Homeschooling- A New Beginning

I must back up to early 1987. A good friend gave me a copy of Dorothy and Raymond Moore’s, Home Grown Kids. My friend was sold on homeschooling and it didn’t take me long to join her. Lane was 4 and Nathan was just 2.

The homeschooling movement really began to flower as conservative Christians began to hear about it and realize that it was an option that promised a better protection and preparation for their children. I was caught up in that beginning fervor. Tim and I were praying for the Lord’s help and guidance and we clearly were being shown the way and we were ready to start the journey by taking the road less traveled. From the beginning I sensed God’s hand upon me and I knew that this was to be His work. That has always been a great comfort when I have faced difficult days with the children especially when I feel inadequate for the task. Then after crying out my frustrations, I just end up turning it over to Him and pray, Lord, this is your work. Help me! Work all things together for good. Take my sin and remake me for your glory. This was our foundation, our beginning.

My husband and I have homeschooled our five children for 23 years and now that it is over, I realize that I have learned as much or more than my children. Not only have I learned the subject matter that we studied together, but I have learned much about finding the right homeschool program and about fitting teaching methods to the needs of my children.

If you have made the decision to homeschool your children, then without a doubt, you will desire to give your kids a first rate education. There are so many of excellent homeschool programs, but because there are so many available, how do you choose the perfect curriculum for your child? From a family perspective, a top rate education should also take into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of your child as well as how he or she learns most easily.

This personalized approach builds a solid foundation for future academic success, but that is not all. As a homeschool parent, you will have the option to include religious values with your daily lessons, an essential addition that will provide your child with a spiritual foundation. 

For those who are interested:

I started a website in 2008 called Best Homeschool Buys. The purpose of the site is to connect homeschooling families to affordable homeschool curriculum. In most cases, the many offers for sale on eBay are from other homeschool families.  You get curriculum for a great price and they get money to invest in next year's curriculum.

Common Stereotypes about Homeschoolers

This is a portion of an interview from May 2007. I was interviewed by a college student for her paper comparing homeschooling benefits to traditional schooling benefits.

What are some of the common stereotypes about homeschooling?

My Answer:

There are negative and positive stereotypes:

Negative:

That they are out of touch with the world.

That they are poorly educated.

They have no social life.

“What do you do all day?”

OR positive

That they are all super smart

Or that their Mom teachers are super smart and capable

I hear both.

Why? Our Reasons for Home Schooling

This is a portion of an interview from May 2007. I was interviewed by a college student for her paper comparing homeschooling benefits to traditional schooling benefits.

Interview Question #2:

What made you decide to homeschool?

My Answer:

Our primary motivation to homeschool was love for our children. As Christian parents, we take our God given responsibilities seriously. The Bible teaches in Deuteronomy 6 that parents are responsible for the teaching of their children:

We cannot obey God’s command when our children are away most of the time. They need to be with their parents most of the time, gradually going away more and more as they grow older.

Also, the Bible and prayer are basically prohibited in state schools and have been replaced with relativistic morality, evolution, and lack of discipline & excellence.

We felt compelled to teach our children God’s truth revealed in His word, the Bible. First and foremost, we desired to teach our children godly character and the way of salvation. Secondly, that all the academic subjects start in the scripture, which gives us the correct way of interpreting the world and the natural law. Additionally, we desired to strengthen our family by learning and playing together and having time to do it.

Social Life Favored by Homeschooling

This is a portion of an interview from May 2007. I was interviewed by a college student for her paper comparing homeschooling benefits to traditional schooling benefits.

Interview Question #1:

How has homeschooling affected your children’s social life? Would you say that they don’t have as many friends as they would have in a school situation?

My Answer:

They might not have as many acquaintances, but I am confident that the quality of their friendships is superior. They have never had any trouble making friends and have never expressed a desire for more associations than they have. We have moved quite a bit, and they diligently keep in contact with their friends in various places as well as making friends at church and home school activities everywhere we live. School is not the only way to meet people. Actually, school separates young people into age groups and is not natural. Our children actually have a wider range in their social life. They have many opportunities to relate to all age groups: babies, toddlers, young children, young adults, parents & adults, as well as older people. They are not separated out from the mix of people, but enjoy sharing activities and being with all kinds and ages of people. In school, young people almost exclusively have their friends from their own age group & grade. This just doesn’t promote good social skills. It rather promotes peer pressure (which usually has negative effects) and a lack of understanding of people from other age groups. A definite advantage of their “social life” is that they began relating to the adult world at an early age, desiring to be mature. They generally did not relate to the adolescent angst, but rather related to their parents, family, and church.

Teach Your Children Well

Homeschooling is a misnomer. This term developed because the beginning home learning movement needed to inform the authorities and the doubters that we were teaching our own children. The world’s understanding of teaching and learning includes school. So now as then, an increasing number of families are homeschooling, but their teaching rarely resembles traditional school and for the early grades, home school may look like play and family togetherness. 

When you walk by the way...

Our goal is not to have school at home. It is to live life according to God's commandments. As parents, that should be our number one focus everyday. Learning the Truth and learning about our created world is naturally part of that.

We should not try to have a school in our home. Traditional school is not even biblical. Even so, every day there are hordes of children going away from their parents and families to be taught inside a room by a stranger? So how does God expect children to learn without school?

The answer is exciting to read because it is so simple:

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in you house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.           Deuteronomy 6: 5-9

So that is God’s foundational commandment for teaching children and also the most important truth that must be a part of all that they learn, to love God and understand the world through His revelation.

After 24 years of teaching our children, I enjoy sharing with other families that teach their own. I invite you to visit my how to homeschool website.