How Far Ahead Are You Thinking? It is very fair to say that by homeschooling your children, you are giving them an amazing gift. Many studies demonstrate that homeschooling can offer a child the best of training in the most effective of settings. However, these same sources reveal that many homeschooled parents are now failing to homeschool their own children. If your family is like ours, the thought of your grandchildren ending up in the very schools you’ve worked so hard to keep your kids out of is terrifying!
Are Your Kids Prepared For Harvard or Heaven? If your children are unprepared to carry on the vision, you should be asking yourself why. Perhaps more importantly, you should be asking them why. Is it because of weaknesses or sins within the homeschool movement? There are plenty to criticize: pride, disdain, emphasis of academics over eternity… Or perhaps there is a lack of vision. If they do not really grasp why you have made the decisions you’ve made then it is no surprise that they would opt for a different route.
The 7 Botkin Siblings Raise The Questions For Us With an incredibly refreshing approach, the Botkin siblings (ages 14-29) have taken the time not only to think through these issues but also to encourage others in thinking about them. Homeschool Dropouts is not limited to their perspectives either. They have included interviews with Kevin Swanson, Wesley Strackbein and a handful of their peers.
Discuss It With Your Teens With so many young people involved in the production of this film, we really see the DVD excelling at cultivating discussion. Watch it with your teens and discuss the issues raised. Talk about why you chose to homeschool in the first place, and why you are still homeschooling (those reasons may be different). Ask your children what they dislike about the homeschool movement. When they come up with a legitimate concern don’t dismiss it, but dialogue about how your family can avoid that pitfall while still pursuing your reason for homeschooling.
Controversial Adding Homeschool Dropouts to our inventory prompted some robust dialog in our office, so be prepared to be unsettled. The overall tone and presentation of the DVD is outstanding, and the portions you disagree with will give you even more opportunities for discussion with your children and spouse. In particular, a small portion of Kevin Swanson’s interview touches on the parable of the talents – we encourage you to talk about the conclusion he draws. You may find you disagree, as we do. One more note, the DVD opens with about 90 seconds of Geoffrey Botkin, their dad, on the roles of men and women in teaching. While I appreciate the heart behind his comments, I did think it was a little more ‘religious’ than necessary – not a big deal, but I mention it just so you know that the DVD itself doesn’t carry that same flavor.
Generational Bargain For the price of a family-sized pizza you can impact the lives of not only you and your children, but also your future grandchildren. If your children are not as passionate about homeschooling as you are, Homeschooling Dropouts will help you discuss this and begin to build in the perspective they need.