Why virtual schools can never be a reality for Christian homeschoolers
A guest post by Karen Bryant as appeared in The LEARN at Home Letter November/December 2005.
The turn of the century brought the merging of extremes in education choice to create a new option that has caused dissension, confusion, and concern among the homeschool community. This new thing has replaced home education as the fastest growing form of school choice in the nation and has captured the attention of homeschool leaders, the National Education Association, and legislators nationwide. Traditional public school has been repackaged and sold to private home educating families to be implemented in the home under the authority of the State - thus the birth of virtual schools, sometimes referred to as charter schools, distance learning, or on-line learning. I call it “hologram homeschooling,” because it gives the appearance of home education, but lacks the depth of true homeschooling.
If you and I are were having a discussion over a nice cup of coffee on this topic, the following dialogue might occur.
Isn’t choice a good thing?
Yes, choice is apparently a good thing, since we were created with a free-will with which we are designed to make choices. But that doesn’t mean all choice is good, the Scriptures clearly make this point. In helping us to make good education choices, we should define what the purpose of education is. In his essay On Secular Education, R. L. Dabney says “It is properly the whole man or person that is educated, but the main subject of the work is the spirit. Education is the nurture and development of the whole man for his proper end.”
R. C. Sproul, Jr. in his recent book When You Rise Up says “Thinking that education is something different from discipling our children is a sure sign that we have been “educated” by the state. Education is discipleship.” (p. 21)
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 has been the homeschool theme Scripture for years:
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you rise up.”
But it is prefaced with the command to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength. It concludes with the exhortation to “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them to our foreheads. Write them on the doorframe of your houses and on your gates.”
In other words, His Word should be in our face all the time! Our children should not be able to escape it. But what do we do? We compartmentalize our children’s training - this is “school” and this is Bible study. We fail to see Christ in literature, in science, in U.S. history, and even in math.
So, while choice is good, it is our responsibility to make sure that we make good choices and for Godly reasons.
Isn’t this just another form of homeschooling?
No, it is another form of public education; it is tax-funded (your fellow homeschoolers help pay for it through their taxes); it uses a state approved secular curriculum; the students are assessed using the state assessments; data is collected, recorded, and stored by the government; and government officials are in authority over the student’s education.
But a parent participating in a virtual school is going through the same motions as homeschoolers, so doesn’t it make sense to call them homeschoolers?
At first glance the two education methods indeed look to be very similar, simply because instruction takes place primarily in the home and is delivered by the parent. However, a closer look will reveal the following significant fundamental differences:
Home Education
*Parent approves curriculum
*Parent is directly accountable to God
*Parent pays for curriculum
*Parent chooses assessments
*Parent determines graduation requirements
*Parent maintains student records
*Parent is free to incorporate religious instruction
Virtual School
*State approves curriculum
*Parent is directly accountable to the State
*State (taxpayers) pays for curriculum
*State mandates assessments
*State determines graduation requirements
*State maintains student records
*State Constitution prohibits religious instruction
In addition, by blurring the lines between private home education and tax-funded education in the home, we contribute to the likelihood that legislators and policy makers will clump the two groups together as they create regulations in the future.
But the parent in a virtual school program can still teach the Christian worldview and point out the secular worldview errancies.
While that may be true, ask yourself how realistic it is to instruct two separate curriculums at the same time. Not only is it labor intensive and time prohibitive, how much sense does it make if you find yourself feeling the need to point out errancy in the curriculum to which you automatically give credibility simply by inviting it into your home and facilitating the instruction of it. Your children will get the message that government must know something that you don’t about what God would have them know.
Also, remember that the State assessments will be the ultimate determining factor as to how “successful” your child is in the virtual school. These assessments will create a permanent record of what your child believes to be true. Does it not seem contradictory to strive for your child to to pass assessments that conflict with your personal beliefs?
What do the State’s standards have to do with virtual schools?
All public school choices require students to take the state assessments in reading, math, social studies, and science. These assessments reflect the state standards that were determined by the legislature. The development of Minnesota’s standards that parents, teachers, legislators, and bureaucrats believed all students should know was an extremely contentious issue and remains contentious today. The liberals and conservatives have very different ideas as to what students should know and the shaping of standards is not a settled issue, nor will it probably ever be. How much easier is it for the parent to simply choose a curriculum that teaches the standards the parent agrees with and then test your child according to your own standards. Doesn’t it make more sense for our children to see us be consistent with our convictions?
In summary, if one embraces the Biblical approach to education and training, it is nearly impossible to see how a virtual school with its secular humanistic curriculum can make your God ordained goals for your children a reality.
