It wasn't until compulsory education became widespread that “homeschooling” became the unusual option. But IS keeping children home from school actually unusual or unnatural? Is homeschooling a radical new experiment . . . or would that be public schooling? From time immemorial most children were taught at home. They learned trades and skills from their parents as they lived and worked alongside them, but they also learned so much more: “Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching” (Proverbs 1:8, ESV). Parents were expected to train up their children with all the knowledge they themselves possessed—from moral and religious training to reading, writing, and arithmetic. Sometimes they hired tutors to help with difficult subjects, but the parents ultimately took full charge of their own children's education.
Homeschooling has been happening longer— Any online search for “famous homeschoolers” will bring such names as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Mozart, Florence Nightingale, Booker T. Washington, and many more. That quick tour of history reveals that parents have been educating their children right at home throughout the ages, and doing so very successfully. Kids learned at home as did the majority of others since the beginning of time when God instituted family with parents as natural teachers. Knowing home education is no trend or fad, but rather an enduring practice, makes public school, which has only been around for a fraction of history, sadly resemble an experiment. So, is educating and training up (discipling) children at home really odd after all, or could it be that removing them from parents and home for the majority of their days by sending them away to learn (and be discipled) is what's really unnatural? Because every student is discipled by someone. Shouldn't it be you? Homeschooling can be challenging. It can be expensive, time-consuming, and confusing to choose classes and curricula for multiple students. We are writing to tell you that your State Organization has partnered with SchoolhouseTeachers.com which will provide all the courses you need for homeschooling each of your preschool through graduating 12th-grade students at the discounted annual price of $179 (you save $90). With hundreds of online courses, lesson plans, quizzes, tests, answer keys, certificates of completion, and streaming videos, your annual SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership will ensure you have a full-spectrum, non-Common Core curriculum platform to confidently educate your children at home. Membership is good for your whole family—including grandparents—no matter how many children you have. Because everything is included online, there is no need to buy textbooks. PLUS, there are no per class, no per child, nor any other hidden fees. You can also generate quarterly report cards for each student and access help with transcript creation for your high schoolers. The regular price is $267.97, but by using the join button below, you'll save over $90 and pay a total of only $179 for the year. By the way . . . see the print magazines above? You'll receive a print subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, with a fresh issue delivered each quarter as long as you remain a member. SchoolhouseTeachers.com contains nearly every subject imaginable—art history, drawing, computer technology, foreign languages, history, language arts, math, music, science, and loads of electives. Let your kids help pick out their own courses! Please sign up today for your family's membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com by clicking the red JOIN button above. You will save over $90 off retail plus help our state organization continue to GROW homeschooling in our state. “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40, ESV) |