Learning to Lead in the World Today
Isn’t that why we homeschool our children?
My husband and I know what we want for our family. We have a deep and abiding conviction that our children need what we only can give them. I know they will not get it unless we get up early and plan and prepare and spend our days raising strong sons and daughters and teaching them our morals and the basics. We teach them to tell right from wrong and to resist deception in all its forms. And most importantly we teach them to teach themselves.
Helping our children to understand the others around us.
My son is a boy scout. He is part of a troop in our area and has fast friends and great adventures with the group. But he also has his fair share of frustrations. And the biggest surrounds a concept that circulates through scouting called “Boy-Led.”
My husband and I recently had a long discussion with our son about what it means to be “boy-led”. My son is frustrated as his troop leaders tell the boys that they are special because they are “boy-led” and yet he sees little evidence that the boys actually lead. (personally I have a problem with telling children that they are better than others as it leads to a false sense of pride without any commensurate achievement – but there you are…)
My husband pointed out to my son that none of the other kids in the troop are homeschooled. They are all conditioned to sit at a desk all day and be told how to learn and what to think.
We teach our children to be wholly responsible for themselves
At our home, in contrast, we supply our son with a weekly goal list based on coursework he helped me to design. He completes his work on his own schedule. He decides when to get up and when to go to bed. The only requirement is his presence at meals and at our daily group reading session; and that he does chores and helps when we need it. His life, now that he is his high school years, is his own.
A child who is responsible for himself learns to succeed
Where does this lead? Life and its opportunities excite my son. He approaches each new hurdle in life or learning opportunity with the knowledge that success is his responsibility, not mine or my husband’s. We still help and provide guidance when he asks, but he is really leading the charge.
A child that is responsible for himself also learns to lead
And that difference between how our son lives his life and what he must adjust to in his troop is what frustrates him. To my son, and to us, “boy-led” means the adults stand back and let the boys succeed or fail. This way they will learn from experiences and gain self-reliance. I think parents who do not homeschool are conditioned by schools and society. Many parents don’t know how to teach or guide their children without a take-home flyer or a parent meeting. Very few parents that I know who do not homeschool understand about standing back and letting your child learn to lead.
