HSLDA’s monthly publication The Homeschool Court Report had a great article a few months ago on the "Greenhouse" philosophy of parenting. I had only recently heard of this term, even though I have been homeschooling for 8 years now. In this article they interviewed homeschool pioneer, Gregg Harris, father of well-known authors and speakers Josh, Alex & Brett Harris . I really appreciated Gregg’s insights; So with HSLDA's permission, I have pasted a portion of the article below. Follow the link at the bottom to read the rest of the article.

 Outgrowing the Greenhouse: A Conversation With Gregg Harris by Jennifer Olmstead

Ever wished you could sit down with Gregg Harris—father of Josh, Joel, Alex, Brett, Sarah, Isaac, and James—and find out his secret to raising driven, passionate, and grown-up teenagers? Recently, we did, and we hope you’ll enjoy having a seat at the table for our conversation as Gregg discusses his thoughts on the "greenhouse model," raising kids willing to do hard things, and then learning to let them go.

COURT REPORT: Back in the early nineties, you used to talk about the "greenhouse model," which forwarded the idea that it’s in your children’s best interest to be sheltered inside the greenhouse until they reach maturity—like seedlings. But when we look at the things your kids have accomplished at young ages—Alex and Brett started TheRebelution.com at age 16, published Do Hard Things at 18, then progressed to the national Rebelution conference tour; Josh started speaking and founded New Attitude at 17, then published I Kissed Dating Goodbye at 21—frankly, it doesn’t seem like you’ve kept them in much of a greenhouse. Just the opposite, in fact! Has your opinion changed?

 HARRIS: Well, let’s look at the metaphor of the greenhouse—or the hothouse, as some have called it. You don’t transfer plants right from the greenhouse into the field. Before that transfer, plants go through an intermediate process called a "cold frame." A cold frame differs from a greenhouse in that it doesn’t have as much temperature control. There’s much more fluctuation of temperature than in the greenhouse. There, the plants get used to changing temperatures so they don’t go into shock out in the field. That’s where the plants are "hardened."

Similarly, there are transitional involvements and activities that allow our children—once they’re well-rooted morally, doctrinally, and spiritually and have a strong sense of what they believe and who they are in Christ—to progressively be exposed to different points of view.

Unfortunately, many parents make the mistake of exposing their children to conflicting points of view before they are rooted, which creates a feeling of rootlessness and a lack of identity. At that point, the children can’t interact with these new ideas from a position of strength or confidence, but instead are feeling pushed around by every wind of doctrine. The Scripture refers to this in Ephesians 4:14 when it says that we’re no longer to be like children, pushed around by every wind of doctrine and the cunningness and craftiness of men in their attempts to deceive.

Because of this tendency, the strategy we’ve adopted for our family is making our home a place where people learn to think for themselves and discover what they believe at a very young age.  You can read more here . 

For further reading on the subject, be sure to see  Transitioning Out of the Greenhouse in the same publication.