Three Good Reasons to Choose Home School

By Mimi Rothschild
Posted By Bobby Cole, A Learning By Grace Affiliate

Opponents of home school cite a hundred and one reasons why home school is a bad idea. However, most of these reasons are based on pure myth. Home school is an excellent way to instill quality education and values in children, particularly for the Christian family who may be disillusioned with the public school system's purposeful disregard of God and faith-based teaching. Each of the reasons put forth by home school opponents can be dismissed as hearsay and bunk by the realities of the home school environment.

The issue of socialization represents perhaps the loudest murmur of discontent among detractors of home school. According to the misinformed, home school children lack the opportunity to interact with society and develop healthy social skills. However, take a look at the typical day of a home school student and it becomes clear that the opposite is true: home school children are generally more social than their publicly educated counterparts. Most home school students spend quite a bit of time out and about in the community, interacting not only with children their age, but also with adults, seniors, and older or younger children as well. The traditional public school system creates an unnatural atmosphere with twenty to thirty children of the same age spending six to eight hours a day together. Nowhere else in society is this anomaly found.

Another point that strengthens the argument for home school is the atmosphere in which children learn. It is true that school-age children lack social skills—but the public school system is not the best place for them to learn these skills. Children can be cruel to other children. Often in public schools this cruelty goes unnoticed by teachers charged with controlling dozens of children at once. In a home school setting, natural childhood squabbles are noticed and dealt with accordingly. Parents who home school are presented with the opportunity to develop character and instill Christian morals in their children on an individual level.

Perhaps the most compelling argument in favor of home school is the constant battle against peer pressure and conformity. Peer pressure thrives in a public school atmosphere. Peer pressure often has consequences for children: from low self-esteem to deadly violence. In public schools, children learn more than the basics of education. They learn to fit in and follow society's directions—or else. The home school environment is one of family and values. When children are raised in a setting that allows them to develop in their own ways, guided by conscientious parents, they tend to become comfortable, intelligent and responsible adults capable of making decisions to thrive in the real world. After all, isn't that what we all want for our children?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.

Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation's public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.

An accomplished author, Rothschild has written books regarding education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Homeschooling News Café Blog consists of the most current and relevant education news.

Learning By Grace Managed Academies

Christian Home School Programs

Learning By Grace Christian Home School Programs

Posted By Bobby Cole, a Learning By Grace Affiliate

Learning By Grace, Inc. is a provider of on line educational solutions for Christian home school families. Through several on line Christian schools offering PreK-12 curriculum for home schooling, Learning By Grace is changing the way people view education.

Learning By Grace is dedicated to providing an affordable Christian home education to families all over the world. The home school curriculum used is comprised of engaging multimedia activities through etexts, workbooks, on line education assignments, video, audio, interactive field trips, and so much more. By providing children with a quality home education, parents can take an active role in instilling Godly values in their children. With just a computer and internet connection, parents are now able to offer their children something more.

Because the Learning By Grace home school curriculum is so flexible, students are able to work at their own pace. Special needs students and quick learners both are able to achieve academic success by taking as much time as they need to comprehend the course material - no more, no less. Learning By Grace provides an alternative to the negative influences that permeate the nation’s public schools such as worldly thinking, humanist teaching, and moral relativism. Free from peer pressures, distractions, and a rigid educational formula, our home school students can pursue educational excellence.

Christian Home School Programs Managed By Learning By Grace

The Morningstar Academy Home School Program Online. MorningStar's comprehensive Christian on line program provides a state-of-the-art, multimedia-rich interactive experience. Traditional texts are accompanied by CD-ROMS, videos, web adventures make us the most outstanding Christian home school program available.

Home School Program is Safest. Secular influences can rob your children. Our Christian on line program cultivates Biblical values. Keep your precious children safe! Help them to develop a Biblical worldview by educating them in an on line Christian program. Our Christian on line program has been designed to meet all of your home schooling needs!

Home School Program offers Biblical Curriculum. The K-12 MorningStar Academy provides not only the best on line education program but everything you need to give your child a world-class Christian education. Earn your High School Diploma on line at our Online High School Program. We Encourage You to Visit The MorningStar Academy Online Home School

The Jubilee Academy is a nationally recognized, accredited curriculum provider for preschool through 12 families. Jubilee Academy families receive a comprehensive interactive accredited Christian program. For less than what many families spend on books alone, you get everything you need to have a successful academic year.

Students interact with one another through our state of the art learning management system. Kids love our Social Center where they socialize in a safe and Christian environment. Our Teacher/Parent Message Board enables parents to have unlimited interaction with their student's teachers and other Jubilee Academy parents. Parents are always in complete control of your child's education at Jubilee.

The Jubilee Academy offers over 150 accredited preschool through Grade 12 multimedia-rich on line courses, including preschool through high school. The Jubilee Academy gives you up to six courses. Each course contains 180 lessons and runs for 36 weeks. All of our courses are designed from a Christian worldview and include a rich collection of videos, graphs, audio files, and offline activities.

Jubilee gives you Daily Online Assignments, a Customized Calendar, Automatic Grading of most tests, Answer Keys, Progress Reports, Grade Records and so much more! You are guaranteed to get all the help you could ever need! We Encourage You to Visit The Jubilee Academy Online Home School

The Grace Academy is more than just a school. We provide a fully-featured educational framework that is changing the way that people think about education. Our cutting-edge technology allows parents to provide their children with a world-class private Christian education at a fraction of the cost of traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Unlike other homeschooling curricula, we do not just provide textbooks. We provide a variety of educational tools, materials, and services which homeschoolers all over the world use to achieve academic excellence.

