Homegrown Education & Tomatoes

“When you want to have a strong crop in the future, you often have to start plants in a greenhouse, allowing them to get a good root system established. Ultimately, your goal is to transplant them to the field where they’ll bear their fruit. But as they grow, that transition is a process. As they mature, you move them to a cold frame where they harden up and learn to handle the changing temperatures. They’re no longer getting all the nurturing they were in the greenhouse, but neither are they exposed to the full force of the harsh winds and the elements… They’re no longer children, and yet they don’t have the responsibilities of their own family… You don’t want to control what they’re doing, but you do want to influence what they’re doing.”
-Gregg and Sono Harris, quoted in One Million Arrows pg. 60-61

by Gretchen Glaser

As the old saying goes, “There are two things money can’t buy—true love and homegrown tomatoes.” And, I would add, a homegrown education.

According to the Center for Education Reform, in the last 20 years over 10 million Americans have reached the 12th grade not even having learned to read at a basic level. And 20 million have reached their senior year unable to do basic math. In addition to lagging academics, our schools are passing out condoms and providing sex education. This is not only condoning, but providing for, moral failure. As the report A Nation Still at Risk declared, “Intellectually and morally, America’s educational system is failing far too many people.”

It is in response to this failure that families across the country are returning to the old-fashioned homegrown way of education: teaching their children at home. We call it “homeschooling.” Why do we believe in homegrown education? Because of the emphasis on family, faith, and freedom.

First and foremost, home education keeps the family at the center. Homeschooling enables the parents to fulfill their God-given responsibility to raise their children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

The most-heard objection to homeschooling is, “What about socialization?” But for most homeschoolers, socialization is the least of their concerns. There are always homeschool groups and local sports teams they can join. However, homeschoolers as a rule tend to place less importance on socialization with their peers, and more emphasis on socializing with—and learning from—adults and others of all ages. For most homeschool parents would assert that they don’t want their children socializing with many of their peers—neither the druggies nor the “Christian” kids who have rebellious attitudes towards their parents.

My dad likes to say that a child is like a tomato plant. In the same way that a gardener keeps a tomato plant in a greenhouse, to protect it from the harsh frost and hot sunshine, homeschooling parents are keeping their children in the “greenhouse” of the home, to protect them from the negative peer influences, while they establish their roots in faith and family.

For you see, the second reason we believe in homeschooling is that it allows families to impart their faith—not the government’s public school philosophy—to their children. As Rabbi Daniel Lapin stated, “It is never ever possible to impart knowledge without imparting values.” And unquestionably, the values that most public school classrooms impart are not those of Christian parents.

Lastly, homeschooling gives parents the freedom to choose what they teach their children and when they teach them. It reduces the student-to-teacher ratio, allowing parents to tailor the education program to their child’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. And homeschooling does not give special needs children a lesser education: homeschooling gives them a very special education.

A common concern among educators is that most parents don’t have a teaching degree. However, the average homeschool student scores above the 80th percentile on standardized achievement tests, compared to the 50th percentile scores of their public school counterparts.

This leaves homeschool students asking, who better to teach me than my parents, who know me best and love me most?

Imagine with me for a moment what a homegrown education would be like for your family. You would have quality time with your children each day. You would have control over what they are learning. You would be able to instill your family’s faith and values in your children’s heart and minds.

While some feel they don’t have the time or patience to homeschool their children, is an extra income or an easier life more precious than our children? Most of us here today will someday be parents. I would ask you to consider what I’ve said, and think about who you want to be the primary influence in your children’s lives.

Haim Ginott observed that, “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” Will you take control of the impressions made upon your children? Will you let fall whatever may, or will you make the impressions of family and faith?

If you take the responsibility to “train up your child in the way he should go,” you will give your children a gift that no money could buy: a homegrown education, founded in faith, furrowed in family, and fertilized with love.