Interview with Lee Duigon

Lee Duigon is a Christian free-lance writer and contributing editor for the Chalcedon Report where you can find his series of articles about, "Why You Should Homeschool Your Christian Child."

Gena:  Homeschooling is getting more popular as a choice Christian parents are making. What are some of the trends you are seeing in the movement itself, these days?

Lee Duigon: The main trend that I see is that homeschooling is being made better and more accessible through technology. Parents don't have to rely on their own information, or on school textbooks. There is so much on the Internet now--curriculum materials, networking with other homeschooling families, college-level courses made available on line, advice for parents--that can be helpful in so many different ways. 

Twenty years ago, homeschoolers were pretty much on their own. Today they are part of a rapidly growing community, and there's plenty of support available--not just technical support , but moral and emotional support too.  This would all be extremely difficult to do without the Internet. 

If the number of families homeschooling continutes to grow, it will reach a point where it's considered mainstream, and homeschoolers will not have to worry about legislative or judicial interference.  It is growing by leaps and bounds, but we don't have "reliable government statistics" to tell us how much exactly.

When I started this project, I was amazed to discover how many homeschooling websites and blogs there are.  That in itself is a sign of growth. But more importantly, it suggests that a genuine homeschooling community, national in scope, is coming into its own.

Gena:  What is your advice to parents who feel convicted to home educate, but are not sure where to start?

Lee Duigon:  Nobody need to take the plunge into homeschooling.  Start slow.  Get acclimated.  Scout out the territory.  I have a friend who intends to homeschool her child, but before actually doing it, she has joined a homeschooling group.  That was a very good idea!  Now she's learning from others what homeschooling actually entails, what kinds of problems have to solved, and making friends who can help her when she does get started. 

By all means research homeschooling before you try to do it.  Your child's education is too important: you mustn't charge hastily into it, only to have to retreat becuase you weren't ready.

I would like to close with the observation that education in the context of the family is God's way, the only model the Bible give us for education.  It's not enough to recognize tha public education is and always has been, a Godless enterprise.  God loves the family, and has made it the basis of human society.  It can surely be entrusted with the task of educating its own children.

Comments

Sep. 18, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by jayfromcleveland

So the Reconstructionists are getting involved in homeschooling, huh? I'm sure when they institute their Christian-based sharia law, homeschooling will be mandatory, under the pain of death! (BTW, isn't that a scary picture of Rushdoony at that web page? Yahhhh!!!)

Sep. 18, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by SandBetweenMyToes

We were one of those who plunged into homeschooling by "force". God sent a lightning bolt on a Friday afternoon, by Monday we made our decision, and by the next Monday Ashley was out of the public school after the first 6 weeks of 2nd grade, and at home. Although probably not the recommended course, it was probably the best for us. If we had had to consider too many things, who knows what we would have decided. It was all very foriegn to us. God knows us well, does He not?
Letitia

 Sep. 19, 2006 - Thanks

Posted by SoCoMamacita

Thanks for bringing all this info to light. I'm always learning something new when I read your blog. I love all the links too.

-gena

www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

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