Homeschooling and monasteries
[Rod Dreher  03/17 08:34 AM]

Gina from Roanoke:

I've been keeping up with the CC blog. There are many reasons parents choose to homeschool their children. Some of mine are religious. I take Deuteronomy 6:4-9 to heart. Do I think that means everyone should homeschool? No, but I do think that if public school is working against what you are teaching your children at home, it is time to take them out.

I always chuckled when people raised the socialization question with me. I don't know why anyone thought their child being "socialized" by children their own age from families one doesn't know was a good idea. Though, it's been a few years since that question has been brought up to me.

Hugh Hewitt interviewed Father Joseph Fessio in January. The interview had largely to do with Islam and it's inability to coexist with the West. His comment on homeschooling I found intriguing and the more I see what is going on in the world and in our culture, the more I think he may be right.

JF: Well, Hugh, I've got one of the very few things that I've said, which I'm proud of, because it's become kind of almost a slogan to some, is that home schools are the monasteries of the new dark ages. That is...and you non-Catholic Christians have a lot more of them than we Catholics do, but we've got a lot. And I think that is where families are having children. They're passing on the faith to their children. They're giving them wisdom and the knowledge of our culture. And we have an advantage here, because the homosexuals, and the pro-abortionists, and the pro-contraception people, are not having children by definition.

HH: That's in the Steyn article as well.

There is so much more that I could say about homeschooling. I love it. I love being with my children and getting to know them so well. I love teaching them and passing on the values of our faith. I love watching them learn - about themselves, the world, those who inhabit it and the God who made it.