasons, but equal to that was the matter of academics. I knew they'd get a second rate education. As we've walked down the classical road, its been 99% of rigor in academics. And we've finally decided to start our own 'school' because the order and structure of a classroom fits the model efficiently and well. It never occurred to me to think anything about character building. If my children misbehave in school, or in the course of a home school day, its because I've neglected my discipline of them them. In fact, the first three days of school have shown some big gaps in character that were missed because of our cozy home school life. Of course, character is important in this fledgling school life, because it makes learning more efficient. Children who obey immediately and respectfully have more time to stuff their minds because they aren't arguing with you. I will go and ponder this subject more. Thank you for an excellent subject.Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06944928044277724293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-62504107067228951052010-09-09T19:13:49.933-07:002010-09-09T19:13:49.933-07:00Since becoming Catholic, I have loved learning mor...Since becoming Catholic, I have loved learning more about virtue and everything that goes with it. As a protestant, I had some sort of idea that if I was 'saved' I was supposed to just be this good Christian right away.. 'poof!'. It left me feeling very guilty on the inside because I would play the 'part' of a good christian, but struggle mightily on the inside.<br /><br />As a Catholic, there has been this treasury of the virtues given to me. The idea that a virtue is something, through the grace of God, that we need to work towards. That we can develop and allow God to develop in us, if we take small steps each day. <br /><br />This is what character formation is about for us. Forming virtue in my children and in myself. It can be a 'subject' in a sense that we are purposeful about teaching it one small step at a time... but it's far from an academic course that they are 'marked' on. <br /><br />For example, through lent we work on virtue by increasing our prayer, offering small sacrifices for Jesus and almsgiving. Some families have each family member choose a virtue to focus on for the whole year. Some have taken the feast of Pentecost to choose a 'fruit or gift of the holy spirit' to pray for and try to develop within themselves for the year. <br /><br />Homeschooling allows this to become part of the fabric of your daily life. There are less distractions and interruptions. Everything flows together. I agree with Gabe that Academics are just a part of a complete education.melaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01451162205464943228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-66695194426085795122010-09-09T17:06:35.475-07:002010-09-09T17:06:35.475-07:00Has anyone here thought about the difference betwe...Has anyone here thought about the difference between schooling and education? I think there is a lot of confusion about this today, especially among Christian homeschoolers.<br />I think there is a difference (or that people often use the words interchangeably but in fact mean two different things by them). Eighteenth-century Americans from various denominations often used the term "education" to mean Christian/religious training and "schooling" to mean learning to read, write, and do math. Obviously, there was also the character aspect, although that generally fell under "education." (Not, of course, that they were right about everything. It just means that the words have unrecognized historical baggage.) It's true, unfortunately, that a number of homeschoolers leave out the schooling in favor of the education.<br />It's also true that a good deal of education (in the secular "religions" of today) occurs in public schools, and sometimes schooling gets thrown by the wayside there as well.<br />When it comes down to it, I think that yes, homeschooling parents need to be diligent about shepherding their children's minds as well as their character, and they need to teach them the academic subjects necessary to live in today's world. This often occurs in time set aside as school time.<br />Education occurs all day, every day, and sometimes touches on what was learned in school (counting and weighing oranges at the store, practical physics lessons while loading a trailer, etc.). This means that all parents, not just Christians, not just homeschoolers, are responsible for their children's education in the larger sense. (This is not to say, of course, that parents shouldn't be involved with the academic side of things if their children attend school.)<br />Sigh. This might be getting really convoluted. Does anyone have any thoughts to add or problems to point out? I have more I could say here, but my time is short tonight, and this is already a bit long.Stephanie Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13309306228755574927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6210913620206544383.post-85680561793176916472010-09-09T14:54:44.184-07:002010-09-09T14:54:44.184-07:00Jess,
I think I disagree, but it would help me und...Jess,<br />I think I disagree, but it would help me understand if you took a step back. What is the purpose of education? How does it relate (or not relate) to character?<br /><br />It's a very classical notion that character, ethics, and moral formation are matters that need to be taught. Is there such a thing as moral knowledge? And if so, shouldn't we teach it? I'm thinking here of Aristotle, Dallas Willard, and C.S. Lewis (especially <i>The Abolition of Man</i>). And I haven't read Dr. Spear's new book <i>Education for Human Flourishing</i>, but the title makes me think it'll weigh in on the same side.<br /><br />To answer my own question - education is for developing whole, virtuous, well-balanced people. It's not primarily for learning a trade or accumulating facts or getting a piece of paper. That can be said of all the subjects, and if you approach them from a utilitarian perspective I think you miss the point. For example: we don't learn Geometry because it will be useful at our job, we learn it because mathematics trains our minds and teaches us discipline and gives us insight into the ordered mind of God.Gabe Mootharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16926123100967129905noreply@blogger.com