Persuasive Essays

My two oldest children had to write persuasive essays. They had to pick something that they wanted to persuade me to let them do. I was ready for topics such as why they should have dessert for breakfast, or something like why they should stay up late. However, that is not what I received. RaeAnne's was very well written. She simply wants to go camping with the youth group this weekend. You may ask yourself why that is such a big deal. We usually embrace any activity with the church. Sometimes, though, that is the one thing that you can ground them from that will make a difference to their behaviour or attitude. This was the case with taking away camping. Her argument was that camping bonds the youth group tighter together. She also said she would be willing to pay for it. She said she has learned to be more responsible and respectful. On top of all that she said that she would be willing to go without watching Dr. Who and the Lord of the Rings movies for an entire week. That, people, is a sacrifice for her. Sometimes, she really makes me laugh out loud. Her essay did make me tempted to give in to her request. However, I value the lesson she needs to learn by not going more. Joel, on the other hand, attacked a heavier subject. He was arguing on behalf of going back to public school. He said that he wouldn't fight with his brothers and sister as much. I think his thought on that was that he wouldn't be home as much to fight with them. His second point was that he would have more friends. The third reason was that he thinks it is fun there. So, to counter his theories I asked him if he was, in general, in more trouble for fighting with his siblings now or when he was in public school. He admitted that when he thought about it, that they get along much better now. They are learning to work together on things by doing science experiments and studying together. I did not tackle the issue of friends. But, to be honest I believe it is something that needs to be addressed. He has friends now. His actual friends he had in school he still has. The only difference is that he isn't around those acquaintances that he was getting in trouble with. Simply being around people does not make them friends. As for "school" being fun...really? Is it more fun than homeschooling? Where would you learning more? He thinks he is learning more at home. So, after all that, he is actually more happy being homeschooled. He said he definitely does not want to go to public school for middle school. He says maybe high school. My response is that we will see. That is three and a half years away. I don't know what God will call us to at that point. I want to always be open to His will and His plan for our family. I have learned to never underestimate my children. They think deeper thoughts than we presume. They also can reason more than we give them credit for. I continue to see how God provides teachable moments all the time. I was able to have a fairly deep conversation with both children because of their essays that were just part of our language arts curriculum.