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Counting the costs

A key factor for many parents in selecting the education method for children is cost.  Today, many families have dual incomes in order to meet the costs of living.  While it is not the place of this paper to examine the reasons and motives for a dual income, we can assume that in some cases it is necessary.  In these cases the time of the couple is at a premium as much of their day is taken with work, which may preclude home schooling, and if finances are finely balanced it may also exclude private schooling.  In this case the parents have little choice but to make the best of the situation they are in and spend as much time with their children as they can.  This is difficult however, and frequently dual income families struggle to not only spend time with children but also struggle to prioritize time for Mum and Dad to be together and have a meaningful relationship.

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The effects of segregating children from parents

Formation of “the divide”

How does the historical understanding of childhood relate to peer influence?  When adults fail to train their child (or teen) to live as part of our (adult) world, we force them to learn to do so through other means.  The child becomes somewhat alienated from the adult population and naturally seeks out others who feel much like themselves.  When we see these factors we can understand why teens regard experimentation as the primary way to learn about things like sexuality, alcohol and drugs.  Parents don’t talk to their children frankly about real issues, regarding them as something for “adults”.  With no-one taking the time to have a relationship deep enough to discuss these issues, teens wanting to be adults naturally start to explore these things together.

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Relationships and peer pressure

Perhaps the biggest and most overlooked area that parents must consider is the nature of the relationships between children and those they spend significant time with.

One of the benefits of parents having children around them all the time is the opportunity this affords for parents to be involved more closely with their children than teachers are involved with children at school.  This closer care plays a dramatic role in the formation and identity of the child.  This can be seen in historical trends, which is what we will focus on in this post.

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Children are not created equal

Public and private schooling makes assumptions about the ability of children to maintain pace with other children.  The assumption is that children at a certain age are roughly equally able to perform to a specified statistical standard.  Typically the specified standard is based on testing of a group of children and selecting the median or mean of the aptitudes of these children as the desired bar children should be able to meet.

This approach makes learning tedious and mechanical for the child.  Learning that is tedious and mechanical does a great job of eliminating the desire to learn.  If you make it a goal that your children will enjoy learning, they will learn outside of the classroom, and just because they enjoy it.  This is a far better outcome than achieving an arbitrary standard by an arbitrary time.

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Educational Content

The second issue to examine in content consideration is that of the content taught in schools.  Western governments today regard equality and tolerance as critical issues, and certainly no one should advocate the value of human beings more than those who believe man is made in the image of God.  However, God is the source of righteousness and determines values we should live by, and this will often conflict with the governments or society’s view of right and wrong.

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Educational Goals

One of the prime considerations of education must be the content taught to children.  There are a number of areas of concern for Christian parents interested in ensuring quality content in their children’s education.  The first is the goal of the educators, and the second is the content of the educators.  We will deal with the goal of the educators first.

Clearly, the goals of educators may not be the same as the goals we have seen that scripture has for education.  The goal of the educator determines what the priorities of education are as well as the content they will teach.  Therefore, we need to consider the goals of the educators and the authors of the curriculum carefully.  Because curriculum goals are often based on someone else’s ideal, the ideal must be understood and examined.

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