Heart of Homeschooling: A Pure, Clean Heart

This February, I'm featuring several homeschooling mamas as they share their "heart of homeschooling." I have Blessie Adlaon today. She is the mom of three homeschooled children and one baby . You can read her profile at the bottom of the post.

To read the start of the series, click here. Make sure to check back once in a while during the whole month for more. I hope this glimpse of our hearts inspires you to at least look into the beauty of homeschooling.

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When my first child was born, I remember singing to him this Barbra Streisand song, the lyrics of which summed up everything I want to say to all my four kids now:

If I could, I'd protect you from the sadness in your eyes,

Give you courage in a world of compromise,

Yes, I would if I could.

I would teach you all the things I've never learned,

And I'd help you cross the bridges that I've burned,

Yes, I would if I could.

I would strive to shield your innocence from time,

But the part of life I gave you isn’t mine;

I watched you grow so I could let you go…

This is the heart of our homeschooling: protection. We want to watch our kids carefully while they are young so that, like seedlings protected in a greenhouse, they can safely grow strong in their values and principles. When those are strong enough to keep their hearts and minds safe even without us, then we can let them go.

You may ask, “Safe from what?”

Fear of trash

When I was young, I learned a lot of things outside of our home that, looking back now, I wish I had never learned: I learned that “love is meant for beauty queens.” I learned that the majority wins, even if the majority is wrong. I learned that freedom is the supreme good. And the list goes on.

Today, I am able to see those teachings for what they truly are: garbage. The problem is that once garbage enters your brain, it is very, very hard to take it out again. It invades your dreams. It contaminates your values. It dirties up your life.

But I was a kid then. I did not recognize trash when I saw it. It looked good, so I swallowed it all up.

Oh, how I weep for my young self when I think of all the pain and shame and heartache that she had to go through because – in her unprotected naiveté – she had believed and swallowed so much of the garbage offered by the world. I will not go into detail; you all already know what garbage does – it makes you feel sick and very, very dirty.

And when I think of my children one day receiving the same harm from encountering the same trash, my maternal feelings rise with the ferocity of a wounded bear. “No,” my spirit shouts. “Never.” As long as God lets me, I shall keep my kids protected in the clean shelter of our home until they have learned to discern what is valuable from what is trash, truth from falsehood, good from evil – in other words, until they have learned things that I have not yet fully learned myself.

Fortunately, one does not have to be a champion to train a champion. With God’s grace I believe that I can raise children who are wiser, happier, cleaner than I have ever been: Their dreams will be sweet. Their values will be strong. Their hearts, minds, and lives will be pure.

And I believe it all begins by protecting them from the world’s trash. That is why we are homeschooling.

Blessie Adlaon is the mother of three homeschooled children and one baby. She works at home as a freelance writer and editor. She shares her experiences and tips about working at home and homeschooling in the Philippines at her blog, The Nanay Notebook.

Read the rest of the series: