Ever since the election I have heard the statement: You don’t need to homeschool anymore, policy will be changing for the better now. Perhaps, in some states, but not in all of them. Still, it begs the question: Why do we homeschool in the first place?
Honestly, that answer can be as varied as the people that choose to do it!
Back in my early years of parenting, c.1990s, before I had ever even heard of homeschooling (it wasn’t mainstream back then) and before I even attended college for Early Childhood Education (which I did in my early 30s) or became a Christian… I always felt drawn to education. I remember lining up my stuffed animals with pencils and papers and ‘teaching’ them the basics! Having children only increased that fervor. We lived remotely when my oldest hit age 3 with an insatiable thirst to learn and read. We would practice letters with pen and paper at the kitchen table, and simple math as he was drawn to the subject. We went on nature hikes and checked out all sorts of books from the local library when we went into town, he especially liked the non-fiction section with animals and airplanes and learning how all things worked. Looking back, we were a very Charolette Mason kind of homeschool preschool, a concept completely foreign to me.
Moving into the ‘city’, we followed step with Pre-k, entering him into Head Start and volunteering loads of time, even with his baby sister in tow. The concepts they taught we had already covered. It was mostly a 5-mornings-a-week play-date for him. To be honest, I missed him while he was at school. I missed teaching, crafting, nature hiking. But I just assumed that was to be expected.
As God would have it, the neighbors across the street were homeschooling their four children, aged six through early teen at that time. One day after a curbside conversation while her youngest and my oldest played, she invited me in to see how they did things. It was so simple, integrated into home and life, and her kids were really smart, one of them even working on piecing apart computers and putting them back together, as a PRETEEN!!!! (Today he lives and works in Silicone Valley!) I was sold. I desperately wanted to do this homeschool thing too.
I talked with my husband, he thought I was crazy. “Homeschool kids are weird, look at the neighbors”. Sure, one of their boys was very eccentric, but so was their dad, I figured, ‘like father like son’. Both were nice guys, just with a bit of flare!! All of the neighbor’s kids were nice, played so sweetly with my oldest who was still younger than all of them, they were hard workers, intelligent, and helpful. They didn’t shy away when in the presence of adults like most public school kids do, they were outgoing and great conversationalists.
At that time, schools weren’t as run-over by indoctrination as they are now. For the most part, kids learned the 3Rs and parents were welcomed in as part of the education process. Yet, I wanted to homeschool because I simply felt a tailored education would be best for my son. I wanted him to be like the neighbor kids: nice, hard working, intelligent, helpful, outgoing, and a great conversationalist. But everyone in my life at that time said NO, homeschool will make him a weird introvert falling behind because I didn’t have a degree to teach and he would be too sheltered.
So we pursued public school and the years passed.
Two more children joined our family to round out at four and Jesus entered my heart to guide me along the way. I volunteered at the school, ran a craft business, taught Sunday School and art for a season to 2nd graders as well as mom groups and workshops. I was well known in the PTA and teachers invited me to throw my name into the pool for substitute teaching (our state does not require a degree for subs). With my youngest still not old enough for school and I didn’t want to get a babysitter, I declined. However, I began thinking about what I would do once she did go to school. I started taking classes at the college for Early Childhood Ed, thinking I may teach preschool or kindergarten so my hours could match my kids. The teachers, knowing this, allowed me to browse teacher resources and skim through their planning books. One even showed me how to teach reading and let me borrow books from her resource library! As I looked through these materials, it struck me: I could do this, with or without a degree. Instructions on how and what to teach filled the margins of the teacher’s manual, it was easy.
Now, I am not diminishing a teacher’s degree or their job. I do see the value in some of what teachers learn in college. Particularly organization and Developmental Psychology as well as some of the mechanics of teaching. If you haven’t had children, these classes can be quiet helpful. But if you have; organizing, teaching, and understanding the various growth milestones and abilities, comes naturally as you raise your young. Most parents don’t just leave their children to the wind, no, they read books, articles, watch videos, attend mom groups, and so on – all geared towards learning ages and stages of development and how to best help your child grow.
