Homeschooling: the new monastery

[John655]

I had a wonderful talk w/ my priest yesterday. He is a very wise and holy man. We were talking about some challenges my son has, but Father remarked that he had noticed during mass how reverently my son receives communion.

We were talking about the decline in morality in our society, and Father mentioned that after the fall of Rome, it was the monasteries that kept the Word of God alive in the Dark Ages by copying and preserving the texts of the Bible. He wondered if we were not entering another dark time, and if in this age, that the homeschool families may be the new monestaries. Father was so impressed w/ how well homeschool families knew their faith - he thought that the homeschool families would be the Tabernacles to keep the Word of God alive in the coming time of darkness. Isn’t that a marvelous, reassuring thought!!

Homeschooling can be so hard, but the rewards are eternal. I had to pass along this marvelous piece of wisdom. May the Lord bless the work of your hands.

 

[KCT]

I’m glad your son receives Communion w/ reverence.

I know many non homeschool families who are raising reverent children. Homeschooling is no guarantee of anything, just as sending kids to public school is no guarantee of anything either.

IMO, pastors should be encouraging all families to be holy, not pinning hopes on the minority.

Now I don’t mean to imply this priest doesn’t encourage holiness in all people, hopefully he does. I just get a little skittish when I hear comments about homeschoolers being or appearing holier or more reverent.

I homeschooled our kids through high school and now teach in a Catholic school.

 

[fabricdragon]

Homeschooling isnt… well it isnt “magic” but since often people who homeschool do so because they do not like the values and etc that are taught in schools these days…
because of that they are very often “religious conservatives”.

this doesnt mean they are right lol
you can be very misguided in what you wish to teach your children… but honestly i have met many homeschooled and partly homeschooled kids and they are usually VERY well groudned in their faith, since it is usually that faith which led their parents to homeschool!

i bet the parents learn a lot too, trying to keep up to teach. i know i have learned a LOT teaching, under any circumstances

 

[Advocatus_Fidei]

Allo ther things been equal home-schooling is definitely the more prudent choice with regards to saving your children’s soul, of course it is not possible for everyone.

 

[lizaanne]

I had to pass along this marvelous piece of wisdom.

Thank you John - I think your priest has a very interesting and valid assessment. He’s not saying that any one group is more holy than another - sheesh!!! He is just making an observation that it is in the home where our Faith is being fostered and grown and treasured in this ever degrading society. Don’t worry - I get it.

However - In my own experience of all the kids we know the homeschooled kids are always the most well behaved, polite, well versed in their Faith, and most articulate and well spoken.

I could lie and say they are all the same, but that would be a lie to be politically correct and not step on any toes. Won’t do that. It is what it is. There is a distinct difference between homeschoolers and not homeschooled kids.



~Liza

 

[leonie]

wow, makes me think that I should do a better job with my homeschooling. That’s a lot of responsibility.

gulp.

It’s wonderful to find a priest who admires and supports homeschooling. A lot of pastors are focused (rightly so) on the parish school. But, they tend to be suspicious of hsing…

 

[PaulinVA]

Do we really need another thread where the homeschoolers insult everyone else and pat themselves on the back?

We’ve rehashed this so many times…

 

[Em_in_FL]

Alright everyone… calm down…

I don’t disagree that homeschooling can be likened to the modern monastery… that sounds like a decent comparison.

But, keep in mind that we’re CATHOLIC (read: UNIVERSAL).

Not every Saint was a Priest, Monk, or a Cloistered Nun.

Many, many, many Saints lived out IN THE WORLD! They went out and SAVED SOULS and brought many to Christ!

There isn’t only ONE way… there are many roads.

Homeschooling isn’t something I’d ever consider for me or my family. I don’t think it does justice to the talents, graces, and gifts that God has bestowed on OUR family. I have HIGH expectations for my children to learn how to live IN the world, but not OF the world. I EXPECT them to be comfortable in challenging, non-Catholic situations - to live HOLY lives in spite of obstacles, and to then use those gifts to bring others back to Christ. None of that could be accomplished in a modern monastery.

Peace!

 

[mom24boys]

My twelve year old goes to a public school and my 6 year old is homeschooled. As someone with a foot in both worlds, I don’t understand whey these kinds of observations or compliments are considered an insult to those who don’t homeschool. I don’t feel insulted or think that I shouldn’t be sending my 12 yo to school because of a comment like that. I think the priest has a very valid point.

 

[Em_in_FL]

My twelve year old goes to a public school and my 6 year old is homeschooled. As someone with a foot in both worlds, I don’t understand whey these kinds of observations or compliments are considered an insult to those who don’t homeschool. I don’t feel insulted or think that I shouldn’t be sending my 12 yo to school because of a comment like that. I think the priest has a very valid point.

