I have seen the future of schooling, and it is us.

Let me explain. My oldest daughter, who's 14, is supposed to be going into grade 9. Our province allows students who wish to take their courses online, through one of the school boards. So we decided to have her do Math and Science online, while I continue to teach her English, History, Social Studies, etc.

Last year she took French and Science, and she quite enjoyed it. This year she's doing grade 10 Science and grade 11 Math. She could have done grade 11 Math last year, but there was no room in the class. My younger daughter, who is 12, is ready for grade 11 Math next year, but I'm going to let her wait a year before she takes it online. But teaching them at home just let them whiz through most of Saxon Math's program, and we've loved it. They're so far ahead.

So even though I love homeschooling, I'm letting my daughter do some public school courses (although they still are online). Why? It's simple, really. If she has six grade 12 credits from an acredited school, then getting into university is no problem. We don't have to jump through hoops. And I've decided that this just sounds easier, and I want to make it easy for her.

Besides, I'm still teaching her the important stuff!

We calculated it out, and she'll be finished her grade 12 credits when she's 16. And then she has a year and a half to work full time, or write a novel, or travel, or do missions trips before university.

But as we've been watching this whole process unfold, it has occurred to me that this must be the future of schooling. Think about it: it's much easier to teach online. Sure, you still need a teacher to mark the papers, but there's no physical building. You don't need gym equipment. You don't need a library. You don't need to hire a janitor, or a secretary. It's a lot cheaper.

And then the kids aren't exposed to all the crap they get in high school. Why wouldn't more parents have their kids do it this way? And as governments face more budget cuts, you can bet they'll start to look at more online alternatives.

Of course there are Christian online options for high school, but here in Canada most of them aren't acredited, so we went with something that absolutely was. But it just makes so much more sense. Rebecca has two Science classes a week, of about an hour and a bit each. She submits one assignment a week. And they cover the entire course curriculum. In a regular classroom you'd do 400 minutes a week, instead of their 180. You just get rid of all the wasted time. So the kids have more time for their real life.

Why wouldn't this catch on? Personally, I'm still having fun teaching History and English. We're using Veritas Press' Omnibus curriculum with both she and her sister this year, although I've added some books for her to read. Over the course of the year both girls will read approximately 27 books. Next year she's doing Sonlight's Survey of British Literature, which also has 27 books. That's serious learning and serious reading. In public school English (including online), they read 4. How is that education?

I'm thrilled that I can find the best education that works for my girls, and for our family. We're taking a month long missions trip to Kenya this year, and we don't have to worry about missing school in the middle of it.

I really think more and more people are going to clue in to how much time is wasted in school, how poor an education it is, and how much better your life can be with real educational alternatives. So let's not shirk when people ask why we homeschool. Let's be proud! We, after all, are the future.