- The Push for College Entrance

Feb. 14, 2009

The Push for College Entrance - is it right??

   I have continued to think on the subject of why I expect my children to go on to some sort of training after high school. It certainly isn't because my husband and myself are well to do and highly educated. We are working class poor. My husband is a steady hard working man providing for his family at an entry level position and I am a homemaker and home educator. He had a year of Bible school after high school but no college. I had 1 semester of University after high school.
    I think why we feel the way we do is because we don't want our children to struggle financially as we have. Even more so though, we want them to spend their lives doing what the Lord intends for them to do. I personally would love it if they both wanted to be preachers or missionaries, at present, though, neither of them feel that is what the Lord has for them and my desire is for them to study and train for a career or trade that they will enjoy.
   The homeschool community at large - and I HATE to generalize but it is true- talks about little else but college once a child nears high school age. In articles online, books, speeches at homeschool conventions, and at smaller homeschool support groups the number one topic is how to get your child into college. Very little is said about going to a tech or trade school, Bible school, or joining the military. I have searched high and low online for articles on these topics and there are some great ones out there - however they are the minority and it takes a bit of digging to find them.
   Somehow it seems the big picture has been lost. The goal has gone ascue. College or bust is the cry but for many bust is the result. All too often we hear of a young person dropping of college. They went to college because they felt their parents wanted them to. (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.) They get discouraged and confused about why they are there and after a year or two (or less) they drop out because they never wanted to go in the first place.
   I know many herald this focus on college entrance for homeschoolers as being truly wonderful. I wonder though if in our race to prove that "homeschoolers can go to college, too" (which they have been doing all along anyway), if we are losing sight of our children and what they truly need.

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About Me

The years have slipped bye so quickly. It seems as though it was just yesterday we were starting out homeschooling with a six year old and a 3 year old. Now my sons are 21 and 18 and this is my last year of homeschooling. A new season in life is ahead ~ the best is yet to come.