Slow Schooling: Preface

Preface

This is part of a book I am putting together. I welcome your feedback and comments. Chapter one is coming soon!

---

Before you start

This book almost didn’t get published.

It sounded like a good idea to write it after the success of a blog post I wrote called “Slow Schooling”. The main gist of the post was “Relax, already!” I saw and heard from too many homeschooling parents who were trying to get *everything in* while running over the relationships they had with their kids. I know that this partly stems from the feeling we parents somehow need to justify how we’re raising our kids, or prove to the world that we’re not really messing things up. Well, newsflash. Every parent messes up and drives their kids nuts at some point(s), just as every kid rebels and dishonors their parents in some way(s). But at the end of their childhoods, don’t you still want to have a good relationship with your kid?

Apparently, this post struck a nerve. It even attracted the attention of high profile bloggers. So I wrote the book.

And then I sat on it. So many reasons why, but if I dig down, it was mostly due to fear of man and fear of failure. Who was I to basically ask homeschooling parents to relax a little? I was a terrible model for my children in this! When I finally got brave enough to send off the manuscript to an editor, it came back with an angry response (and cancellation). How was I supposed to know she was not only public schooling her kids, but an avid proponent of it? So now I was fearful of responses from both homeschoolers and public schoolers. Fear of man, check.

Then COVID hit. The lockdowns. The sometimes welcomed, sometimes forced, homeschooling. All of the sudden, parents were getting real life videos into their child’s educational system and some of it was disturbing. They were also changing their perceptions of homeschooling as it wasn’t as bad as they had been led to believe (1). As states begin allowing students to return to school, many millions of parents decided to keep homeschooling their children as they could see for themselves not only the positive impact of home education, but of insuring a safe environment (1).

I looked at this file of a manuscript I had written. I really wanted to share with parents that it’s ok if your child only spends five hours a week in academics. They’re still more likely to outperform their peers in standardized tests, graduate, and succeed in college than their counterparts in formal institutional schooling (1). It’s ok to relax, slow school, and enjoy their very short childhood in the context of your loving home.

I found another editor.

So I suppose I need to give a warning of sorts. I believe homeschooling to not only be a blessing, but to be better than other educational choices in most cases. This should be obvious, because if I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be doing it. Also, I am a Christian woman who knows that the Bible is the Word of God, and that all scripture is profitable, so teaching my children what it says is not only of priority, but the very reason why we can say teaching subjects such as logic, reasoning, writing, reading, math, science, art, and history are important. I make no apology for standing on the Word.

I pray you will be inspired, encouraged, and challenged. Most of all, I pray the very best for you and your children, and that you will use wisely this short time you have with them to invest diligently and lovingly into their lives. You do more good than you know just by being present with them on a daily basis through the good and bad. Grow them up, and enjoy the journey.

1. https://www.thinkimpact.com/homeschooling-statistics/

accessed October 17, 2021 (Definitely take the time to read these stats!)