What "heat lamp" is on your baby chicks????

We have six baby chicks.  We inherited them at one week of age.  We were told to keep them under a heat lamp for six weeks, feed medicated chick crumbles 6 to 8 times a day, clean their box daily and give them fresh water often.  We were told that chicks die easily, if not nurtured properly.  The most critical thing stressed is keeping them warm, because their feathers have not grown in yet.  The cold will kill their fragile bodies.  After six weeks pass by and all their feathers have come in, we can transfer the chicks to an outside cage with chicken wire!  We were told that they should not be roaming free until they were a little older.  The chickens need to be safe from raccoons or cats and the enemy.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into!!!....This has been a challenge to say the least!  Managing these sweet little chicks is a  lot of work and dedication!  They are cute but also messy and  smelly!

Raising children is similar to raising chicks.  We as parents need to properly care for them.  We can't just throw them into the wilderness to figure out how to survive!  And the way I view home school is the way I view raising chicks!  It is my job as their parent to transition them into the real world.  I feel as though homeschooling is like the "heat lamp" keeping their minds and souls warm, tender and protected.  Homeschooling is our way of  getting their heart, soul and mind strong and prepared to grow their feathers and eventually cage free!  I don't view it as a way of isolating them and keeping them in a "bubble".  It think of home school as building a strong, solid foundation for my children.  Our home is a place where they are encouraged, inspired, challenged, disciplined and taught what matters most in this life!  I get to be a crucial part of helping them to choose good friends that will be their encourager, instead of being around children that would pressure them to make unwise choices at such a young age. I get to be their teacher and help shape their political world views on important topics!

I don't home school because of fear.  I home school because I feel it is in the best interest of my little chicks.  My husband and I get to be the "heat lamp" on them over the most important shaping years of their life.  We represent a safe place for them to grow feathers.  And when it is time...they will be cage free!
I know that home school verses public or private school can be a touchy subject.  I understand that there is not one way to raise wise, loving and obedient children.  I know that each family must do what they feel is best for their family.  I was in both public and home school.  I lived in both worlds growing up.  I also know that my home school years in junior high were some of the greatest years I had!  My family became my best friends!  I looked to my parents and sisters for spiritual advice.  I was able to grow stronger feathers  that prepared me for public high school.    I also believe that times have changed.  Times are tougher.  People are rougher!  Christian morals and beliefs have been watered down.  After helping in youth groups the past ten years, I see how much more challenging it is to be a teenager these days.  The issues they deal with are so much more than when I was a teenager. I can't even believe some of the problems they face in school today. 


So let us stop the  debate of home school, private or public school. Let us focus inwardly on what God is calling us to do as our children's parents.  The questions that we must ask ourselves are these...

What "heat lamp" is on my fragile little chicks?  Are my chicks warm and protected from the enemy?  Are they in a safe place to grow strong feathers?  Am I loving and nurturing them the way God has asked me to?  Or am I allowing my baby chicks to be "cage free" too early?