Mimi Rothschild - The Southern Baptist Academy Homeschooling Blog

By: Karlie Margaret Houser

As a young girl of only ten years old, my grandfather sat beside me on the backyard swing-set and told me a story that I still hold close to my heart today. The story was about a young man, a Pastor, who moved from his parent’s home to the streets of the big city. The Pastor was homeschooled, raised under a roof of God and was very close to his family. He moved when he was 18 years old to help support his family and “see the world.”

It took him several hours to get to the city with plenty of stops along the way. When he finally stepped off the bus, he realized that he was much farther than merely a bus ride from his hometown.

What he saw scared him. Prostitutes and pimps, drugs and drug addicts, crime and criminals; he stood and stared at everything he saw until a young kid ran up to him and kicked him in the shin. The boy wasn’t more than ten years old or so, but had the city life engrained in his very being.

The Pastor looked down at the boy, dropped to his knee and said, “Aren’t you going to repent?”

“Repent? What’s that?” The boy asked.

“Repent. Save yourself. Say you are sorry,” the Pastor responded.

With that, the boy ran off kicking trashcans down and breaking bottles all along his way until he was out of sight and could only be heard.

Not sure how to respond, the Pastor chased the noises of the boy and screamed at the top of his lungs, “REPENT, REPENT AND SAVE YOURSELF! REPENT, REPENT AND SAVE YOURSELF!”

He never caught the child, but ran for a solid hour up and down the street screaming at the top of his lungs. He did not say anything but those words, and eventually drew the attention of the vagabonds that surrounded him.

The following day he decided to run up and down the same street screaming his message, “REPENT, REPENT AND SAVE YOURSELF! REPENT, REPENT AND SAVE YOURSELF!”

Every day. An hour a day. The Pastor’s screams became known throughout the area as that of a deranged man who lost his marbles. He was the neighborhood joke. Never a hello, merely the subject of their taunts. Those screams lasted twenty years, every day at the same time a day, for an hour a day.

Like clockwork, the Pastor left his quarters and ran to the streets to spread his message. He never took a day off. Never strayed from his path. Never let the sneers of others bother him – and sneers there were, but not just words, he was also the target of rotten fruit, trash, and spit.

One day, about twenty-five years from when he first stepped off of the bus, a man in his early thirties approached the Pastor after he was finishing his hour long running chant. The young man met the Pastor at his front door.

“Why? Why do you continue your rant?” The young man asked.

“Because,” he said with a smile.

“Because you like the abuse? You like the trash? You like the stains of fruit that have piled up for the past twenty-some years? Had I known that, I wouldn’t have kicked you in the shin, I would have handed you an umbrella.” The boy admitted with the look of bewilderment engrained on his face. “Don’t you know that you can’t change this city? These people are who they are. They ain’t changing no matter how loud or long you yell,” the young man said with conviction.

The Pastor smiled at the young man and waited until the two were eye to eye.

“What makes you think I’m trying to change them? As much as I wish and pray, I know that they can’t change until they allow God into their lives and help them change themselves. As for me and why I run, I promised myself many years ago that I will never allow this city to change me.”

By: Mimi Rothschild

The civil war, also known as the War Between the States, is captured in our history books and our stories. Now your homeschoolers can get a little taste of it firsthand! Here’s a recipe that has been shared from generation to generation. It’s also a perfect early cooking lesson for your homeschooler!

Civil War Cookin’: Rumbled Eggs

RUMBLED EGGS
3 eggs
2 oz. butter
1 tsp. cream or milk
Buttered toast

Very convenient for a light dish for supper. Beat up three eggs with two ounces of fresh butter; add a teaspoonful of cream or new milk. Put all in a saucepan and keep stirring it over the fire for nearly five minutes, until it rises up like a soufflé; immediately dish it on some buttered toast and eat!

Adapted from Civil War Recipes: Receipts from the Pages of Godey’s Lady’s Book, Lily May Spaulding and John Spaulding, editors. Recipe from 1866.

By: Mimi Rothschild

Oftentimes, I am asked if homeschooled children fare the same as their Public School counterparts.

“Honestly, the answer is no,” I’ll say, as I wait for the smile of conviction to spread from the person’s face to my eyes.

Then, almost mirroring their glee, I politely explain a few of the facts I’ll encountered over the many years of being involved with homeschooling.

“For instance,” I’ll say. “Homeschooled children consistently score well on standardized achievement tests. The most comprehensive study shows a 20-30% point gap in favor of homeschoolers. For example, if the public school average is the 50th percentile a homeschooler will on average be in the 70th or 80th percentile.”

I’ll then explain that homeschooling is the fastest growing education sector in America, growing at a rate of 7-15 % per year. As of today, there are an estimated two million homeschooled children in the U.S., which is almost 4% of the school age population.

The conversation typically ends with both sides understanding the other, although neither of us quite sees eye to eye on the issue. I’m ok with it now, although it took me several years to accept it. Believe it or not, not everyone shares my beliefs about homeschooling. I know, I know, it’s not shocking to you, me, or the people asking the questions. But it’s true.

I’ll mix up my responses too. Sometimes I’ll say, “Homeschool graduates are typically more involved in community activities than the average public school student.”

Or, “Homeschool graduates are significantly more politically active than the average public school student.”

“Is that so?” I’ll hear.

“Over 74 percent of homeschooled graduates aged 18-24 voted in an election in the past 5 years. Compare this to a token 29% of public schooled graduates who voted during that same time period.”

But, that line of reasoning hasn’t gone that well for me either.

“Well, my little Abigail or Elsie graduated from Public High School last year and she voted.”

“I mean not to offend. I’m sure your daughter is very patriotic,” I’ll say as I backtrack out of the conversation that I was originally baited into.

I’ll finish with, “Ok, did you know that homeschooled students consistently win national geographic and spelling bee contests?”

“That I did hear somewhere.” Politely, we finally can agree.

It seems like everyone knows, and is ok with the fact, that homeschoolers are great spellers.

Feel free to e-mail me at Mimi@LearningbyGrace.org.