MorningStar’s Home Education News

By Mimi Rothschild

When some parents think about teen drug use, they usually think of high school seniors getting together for an occasional joint. Unfortunately, this image is a startlingly optimistic perception. Here are some shocking statistics from this recent SAMHSA study:

• One in five eighth graders had tried marijuana at least once.
• One in three had admitted to illicit drug use of any kind, including inhalants such as glue or spray paint fumes.
• One in five teens have admitted to partaking in underage binge drinking.
• One in three teens are current users of tobacco products.
• 15% of high schoolers have tried amphetamines.

These statistics should be enough for parents to want to take their children as far away as possible from this atmosphere. When illicit drug and alcohol use, among other dangers, is so prevalent in our schools even in grades as low as middle school, a parent’s natural reaction is to get them away from these influences.

I think it’s important to postulate the causes of this drug use. When teens are asked why they turn to drug use, an overwhelming majority lazily reply, “There’s nothing else to do.” Consider the following from DrugFree.org:

“Teens who can’t tolerate being alone, have trouble keeping themselves occupied, and crave excitement are prime candidates for substance abuse. Not only do alcohol and marijuana give them something to do, but those substances help fill the internal void they feel. One boy’s statement captures this sentiment. “When I’m stuck in my house with nothing to do,” he said, “all I can think about is going out to party.” Alcohol and drugs become false friends whose glittery promise of a good time is alluring to a bored adolescent. These false friends also help restless, bored, risk-taking teens to forget about troubles that they often face, like family conflicts, school failure, and peer rejection.”

Wow. As a mother of eight, this mentality is so foreign to me. And yet, it rings true with many of my friends’ kids. These teens turn to drug use because life is boring. There is a lesson here for homeschoolers. It’s important that we cultivate in our children an innate desire to learn and explore God’s creation. The internal void described above is all too common in children who have never tasted the excitement that comes with knowing that God has a plan for each child’s life. Each new day should be an adventure. Our house is a flurry of activity throughout the day and well into the night. Compare this to the daily routine of the public school student. They spend eight hours of their day being shuttled from class to class, learning passively rather than actively. When they get home, they tend to sit in front of the television for the remainder of the evening. Who can blame them for eventually turning to drugs in a desperate effort to fight boredom?

I can’t remember the last time I heard, “Mommy, I’m bored.” Try to think of ways to make your homeschool a buzzing hive of learning, growing, and “fullness of life.” Also, pray that God will infuse your children with enthusiasm for drug-free living.

By Mimi Rothschild

Free Range Learning is a term I’ve been hearing tossed about in the homeschooling world for some time. Regardless of its connotation, I love the sound of the term. It implies learning without boundaries.

Some unfortunate souls have the misperception that homeschoolers are stuck in a jail-like building, as if they stare teary-eyed out the window at the lucky kids catching the school bus in the morning. On the contrary, to the homeschooler, the world is a classroom. It is in fact the public school student who is forced into a cell-like classroom confined by rigid strictures and stifling monotony. There are many ways to take advantage of the limitless nature of homeschooling. Here are just a few:

Libraries: This one’s pretty obvious. Area libraries are a wealth of information. Most have high-speed internet access in addition to plenty of print materials. Taking full advantage of your local library can really supplement your homeschoolers curriculum well.

Museums: Another no-brainer. Museums offer kids a visual and sometimes hands-on supplement to their learning. If you live in a rural area, plan a weekend trip to the closest city and go museum-hopping. Many museums have a “just for kids” section that will provide hours of fun learning. Older homeschoolers will also be enriched by the regular exhibits.

Colleges: Why not have your high schoolers take a college course or two in a particular area of interest? It’s a great way to expose them to an environment that they will most likely transition to in the near future. If you have a family friend that is currently enrolled in a college, you can even allow your child to spend a weekend with that friend. They will get a taste of dorm life and even attend the same classes. This is also a great way to supplement your homeschooler’s search for the right college.

Friends and Relatives: Last year, I set up an assignment for which each of my homeschoolers interviewed my parents about their experiences during World War II. Not only was it an engaging and informative history lesson, it was an unforgettable bonding experience that they will no doubt carry with them long after my parents have passed. I would encourage you to think creatively about what your homeschoolers could learn from family friends. Perhaps you have a friend who is a farmer that they can shadow for a day. Maybe a friend has just given birth, and you would like your daughters to learn how to care for a newborn baby. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination.

