HomeSchooling from the Inside Out

Families will probably be happier if they don’t try to duplicate the public school classroom at home. Instead they might center around the family -- working, learning, playing, and serving together.  Some families love the out-of-doors and want to focus on nature; those with musical talents may form an orchestra; others may focus on history or art or travel.  

Families should ask themselves basic questions, such as:  What does our family do well?  What are our talents?  Our resources?  How can we work together to learn?  How can we upgrade what we do, such as our use of computers and television?  All families can begin the day with Family Home Morning.  Monday night can be Return-and-Report Night for telling gospel and history stories, reciting scriptures and poems, demonstrating science projects, singing and playing instruments.  

Monday night is no longer a "night off" for dad; it is now a sacred time set apart for a father's highest priesthood duties: organizing, planning, and evaluating his family structure, counseling with his wife, and interviewing his children.
 
Other things to think about:

1. Lifetime learning is a tenet of our religion.  When parents are serious about studying, they lead by example before precept, give the family common purposes, and upgrade the level of their communications with their children.  If God won't force our children to be good and to attend His church and read His word -- things that must be of great importance to Him, why would He think it's OK to force a child to take a spelling test or do a math assignment.  We either live by the last page of the 121st Section, as He does, or we don't learn to become like Him.

2. Should parents also live by the Strength of Youth pamphlet?  

3. What do jr. high age boys need most?  Faith!  Where is faith learned the best?  In nature.

4. Music is the universal language and the most basic of all subjects.  It formats the brain for learning and invites the spirit.  Be it a family band or a tape player, it is "core."

5. Symbols are gentle reminders of concepts.  If we would learn to teach through symbols, the temple would be an Aha! experience.  Start with lambs and shepherds.

6. To teach your children true economics, start on the church website Provident Living.

7. To teach your children true history and civic duty you might begin with George Washington.

8. To teach your children creation over evolution you might begin with the prophets. Search on www.lds.org.

9. What were the mothers of the Stripling Warriors doing a few years previous to their conversion?  What advantages do we have?  What did they do that we aren’t doing?

10. Could your family learn to read together, even if you’re all adults?  That’s what smart people did before there was television.

11. Homeschooling works better when the family is healthy.  Learning and behavior problems often improve with a better diet.  Are you following the positive parts of the Word of Wisdom and getting plenty of exercise?  Do you need "wisdom and great treasures of knowledge"?

12. John Taylor said, "We do not want infidels to mold the minds of our children." (p.90). Does that apply to college too?  Are there other roads to higher learning that might be better for some students? 

13. If we are preparing children to leave home at 18, what is the best preparation?  Are we sure children should leave home at 18?  Who decided that?

I feel to warn you that one of the chief means of misleading our youth and destroying the family unit is our educational institutions.  There is more than one reason why the Church is advising our youth to attend colleges close to their homes . . . parents can help expose some of the deceptions of men like Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, John Keynes, and others.     - Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 307

The country, the church, and the family need homeschooling!