Now I love a good romp through the forest with my kids like any homeschooler. I love it when they initiate their own learning and adventure and discovery are round every corner. We have spent many an afternoon knee deep in mud exploring and debating the world around us. One of the definite advantages of homeschooling is indeed the 'white space' time for a child to create and explore their own way.

However, I'm feeling more and more uncomfortable with the style of home education in this country where ANYTHING goes, and education just supposedly happens regardless of what you're doing.  Here's my issue with it...

Surely, we are called to 'raise' our kids. This, to me, means not only giving them whitespace time to explore, but ALSO giving them opportunitiues to learn self discipline and getting to grips with some decent work. I want to be sure what they are well tooled up for the working world AND well tooled up in Godly character. This stuff doesn't just happen as they meander through life with barely any goals or direction!  Sure , autonomous learning has a place in a homeschoolers kit bag - but surely many more tools, and dazzling gems of learning we can also offer our kids.

Jane