The Internet: Having 24/7 access to the internet will give your homeschoolers an enormous edge over public school students. If your students have a question, encourage them to find out for themselves on the computer rather than instantly providing the answer. This will cultivate essential web-browsing skills and will also build an innate desire to explore and learn on the web. Here are some helpful hints to guide your search for knowledge on the internet.

Field Trips: There are plenty of untraditional places to visit that aren’t generally considered places of learning. Get together with other homeschool families to plan field trips to factories, historical sites, conservatories, zoos, and more. Every once in a while, you can all head out to an amusement park just for fun.

By Mimi Rothschild

I recently had a phone conversation that broke my heart. A mother that currently homeschools with The MorningStar Academy called my office to express her concern about her son’s sociology lesson for that day. She was very upset because her son was required to write a short essay regarding the theories of Karl Marx. While I was very grateful that she had taken the time to call, I was saddened that I was unable to quash her fears.

She explained to me that she had pulled her son out of public school because she didn’t want him learning “worldly knowledge.” While I applaud her decision to homeschool, I could not help but take issue with her stance. All of our courses are deeply rooted in Biblical teaching. However, we do not whitewash history.

I tried to explain to her that we as a school and as believers don’t necessarily agree with what Karl Marx had to say. However, to ignore his contributions, positive or negative, would be to gain a very limited understanding of modern sociology (and economics and politics for that matter). To teach a sociology class without a thorough discussion of Karl Marx would be like teaching a World War II course without discussing the politics and motivations of Adolph Hitler. Obviously, by learning about who Hitler was and how he thought, we do not condone mass genocide.

As Christians, we have a responsibility to know what “the other guy” believes. How can we expect to reach out to a lost world without a full knowledge of how that world thinks? I think it’s important that we use discernment in what we expose ourselves to. Children are impressionable, and we must remember to guard our hearts. But, I hardly think a one-day lesson on Marxist principles is going to transform a young learner into a card-carrying communist!

I feel as though in her efforts to protect her child from worldly thinking, she was effectually limiting his ability to discern. I think it’s important for kids to know what they believe and why. After all, they’re not going to be in the home forever. What happens when a young child who has never been exposed to other ways of thinking goes to college, where very intelligent and convincing atheist professors will no doubt attempt to undermine his faith?

As parents and teachers, we must equip our children with the ability to reason through concepts we don’t agree with in order to figure out why we shouldn’t agree with them. I would encourage you to discuss different political positions and even religions with your child. Let their curiosity run wild. Challenge them with questions like, “Why do you think people believe this?” and “What does the Bible have to say about this particular issue?” This will build a strong sense of discernment. With your guidance, your child will recognize why he has a Christian worldview. When the time comes for him to leave home, his faith will be unwavering.

By Mimi Rothschild

My eldest daughter doesn’t realize how blessed she is to be entering college in the twenty-first century. We have a pile of brochures and DVD’s from colleges that keeps growing, and the phone rings a few times a week. It’s not that my daughter is a brainiac, although she can hold her own in the classroom, it’s that she is a homeschooler.

Colleges are just beginning to comprehend the fact that homeschoolers are outstripping their peers on every academic level. Over the last few decades, we homeschoolers have come up against confrontation from the public school system. Colleges, however, have simply been a little wary. After all, each student is an investment. How can they ensure that their student body will be benefited by a homeschooled child? Homeschoolers were met with raised eyebrows and quizzical looks from all sides.

That’s all changing. A recent CBS News article confirms evidence that I’ve noticed over the last few years. Colleges are finally getting their act together regarding homeschoolers. When faced with an applicant pool full of apathetic public school grads who have no thirst for knowledge, homeschoolers with an innate desire to learn look very attractive. They are not just going to college because their parents are forcing them to do so. Rather, they have been prepared to excel in the college environment by years spent cultivating independent study habits.

As a result, colleges no longer see homeschoolers as a quirky anomalous question mark but as the cream of the crop.

A word of advice: take the time to prepare your children for SAT and ACT exams. Because colleges have no way of verifying the academic rigor of your child’s curriculum, grades mean very little to admissions departments. However, because these exams are standardized, the tests serve as a good metric to determine the capabilities of your child. In fact, it can be the defining factor in many cases. There are a variety of preparatory texts that parents can pick up in bookstores across the country. The MorningStar Academy offers an SAT prep course designed specifically for homeschoolers. You can learn more about it here.

