Lessons Learned on the Farm

• Apr. 8, 2006 - Lessons Learned from the Garden Center

Spring has sprung in our area and we’ve been getting ready to do some landscaping and gardening around here. I just love getting to browse in the garden centers and look through the seed catalogs! As I was looking at the plants in our local garden center the other day though it reminded me of the benefits of homeschooling. I’m always amazed at how God uses so many different things to affirm homeschooling to me.

Go browse your local garden center and you’ll notice differences in the plants. Some are very unhealthy and weak looking. They look like they’ve basically been choked out by all of the larger plants and they aren’t getting what they need. The vast majority of the plants all look...well... honestly pretty much the same. Uniform height. Uniform color. They all just kind of blend in together. And then you’ll notice those plants that catch your eye. They are healthy and strong. Their colors more vibrant. Their fragrance more sweet.

What’s the difference? I think it’s that those larger plants received better care. Obviously they got the support, fertilizer, water and sun that they needed. And those are some of the best benefits of homeschooling!

Our kids don’t have to be grown together with the masses. No, with homeschooling we can give each child individualized attention and an education tailored to his needs and interests.

We don’t have to rush them out of the greenhouse just to meet the production deadlines. We can give them the time to bloom and grow at their own pace.

We can give them the proper support they need to grow strong, straight and tall. No weak floppy plants here. While society is trying to send them all away to preschool, we have the opportunity to keep them near us until they have the maturity to stand strong in this world.

We get to choose just the right fertilizer for our children. No generic one size fits all approach at our house. It is so much fun to choose our curriculum and activities. If one wants a workbook, another wants a computer program and the other just wants to do some projects, we can do that! If I see that something isn’t working, we can make changes. If we’re having character issues, we can focus on addressing those things without having to press on to keep the class going.

We can give our children all of the water and sun that they need. And not just H2O and sunlight either. We can give them The Living Water and His Only Son. As their parents we can give what they need, not to just live, but to live abundantly and eternally.

Homeschooling is such a blessing. It’s not always easy. Ask any gardener, it takes time and attention to nurture seeds into healthy strong plants. But it’s worth it. And our kids are worth it!