Philosophy of Homeschooling, Emptiness of the Modern Home, and Countries With Slavery

I ran across a handful of resources that I wanted to let you know about as I found each of them helpful in different ways. 

5 Flavors of Home Educating

Home educating has grown considerably over the past year and many couples are thinking about homeschooling in the future. If you are currently home educating or considering it, then this 25 minute video may be valuable to watch. My wife and I are veteran homeschool parents of five. One of the questions we get regularly is regarding what approach to take and the differences in homeschool philosophy. This is one of the most concise, clear explanations I’ve found. If you are thinking about taking the dive into homeschool this fall, then this would be a great video to watch. Jen and I are predominately a hybrid of Charlotte Mason (we use a literature based approach) with a classical leaning. We have many friends who utilize a different philosophy than us and are thriving as well. Listen to this video and identify which approach may fit your family. 

Making the Home a Place of Purpose and Production

I found the article A Place to Eat, Sleep, and Watch: Emptiness in the Modern Household by Desiring God very encouraging and insightful. The author notes how changes in the industrial era impacted the home by causing a majority of valuable endeavors to be outsourced, which has greatly reduced the impact and value of home. Education, care of elderly, recreation, grandparents, discipleship, and business have all been outsourced emptying the home of people (extended family, school aged children, singe, and sick), productivity (home industry, education of children, involvement in community), and with all this, the purpose of the home as decreased. As a result, the home has become a place to eat, sleep, and watch shows. Being intentional to make the home a hub for people and a place of production will help to restore a sense of purpose.  

Countries that Still Have Slavery

I found this website sobering and helpful in creating perspective regarding the current cultural conversations happening in America. Today, over 167 countries enslave people, which impacts over 46 million individuals. The top countries include India (18.4 million), China (3.4 million), Pakistan (2.1 million), Bangladesh (1.5 million) Uzbekistan (1.2 million). These are real people in modern slavery. The current discourse in America about racial issues pale in comparison to the reality of what is happening in these other countries. While America is not perfect, we have made great progress that has not occurred in other parts of the world and the reason for this success in America is Christianity. If you would like to learn more about what countries have modern slavery and the numbers, click on the link above.