Following the canons and traditions of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, together with the encyclicals and allocutions of the Popes, we homeschooling parents are those who teach their own children every branch of study within our own homes, which the Holy Father Pope John Paul II calls "the domestic church." We accept and respond, in a special manner, to Holy Mother Church's admonition to "beget and teach children physically, socially, culturally, academically, morally, and religiously" and do so "according to the teaching handed on by the Church." (Canon 226.2)
We heed the Holy Father, who, in his "Letter to Families," expressed the Church's teachings to us most succinctly when he said, "You are educators because you are parents."
Because we understand that "Christian education takes in the whole of human life, physical and spiritual, intellectual and moral, individual, domestic, and social...." as stated in "Christian Education of Youth," and because we obey the Church who tells us that parents are, indeed, the primary educators of their own children, we personally educate our children in the following ways:
Spiritually: By strengthening our families in the Faith, homeschooling parents transmit its truths by personally catechizing our children by word and example and by preparing them for the reception of the Sacraments. Because the Faith is "the foundation and crown of our youth's entire training," as expressed in "Christian Education of Youth," homeschooling parents emphasize that growth in the faith is a life-long, personal task, one that begins with the reception of the Sacraments.
Academically: "Religion must permeate and direct every branch of knowledge..." ("Militantis Ecclesia") With a deep respect for Catholic tradition which has set the standard for educational excellence, Catholic homeschooling parents strive for the highest academic achievements by our children. We instruct them in every field of knowledge - history, mathematics, science, literature, and culture - within the context of the truths of the Catholic Faith.
Socially - We take special heed of the words of the "Declaration on Christian Education" of the Second Vatican Council: "The family is, therefore, the principal school of the social virtues which are necessary to every society." Through God's help, we educate our children to grow "in wisdom, age, and grace" so they may take their place in society, ideally prepared for their future lives as Catholic adults.
We thank God, Who, through the Sacrament of Matrimony, gives parents every grace necessary to joyfully accept, educate, and raise the children He gives us. In this way, we take heart and are "strengthened, sanctified, and, in a manner, consecrated." ("On Christian Marriage") We especially seek these graces at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist, and by the discipline of the Sacrament of Penance.
This document was presented by the Round Table of Catholic Home School Leaders, to the heads of various department of the Roman Curia in November 1995 at the Vatican.
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