Ideas on raising successful kids who impact our country

Ideas on raising successful kids who impact our country

When I was a young girl, I scribbled along the white lines of a small American flag. Being only four or five, I didn’t understand that I was defacing the symbol of freedom for our country.

I learned the lesson quickly, for my ex-Marine father made it a mistake I wouldn’t make again.

At that age, I had no concept of being a good citizen. My family was patriotic, but it was a mostly unspoken pride. Proper flag etiquette aside, good citizenship was a given.

Though I am thankful for that foundation, being a good citizen wasn’t something taught. I wanted to take a stronger approach with my own children.

After homeschooling for a decade, I have struggled to understand my new role with two high school girls. I thought we’d settled into a nice routine, with them being self-sufficient and me serving as a facilitator and planner more than teacher.

It was comfortable . . . until last November’s election. The experience of witnessing our country as it chose a leader shocked me.  It felt as though we’d collectively gone to the polls without fully understanding the long-term ramifications of our votes.

But on the heels of disappointment, there came a delightful surprise. This election brought a renewed passion into my heart for homeschooling! My family is on the home stretch, that is true, but there is still work to be done together.

Parent and young adults. Not children exactly, but the future adults, the full-fledged citizens, of our nation.

We have the opportunity—no, the responsibility—to raise up informed citizens. To teach our young people an understanding of what it means to be a citizen of this great nation.

 Working success Out in Real Life

How do I practically apply this desire? How can I work toward this goal with my high schoolers? First, I am reworking our course plans to eliminate busywork. There will be a new focus in our house: understanding and truly grasping certain societal elements.

We have a stronger drive to implement these truths and skills before the kids head out as adults. Most of today’s high school kids will be voting in the next election. Let us prepare them well.

For our family, the following goals are taking shape:

Impart critical thinking skills

This has become an urgent necessity. Even if our goals don’t currently match up with our natural abilities, parents can work toward improving this situation as we work with our students.

We must teach our children to recognize false arguments, doctrines, and belief systems. If we are unable to determine the difference between truth and opinion, we are in danger of blindly following dangerous paths.

 Understand the opinion makers

Our children need a grasp of media bias, branding, and the power of words and images to shape our belief systems. They need to understand who shares the world with them. It is easy to live a life based on sentiments, songs, and happy memories.

Advertising executives understand this, and so do government parties. Ads, jingles, and pictures are geared to evoke feelings. The hope is that our behavior will be guided by feelings instead of facts.

It is necessary to be aware that we are being bombarded constantly with stimulation. And we are easily influenced when we don’t understand the intent of advertising.

 Understand our nation’s roots

We need a stronger foundational knowledge about our country’s past and what our nation is built upon. It doesn’t matter what scoffers say: the information is there and accessible.

Kids need to understand that they can do a little research and find the answers themselves. Organizations such as WallBuilders and others provide excellent resources about our nation’s history.

 Grasp biblical mandates

Our children need to know that the ways of God are still, and will remain, the best road for them. One biblical account that comes to mind is how badly the Israelites wanted a king.

They got what they wanted, and it didn’t play out well.

We can constantly find current events that are comparable to biblical stories. Find the parallels and explain them in terms that are relatable to teens. There truly is nothing new under the sun.

Gain a more thorough understanding of our political system

Everyone knows we have two main parties. We need to go much further than this in helping our children understand our political system!

Find quality resources that will educate your children on how our nation works.

Show them that our political system is a fabric of people and ideas, promises kept and broken, consequences and rewards. Paint these ideas as vividly as possible.

Strengthen their understanding of the privilege of homeschooling

Awareness that our rights must always be protected needs to be sparked in the homeschooling community at large. These rights are not permanently secured unless people advocate. HSLDA sends alerts out regularly. Sign up for them.

We need to discuss and understand that the opposition to this lifestyle is powerful.

We need to use the gift of home education to teach not only rudimentary lessons, but also our rights and responsibilities in this country.

We must make our students aware of the tremendous privilege we have of choosing this lifestyle and teach them why we need to be more involved as a community in preserving this heritage.

Our rights are not secure without advocacy.

 Making a Difference

I, like you, sometimes grow weary in this journey. Homeschooling is often a thankless job. Most days are great, and we love it.

But it has been easy to be a bit apathetic this year.

I now have a greater awareness of the power God has made available for us, and which our up-and-coming generation can wield if we all work with a firm image of what kind of citizens we want to produce.

Understanding patriotism

I want to encourage you to engage your children’s minds with an eye to the future and the country they’ll be part of; the choices and challenges they can expect. The job of high school parents shifts from teaching the basics of learning, to teaching the basics of how to be a good citizen.

A godly citizen. A leader—for even the shyest kid has a sphere of influence and a way to use it.

I called my dad again recently, and we had a heartfelt conversation about our country, what it means to be a good citizen.

“Being patriotic wasn’t something that had to be hammered into you,” he told me of his experience in the Marines. “You just feel it. The military service gave the expectation that you learn to pull your own weight. You don’t infringe upon others.

You do what is right. You play by the rules, whether you like them or not. We are members of a society. Being in the service showed us the outlook that we were part of a bigger picture than just ourselves.”

Civic responsibility

Having experience in small towns and looming metropolises, Dad has observed that it is more common in close-knit communities to have a sense of pride in your community. It is necessary to pitch in for the sake of all.

In larger areas, people are further removed from that sense of community. It becomes easier to think about “me” when there is a lack of that relationship that fosters giving.

Polls show that our country is divided on many key issues. The problems we face won’t be solved overnight. Even so, we are blessed to be citizens of a great nation, a unique nation.

Let’s raise our children with an awareness of the blessings they have received and impart to them an understanding of their role in the future.

God’s work can be furthered by informed, aware, and brave citizens who are willing to do their part in standing up for what is right.

Let’s raise up that kind of generation and see what God will do. 

This is an article I had published in Homeschool Enrichment Magazine (Mar/Apr 2013, Impacting Our World: Raising our children to be godly citizens in a nation at risk ). Whether you homeschool or not, as a parent I hope there are nuggets to challenge us all.