At the start of the year, I find it helpful to remind myself why I homeschool. I tend to doubt our decision every year, sometimes I doubt my own ability to teach, sometimes I worry about social aspects, sometimes I’m just lazy and the thought of getting it all together is just overwhelming. This year I really decided to step it up and commit myself to this journey. Please understand this is really more for me, so that when I have a bad day at school, I can look back and remind myself why we’re doing this. (Disclaimer: I understand everyone has their own reasons for their schooling choices, these are OUR reasons for homeschooling, please keep comments respectful.)
1. God. This is the number one reason: I am called. Really I could stop here. I remember about 7 yrs ago after being newly saved we found ourselves at a marriage bible study. The couple leading the study homeschooled. As soon as I walked in and saw their room and all the fun stuff, and how awesome their family was I proudly stated “I WANT TO HOMESCHOOL!” She politely reminded me that maybe I should have some kids first ;o). Well, God clearly took care of that for us, blessing us with 4.
So starting with the Word, though I tried to deny it at first, I believe the bible lays it out plainly for me. Ephesians 6:4 states: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Deut. 4:9 says “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Deut. 6:5-7 says “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
This last one stuck with me because I wondered to myself, how am I to teach my children when we sit at home, when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up if they are gone all day long? How can I hide God’s word in their heart if most of the opportunities happen when they are at school? How can I truly impress upon their hearts if I only see them at dinner and at bedtime?
2 Cor 10:5 says “…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” How can I make sure they learn to bring every thought captive to Christ if they are spending 80% of their day with someone else?
Isaiah 38:9 “The father to the children shall make known thy truth”
Luke 6:40 states “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Which teacher do I want them to be like?
And finally, Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” I had to let go of preconceived notions of what I thought homeschooling looked like and realize that I do not answer to this world, but to Christ.
Again, it came down to time: how can I teach my kids if they are not with me during the everyday ordinary comings and goings?
2. Opportunity: The opportunities for spiritual, character, academic, social, and family time when homeschooling are AWESOME! I truly believe the traditional American family is disintegrating. Its too easy to get caught up in the business of this world, running from one activity to the next … or whatever takes up our time…(blogging, LOL!) We can become so busy running around we forget to actually spend time together. Homeschooling affords our family the precious commodity of time. Time spent together, and frankly that’s really what our kids want from us, our time. It breaks my heart when I hear people say they can’t wait for school to start again, as if their kids are burdens. I sometimes feel that if my kids were in school I could get so much done! But I’m quickly reminded that ‘me time’ isn’t in the Bible, well it is, its just referred to as ‘selfishness’. Then I am reminded how quickly time passes, and how few years we have our children with us before they move on to their own lives. If the average person lives say 85 years, then the 18 years our kids spend with us is less than 1/4 of their lives. I don’t want to look back and think I didn’t spend enough time with them, and 3 hours a day just isn’t enough for me.
3. Academically speaking homeschoolers typically rate 37 percentage points higher than public school students. The average homeschool 8th grade student performs four grade levels above the national average (Rudner study). At home, I can make sure we have mastery of subjects, go at the right pace for each child, have one-on-one (not one-on-twenty) teaching, and I can tailor my curriculum to their needs.
4. Social: So that leaves me with my social reservations. I still struggle with the idea of this sometimes, and we have debated it over and over. I think I misunderstand the word socialization as that the notion that spending time with 30 other 6 year olds is in some way ‘socializing’ my child. I read in an article by Manfred B Zyskthis comment: “Go to your local middle school, junior high, or high school, walk down the hallways, and tell me which behavior you see that you think our son should emulate.” LOL! I looked up the word ‘socialization’ and found some disturbing things. I do not want to ‘convert or adapt my children to the needs of society’. I do want them to be able to function in our society, but that does not mean they need to be assimilated into society like the Borg. We are in this world, but not of this world.
I do think they need to spend time with friends, and we have committed to making sure out kids are involved in enough ‘outside the home’ activities like sports, dance, church, and homeschooling co-ops that we are confident that the amount of time our kids spend with others their same age is appropriate. Not to many activities though, we still focus on our family time as a priority. I hear so many homeschoolers say that they over-socialize.
Considering my opinion means nothing, we have to ask ourselves what the bible says about socialization?
