Why I Home School (Part 3)

Don't get me wrong, I never doubted the Bible for a second. I knew what my parents told me was true. I know what I learned in church was right. I knew the Bible was correct, but how could I meld the two worlds together though without giving into the idea of evolution and millions of years or fit the churchy-biblical historical events in with what I was learning in history class at school? 

I couldn't. At least I never really sorted it out while in high school. I never realized that some of the historical figures we learned about in high school history class were some of the very same ones I learned about in Sunday school. I didn't understand how the dumb cave dwelling people fit in the timeline with the intelligent individuals (Adam and Eve) God created in the beginning of the world. I didn't understand a lot of things then :/

I was never taught apologetics or how to defend my faith. I recall disagreeing with some of my teachers on certain things, but how could I explain it to them as to why I believed what I believed other than saying, "Because the Bible says so." I guess I felt helpless in a way. I did not feel properly equipped. And I grew up in church! I knew every Bible story forwards and backwards. I could rattle off all the books of the Bible and win every Bible drill, but I could not defend my own faith against some of the lies I was being taught in school. Because of all this, I really didn't like history or science in school. I did well in the classes, but I didn't like or enjoy them...especially history...I really despised history.

I also didn't understand how I had teachers who professed to be Christians or who I knew went to church, but taught some of these lies to me or simply left God, the Bible, or creationism out of the equation all-together. Not all did this, but some did. Oh boy! I sure could get off on a tangent here about a few teachers who utterly destroyed their Christian witness not only with this, but also with their behavior, language, and actions in the school...but that's not what this post is about ;)

It's about discipleship and I wanted my kids to be taught and discipled by people who loved God and were not afraid to share the truth. I wanted my kids to be taught by people who were not perfect, but admitted when they were wrong and strived to be a good example of Christ and His love. I didn't want them growing up being confused. I wanted them to see through the lies of millions of years and evolution, understand not just that it was wrong, but why it was wrong. I wanted them to understand how Bible history fit perfectly in with "school" history.

Around the same time that the enormity of what God had called me to do in homeschooling my kids hit me, I was introduced to a curriculum called My Father's World. It had Christ infused throughout every subject. They were learning apologetics...and at such a young age! They were made aware of the lies out there and understood why those lies were wrong. They were learning how to defend their faith. History made sense to them...history made sense to me :)

I felt like I was back in school right along with my kids learning the way I should have all along...and I loved it! 

And for the record...history is my absolute favorite subject now ;)


***Now, if you do not homeschool your children, please do not get offended with what I have posted above. This is about my life and what God has shown me that I needed to be doing. I am in no way trying to tell you what you should or should not be doing with your own children, only God can do that. He has a plan for each of our lives and His plans are not always the same for each person.***

Why Do I Home School? (part 2)

I don't exactly know when my reasons started to change. I do recall speaking at an informational meeting about homeschooling several years ago and crying halfway thru because... I guess the enormity of this task God had called me to had finally hit me.

I recall telling everyone God knew why I needed to homeschool before I really knew why I needed to homeschool. I recall talking about a book I recently read called, Kingdom Education, by Glen Schultz.

It wasn't just about tailoring school to each of my children's individual needs, it wasn't about being able to pick out the best curriculum, it wasn't even about being able to slow down when things were hard or speed up when things were easy. It was so much more than that. 

It was about discipleship.

Bible verses like Deuteronomy 6:5-9, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" 

and Luke 6:40, "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher", flooded my mind.

I thought back to some of the teachers I had in school... I had some very good teachers, but I also had some very bad teachers. Did I really want my children trained and discipled by some of those people?!? 

More so than that...did I want my kids going through a school void of any mention of God?

This was a big one for me. I grew up in church. I was there every time the doors were open. I know what was taught in the Bible and I also know what was taught in school...and I was so utterly and completely confused.

More on this in the next post...


***Now, if you do not homeschool your children, please do not get offended with what I have posted above. This is about my life and what God has shown me that I needed to be doing. I am in no way trying to tell you what you should or should not be doing with your own children, only God can do that. He has a plan for each of our lives and His plans are not always the same for each person.***

Why Do I Home School? (Part 1)

This week, I have been thinking a lot about educational choices...the good, the bad, and the ugly for all the options out there. 

I then started zeroing in on the choice we made to homeschool 7 years ago. Wow! Has it been that long already?!? I started thinking about my reasons for homeschooling our kids and they have changed quite a bit over the years.