No, I do understand that the words can be taken in an insulting tone…

Words like “prudent”, “polite”, “saving souls”, etc, etc… that are being linked simply to the act of homeschooling make those who, for whatever reason, choose not to homeschool feel like they aren’t going to achieve those benefits.

Yes, those benefits can often be attributed to parents using their gifts to raise their children in a way that uses their gifts to the best of their abilities.

But, we have to remember that those benefits are not *LIMITED *to the act of homeschooling.

 

[mom24boys]

But, we have to remember that those benefits are not *LIMITED *to the act of homeschooling.

Yes, but achieving those benefits may be easier with homeschooling. Again, I don’t understand the persecution complex. I know, some people can’t homeschool. I can’t homeschool my 12 year old and I don’t feel badly about it.

 

[PaulinVA]

My twelve year old goes to a public school and my 6 year old is homeschooled. As someone with a foot in both worlds, I don’t understand whey these kinds of observations or compliments are considered an insult to those who don’t homeschool. I don’t feel insulted or think that I shouldn’t be sending my 12 yo to school because of a comment like that. I think the priest has a very valid point.

Well, the very act of posting a thread that likens the homeschoolers to the last keepers of the faith pretty much leaves everyone else out, huh?

When I first joined CAF I participated in a thread that went south quickly and everybody pretty much tried to show how their educational choice was the absolute best. At that time, the people involved (and there were a lot) agreed to call a truce and respect each person’s choices. It’s a very sensitive subject, because it goes to the depth of family choices, family needs, and a whole lot of things.

And thanks, Em.

 

[Em_in_FL]

Yes, but achieving those benefits may be easier with homeschooling. Again, I don’t understand the persecution complex. I know, some people can’t homeschool. I can’t homeschool my 12 year old and I don’t feel badly about it.

But it’s not CAN’T (as in an inability), but WON’T (as in a total lack of desire).

I really think this has more to do with the unique gifts and blessings which we have all been given by the Spirit. We are NOT all the same.
It would NOT be “easier” for me to achieve those benefits through homeschooling… not a chance! I know this because my gifts are not best being used in a setting like that.
And that’s OKAY!

usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians12.htm

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.
As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.Now the body is not a single part, but many.

 

[apricot_yogurt]

I get this. Maybe because I live in the UK. The ONLY option I have, if I have any chance of my children knowing and practicing their faith is to homeschool.
Weak,liberal textbooks approved by Bishops,poor parish sacramental preparation, and now BAD Government sex-education,endorsed and rubber-stamped by the CES (Catholic education service).etc,etc.
Pray for us, and be thankful you have a choice.

 

[leonie]

oh well, it’s too bad that a pro-homeschooling thread has to be perceived as a anti-schooling thread.

so tired of it.

I guess the same thing happens when someone starts a pro Catholic school thread. All the public school parents perceive it as an anti public school thread.

Strangely, though, I, a homeschoooler, would not perceive a pro public school thread as an anti homeschool thread.

this is my last post on this thread.

 

[fabricdragon]

you know… i dont have kids.
i would love to have kids
but i cant.
i have friends who homeschool, friends who public school, friends who do parochial and private and just about everything.
Catholic and non Catholic.

why is it that someone who is talking about a very nice compliment, and apat on the back for a verty hard job, is immediately jumped on for being 'anti school"
i didnt see it.

all of the sudden out of no where this post came up about how awful this thread was and how it was denigrating them… THAT felt hostile.
THAT felt nasty.

i think, apparently, that some people who dont or cant homeschool have one heck of a personal issue that they see any praise of homeschooling as a threat.

 

[rayne89]

I have HIGH expectations for my children to learn how to live IN the world, but not OF the world. I EXPECT them to be comfortable in challenging, non-Catholic situations - to live HOLY lives in spite of obstacles, and to then use those gifts to bring others back to Christ. None of that could be accomplished in a modern monastery.

Peace!

First of all as someone who homeschooled out daughter from kindergarten through 8th grade and now have my daughter in public high school I am not insulted by the opening post.

Now that my daughter is in public high school exactly what you described EM is exactly what she is able to do. I’m a teeny bit miffed that the implication is a homeschooled child would not be “comfortable in challenging, non-Catholic situations - to live HOLY lives in spite of obstacles, and to then use those gifts to bring others back to Christ.” That being homeschooled would somehow make a child lacking in their ability to deal with non-Catholics situations.

