Why We Homeschool

     I recently had the opportunity to set up a homeschool information booth at our church's Family Fun Night. It was so much fun to talk to the few ladies who came to me. I handed out packets of information and in them I included the reasons why our family homeschools. The reasons a family chooses to homeschool vary greatly, and what follows is why our family continues to homeschool, even when it is tough.

1. Greater opportunity to teach my children about God.

In Deuteronomy 6:7, God charges parents to teach their children His word as they sit at home, as they walk on the road, when they lie down and when they get up. We choose to keep our children home with us so that we have more time to teach them about God and His word.

2. Greater opportunity for family togetherness and unity.

Being together during the day provides a great opportunity for us to truly get to know each other without the outside time-stressors of school, teachers, jobs, etc. We are not all going off in our own direction with some family-time thrown in after homework. We are truly living, learning, and working together.

3. Protection of children from unsupervised exposure to unbiblical ideas and thinking.

When a child is in school all day, the parent is not there to guide him as he is exposed to ideas that contradict the Bible. It is very easy for a child to become confused about what is right and wrong with this kind of exposure. Homeschooling helps us to respond to wrong thinking and unbiblical ideas that enter our child’s line of sight by guiding them in right thinking and making known the Biblical proof for that thinking. This tends to leads to children who are stronger in their faith and more able to defend their faith.

4. Protection of children from negative peer interactions and influences

Who did you learn cuss words from? What about dirty jokes? When did you start questioning how your parents lived or what they believed? Unsupervised peer interaction with children from different belief systems can weaken a child’s view of right and wrong, his appreciation for the God-given institute of family, and undermine the values we try to teach at home.

See article, “What About Socialization?”

5. Personalized education

This is a very common reason for parents to choose homeschooling. At home, we are not confined to giving our children a cookie-cutter education. We can personalize it however the Lord leads. We can use lots of hands-on activities for the younger students and even allow our wild boys to spend more time outside actually touching frogs rather than just looking at pictures of them. The pace of study is entirely up to us, and each child can receive an education that is perfectly suited for him.

6. Greatest opportunity for parental growth

When we are with our children all day and solely responsible for their upbringing and training, we sometimes bring out the worst in each other. This is okay; it’s not something to shy away from. These times expose our own and our children’s weaknesses. When these weaknesses come to light we have the greatest opportunity for growth and change. Plus, we learn right alongside our children all the history, math, and grammar that we either forgot or never knew in the first place.

7. Freedom

Homeschooling is incredibly freeing. We are not tied down to anyone else’s schedule. We don’t have an arbitrary teacher deciding how our child will spend the evening by assigning hours of homework. The Board of Education doesn’t declare when we can go on vacation. We are completely in charge of our children and our lives to live as the Lord leads.

9:20 AM - Jul. 31, 2009 - post comment

Great post

I think this is a great post to pass around.

momofsix - 9:45 PM - Aug. 1, 2009

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thought provoking

I was thinking about the arguement that public school parents make about using their children as a "light" in the public schools. If Jesus is literally the light of the world, and he didn't attend the schools of his day, but was taught at home by his parents (his father taught him carpentry), then shouldn't we follow his example of schooling at home? His parents could have used that argument, but they didn't because God commands us in Deut. to teach our children when they rise, when they sit...(all day long).

momofsix - 9:49 PM - Aug. 1, 2009

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I love you....

I have missed your posts and am glad you're not gone forever....I need your encouragement and I'm sure I speak for many. Number 6 on your list especially resonates with me and is my reason most often for being tempted to quit. Thank you for this post....=)
Email me with your phone number again...I lost it but really would love to talk...it'd be a little easier now that we're on a break from schooling and are all settled in our new place! Love you!
Heather

Anonymous - 8:37 AM - Aug. 4, 2009

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