First and foremost, the desire or calling God placed in my heart to home school my children has been there from the very beginning and that desire is still going strong. Don't get me wrong, we do have rough days...days where we are all getting on each others nerves, days when nothing goes right according to the plan/schedule, days when I wonder what it would be like to have some time all to myself while my kids were away at school in order to clean, organize, work out, I don't know, just anything. All. By. Myself.

 My son was a very "eager beaver" when he was younger. He wanted to learn his ABC'S, learn to read, learn to write and more pretty much when he started talking. Having been an early childhood teacher before he was born, I had tons of supplies and curriculum stored in my cabinets at home. So, we started doing a few fun educational things at the house. He was doing a pre-K program by the time he was 3 and pretty much a Kinder program when he was 4. By the time his 5th birthday rolled around, we just could not see putting him in public school. He was already so far ahead and I knew he would have been bored. So, we started him on into 1st grade at the age of 5 and he is still going strong and will be entering the 7th grade this coming school year.

My daughter is just 16 months younger than her brother. Things were a little different for her. Oh, she loved to "do school" with her brother, but she was not as eager about it...lol! I started a pre-K program with her when she was about 4 and she moved right on into Kinder at age 5. She struggled some with the letters of the alphabet. She kept writing certain letters and numbers backwards and she'd even spell and read things out of order just enough to get me to start reading everything I could about dyslexia. One book in particular, The Gift of Dyslexia, really helped me to help her through those struggles. My daughter did not end up being dyslexic or anything, but the things I learned from this book were very helpful for her. She is doing very well and will be entering the 5th grade this coming school year.

As I look back, I remember being very thankful that I was able to home school my kids...my son, because we could move at a faster pace to meet his needs, and my daughter, because we could move at a slower pace to meet her needs. Because of this, I am happy to report that both of my children are very much ahead of where they should be age/grade wise :-D

Public school is one size fits all. I remember teaching in the classroom and feeling like there was never enough time to get to all 22 students each day. There was no slowing down for those kids that needed just a little extra time nor was there any speeding up for the others that needed a faster pace. You had a schedule to stick to and there was no wavering from it. Sure, you could ask the parents to work on the things they were behind in at home, but that was rarely ever done. You could sneak in a few extra minutes here and there to work one on one with certain kids, but there was never enough time. I am thankful that I didn't feel backed into a corner with my kids as I did with the kids I taught in public school. 

Somewhere along the line, things started to change for me; my reasons for homeschooling began to change...


***Now, if you do not homeschool your children, please do not get offended with what I have posted above. This is about my life and what God has shown me that I needed to be doing. I am in no way trying to tell you what you should or should not be doing with your own children, only God can do that. He has a plan for each of our lives and His plans are not always the same for each person.***

So why exactly is homeschooling so controversial?

This has been on my mind lately...a lot. It could be due to recent comments people have made to me or to others or recent discussions I have been a part of. 

Whether you feel it is a calling or a choice, either way, a decision is made...to homeschool or not to homeschool.

So, why exactly is this particular decision SO controversial?

I actually had an educator not too long ago tell me that the reason the public schools are in such disarray was because of all of the Christians leaving the public schools. So basically, this person point blank told me that I (and others like me) were the reason schools were failing. 

Really?!?

My head was spinning! I wanted to get into a discussion with this person and "enlighten" them to the facts. No, no, it couldn't possibly be the schools were already failing their children and because of that, they chose to pull them out and seek alternative means. It could not possibly be because lofty bureaucrats who have never set foot in a classroom or even taught children were handing down new regulations and laughable curriculum. Nope, it couldn't be that terrible educators were teaching their children and they wanted something better. Not all, but some. There are a lot of excellent teachers out there, but sometimes, 1 rotten one is all it takes. (I can say that because I was an educator myself and I saw firsthand. There are just some people who should NEVER be teachers.) Nor could it be that, for some people, like myself, felt called by God to homeschool their kids or people who simply wanted to homeschool to give their children a biblical worldview. However, this was not the time or the place for that discussion, after all, I have to see this person at church week after week and I don't think it mattered what the facts actually were, this person had their mind made up.  

What I find really ironic is it is mainly the homeschooling families that are targeted as being controversial. You can pull your child out of one public school to put him in another (even if it is a totally different town) and it is accepted. You can pull your child out of public school and enroll him in a charter school and people don't bat an eye. You can even take your child out of public school and put him in a Christian school and usually no one says a thing. But HOMESCHOOL?!? You might as well have committed some unpardonable sin!

