From No Greater Joy – From Our Mailbox: Advice from the Oldest Hikers

Editor’s note: Notice I did not put the author. In NGJ magazine the author is listed as Monty Chipman, but the only reference to that name is a long defunct Facebook profile with exactly three entries. This could be a Pearl sock-puppet busy echoing the Pearl line of ‘Skooling? We don’t need no stinkin’ formal edoomakayshun!’ What do you think?

It is possible to do exactly what this author is suggesting and send your children to college after this type of homeschool education. I have friends who have done exactly this and their children have ended up at the University of Virginia or William and Mary at 16 and 17 years old. But, in each case, just like this case, the mothers have been highly educated themselves. In the typical Quiverfull family this just isn’t very likely, a mother with a basic education is not likely to be able to teach beyond her own educational level. Statistics and real life have shown that overwhelmed mothers with large numbers of children and little education themselves (think Michelle Duggar and Debi Pearl) are turning out young adults without basic skills that cannot develop careers.

We did not use a curriculum, except for math (we did have math books) and for learning to read (we used Sing, Spell, Read & Write)
Once our daughter could read (she was pretty good at it by age 4, and by age 7 she was really good), I took on the role of encourager/coach rather than teacher. Once a kid can read, they can learn things for themselves!
At our house, mealtime was “lively talk about history/science/whatever” time. She saw our enthusiasm for learning about these things and was able to participate from a young age.
We learned history backwards. We started with current events and asked, “How did this come about? What caused it or led to it?” History makes a lot more sense that way.
Science was another lively subject that we did mostly hands-on and talked about a lot.
COMMUNICATION was a major emphasis for us. As Christians, we should be able to speak and write articulately and effectively. So public speaking and writing were important in our home school. We also emphasized being able to TEACH someone else.
Our daughter pursued in depth any subject she was interested in. At age 9, she was using college-level books on these subjects. Note: She would be the first to say, “I’m no genius.” It was because she had the freedom to pursue ideas, rather than being locked into a boring workbook, that she could do this.
We are really into hiking and outdoors stuff. Our daughter did her first backpack trip with us when she was 3 years old, carrying her own little pack and covering 5 miles a day. I think that is important—so many kids are cooped up inside all day.
We wanted to see our daughter volunteering and serving. She served at church, the public library, and an AWANA club for kids.

I could say a lot more, but the bottom line is that when she was 14, she began to practice for the California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE). We never bothered with the PSAT or SAT. The CHSPE is by law the full equivalent of a high school diploma. She passed the CHSPE with no trouble, and began attending the local junior college, pursuing what she’d decided on for a job—computer programming and graphic design (she is a very good artist.) Eventually she transferred to a nearby university and received a large academic scholarship that paid for ¾ of the fees. She graduated summa cum laude, and now has a very good job in her field, plus she’s becoming known as a theater critic (theater was another one of her interests). She also goes to a local jail to lead Bible studies for women who are interested.
I would say, “Why bother with homeschool high school?” If you have been letting your kids dig IN DEPTH into what they are interested in, they will already be doing college-level work anyway. Don’t waste their time!

It grieves me to see high school age BOYS stuck at home with a bunch of books, but that’s what most of the homeschool families I know are doing. And then the moms complain about how their boys “just don’t focus” and “daydream when they should be doing their schoolwork.” Argh. I ask them “Why are you wasting your kids’ time with high school?” and they look at me like I’m crazy.

QUOTING QUIVERFULL is a regular feature of NLQ – we present the actual words of noted Quiverfull leaders, cultural enforcers and those that seek to keep women submitted to men and ask our readers: What do you think? Agree? Disagree? This is the place to state your opinion. Please, let’s keep it respectful – but at the same time, we encourage readers to examine the ideas of Quiverfull and Spiritual Abuse honestly and thoughtfully.

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