Our experiment in Extreme Homeschooling

In the 6 years that we've taught our kids at home, they have always had outside teachers as well.  Every year there are plenty of "electives" that they take -- art, science, writing, P.E., and Spanish classes, not to mention Classical Conversations, dance, gymnastics, baseball, tennis, golf, archer, and violin.   Throw in some co-ops, children's church classes, and private tutors along the way, and I, as their primary teacher, was never the only voice they heard.

This past semester, by virtue of the fact that the only English-speaking school here costs $19,000 a year per kid, we were once again compelled to homeschool.  And this time, with the exception of a few art, tennis and guitar classes, we were literally home, doing school pretty much all day every day.

Before this trip, part of me was very intrigued and excited about the idea of our family being so isolated for a little while.  It felt very Swiss Family Robinson-ish.... getting to have my husband and children all to myself for months.  In my mind, I admit that I have often viewed the rest of the world as a potentially dangerous place, as if the brokenness and cruelty in it could harm my kids, and I need to be vigilant to protect them.

Well, if the world was a tennis court on which my children would stand, and the vicious sin of others were the balls being hurled at them at dangerous speeds, I have now discovered that sheltering them at home is no better. In fact, keeping them home all day is probably like trapping them in a racquetball court with dozens of balls of our sins ricocheting off the walls at them!

I used to think that if I could just sweep them all off to a lovely tropical island, away from the influences of the broken world, they would thrive, tanned, resourceful and wonderful  (and would cherish me as their mother, just as those handsome boys did in the Swiss Family Robinson movie).   But after this half-year, I can say that we have not had the effect we wanted.

Turns out the sin within is not any prettier than the sin without.

So, we will soon be off the island and rejoined with the rest of the world, and our children will surely be happy --and benefited by-- hearing some new teachers and perspectives.  I'm still thankful that we had this time;  vacations are good and sabbatical-retreats are wonderful.  But I'm glad we'll soon be back with the other voices that influence us.  This rather extreme experiment has banished any remaining dreams I had that a familial-unit island -- for the long-term -- would be paradise.

Now I know....  the Swiss Family Robinson effect is only in the movies.

(How did their clothes stay so nice without a washing machine??)