There is an alarming trend among homeschool families today to devalue the importance of excellent academics. More and more in the forums and conversations I witness, Moms are talking about how they aren’t worried about getting their kids into college because the trades are where it’s at anyway. Before you run away, I fully support the importance of the trades. But, let’s talk about the importance of college prep classes, no matter which path you think your child might take.
This Future is not Yours; It Belongs to God
I think as parents, and as young adults, we think this is our choice. As Christians, we need to prepare for a life of service and give our lives to Him. It’s not our choice. It’s God’s. He orders our steps.
Psalm 37: 23
The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.
Even though God is establishing our steps, we need to do everything with excellence, and that includes our studies. To the very best of our ability, students should work hard to understand academics because it opens up paths of service that might otherwise be closed to us.
A Solid Foundation Sets Everyone Apart in Today’s World
- Even if your child decides to pursue a trade, which I believe is a noble pursuit, having college prep classes during their secondary education will set them apart from their peers.
- Learning to study in these formative years when education is more attainable than at any other time of life keeps open the possibility of college in the future. Even if your child waits five or six years and then decides to pursue higher education — maybe even to help in his trade-based career — he is going to need to provide a high school transcript or start at the community college level.
Do Everything As Unto the Lord
There is an argument to be made that your student is not capable of more difficult academics. I submit to you the life of Temple Grandin. A doctor of animal science, an author, a speaker, and someone with autism who’s parents were told to institutionalize her. You can read about her many accomplishments here. While Temple Grandin is not a Christian according to Wikipedia, she is an excellent example of a person with significant learning challenges who overcame great difficulty to pursue excellence and ignore the limits imposed by others.
As parents, our job is to give our children the tools to pursue excellence in their calling, no matter what that calling may be.
