Where Are the Children?

Earlier this evening I was reading Voddie Baucham's blog. He had a post about government schools, testing and children.

It just struck a chord. We test our children to oblivion and are never satisfied. There is little to no free time for many children now. Their days are filled with school, tests, extracurricular classes, etc. Parents shuttle them from one thing to another. Dinner is done on the run, weekends are filled with projects, games, and such.

How can this nurture a healthy home environment or allow children to be children?? It is sad to me; so many have lost what being a family is about. It should be a place to learn life skills, explore who you are and who you want to be. A place to sit on the porch and talk. How can that happen when it is only a place to land temporarily before moving on to the next thing.

I hear public school teachers talking about all the testing they do. Good grief. I don't understand. They have these kids 7 hours a day, give homework, and test multiple times a year. Someone should ask, "what is the problem"! How much do you keep piling on before you say, "this isn't working".

I also cringe when I hear homeschool moms duplicating the 'school room' environment. That is what you don't want in my humble opinion. (And it is only an opinion so don't write nasty comments, please.) Kids need time to be kids and explore their world on their on terms. Everything is already set for them from day 1 it seems; no freedom to find who they are and what works for them. Cookie cutter education.

We are blessed that we can have our children at home. They garden, care for animals, explore different art mediums, read, cook, create, etc. They are finding who they are and what God has for them. They are not peer driven. They are not worried about what 'others' think. They are learning life skills. What a blessing.

Children are an heritage of the LORD... – Psalm 127:3