Homeschool Blindspots

Reb Bradley recently wrote an article to parents, pointing out some of the areas that we clearly think we're on track with, but are often missing the hearts of our children.

The older our children get, the harder we have to work to keep communication unhindered, and their hearts fully ours.  When our kids are small, their responses to us are swift, loving, and forgiving.  The foundation of our children's hearts is easy to lay - training for obedience, discipline, and lots of hugs are the main materials needed to create a firm and reliable base for life.  As they grow older, and their God-given independent spirits start to emerge, WE as parents must put more effort, more time into them.  Unlike many other things in life, the job of parenting teens gets more involved, tenuous, and requires more deliberate forethought and action on our parts as time goes on.  Gone are the days of "Just obey Mama!" and "Yes, Daddy!", and here to stay are the late nights of talking things through, weeding out the ever-encroaching influences of the world, and doing all we can to prepare our children for life on the other side of the safety of our homes.

This article isn't just for homeschoolers.  If you're a parent, you need to read it!