The Ultimate Homeschooling Sales Video

I know this video from Michael Matt came out about a week and a half ago, but perhaps some haven’t seen it.  The opening segment in particular makes a good a advertisement for homeschooling as I can imagine – or, at least, an advertisement against the vast majority of public and private schools.

As you can see (and you are warned that the content, featuring a school principal shouting profanities and insults at children because they are pro-life, is definitely not family fare), the inmates have taken over the asylum.  Not that we didn’t already have ample evidence of that going back decades, but if anyone is wavering in their commitment to homeschooling, if anyone is unsure whether they want to go to the great effort of teaching their own kids, this video is something that should be watched.  Yes, this is something of an extreme example.  No, not every school has creatures like this.  But the vast majority of them do, and while those may not be as unhinged and confrontational as the man in the video below (who makes the connection between hatred of God, sins of the flesh, and hatred for one’s fellow man quite clear), they may be all the more pernicious and destructive for being more subtle in their approach.  The hard left has taken over the schools in every part of the country, and while many good individual teachers remain and some school districts have maintained some semblance of sanity, more and more, this is the norm, as is indoctrination, subtle and gross, into the Christ-hating philosophy of sexular pagan leftism:

That’s not to say that everyone is able to homeschool, or that it’s a cure all for dangers in raising children.  It’s not.  But I will reiterate what the formal parochial vicar at Mater Dei said repeatedly:  there is a hierarchy in the preference of children’s education, and it goes like this:

1. Homeschooling
2. Solidly devout non-Catholic parochial schools, typically evangelical protestant
3. Public schools
4. Catholic schools

This is by and large, big picture, broad sweeps analysis, but he had extensive argumentation to back this up, and I agree with his conclusions.  There are exceedingly rare exceptions to the above, especially regarding Catholic schools.  There are perhaps 2 or 3 in this diocese that I would rate as not posing a positive danger to children’s faith.  Public schools are charnel houses but knowing that it is possible to inoculate kids against danger, as it is possible to inoculate them against the errors pushed by protestants in their schools.  Catholic schools come out worst because decades of experience (and noted advice from such spiritual leaders as Archbishop Fulton Sheen) have shown kids from Catholic schools have the worst outcomes with regard to the Faith than any other option.  There seems to be something insidiously pernicious in being taught heinous errors from a supposedly trusted authority figure in an official Church-setting.

As I noted, there are exceptions, not everyone can homeschool, some are in particularly difficult financial or other situations that preclude it, nothing is perfect, etc., etc.  If you are not able to homeschool I’m sure you’ll do the next best thing and are doing your utmost within your means.  But I think I would be remiss in not exhorting those with young children who are contemplating schooling options not to very prayerfully, honestly search their souls as to whether homeschooling is possible for them.

I know the vast majority of trads already homeschool or are very favorable to it, but some folks still find the concept alien or intimidating.  It’s not as hard as you think, and there are myriad resources out there that help you out.  Even more, there are countless options for homeschooling, including solidly Catholic courseware and instruction from online sources like Seton or Regina Caeli Academy, which take most of the burden of instruction off mom or dad (but do carry a fairly substantial cost).  That’s not to say homeschooling is ever easy, but loads of people not inordinately blessed with intelligence, motivation, and education have done it and done it well.

But, like most things in life, this challenge of raising happy faithful Catholic children into Catholic adults can be done more than one way.  I happen to think homeschooling by far the best, but it is not necessarily the only way.  I had to put that caveat in so I don’t get lumped in with the mean ‘ol judgy McJudge Judge trad crowd*.

There’s a lot more in Matt’s video concerning the collapse of Christian civilization and the Church’s role in bringing that about through her own process of self-demolition, so watch the whole thing if you haven’t already.

*- a bit of an inside joke for locals who heard the same sermon I did a week or two ago.  The basic point was well taken, laity can go to excess easily in correcting/demanding certain standards of others.  But there’s a world of difference between advocating for a recommended course of action or practice, and condemning those who follow a different course.  Sometimes in a world of easily bruised feelings that distinction can be lost.  But people can also turn their preferences into totems and demand others do the same, perhaps to make them more assured of their own choices.  This is a difficult distinction and where to draw the line is very much a matter of prudence, not hard and fast rules.

Anyway, I’m obviously a hard-hearted jerk, this is how we treat bad babies at our house:

That’s right, puppy/baby jail.  That’s what happens when you’re not potty trained.  You both stay in there until you learn!  Nothing but dog food and water for the both of you!