In a recent walk talk, I explained how homeschooling parents waste time and money. They do this by making too much of modern education requirements. What is actually required, is very simple to satisfy. Modern schools, however, have so much time to fulfill such low standards, that they fill the time with all kinds of unnecessary resources and activities. Homeschool parents unthinkingly imitate the modern schools, not understanding that these activities and resources are all unnecessary.
The Mission of Catholic Education
As Catholic home schooling parents, we have a responsibility to satisfy modern school requirements but also to satisfy the requirements of true Catholic education. This leaves us with a challenging mission to fulfill. Many Catholic homeschool parents neglect this mission and settle for satisfying modern school standards. Some boast that they get all of their work done in just a few hours each day, but they are not serving the ends of true Catholic education. Others spend countless hours and thousands of dollars doing things that are completely unnecessary.
If we waste time on unnecessary activities, we will not be able to get the work done that needs to be done. If we waste money on unnecessary resources, we will not have money available for the services our children do need to help them with advanced studies. Therefore, we must make sure that we are not following the example of modern schools but our managing our children’s education prudently.
Homeschool Requirements
Many homeschool parents are intimidated by state homeschooling requirements. It is important to understand, however, that states require THAT certain subjects be taught at home, but they do not dictate WHAT must be taught or HOW it must be taught. As Catholic parents, we are free to satisfy modern home school requirements in the most efficient way possible, so that we can make sure time and resources are available for true classical Catholic education.
Many students fail to make progress in higher subjects because they waste too much time on lower subjects. Simple lessons are turned into complicated activities that require great amounts of time and sometimes money. These lessons should be completed simply and marked complete so that students can move on to more challenging lessons and courses. In fact, when students do not enter into advanced courses the purpose of lower courses is never understood. For example, when students begin high school Physics, they learn to appreciate high school Algebra and Geometry studies. Without Physics, high school Maths remain abstract and boring studies that seem to have no purpose. The same is true with other subjects.
Keep Education Simple
In the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, we work to make the satisfaction of modern school requirements as simple and efficient as possible. We do this so that our students can complete what is required in modern society and move on to what is required for true Catholic learning. Our modern studies courses are intentionally simple, and we do not recommend that parents add additional activities to them, but keep them so. We also encourage parents to enroll students in more challenging courses, understanding that more challenging courses often help students understand other subjects. Many parents keep students in low level courses and make education boring.
Maintain Catholic Priorities
Parents must make sure that children are introduced to the study of Sacred Scripture, Catholic Theology and Scholastic Philosophy before they move on as young adults. Parents should not be intimidated by classical Catholic studies but understand that these are their children’s inheritance as Catholic students. While students will not master these subjects during their home schooling years, it is important that they be familiar with them before entering into adulthood. They need to know that what they experience in faith formation classes or in parish activities is just the tip of the iceberg of Catholic faith and culture.
Conclusion
What’s most important, is that home schooling parents keep homeschooling as simple as possible. There will be no reward for satisfying modern requirements in a way that is more time consuming and costly than simpler ways would have been. In the end, colleges will look at a high school transcript and see a list of courses, with no knowledge of the content that was studied or the methods by which it was studied. The endless attention given to these details in modern homeschool circles is a distraction that must be avoided. Homeschool parents often choose to spend an inordinate amount of time on basic subjects that they feel comfortable with to excuse themselves from entering upon subjects that they will need help with. The children ultimately pay the penalty for this. What selective colleges will be looking for is whether students have advanced beyond the basic modern school requirements and engaged with more challenging studies. This can only be pursued when basic requirements are completed in the simplest ways possible.
This is what we provide for in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy.
God bless your studies,
Mr. William C. Michael, Headmaster
Classical Liberal Arts Academy