Secondly, make sure your child schedules an interview with college admissions counselors. In an interview, your child can easily illustrate his or her experiences and abilities that are difficult to translate on paper applications. By clearly communicating, your child can also show admissions counselors that he or she is not a social misfit. Unfortunately, some still hold the inaccurate perception that homeschooled kids have trouble socializing. The interview can do a lot to put these concerns to rest.

By Mimi Rothschild

Did you know that October is National Gay and Lesbian History month?

Here in Philadelphia, area schools have made the declaration, going so far as to reprint the 2006-2007 calendars with October. Pioneers in gay and lesbian equal rights movements will be lauded, homosexuality will be upheld as a healthy, normal form of human interaction, and most disturbingly, guest lecturers are scheduled to be brought in to share with children about the struggles they have gone through in their journey to self-awareness.

Before I begin ranting against this practice, I would like to first say that I abhor the way many Christians have historically treated homosexuals. I believe we are to love the sinner, but hate the sin. If any good has come out of the gay rights movement, it’s that people are more understanding of the discrimination with which gays and lesbians have been faced.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’d like to illustrate the potential damage of this “celebration.”

James is a sensitive 12 year old boy. An artistic kid, James like to draw and paint. He doesn’t really like sports, and as a result, he sometimes gets picked on by the boys in gym class. Rather than face their cutting barbs, James prefers to eat lunch with the girls in his class. This only worsens the insults from the rest of the boys. They call him “sissy” and “girly” and James’s social anxiety magnifies. He doesn’t really fit in with anybody, so he mostly spends his leisure time alone with his drawing. Things aren’t much better at home. His dad was a star football player in high school and always wanted the same for his sons. His older brother seems to have inherited the athleticism of his father, leaving James an uncoordinated mess on the field. He doesn’t get much attention from dad. On top of all this, James’s body is changing and growing. His hormones leave him reeling with confusion and angst. One day, a man comes into school to explain what it means to be homosexual. James’s mind races, thinking, “Maybe this explains why I don’t fit in? Maybe I can finally figure out who I am? Maybe I can finally feel loved.”

Can you imagine how this might affect an impressionable kid going through the most confusing stage in his or her life? I won’t elaborate further; you get the idea.

Fortunately, some parents are taking action. According to a recent BP News article, Senita Watson, said she plans on homeschooling her second-grade daughter during October. She calls on other parents to boycott as well.

The MorningStar Academy welcomes all families who wish to take a stand against sexual immorality. Parents can be assured that their children will never be exposed to propaganda masked as history. Unlike school officials who have chosen to lie down to special interest pressure, our school is thriving by taking a stand in a wishy-washy world.

By Mimi Rothschild

I would like to open this post with a warning to all parents that this post contains material inappropriate for younger children.

That being said, I would like to address a serious issue that our teens face. I’m usually not one to look back at the not-exactly-halcyon days of the 60s with fond nostalgia. However, I don’t remember ever being confronted with anything this blatantly dangerous and damaging.

Parents need to be aware that our teenage children are faced with sex parties. These orgies are becoming vogue among kids as young as thirteen. A recent young-adult novel, Rainbow Party, details a specific type of sex party that I won’t describe here. Concerned parents can read more here. According to recent studies, over 70% of older teens have engaged in oral sex.

Another recent trend in the public school is the affectionately-coined “teachers gone wild.” These teachers, who have been entrusted with the safety of our precious children, have been arrested for hosing sex parties. Some of the teachers have gone so far as to supply the kids with drugs and alcohol as well.

The threat of STD’s has reached jaw-dropping levels. You can read more about the spread of STD’s here. Here are a few quick facts:

• It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the United States has genital herpes; yet only 1 in 10 realize they are carrying it and possibly spreading it to others.

• Roughly 65% of all STD’s occur in people under 25.

• 1 in 5 people in the US carry some form of STD.

• 1 in 4 people will contract a STD at some point in their lives.

• Hepatitis is almost 100 times more infectious than HIV.
• HPV is fastest growing STD in the US, with 5 million new cases reported each year .It is also linked to cervical cancer in women.

