We’re getting ready for the new school year–and I can promise you lots of great content on education at ALL LEVELS to come your way soon at Current! Seriously: whether you’re thinking about public schools, homeschooling, higher ed and AI, and so on, we have something in the works for you!
In the meanwhile, earlier this week in Christianity Today, I appreciated the chance to explain some of the things I value most about homeschooling my kids. A taste:
The modern life is remarkably compartmentalized. We are family members at home, but all our other roles take us elsewhere, and we must perform them only in strictly designated spaces.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in how we handle children and career. We live in a society that is family unfriendly and built on the religion of “workism,” which places work first and family a distant (and optional) second. These priorities require compartmentalization: Kids must go to designated places for kids so adults can go to designated places for work. The result is a grueling and isolating schedule for all, especially children.
Such a neatly organized system sounds grand in theory—if you’re a robot. But this compartmentalization isn’t working very well for us humans. The results speak for themselves: Families are more stressed than ever, more overscheduled, more overwhelmed, less connected. Anxiety for people of all ages is through the roof—and it is especially harmful for our kids, as Jonathan Haidt and Abigail Shrier have shown in their respective recent books.
But then, the compartmentalized life was never suited to human flourishing. We take this lifestyle for granted as a necessary byproduct of the modern age, but Christians—called to integrate our whole lives to the worship and service of God—should be particularly well-equipped to see that our lifestyle has gone very wrong.
I should note that I’m not saying that homeschooling is the only way for families to resist this compartmentalization that modern life so readily inflicts upon us. We know plenty of families that foster beautiful and close relationships without homeschooling. But it really has been key for Dan and me.
You can read the full essay here.