Case for Homeschooling - Exhibit 4

Time for another example of why my wife and I will be homeschooling our children. This one is about proponents of homosexuality pushing their agenda on to kindergarten children (yes, 5 year old children). This example comes from California (surprise, surprise!). I quote this article from the WorldNetDaily:

School holds surprise 'Gay' Day for kindergartners
Parents outraged at public elementary's secretive 'coming out' event
Posted: October 22, 2008 @ 9:34 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Some parents are shocked to find their children are learning to be homosexual allies and will participate in "Coming Out Day" at a public elementary school tomorrow – and they claim the school failed to notify parents.

One mother of a kindergartner who attends Faith Ringgold School of Art and Science, a K-8 charter school in Hayward, Calif., said she asked her 5-year-old daughter what she was learning at school.

The little girl replied, "We're learning to be allies."

The mother also said a Gay Straight Alliance club regularly meets in the kindergarten classroom during lunch.

According to a Pacific Justice Institute report, Faith Ringgold opted not to inform the parents of its pro-homosexual activities beforehand. The school is celebrating "Gay and Lesbian History Month" and is in the process of observing "Ally Week," a pro-"gay" occasion usually geared toward high school students.

The school is scheduled to host discussions about families and has posted fliers on school grounds portraying only homosexuals. According to the report, a "TransAction Gender-Bender Read-Aloud" will take place Nov. 20. Students will listen to traditional stories with "gay" or transgender twists, to include "Jane and the Beanstalk."

Some parents only recently noticed posters promoting the school's "Coming Out Day" tomorrow – celebrated 12 days after the national "Coming Out Day" usually observed on Oct. 11. When WND contacted the school to confirm the event, a female representative replied, "Yes, it is scheduled on our calendar."

When asked if the school made any efforts to inform parents, she refused to answer and said Hayward Unified School District would have to respond to additional questions. However, the district did not answer its phones or e-mails, and a voicemail recording would not take messages. "Coming Out Day" is not listed on the district's online school calendar.

Some of the parents contacted Pacific Justice Institute for representation when they learned the school was pushing pro-"gay" events for young children without warning.

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, said opponents of California's proposed ban on same-sex marriage, or Proposition 8, often say the measure would not have an effect on public schools – but this is one of many recent developments that prove otherwise.

"Do we need any further proof that gay activists will target children as early as possible?" he asked. "Opponents of traditional marriage keep telling us that Prop. 8 has nothing to do with education. In reality, they want to push the gay lifestyle on kindergartners, and we can only imagine how much worse it will be if Prop. 8 is defeated. This is not a scenario most Californians want replayed in their elementary schools."

Concerned individuals may contact Faith Ringgold School of Art and Science by e-mailing Principal Diana Levy or calling (510) 889-7399. The Hayward Unified School District can be reached at (510)784-2600 or by filling out the district contact form.

Don't think for a moment that this sort of this couldn't happen at your school! Let me throw this question out to you, considering how many of the proponents of the homosexual agenda seek to keep parents in the dark, how do you know it's not already taking place in your local government school!?!?

Case for Homeschooling - Exhibit 1

Our family and friends know that my wife and I have been seriously considering Catholic Homeschooling (and yes, there is a difference between Catholic Homeschooling and other forms of Homeschooling - a discussion for another time). Although we don't watch much TV in our home, yesterday my wife and I were watching a little bit of the news when we saw a terrifying story that reinforced our motives for homeschooling our children.

The news story very calmly explained how the local law enforcement officers were receiving special training in how to react to a school shooting situation like those seen across the country, the most notable likely being the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Using real children with masks on to protect themselves from the paintball shots, they ran through the halls in simulated scenarios. Interviewed children spoke of how scared some of them were even though they knew this to be a simulation. The officers spoke about the necessity of the training.

Now I don't doubt the need for the training. Columbine is just one example of many. I'm glad that law enforcement is taking the measures needed to prepare themselves for all sorts of hostile situations. But doesn't this news story miss a key point... that public schools (hereafter called government schools [1]) are now considered hostile territory with a very real threat potential that a fellow student could very easily kill our children for even the most minor of motives?

There are many underlying reasons why children are killing children -- far too many to go in to now. And while those reasons do need to be addressed with solutions, I would like to take this time to focus on the current situation and a response. To do this, let me put the current situation in other terms.

Although the likelihood of a school shooting is slim for most kids in government schools, I wonder how many parents would play those odds at Russian Roulette. Would any parent be willing to pull the trigger on a hypothetical gun pointed at their child with only one 1 bullet among hundreds of open chambers? Although the odds are extremely low that the single bullet would actually fire, would any loving parent be willing to accept those odds with the potential to injure or kill their child?

Until the needed solutions to the underlying problem of school shootings take effect, we still have the current situation which requires a more immediate response. One immediate response is to consider alternatives to placing our children in harm's way. And when it comes to the area of education there are alternatives! Homeschooling is the alternative.

When a family chooses to homeschool their child(ren), there is no need to expose the children to hostage training drills. Children don't have to wake up daily with a fear that one of their many fellow students is planning a way to kill them. Homeshooling parents don't have to worry that their children are going to be injured or killed. There is a peace of mind that comes with the homeschooling alternative. Unfortunately, many other parents with children in government schools have simply accepted fear as being part of their child's education experience. I'm sorry, but fear of death should not be part of the education experience for any child and I would consider it negligent of any parent to willingly expose their children to these hazards.

In time, we'll continue to discuss the case for homeschooling -- both the positive and negative reasons. This just happens to be one of the negative situations found in government schools which are driving over a million families in the U.S. to pull their kids out of the government school system and to educate them at home. If you're one of those families that have taken the leap into homeschooling, drop us a line or submit a comment to share with us your reasons for doing so.

FOOTNOTE
[1] So-called "public" schools is an inaccurate description of what they really are. If they were public schools, they would reflect the views of the public, including their religious views. In actuality, these schools reflect the secular, anti-religious views of the government.