Sometime last summer, Rob and I decided we are going to homeschool Aurora. After diving headfirst into researching whatever information I could find about educating her from home, I discovered something amazing- I already was.
From the time she was born, she has been learning how to live life. She learned a whole language, how to converse with others, how to help out around the house, even how to identify the herbs in our garden. She learned how to run, and play, and use her imagination. She learned how to say prayers and say please and thank you. She was able to learn all these things, not because she was taught how to learn, but because her Creator designed in her the ability to learn. She learns just by simply existing, interacting with others, and observing the world around her. She’s a small human sponge, soaking in life every waking moment.
Being placed in a structured, formal classroom, whether public, private or school at home, merely tells our children what and how to think. It does not give them the ability or the desire. That is already there. And sometimes, it is those formal institutions or harsh instruction methods that deadens those desires, especially in the early years. Schooling provides them with a myriad of information, but it doesn’t drive their innate desire to soak up the world around them. Real life does.
Our children are learning by watching real life in real time and by watching the people in it- namely their parents, family and friends. They are watching those that are around them most. If you have a child in your life, whether it is your own or someone else’s, they are watching you. Observing your every action and reaction. They are learning the ways of the world by listening to the words that come out of your mouth and the behavior that coincides with those words.
Knowing this, we all should be doing a much better job of setting the example for the children of the world. Preserving their innocence, their desire to learn, their ability to thrive and grow into amazing adults, leading them to salvation and all that that entails, is our biggest charge on this side of eternity. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matthew 18:6
Children are our greatest resource. What are we doing to preserve them?
“Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.” Matthew 19: 13-15 NKJV
In His Service,
Rebecca Hamilton, Founder/ Executive Director
For Every Great Battle, There is a Great Victory!!