One of the more interesting advertisements I’ve seen in the last week has been for a new show on TLC called Shalom In The Home. In it, a little girl no more than eight is on the phone with a friend. She’s talking in a very irritated manner about a peer, saying, “What is she running? A bed and breakfast?” the mom obviously recognizes it as something she herself would say and is not just a little shocked.

The value of home schooling our children does not just lie in good grades and a better environment for learning. It comes in the education of lifestyle. Like it or not, parents pass on to their children things they have no idea that they are actually communicating. This goes beyond the honesty, accuracy, and fairness involved in school. They absorb mannerisms, habits, and yes, even the values that their parents hold. Like the bed and breakfast girl, this can be a curse, or, like we see homeschooling families everywhere, this can be a blessing.

It is a blessing when, instead of learning what cool sequel is out this week, your children are seeing you treat your friends with honor and respect. It’s a blessing when, instead of learning the syntactical intricacies of cursing, your children learn what it was like for grandma or grandpa to do laundry or pass their time before television came along. Children not only learn what life was like before they came along, but they also absorb the values at work behind them, like industry and creativity. We value our children and what they learn. Intentionally passing on the Christian values found in a life lived with integrity is a good start to a life of greatness.

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