Homeschool–it seems like a hot topic these days. More and more parents are turning to homeschooling, and the question is why? In this blog, I want to share my top reasons for why our family is choosing to homeschool.
- Including God and prayer into our schooling
- Quality of education: personalized, teacher to student ratio, academic choices, make your own schedule
- Keeping our children mainly influenced by our own family values (especially in those early years)
Including God and prayer into our children’s schooling is very important to our family. Yes, we could send our children to a Christian school, but that’s not the route we want to take (more on that to come). Praying, worship, bible reading, and having curriculum materials centered around Christian values is necessary in training our children up in the way of the Lord (Proverbs 22:6). Our children would not get those things in the traditional public school system, period. As a matter of fact, it’s been fifty years since God and prayer have been taken out of public schools. Most people wouldn’t even blink an eye about that in today’s culture. Look–how is the public school system doing today? Caught up in politics, not having the best interest in your children, and just a bunch of Godless state-run buildings housing 91% of enrolled K-12 students across the country, per a 2019 study. As a former middle school teacher, I experienced the highs and lows of teaching in both charter and public schools, which you can read about here. Ultimately, because we value raising our children in the admonition of the Lord, we’re choosing to homeschool so God can be talked about and prayer can be a focus throughout our day.
The second reason we are choosing to homeschool is for the quality of education that our children will be receiving. Again, as a former middle school teacher of five years, I know what goes on behind the scenes as a teacher. Of course I tried my best to give all the students I taught the best education, but when you have a classroom of thirty plus students they are unable to truly get the personalized learning experience that the schools tell you they are getting. I know that when I start homeschooling our children in the next couple years, that they will receive a better quality of education than what public schools are producing. Now, I must say, it’s up to the parent who’s homeschooling their children to put in the work and effort to make that happen. Putting your child in front of the computer at home to watch learning videos and calling it ‘homeschool’ isn’t going to produce quality education. You, the parent, are responsible for producing the quality of learning your kids receive. Along with the quality of education you can get from homeschooling the right way, you also have the freedom to so many academic choices: what subjects to focus on, how long your kid will spend doing that subject, and what books they read, just to name a few. Parents do not have a choice in what their child learns when they are sent to a traditional school. When you choose to homeschool, your child has a world of freedom opened up to them for true academic success. And I know what you’re thinking, well I wasn’t a former teacher like you, Vanessa, how could my kids be successful? A teaching degree doesn’t matter. All successful homeschooling requires is a parent who’s truly invested in their children, and isn’t that what being a parent is anyways? You know your children best, not the school system.
The last reason for why we are choosing to homeschool is a big one that I think gets overlooked these days. We want to keep our children mainly influenced by our own family values–especially in those early years. What do I mean by this? Children are easily influenced, much more than an adult. Their little minds are growing and molded by every experience, conversation, and relationship they have. We want to protect our children in these early years, so they are mainly influenced by our own families’ values. Some might think this is sheltering them, but I beg to differ. We’re intentionally choosing our children’s minds to be mostly influenced by us–the parents, specifically parents who are cultivating a Christ-centered home. It’s naive to think that a child won’t be easily influenced at school–or anywhere else for that matter! The bible tells us that foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15). Sure, we could send our children to public school, but how would that affect their heart posture and attitude when there’s no prayer, no worship, and no talk of God throughout the day? Our children need to be soaking that up every chance we can give them! Even at a Christian school, you don’t truly know what education your child is receiving. Praise God that there are Christian schools out there and God is able to be in those schools. BUT, only when parents are homeschooling hands-on will you be able to know all what your child is reading, talking about, and engaging in on a daily basis.
And lastly, as the parents, we know that ‘we can’t protect our kids forever’–but would you send your child into a battlefield without the proper armor and weapons first? Why willingly give your child the opportunity to fall when you have the ability to keep them safe? We are told to train up our children, and that is not an easy task, as most parents know. We want to equip our children with biblical strength, so they’re wearing the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-19) as the adolescent years go by while we’re slowly preparing them to live on their own one day.
And in closing this blog post, I know that there’s always an exception. An exception to children attending public school, but still being strong in their Christian walk. My husband for example! Public school didn’t negatively affect his faith, but did his education grow his faith? Not in the slightest. That’s the difference with serving our Lord Jesus Christ and home educating your children, versus letting the public school do it. Thanks for reading, mamas, sisters, and friends! Be blessed.
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