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Homeschooling Through High School ~ The Arts!
12:58 AM, Oct. 8, 2008
What is the first thing that gets eliminated in the public schools when finances get tight? It is definitely not sports! Heaven forbid! (Never fear…I AM an avid baseball and football fan and a devoted baseball mom) In your homeschooling, what is the easiest thing to skip over and forget to include or feel is not as important? Usually, if we are truthful, the answer is Bible. However, I’ve covered that priority several times in previous articles so I will go on to another area that is often overlooked as area that can be deleted without any consequences.
The Arts! Yes….it’s true. The public schools are quick to delete band, choir, art, and theater classes when there are budget cuts. But honestly, we as homeschoolers tend to do the same thing. It may not be a financial issue but rather the fact that we just don’t feel that there are enough of us to go around, enough time in the day, or enough NEED to include the arts in our schedule because we have such strong academic concerns. However, there are many reasons that are children not only need to have an arts education as part of their general training, but that they also understand the role the arts have played in history and the role they are playing society today. Let’s start with my second reason first. It’s an amazing day in which we live. We are bombarded by the arts every day and yet we don’t even notice the effect that they have on us. How often do you hear music that affects your mood and you don’t even realize it? How often are you confronted with music that contains offensive lyrics while eating out or shopping and you don’t even stop to consider how it affects the children that are standing with you quickly picking up the lingo of each and every song? How many times do we see images on billboards, television, movies, and the Internet and not even consider the influence that they have? All of these “media” influences are a form of art in one-way or another. Here is a little tidbit! Did you know that the composer Wagner was very anti-Semitic and very much believed in the chosen Aryan race theory? Did you also know that Wagner happened to be Hitler’s favorite composer and that he listened to Wagner’s operas, with all of that non-Biblical and anti-Christian worldview brimming forth? The arts DO influence the course of society and history and the reverse is also true. Think about the 1960’s. Do you remember the literature, the theater, the music and the art that came from that decade? You can’t help but see that those in the arts were commentating the events of history on, AND the form and content of the arts were being affected by the events of history. Let’s take a look at today’s election process. We have music, you-tube, movies, media and those who are INVOLVED in the media using all of the art forms to influence today’s voter. SO, when it comes to whether or not your student will be influenced or surrounded by the arts, you don’t have much of a choice. What you DO have a choice on is how you teach them to view the arts? Do they understand God’s plan for the arts? Do they understand God’s purpose for creativity, music, literature and more? I’m sad to say that many of those families that I come in contact with don’t understand the need for a Biblical worldview that INCLUDES a Biblical worldview of the arts. If we don’t have that, we will be swept away by the world’s influence in these important areas. Now, lest you think I’m going to say that all secular music with a beat is wrong…I’m not. If you are worried that I’m going to say that watching a movie is wrong…I’m not. What I AM going to say is that you cannot be involved with the arts without having your eyes open to the messages that you are being told….and NEITHER can your kids. Do I think we need to be selective in what we hear, see and read? Absolutely, but at the same time we are to be “in the world, but not of the world.” Thus, I love to use the Apostle Paul as an example. He understood Greek culture and Roman culture and he understood it in light of what GOD said was right. Thus, he could be culturally literate when speaking with unbelievers around him. Yet, he also was grounded in God’s “worldview” and was able to discourse with understanding and wisdom. When we have viewed movies, discussed literature, gone to plays, or listened to music. We have used it as a time to discuss and compare worldview or conflicting worldviews. What a hands on teaching opportunity this is? Yes…..there are MANY research projects and studies that will tell you the benefits of having your children study music, art or theater….and yes, I will discuss those reasons for studying the arts in future articles. However, to me, one of the most important reasons for my sons to study the arts is so that they understand the powerful influence the arts have on people’s lives and can have on THEIR life in particular. I want them to become culturally literate so that they understand the world in which they live but are wise and grounded in God’s worldview. If God blesses that attempt, they will then, like Paul, know how to discourse and discern from among the many influential art forms around us and thus, be salt and light in a very dark area of today’s society. This is one of the driving forces behind The Artios Academies with which I work and I have been so blessed to see students who have gone through that program, graduate and truly go and become salt and light in their communities either by being wise and discerning consumers of the arts or by working within the arts community and making a difference by the way they live their lives and make their decisions. I would love to hear some feedback from you on this article. I suppose in some ways, it is a bit controversial. However, it is something that we as parents who homeschooling high schoolers must stop and consider as part of our responsibility. Faith and Courage, Lori Lori is married to the love of her life John and together they have four sons ranging in age from 22 down to 10. She is the author of “Beginning With The End In Mind”, a frequent speaker on home education, family and the arts, as well as serving as the Executive Director of The Artios Academies. (www.artiosacademies.com) You can see some of the pictures of their home in the central Colorado Rockies by visiting Lori’s website at www.theendinmind.net where you will receive encouragement for the journey. Comments 
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