These facts may shock you, as they should. And what are public schools doing about these epidemics? They are throwing condom parties, teaching kids how to properly use a condom (complete with a banana visual aid). Schools are sponsoring seminars and lectures teaching kids how to have sex while avoiding common STD’s. Abstinence, the most surefire way to avoid such diseases (as well as emotional and spiritual damage) is usually overlooked or included as a bullet point afterthought on the back of a brochure. Perhaps the saddest reaction of all is the education of our young girls regarding how to go about getting an abortion.

All of this comes as a shocking realization to parents. The thought that their daughter may have already engaged in oral sex before they have had the chance to have “the talk” is both terrifying and heart breaking. Don’t let it happen to your child. Homeschooled children never have to deal with this peer pressure and you will never have to hear “Mommy, What’s Oral Sex?” Don’t force your child to cope with this kind of pressure. They deserve better.

By Mimi Rothschild

Most homeschool families are able to finish their schooling in just a few hours in the morning. By cutting out unnecessary study halls, lunch periods, activities, and games, homeschool children are usually done with their work hours before their public school peers.

But what should be done with all this extra time? Here are a few options:

Part-time job: My son works as a cashier throughout the school week. This not only provides him with some extra spending money, but he will have a few thousand dollars saved up to cut down on college tuition debt. The responsibility that is cultivated by holding down a part-time job will be useful during the transition into adulthood.

Apprenticeship: Does your child already have a specific career interest? Ask around to see if any friends or area companies would be willing to take on unpaid help. A friend of my daughter’s is currently working in a local library, gaining invaluable experience that will jumpstart her career dreams of becoming a librarian. If your child is interested in history, see if there are any museums nearby that are looking for volunteers during busy months. Even if they are tasked with mopping floors, this experience looks great on a resume.

Volunteer: The extra time granted by homeschooling provides children with the unforgettable and enriching opportunity to volunteer for an area ministry or charity organization. One of my children volunteers at a local drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center. My friend’s son works for a hospice center, spending time with the sick and elderly.

College Courses: If you have a particularly ambitious scholar in the house, enrolling in either community college or university courses can be a cost-effective way to enhance your child’s learning experience. Not only will your child learn more in high school, he or she will spend less time and money at college by knocking off a few required courses.

Whatever you do, don’t let your children spend their extra time loafing around with TV and cell phone conversations. There is a wealth of opportunity out there for high school homeschoolers, but you must motivate your students to go out there and grab it. You will appreciate the enrichment your children receive, and they will appreciate the benefits from having a well-rounded resume.

By Mimi Rothschild

Have you made your own noodles? After making the dough, one guides it through a mold, turning a mass of lumpy, distinct chunks of dough into uniform strips of spaghetti or some other noodle. I recently made a spaghetti dinner for my family and an analogy struck me.

When people homeschool, they usually factor educational needs, social needs, and spiritual needs. However, some folks overlook the benefits homeschooling brings in regards to personality and character development. Have you guessed where I’m going with this?

The way our public schools treat children is like the aforementioned spaghetti mold. It forces unmolded, unique children, each with something different and special to contribute to our society, through a series of molds. In the process, most of the personality and character is removed from each child. When students show any sign of independence, they are either medicated or disciplined. Interests are squelched as the pursuit of those interests is limited to a handful of mass-produced classes. The children come out of high school looking the same, sounding the same, thinking the same, and most unfortunately, behaving the same. In the end, we’re left with a bunch of wet noodles.

Homeschoolers, on the other hand, thrive in an environment that facilitates their development into unique individuals. Unique contributions are encouraged. Interests flourish as students don’t have to choose from a pre-selected group of classes. I have friends with children who are taking harp lessons, learning computer programming, and becoming experienced craftsmen, even selling wooden kitchenware and bowls!

I have often heard the parents of public school students voice concerns such as “How will they survive in the job market? Public school students will have an edge due to their common backgrounds.” Although this may be true in some cases, I have a different take on it. Public school prepares students to be middle management. In other words, public school grads are primed to thrive in jobs that require little of them other than punching in and out while maintaining the status quo. Homeschoolers, however, are being trained to be entrepreneur’s, CEO’s, and innovators of all kinds, pushing the boundaries of industry and technology. These are tomorrow’s professionals who will have no trouble “thinking outside the box” because they’ve been doing just that since Day One!