The Grace Academy gives you the best qualities of Christian Curriculum, Private
Tutoring and Online Homeschooling Programs. You receive powerful on line tools,
expertise and gentle assistance that will enable you to give your student a quality
education. The Grace Academy teaching teams are available during regular hours to help
students and their parents.

The Grace Academy gives you daily/weekly homeschooling lesson plans for every course, helping your
student successfully complete the school year. A comprehensive selection of home education courses that
cover many academic topics, including  electives; choose up to 6 each year, creating a customized course
of study.  The Grace Academy Teaching Teams are available on line during school hours for an unlimited
number of questions.  Teaching teams provide homeschooling assignments, tests, quizzes, projects and
curriculum. We Encourage You to Visit The Grace Academy Online Home School

Our Learning Management System enables us to synthesize all of the branches of our organization so that we can provide an efficient, quality, hassle-free service to you. This on line home schooling system coordinates all of our course material, scheduling, grading, administrative tasks, record-keeping, progress reporting, and other efforts. With this cutting-edge technology, we are able to provide parents with all the information they need for a top-tier on line home schooling experience.

Visit us and make a wise decision for you student today. Select a Learning By Grace today for your child's future tomorrow. Click on the banner or link of your choice.

Controversies: A Growing Rift in Home Schooling

A Growing Rift in Home Schooling
Authored By Mimi Rothschild
Posted By Bobby Cole

There is a chasm growing in the world of the home school. Home school used to be almost exclusively for religious people who didn't want their children in traditional school so they could focus more and more on bible studies. As home school grows in popularity, more and more non-religious people are starting to utilize home school for their own children. Like in many areas, the fundamental rift between religious home school parents and secular home school parents is starting to cause some problems throughout the country in home school support groups and other home school businesses and associations.

The question is what, if anything, can be done to mend this rift in home school philosophy. The answer to that question is probably not much. Just like in public life, secular and religious people have basic fundamental differences which can make it difficult to work together on many issues. However, the fact that there is growing diversity in views among the home school set indicates that the field is growing in prestige and vitality.

Although conflict might be difficult, it can also pave the way for advancement. Religiously oriented home school parents may balk at the notion, but the growing number of secular parents may help them out substantially. Having lots of non-religious home school parents means that the government is less likely to take action or persecute a religious group of home school families. Religious home school families can use their secular counterparts as a buffer against undue government intrusion. On the flip side, secular home school families have benefited greatly from the ground work religious home school families have laid in the area of home schooling, both in terms of curriculum and the law. The rise in the total number of home school families benefits both groups because it means that there are more resources available to home school families of all stripes.

Perhaps the best that home school families can hope for then is a sort of truce. As home school rises in popularity, it will most likely be the case that there will be religious and secular curriculums, support groups and other resources divided on the basis of religion. The one thing all home school families agree on is that traditional school is not for their children. However, this is not going to be enough to bridge the gap between the secular and religious home school camps.

Learning By Grace Managed Academies

Develop Good Morals At Home

Christianity & Home School: Develop Good Morals At Home
Authored By Mimi Rothschild
Posted By Bobby Cole

As a home school parent, you're aware of just what a hard job parenting can be. You seek to help your home school child develop into a well-rounded individual, both educated and of high moral character. Perhaps you have the educational part covered, but would like a little help on the morality issue.

Often, home school children hear about the importance of being moral. Many are told they should be moral because that's the way God wants it. Many are raised to believe they should behave and live in moral ways without fully understanding why. Still others believe the reason lies simply in the fact that their parents wish it. Though it is undeniably important to endeavor to live up to the expectations of God and parents, home school children must develop their own sense of morality. They must discover right from wrong and build moral conviction, starting with a firm foundation of parental and religious guidance. With this guidance, the home school student can begin to develop a firm sense of moral self, making the right choices and decisions without supervision and guidance.

To help your home school child filter out all the negativity the world offers to develop a good, strong, moral character, start with prayer. Spend part of your day in prayer and reflection, determining your values for everything. Reflect on things from the basics, like television watching, to major things, like telling lies. When you have a firm hold on your core values, you are better equipped to impart them to your home school child.

Become a model of moral behavior. All too often parents, including those who home school, say one thing, yet do the other. Avoid telling your child that lying is wrong while asking her to tell the person on the phone that you're not home. Children often pay much more attention to actions than words. Since you home school, your child will spend more time with you than if she attended school. Use this extra time to show her, by example, how to live a moral life. Don't, however, beat yourself up when you make mistakes. Remember, perfection is not a realistic expectation.

Let your home school child see that you are human. Tell him stories about yourself as a child or young adult. Let him in on your moral failures. Children really listen to and learn from these types of stories. Also, this type of discussion may open the door for your home school student to feel confident about confiding in you.

Talk about consequences. In addition to biblical and moral reasons for avoiding certain things, there are very real consequences to face when you stray off moral paths. For instance, having sex outside of marriage can lead to unplanned pregnancy and serious disease. Likewise, smoking can lead to life-threatening health problems. Talk to your home school children about these consequences.

Always keep the lines of communication open with your home school child. The most effective tool a home school parent has in raising moral children is communication. Never stop talking to your children, even when you feel they're not listening. They actually absorb more than you might think. Most of all, listen when they talk back.

________________________________________________________________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because "our current system of education has broken its promise..." Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.

Rothschild has authored a number of books about education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Home Education News Blog contains feature stories on alternatives in education.

Learning By Grace Managed Academies