Proverbs 22: 24-25 “Do not make friends with the hot-tempered, do not associate with those who are easily angered; or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.”
1 Cor 15:33 Do not be mislead: “bad company corrupts good character.”
5. Our Goals: We asked ourselves “What do we want our children to look like when they’ve finished their formal education? In Luke 2:52 it says “And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men.” We want them to learn to trust in the Word of God, to have it hidden in their heart. We want to train them in the way they should go, so it may go well with them. We want them to be healthy, confident, and to know they are beautifully and wonderfully made. We want them to keep their childlike faith, and we want them to be a light in this world. We want them to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks [them] to give the reason for the hope that [they] have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Pet 3:15) We want them to be confident, to have good manners, to be compassionate, to be respectful, and to be humble in spirit.
That’s a tall order for a teacher, and frankly I’m not sure they’d be able to comply at our local school. Honestly, I’m not sure I can do it either, but I’d rather trust God to work through usthan leave it up to a stranger.
Lastly, and on a more selfish note, we can protect their innocence a tad longer. We don’t have to deal with peer pressure, my kids haven’t watched Harry Potter, they still like Clifford and Curious George. They don’t wear suggestive clothing or makeup because everyone else does, they don’t beg me for a wii or an iphone, and they don’t look down on their younger siblings because they aren’t cool anymore. We don’t have to worry about car-pool, unhealthy lunches, or bad teachers. And my personal favorite, we don’t have to get up at 6am everyday to get out of the house for school! (This alone is enough to keep me homeschooling!)
Well that’s it, my ridiculously long blog post about why we made this crazy commitment, and why we’ll stick with it, for this year anyway…
What an incredibly well-written and thorough explanation of your family's decision to homeschool. I'd like to print it out and have it screen printed on a t-shirt so I don't haven't to go through the whole homeschooling explanation everytime we're in public between 8 and 3 on a school day! Thanks for sharing that…
Hi, I'm a new reader.
I'm glad I was introduced to this blog. This was very well written and I'm truly inspired. Thank you for taking the time to put this out there.
Excellent post! I did this myself in 2005 ( http://preparingforrain.com/2005/09/why-we-homeschool/ ) and I refer back to it every time I wonder just why I homeschool. It has been a great motivator for us to remember why we started homeschooling in the first place! I think every homeschooler should do this.
Thank you for this post. I feel very much the same, though can't articulate it as well as you have! So, I may be referring back to this on those challenging days when I need a "pick-me-up" or a reminder of "why on earth?" I'm homeschooling…lol
AWESOME! This was SO well written! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to write all of this out. What a wonderful post. I'm bookmarking it
This is awesome. I agree with you in all this and you really did a great job in explaining it.When it comes down to it It's all about the word of God. It's great.
Well written! What a fantastic idea to ask yourself why you homeschool at the beginning of each year. Although we haven't officially started yet (my daughter is only just about to turn 4), I can see how sometimes I'm "on a roll" and looking up tons of activities and learning experiences and other times, it's just another to-do list item. Thank you for "keepin' it real" when things aren't always going as planned!
Well written! What a fantastic idea to ask yourself why you homeschool at the beginning of each year. Although we haven't officially started yet (my daughter is only just about to turn 4), I can see how sometimes I'm "on a roll" and looking up tons of activities and learning experiences and other times, it's just another to-do list item. Thank you for "keepin' it real" when things aren't always going as planned!
I just want to say that I love your blog and you inspire me in so many ways!
This is such a well written explanation of why you homeschool. I agree with it all! I think I will be posting many of those scriptures on the wall in our homeschool room to remind myself why we are doing this!Christi E.
That is a great description of why to homeschool. I am a public school teacher and I can tell you right now that when I have my own children I would rather homeschool. I would hate for my children to conform to what is happening in public school.
