Yeah, like I'm the expert and know the perfect answer that will make everyone happy.  But this question was recently asked by Gena over on her blog, and I thought I'd give a stab at my response.  My little seven year old actually has asked why she is homeschooled and can't go to public school like her only friend in our entire town.  She plays school, dutifully sitting at her desk taking notes and learning math facts.

Reason the first:

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

--Deuteronomy 6:7

We are to teach the law of the Lord diligently to our children.  The bible talks about tying the law so that it hangs on the forehead and across the hand.  The forehead is symbolic of our worldview.  Our thoughts, beliefs and conversation should reflect a deep faith in Christ.  We should be ready to base all our decisions on the Word of God.  The hand is symbolic of our actions.  True faith does not stop with believing.  Christ said that he who hears his words and does nothing is like the foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The wise man hears His words and acts on them.

God's primary educational objective is imparting the knowledge of His law to His children so that they may keep and obey His law.  He outlines how to do this...take the child by your side and discuss the Word of God continually, applying it to every aspect of life.

This does not work well in the public school environment.  The teacher isn't going to do it, and there just isn't enough time left in the day for all that sitting and walking by the way that occurs in the family situation.

Reason the second:

Here is a nice long article about how the father is the head and how that relates to homeschooling.  Essentially, my role is this.  The responsibility of the education of a child falls on the father's shoulders.  He is the leader of the household.  He determines the course for his family.  All teaching is under his authority.  In the ideal model of the public school system which is completely under local control, ie., under the control of the parents whose children attend that school, this would not be an issue.  The teacher would be acting under the authority of the parents.  At least in theory.

But our courts have ruled that parents give up their rights as soon as they drop their child off at the school door.  Literally.  I don't think God looks kindly on us abdicating in our roles He has chosen for us, no matter our personal reasons.

Reason the third:

What REALLY goes on in public school?  It is not about reading and writing and arithmetic.  Just look at what this public school advocate has to say in her assertion that "homeschool is treason." 

And she is exactly right.  Not that homeschool is treason, but of her assessment of the true "value" of public education.  She, as a socialist, finds it very positive.  I find it very frightening.

Reason the fourth:

Children do not have a fully developed capacity for reason.  Mostly their reason is based on what their friends are doing and what they think is "normal."  And sometimes a bit of that "grass is greener on the other side" mentality.  That is why God put parents in authority over their children and told them to honor their parents.  So that it would go well with them.  If children got to do everything they wanted, it would not go well with them.  Even if God did not rig it with that promise about inheriting the land and being fruitful and all that.  Kids make dumb choices, like candy over vegetables, TV over books, Nintendo over the word of God and public school over homeschool.  My son would like to play in the street if I let him. 

And my summary argument for my child?  Quoted directly from Katherine Dang of Philomath, "I cannot in good conscience do this thing."

When my son needed iron drops for his anemia, I did not reason and coax, plead and beg and eventually give in to the fact that he, at one, did not want to take his medicine.  I, as the informed parent with fully developed reasoning capabilities for the long-term benefits of these drops in comparison to the momentary discomfort of swallowing them, did what any good parent would do.  I sat on him, held his arms down, and forced the drops in the back of his mouth so he got most of it down.  Now he knows there is no option.  Whether or not he understands the benefits, when he has to take medicine, he does not object.  He makes all kinds of faces, but he takes it.

tagged:  education, homeschool