Regular Education is no different!
Homeschooling is an opportunity to build character
This is something public/private school has never done and especially doesn’t do now. The Bible calls us to “raise [our] children up in the way they should go…” and to “teach them” the precepts of the Lord. I’m not saying this can’t be done for those who choose systemic education, however, what I am pointing out is how you can establish a firm root system of character based in Biblical concepts when you homeschool so that when they participate in social events and when they grow up, they are firmly planted to navigate whatever comes.
Homeschooling is an opportunity to tailor a child’s education
Whether your child is advanced, a bit behind, or just your average kid, being able to choose curriculum and teach in a way that helps them problem solve best and learn to their strengths and help them navigate their weaknesses is priceless. In the corporate education system everyone is taught to the middle or lowest denominator and the rest either struggle to keep up or starve for intellectual challenges – both are often ostracized for being different. Conformity is the order and, in a world where we are all created uniquely for specific purposes, this just isn’t natural.
My oldest was quite frustrated with a system that seemed content to scoot the smarter kids through with little challenge. He thought high school would finally provide the challenge he longed for and, when it didn’t, the lagging system made him lazy at learning and late to choose harder paths. My middle two had learning challenges, ADHD and Dyslexia respectively. The teachers didn’t know what to do with them and instead singled them out for behavior or lack of ability. The only kids who would talk to them were the troubled kids and I began to fear a future where they would be roped into trouble. They were already being wrongly accused and used as a ‘fall guy’ for various antics…in elementary school!!!! My youngest ran right down the middle. She didn’t have challenges, she wasn’t super accelerated, but she loved to learn and wanted to know all the things.
By the time my oldest was 8th grade, my husband and I agreed to answer the Call to homeschool. Eighth grade chose to stay with friends and, as teen years were starting, it was a fight I chose NOT to have. He was a good kid and a good student. So stay he did. (One of my homeschooling regrets, especially after the high school’s lackings). However, the middle two came home and my youngest never attended. I could design their learning to meet them where they were and draw them to each next level. My 4th grader who couldn’t focus to read a chapter book, within a few months, was devouring them. My 2nd grader who was terrified to try and read because the words didn’t want to work for his eyes and he had been bullied by his teacher during this task, went from tears at reading time to also devouring every book he could get his hands on. What the public school couldn’t accomplish in 5 and 3 years (to include kindergarten), by the grace of God, we were able to do within the first few months of homeschooling because we could tailor the education. My youngest didn’t have to feel left out, she participated in everything they did (even completing all state and mama requirements to graduate a year early!)
Homeschooling is an opportunity to teach kids real community
Institutional education may seem like the best place for socialization and community, but it really isn’t. Think about it: they spend all day with kids the same age, looking at younger and older groups as cliches to avoid, told to be quiet all the time, and don’t color outside of the lines. In the real world, communities have a range of ages, interests, and abilities. We should feel as comfortable talking with an elderly neighbor as with a younger person at the store. We should recognize need and meet it. We should hone our strengths for the betterment of society. Every homeschool kid I know, including my own, walk out into the community and connect. It doesn’t matter the age of the other person or the situation they find themselves in. They are confident, problem solving, outgoing individuals. Not that public/private school can’t teach some of this, however, being stuck in a classroom all day with same-age students tends to shutter most kids’ ability to be truly outgoing and comfortable in cross-generational, truly communal situations.
Homeschooling is an opportunity to create constancy
Each year through elementary and each class through secondary education offers different teachers with different expectations and ability, not to mention ever changing public policy. We never know what will be taught or ideas that will be pushed whether or not we agree or have had a chance to prepare our kids for how to navigate even controversial subjects thoughtfully and confidently. Not to mention, jumping from room-to-room, teacher-to-teacher….there are great teachers who impact a student’s life for the better, and then there are the not-so-good teachers who wreck a young person’s developing confidence in one blow. Just when they find a mode of trekking forward, your child can suddenly be thrust in a different direction where their success turns to struggle. Yes, rolling with varying expectations is a part of life, but one which is better navigated once a student has found a firm foundation and deep roots to more confidently pivot and succeed in it when the time comes.