My daughter is very grounded in her faith and her peers have not been her primary influence since she was schooled at home for many years, I believe that is why she deals with challenging situations amazingly well. Most of her school friends are either non-Christian or nominally Christian. She has been to several sleepovers where she is becomes the one to set the bar on what is acceptable and whats not. No Ouija board, no R-rated movies ect-she is clear on her beliefs and her friends respect them. (Can you tell I’m a proud mama )

I’m certainly not saying a child has never been homeschooled can not achieve the same. My best friend has a daughter that’s never been homeschooled and is the same way. I do not like that the idea is that homeschooled children live in some Catholic utopian bubble that leaves them unable to deal with the “real” world.

Ok off soapbox now.

 

[ThyKingdomCome]

I had a wonderful talk w/ my priest yesterday. He is a very wise and holy man. We were talking about some challenges my son has, but Father remarked that he had noticed during mass how reverently my son receives communion.

We were talking about the decline in morality in our society, and Father mentioned that after the fall of Rome, it was the monasteries that kept the Word of God alive in the Dark Ages by copying and preserving the texts of the Bible. He wondered if we were not entering another dark time, and if in this age, that the homeschool families may be the new monestaries. Father was so impressed w/ how well homeschool families knew their faith - he thought that the homeschool families would be the Tabernacles to keep the Word of God alive in the coming time of darkness. Isn’t that a marvelous, reassuring thought!!

Homeschooling can be so hard, but the rewards are eternal. I had to pass along this marvelous piece of wisdom. May the Lord bless the work of your hands.

That’s a really interesting thing to hear. In the dark ages, I’m sure there were non-monastic Catholics, who kept the flames of faith going in their families. I also bet that they would be appreciative (at least in hindsight) of the monastaries that played a huge role in preserving the faith. I hope we are allowed to be appreciative of the contribution of the monastaries as well, without fear of insulting the non-monastic Catholics of the dark ages. In the present age, not all good Catholics are called to homeschool. Homeschoolers do not have a monopoly on the preservation of our faith. But homeschoolers, as a group, appear to be doing something good, and perhaps this priest is right, that there may be a contribution to society similar to that of the monastaries. That says nothing about the non-homeschooling faithful Catholics who are also keeping the flame of faith alive. I sure do appreciate the ability to be encouraged though, and in a world that is very very dark, I certainly hope that there are groups like Catholic homeschoolers, who can fill the role of the monastaries. This is a GOOD thing for the church, even for those who are not in that particular calling. Thanks for posting it.

 

[lizaanne]

you know… i dont have kids.
i would love to have kids
but i cant.
i have friends who homeschool, friends who public school, friends who do parochial and private and just about everything.
Catholic and non Catholic.

Yep - me too, on all points.

why is it that someone who is talking about a very nice compliment, and apat on the back for a verty hard job, is immediately jumped on for being 'anti school"
i didnt see it.

all of the sudden out of no where this post came up about how awful this thread was and how it was denigrating them… THAT felt hostile.
THAT felt nasty.

i think, apparently, that some people who dont or cant homeschool have one heck of a personal issue that they see any praise of homeschooling as a threat.

I totally agree with you. Homeschooling is not for everyone - but I can still speak according to my own observations. That does not mean that I think that those who don’t homeschool are horrible parents with obnoxious children. I don’t think anyone has actually said as much - but for some reason folks are just super touchy about this subject.

It is very personal - I agree. But I think the OP was a truly beautiful observation by what appears to be a lovely priest. Can’t everyone just take it for what it is and leave it alone?

~Liza

 

[Em_in_FL]

Now that my daughter is in public high school exactly what you described EM is exactly what she is able to do. I’m a teeny bit miffed that the implication is a homeschooled child would not be “comfortable in challenging, non-Catholic situations - to live HOLY lives in spite of obstacles, and to then use those gifts to bring others back to Christ.” That being homeschooled would somehow make a child lacking in their ability to deal with non-Catholics situations.

That’s not what I meant at all… I didn’t mean that homeschooling would hinder a child’s ability to do all those things *later *in life (as in the case of your daughter - she sounds fabulous - good work Momma!)…
I meant that *WHILE *homeschooling most kids are not exposed to much of the world - and that often is the *motivation *to homeschool in the first place (not saying there’s anything wrong with that in the least - again, each of us have different gifts).

I think children can be drawn to holiness in different ways through the work of their parents. Some parents are drawn to homeschooling and are able to use those gifts to raise their children in holiness. Some parents are drawn to being out “in the world” and are able to raise their children in holiness using those circumstances.

Many paths can lead to the same final goal. God teaches everyone uniquely.