The turn of the century brought the merging of extremes in education choice to create a new option that has caused dissension, confusion, and concern among the homeschool community. This new thing has replaced home education as the fastest growing form of school choice in the nation and has captured the attention of homeschool leaders, the National Education Association, and legislators nationwide. Traditional public school has been repackaged and sold to private home educating families to be implemented in the home under the authority of the State - thus the birth of virtual schools, sometimes referred to as charter schools, distance learning, or on-line learning. I call it “hologram homeschooling,” because it gives the appearance of home education, but lacks the depth of true homeschooling.
If you and I are were having a discussion over a nice cup of coffee on this topic, the following dialogue might occur.
Isn’t choice a good thing?
Yes, choice is apparently a good thing, since we were created with a free-will with which we are designed to make choices. But that doesn’t mean all choice is good, the Scriptures clearly make this point. In helping us to make good education choices, we should define what the purpose of education is. In his essay On Secular Education, R. L. Dabney says “It is properly the whole man or person that is educated, but the main subject of the work is the spirit. Education is the nurture and development of the whole man for his proper end.”
R. C. Sproul, Jr. in his recent book When You Rise Up says “Thinking that education is something different from discipling our children is a sure sign that we have been “educated” by the state. Education is discipleship.” (p. 21)
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 has been the homeschool theme Scripture for years:
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you rise up.”
But it is prefaced with the command to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength. It concludes with the exhortation to “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them to our foreheads. Write them on the doorframe of your houses and on your gates.”
In other words, His Word should be in our face all the time! Our children should not be able to escape it. But what do we do? We compartmentalize our children’s training - this is “school” and this is Bible study. We fail to see Christ in literature, in science, in U.S. history, and even in math.
So, while choice is good, it is our responsibility to make sure that we make good choices and for Godly reasons.
Isn’t this just another form of homeschooling?
No, it is another form of public education; it is tax-funded (your fellow homeschoolers help pay for it through their taxes); it uses a state approved secular curriculum; the students are assessed using the state assessments; data is collected, recorded, and stored by the government; and government officials are in authority over the student’s education.
But a parent participating in a virtual school is going through the same motions as homeschoolers, so doesn’t it make sense to call them homeschoolers?
At first glance the two education methods indeed look to be very similar, simply because instruction takes place primarily in the home and is delivered by the parent. However, a closer look will reveal the following significant fundamental differences:
Home Education
*Parent approves curriculum
*Parent is directly accountable to God
*Parent pays for curriculum
*Parent chooses assessments
*Parent determines graduation requirements
*Parent maintains student records
*Parent is free to incorporate religious instruction
Virtual School
*State approves curriculum
*Parent is directly accountable to the State
*State (taxpayers) pays for curriculum
*State mandates assessments
*State determines graduation requirements
*State maintains student records
*State Constitution prohibits religious instruction
In addition, by blurring the lines between private home education and tax-funded education in the home, we contribute to the likelihood that legislators and policy makers will clump the two groups together as they create regulations in the future.
But the parent in a virtual school program can still teach the Christian worldview and point out the secular worldview errancies.
While that may be true, ask yourself how realistic it is to instruct two separate curriculums at the same time. Not only is it labor intensive and time prohibitive, how much sense does it make if you find yourself feeling the need to point out errancy in the curriculum to which you automatically give credibility simply by inviting it into your home and facilitating the instruction of it. Your children will get the message that government must know something that you don’t about what God would have them know.
Also, remember that the State assessments will be the ultimate determining factor as to how “successful” your child is in the virtual school. These assessments will create a permanent record of what your child believes to be true. Does it not seem contradictory to strive for your child to to pass assessments that conflict with your personal beliefs?
What do the State’s standards have to do with virtual schools?
All public school choices require students to take the state assessments in reading, math, social studies, and science. These assessments reflect the state standards that were determined by the legislature. The development of Minnesota’s standards that parents, teachers, legislators, and bureaucrats believed all students should know was an extremely contentious issue and remains contentious today. The liberals and conservatives have very different ideas as to what students should know and the shaping of standards is not a settled issue, nor will it probably ever be. How much easier is it for the parent to simply choose a curriculum that teaches the standards the parent agrees with and then test your child according to your own standards. Doesn’t it make more sense for our children to see us be consistent with our convictions?
In summary, if one embraces the Biblical approach to education and training, it is nearly impossible to see how a virtual school with its secular humanistic curriculum can make your God ordained goals for your children a reality.
posted by Seth @ 5:12 PM
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