I am new to your blog and my husband and I are considering homeschooling. All the points you hit on have been the catalyst for this decision. Thank you for speaking the truth and enlightening me. It is very overwhelming at this point to sift through all the curriculum literature and websites. How did you narrow it down?? Thanks for any input you may have.Shelley
Shelly, I have a post on getting started, hope that helps answer some of your questions:http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/tag/getting-started
I just found your blog and love all of your ideas. I am LDS, and agree wholeheartedly with your scriptural references as to why to homeschool. We only have our children at home for such a short time, and we have a lot to teach them before that times ends. I don't currently homeschool (we live in Puerto Rico temporarily and have our son enrolled in an all spanish private school) but I do try to work with him after school and with our toddler during the day. We try to have family night once a week and nightly scripture study and prayer, but your blog inspires me to do even more! I love your ideas and can't wait to implement them in my home and incorporate more gospel centered teaching as well. Thanks! Julia
Thank you for your honesty… This is my first year homeschooling and I struggle day to day.. I LOVE spending the time with my kids but some times I do not feel like I am enough.. Thank YOU for your blogg!!!
Love your blog. FILLED with great stuff! I am a new homeschooling mom, and I am filled with excitement about our upcoming journey. I, too, made a list of our Reasons for Homeschooling…and once I 'come out of the closet' to all of our immediate family about our choice to homeschool, I will post my list. I really enjoyed every aspect of your list as well. I am guessing I will need the encouragement, and often, of remembering why I made this choice!I thought of another great verse for you to add to your list of verses under Social, for the flip side (you know, that elusive and impossible thing called Balance!): "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching." -Heb. 10:25Anyway, your list was an encouragement to me and our newest gutsy choice to say yes to God's nudging. Thanks!!!
Thanks. I have been homeschooling for 2 years and you have inspired me to add this to my blog (currently under construction). It would be great to have this to refer to each year…and on those tough days. LOL!
Thank you so much for this! I hope to promote myself to homeschooler soon but my husband does not see it as I do. His biggest reservation, though I'm sure he has many, is socialization. Prayer and the word of God will hopefully change the lens through which he looks. Thank you for heeding God's call on your life! I can see it is inspiring many!
I agree with every reason you stated, I love it! Coincidently, I just wrote an essay for my college english class portfolio on this exact subject. (http://crispspreschool.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Homeschool%20Choice)My children are still preschool age, but I am "practicing" for the real thing next year. It's fun and I am excited. Glad I found your blog. Thanks for your hard work to help the rest of us that have no idea what we're doing!!
Lovely family. You have a beautiful heart and I will look forward to reading more of your blog. As a new homeschooler I need to be reminded that I was called to this journey no matter what obstacles are thrown my way!I will follow
I just read your reasons for homeschooling and felt like I was reading my own words on someone elses page. You expressed exactly what my heart is feeling. These are the same reasons my family homeschools. Thank you so much for opening your home and letting us share your ideas and share in your faith. God Bless.
That explanation is exactly why we do this. Thank you for writing it down, you have inspired me to write my own, and i've realized that I need to be better about "knowing" why we homeschool so I can be better prepared to share it with people. Sometimes when people ask me why I homeschool I feel like I get that deer in the headlights look because there are so many reasons, how do you pick a couple to talk about in a reasonable amount of time without getting on our soapbox? Thank you for this blog! I know it must be hard, I can't even imagine homeschooling my kids and trying to keep something like this going, but you are touching the hearts of so many homeschoolers out here!
Well put! Many of these reasons are why I've been pulled toward homeschooling our kids throughout elementary school, but I haven't yet. I do homeschool my preschoolers though. Here's a post where I talk about why. http://theylendmetheirhearts.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-babydoll-wont-be-going-to-regular.html
This post made me cry…. and want to shout, YES!!! but my kids are in bed already.
oh, erica, this is precious. priceless. TRUE.i have been on the homeschooling journey for NINE(gasp!)years now if i count that year of "preschool" that i did/didn't do. . . we had three four and under at that point and i was CLUELESS.your scripture-filled post has encouraged MY heart this morning, and let me encourage you that you are RIGHT-you are standing on the Rock of His Word, and it will be GREAT.
home educating got SO much easier once i finally decided(around year six after my kids were IN p.s. for a year–horrors that i am STILL finding out about)WE ARE IN HOMESCHOOL FOR THE LONG TERM.what a relief. no more "keeping up" with false standards of success, no more worrying about whether they will be able to "make it". . .God takes care of His children.Blessings to you and your sweet little brood!btw, i am using your chore chart now–for the second week. the kids like it, I LOVE IT–you have a gift for visually organizing things that WORKS for me. THANK YOU.~april