"The Lord loves those who hate evil."
-Psalm 97:10
When possible, homeschool.
Time and again homeschooled kids have a depth and maturity inconceivable today.
Teach your kids what evil is. And what is good.
Lots of Catholic leaders have been homeschoooled.
Even Dietrich von Hildebrand, among many others, was schooled in this manner.
Pope Benedict has called von Hildebrand among the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century. He was, perhaps the greatest lay theologian of the twentieth century.
Having "private tutors" is what they called it back in the day.
Thanks to such a privileged start kids schooled at home can be, according to Alice von Hildebrand, "spared the psychological disorders so prevalent today - inferiority complexes (a subtle form of pride), repression, lack of objectivity, unhealthy self-centeredness, odd psychological twists, and also what Adolf von Hildebrand called 'unnecessary feelings'." (cf. The Soul of a Lion, p. 62).
All of us who were products of Catholic schools in recent years can remember teachers who spoke contemptibly and disparagingly of Holy Mother Church and Her teachings. Kids enter Catholic schools naturaliter Christiana and leave as non-believers.
Kids actually have to be taught to love truth and to hate iniquity. To seek love, truth and beauty. They must be taught what irreverence is. To have a spontaneous reaction to whatever is beautiful. A Wanderlust for the sacred. Regal learning. Budding musicians, sculptors, painters and poetesses.
Kids must be taught that some things are fully objective. That there is the hierarchy of values and the conviction that there are some things that rank higher and are more important than other things. That there is Someone beyond them Who alone can fulfill the deep longing that God has put into the human heart.
We don't want kids that are swayed by peer pressure, public opinion, the general consensus and the "spirit of the time." How many kids graduate from schools believing that moral values are purely relative, depending on the time, place and circumstances in which we find ourselves?
Memorize these words of St. Augustine and teach them to your kids: Fecisti nos ad te, Domine, et inquietum est cor nostrum, donec requiescat in te (For Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee).
And train your kids up in the same manner as the saints: give them a classical liberal arts education! Check out the Classical Liberal Arts Academy (CLAA) at www [dot] classicalliberalarts [dot] com.
ReplyDeleteNo, I do not work for the CLAA or get any benefit from posting this, but I am using the CLAA for my children's education!
Thanks, John, this is exactly what I needed today. A homeschooling mother must pick herself up day after day to renew her vigor. It is a constant battle. So many days it seems to be an impossible, insurmountable task to homeschool one's children. (See, the homeschooling mother in me is wondering if "impossible, insurmountable" is redundant. How does one spell "redundant?" Oh dear!) I often forget what blessing and a privelige it is. Thanks be to God that I get to homeschool my children! God bless you and Natalie! Liz
ReplyDeleteAs classic Catholic thought reemerges from a time of adjustment and confusion in the post-conciliar era, we can expect that there will be a significant revival of homeschooling.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with this post. Certainly, embrace homeschooling due to what is in the schools today. Also homeschool, though, due to the natural advantages and benefits of homeschooling itself. Never be discouraged from forming, and growing a wonderful and rich relationship with, your infinitely precious children, irrespective of the challenges and trials that will and do inevitably come. I am totally convinced that the sacrifices and perseverance invested will never go unrewarded by Our Lord, and that in the end, He will always provide! (Comment - We have used Our Lady of Victory School for our main curriculum for 1.5 yrs now.)
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of homeschooling mothers among my friends. More power to them. Wish I had grown up both Catholic and homeschooled.
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