By Mimi Rothschild

We homeschoolers are academics at heart. As a fervent proponent of education, my biggest dream has often been to see my kids receive their college degree. I see it almost as a seal of approval on my own ability to homeschool. It means that I succeeded in preparing them for the rigors of collegiate life. But has this preparation gone to waste?

More students go to college today than ever before. One could assume that this means that our country’s young people are better educated and that the U.S. is poised to lead the world. Unfortunately, this reasoning is not unlike the push for higher minimum wages. By increasing the amount of students attending college, the academic standards across the board must be lowered to accommodate less prepared students.

This frightens me. The K-12 public school system has been fumbling for decades. Many colleges, even private schools, have to follow suit in order to maintain funding. A good percentage of students attending universities are indifferent to learning. Rather than giving them the boot and losing their tuition money, some universities have opted to cater to the apathetic underperformers.

Parents are still willing to pay outrageous tuition dollars to keep kids in colleges that do little to prepare them for that ever-boding “real world.” Consider the following, from a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor:

“Last year’s National Assessment of Adult Literacy found, for example, that less than a third of college graduates are proficient in reading and the ability to do elementary mathematical calculations.”

As tough as it is, homeschooling parents have to buck this trend and realize that not every child was meant to enter college. I know a young man who recently graduated from a top college. All he wanted to be in high school was a foreman on a construction site. His parents forced him to go to college. Although he performed well, he sadly lacked the motivation to pursue a white collar job and is currently working at the same fast-food restaurant at which he was employed in high school. College students across the country, even ones that do want to pursue white collar jobs, are forced to work as cashiers, baristas, and other low-paying jobs. All this, and they remain mired in crushing debt for years.

Parents, remember that college is one of many ways to achieve financial stability and occupational fulfillment. Pushing your unwilling children to enter college will not necessarily give your child the edge he or she needs to compete in the job market. Rather, pray with them. Pray that God will show them the path that they are to take. Don’t push your child into a university if he or she has no clue what she wants to do. There’s nothing more confidence-breaking than spending four years and $60,000 on a worthless college degree. I’ll leave you with one more statistic from the same report:

“Take a look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s 10 fastest growing occupations between 2004 and 2014, and you’ll find that six of the 10 professions do not require a four-year degree, and four of these call for no academic degree at all.”

It’s something to think about, parents.

By Mimi Rothschild

There are many different perceptions of homeschoolers whirling around in people’s heads. One is of a right-wing survivalist family-troop stocking up canned food in the basement while waiting for the apocalypse. The women all wear practical dresses and the men brandish shotguns.

Another is an image of wild-eyed bohemians who subsist solely on soy products and desire to get out from under the system. They avoid social security numbers, paying taxes, and name their children after celestial bodies.

It’s funny, as ridiculous as these stereotypes are, they completely overlook a steadily growing segment of the homeschooling population. When I mentioned the above stereotypes, did you picture any minority families? Probably not. Historically, homeschooling has been practiced predominantly by whites. Fortunately, that’s changing rapidly. Websites like The African American Homeschoolers Network and The Black Christian Homeschoolers Association have risen to meet the growing demand for online resources.

As this article in the San Francisco Chronicle points out, an increasing number of black families are pulling out of public schools.

“Although homeschoolers often are stereotyped as white and evangelical Christians, in 2003 about 9 percent of homeschooled students were black, and 77 percent were white, compared with a total student population nationwide that was 16 percent black and 62 percent white.”

There are several reasons for this mass exodus. Some families are unfortunately limited to under-funded schools in violent neighborhoods. Some left because they were turned off by the lack of expectations placed upon their children. Sadly, some public schools seem to view young blacks, especially young men, as lost causes. As a result, they can be get shuffled through high school and out the door with little effort made towards equipping them for real life situations. Furthermore, black students are three times as likely to require special education than white students, according to this article. Homeschooling allows parents to get their kids back on track.

Another common reason is the current lack of black history taught in the public school. Awareness of the rich African-American heritage can be vital for young black students. This knowledge teaches them that they have more to contribute to our country than slavery.

I, for one, am thrilled to see more diversity within the homeschooling world and welcome them with open arms. Blacks fought hard to achieve integration in public schools. It must be a tough mental decision to pull out after their parents fought so hard to win. Kudos to the brave parents who have recognized that the public school isn’t what it used to be. Please pray for our black brothers and sisters, that they might all realize the joys of home education.