I think, what really gets to me the most though, is that some people...people I had considered friends, would think this way about me. And that hurts. How do I know this? Little comments here and there, snide remarks, or just plain ol' ignorant statements. I have always been respectful of others education choices for their children. I have never been one to push my views and my reasonings onto anyone else. I try not to 'jump on the bandwagon of negativity' even when they come to me upset and talking about whatever recent thing is going on in their children's schools. I try to listen and be a supportive friend. Having been a public school teacher, I try to offer advice that is relevant for their child in their situation. I only offer advice on homeschooling if it is asked of me always pointing out my personal reasons for homeschooling. I always make sure to tell them to pray and seek what God has for them and their families. I cannot make that decision for them. They must make it for themselves. 

It's honestly hard to know who to trust when it comes to talking about homeschooling. I mean, I know I can trust my fellow homeschooling friends, but I worry about people who come to me for advice or information who do not homeschool. I know most are sincere, but there are those who take what I say and twist it or think that I think they are horrible for having their kids in public school or something.

Aren't we all just trying to educate our children the way we feel is best for them? Whether it's homeschool, public school, charter school, or private school?

Then why the controversy or competition? 

I don't look at my friends down the street at a different Baptist church and think any less of them because they don't go to MY church. We are all believers doing our best to give God the glory and point others to Him.

I don't criticize others for eating at The Olive Garden instead of Jason's Deli. We all just want some good food.

I don't question anyones choice to enroll their child into one sport versus another. They all just want to play.

Then why would I think any less of someone because of their schooling choices? We are all just trying to educate our children...Aren't we?

I like what Matt Walsh said in one of his recent blog posts. I may not always agree with what he writes or how he puts things, but I loved the punch line in this particular one..."we are going to homeschool our kids, but that's only because we hate education."

Hmm, maybe that's why homeschooling is so controversial...we must all hate education...LOL!!!

My Reasons for Home Schooling Were All Wrong

My reasons for home schooling have changed quite a bit over the years. The way we "do" homeschool, our methodology, has changed quite a bit as well...and I don't believe God is finished with that part yet. As I grow as a Christian, God reveals different things to me and to us as a family as to how we are to go about homeschooling.  

About a year and a half ago, God revealed to me that my reasons for homeschooling were all wrong. 

Having been a public school teacher, my #1 reason to home school my children was academics. I knew I could 'do it better'.  Any public school teacher will tell you that the smaller the student to teacher ratio you have, the more likely your student will be to succeed academically. A homeschooler will get more one on one time with the teacher, have less distractions, and get a personally tailored approach to their specific learning needs.

My other reasons to homeschool were for my children to avoid peer dependency and bad company, perhaps not so much in the early elementary years, but the thoughts of what went on in middle and high schools terrified me. Think about it...you drop your child off at school every day, 5 days a week, 180 days every year, for 12 years (13 if you count Kinder). Over all those years, the majority of children (yes, even those raised in solid Christian homes) will learn to accept and, in many cases, do whatever is necessary in order to gain approval by their peer groups. This means they learn how to talk, to dress, to act, what shows and movies to watch, what music to listen to, and so on, from their peer groups. Let me say it again...I have seen the peer groups...and the thought of this terrified me! David D'Escoto posted an article in the Old School house Magazine in 2009. In that article he said something that really made me stop and think..."While it would be nice to think that the "good kids" are being salt and light, in most cases, good morals are grossly compromised."  I know this all too well, I was one of those "good kids" and I desperately wish I could have a 'do-over'...mainly my early college years, but a wishful 'do-over' none the less.   

Voddie Bauchum said it best, "Sending young people out into the world without a Biblical worldview is like sending an athlete onto the field without a playbook". Which brings me to, what used to be, one of my lesser reasons for homeschooling...biblical reasons. Sure, I was sprinkling in God here and there, we said a prayer each day, memorized some Scripture, but academics, not God, was my main reason for homeschooling my children. Boy has that changed! 

I love how Deuteronomy 6:5-7 paints the picture of saturating and infusing God in all that you do. For us, and for what God has called our family to do, it paints a beautiful picture of home school.  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them upon 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".  

My #1 reason for homeschooling now is to give my children an accurate Biblical worldview. I don't want God just sprinkled in here and there, I want God and the Bible to saturate everything that we do. One advantage of homeschooling is that I can literally teach my children Godly principles throughout every minute of the day, infuse God into every subject, every activity, etc...  With God's help and guidance, I want to give my children a firm biblical foundation so they will have the tools necessary to truly be meaningful and effective 'salt and light' in the world in whatever God calls them to do whenever he calls them to do it.


***Disclaimer***
I am passionate about homeschooling and the path that God has put our family on and I love to talk about it. Please do not interpret anything I have said to mean that I am in any way judging what you may choose to do as a family.  God has a plan for each of our lives and His plans are not always the same for each person.