Homeschooling is an opportunity to grow through out-of-the-box opportunities
A bit different from tailoring an education, out-of-the-box opportunities is more than curriculum, it is often extracurricular. Interning, apprenticing, entrepreneurial, travel, and so on… corporate school does offer varying classes and clubs but it rarely leaves little time or opportunity to pursue interests/giftedness more deeply. Not that every homeschooler will choose to pursue passions on a greater level, but many have taken internships while still in high school to get a feel for a perspective career, apprenticed with a craftsman to learn a trade, started a business for hand crafted items, yard care, or farming/husbandry, and even traveled locally and beyond to really TOUCH the things they are learning about.
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The reasons to homeschool are truly countless and, at times, very individual. I think, however, the greatest reason to homeschool is that it is an opportunity to bolster family-first deep relational concepts, to be close and mutual supportive as families once were throughout our country. To grow and learn together and make learning part of life. After all, a good student of life does not stop learning once they have a diploma or degree. Fostering a love of learning with a learning lifestyle will benefit our children far beyond their days of living within our walls. Add to this, an opportunity to foster faith and teach the moral lessons It calls us to in real-time…. it is no wonder colleges have begun to prefer homeschool students in their classes over public schools!!
I share this because #1, even though we have graduated all our students c.2020, I am passionate about homeschooling. I’ve watched the system change over the past few decades, spending 13+ years of that teaching at home and the one constant I believe was the most beneficial was ushering my children through learning, seeing them grow, the love of knowledge catching fire, and their confidence take flight because homeschooling rooted them. My oldest middle child has the strong self-assuredness to steady her ADHD and work her job as a manager quite well (designing book covers for me on the side!!), my youngest middle child builds and even designs with ease using his dyslexia to his advantage in SEEING what needs to be done 3D he is valued at work as he builds American-made!, my youngest is a gifted artist and a mom with entrepreneurial eyes and hopefully continuing the trend we started!
In the realm of #2, I have felt Called to write a book series on this topic. Drawing from the hard lessons I learned along the way and sharing encouragement for the times you feel like giving up or crawling under a rock… the Spiritual battle is real and we must be ready. (links to the books currently out are on the side bar to your right). I’m currently working on a new installment, ”Q&As About This Homeschool Life: Bravely Facing the Challenges to this Homeschooling Choice”.
Not only will it shed light on the WHYs of homeschooling but it will also equip to confidently reply to the naysayers…. what about socialization, what about grading, they will be weird, how will you even know what to teach, you don’t have a teaching degree, you can’t, and so much more. That last one always gets me, especially when I remember the scripted teacher’s manuals my kids’ public school educators used. If you are homeschooling or thinking about it and you don’t have a degree, you can pick up an excerpt from my ”This Homeschooling Life” book, Dear Homeschool Mom Without a Degree by following link in text or visiting the Resources page. It is free because I believe every mom needs to hear it!
A final thought
You don’t need ‘permission’ to homeschool from anyone… well, it is helpful if hubby is on board too, even if he is unsure. You don’t have to justify your choice to anyone except God, and I am certain God is supportive of giving our kids well-rounded education from home. It is OK to choose homeschooling because you simply don’t want your kids to be away from you (Q&As will address this reason and the inevitable nay-sayer responses of “You’re just being overprotective”. Here is a hint: you are not!)
Why homeschool? For whatever reason YOU feel you should. I guarantee, your children will thank you!
Blessings,
For over 80 articles on our homeschooling journey over the years, you can visit my old blog and browse "Homeschool Mother's Journal" (link in text). We trucked along all the way through high school!
By the way, are you looking for a Bible reading/study plan? I have created a new 30-day reading plan walking through the book of Matthew! Click on image below or visit our “Resources” page to download your FREE copy today!
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By the way... do you or someone you know homeschool? I have a growing book series on the topic! Click on images to learn more....
