I have two children, both grown, married, and with
children of their own. They are, as they laughingly express it “products of
homeschooling.” I homeschooled for sixteen years, in Spain. Homeschooling was
our choice for many reasons. I think everyone who considers homeschooling does
it because it is a family option.
Ultimately, it becomes a mission, a calling. Each homeschooling family has its
own story and its own journey.
I do not believe
homeschooling is for everyone. I do think, however, it is something that many Christian
families should prayerfully consider. I believe it is probably the best option for
children with special needs (depending what they are) and learning issues, if the mother can be at home and if both mom and dad know it’s God’s will
for them. (A good Christian school is another great option.)
Here are 10 good reasons
for homeschooling:
1. Your kids will get a very good education. When
you decide to homeschool, you do it because you want your child to learn. No
one wants that more than his parents, and so you make sure your child gets one-on-one
attention that leads to learning.
2. You will pass
your Christian values on to your child. You are not only including Bible as
a school subject, but you are pouring your life into your child, teaching him
by your example and godly habits how to live the Christian life. Part of your
homeschooling is prayer, Bible reading, and life application. How cool is that?
3. You can tailor
learning to each child’s special needs. This is the same as having a
private tutor for each child—only better—because you are there 24 hours a day.
(I had an audio learner, dyslexic child. I taught by talking, and math and
reading were learned gradually over time. Reading was “taught” on Mommy and
Daddy’s bed, with both of us propped up with pillows. Today, he is working on
his second master’s degree—in English-Spanish translation. He worked on his
first master’s degree while being a college switchboard operator (over 400
phone extensions memorized). My dyslexic child totally overcame it through a patient
early-years foundation. By the way, he’s also a musician.)
4. Freedom. Our
family had the freedom to take vacations in September, while other children
were in school. We had freedom to schedule our days to be workable for our family—school in the morning, lunch
at 2:00 or 2:30, and music lessons and practice after lunch. We had the freedom
to change things up. One year our books didn’t arrive (by boat, in the “old
days”) until November, so we used the extra time on needed home repairs. We
then schooled into the summer. No problem! You do whatever works for you. We
finished every book every year. We also had the freedom to change the curriculum,
which we did with a couple of high school subjects.
5. Family bonding.
If you really want a close family, there’s nothing closer than homeschooling.
We found that all that time and teaching in a family atmosphere with parents
and siblings together produced a very tight bond. Even today, with all of us separated
by thousands of miles, the kids are best friends and very close to us as well.
Our favorite times are being together.
6. Teaching life
skills. We found that our children easily learned the things that they did
alongside us during the day. Yes, we had a very structured school time, but
they also helped with cooking, cleaning, home construction, mechanical,
electrical, plumbing, demolition (They loved that!), home repairs, painting . .
. . Today, our son is a great handyman, and our daughter is a very capable
homemaker.
7. Learning is
more fun at home. Oh yes, there were days when things didn’t go well. There
were times when I was cross, the kids were stubborn, and nobody was teaching or
learning well. But overall, we enjoyed learning and being challenged. (I
learned as much or more than the children did, since I taught the grades twice,
made up the tests, and did all the reading. Another good reason to homeschool:
you get an education, too!) Nothing is sweeter than the satisfaction of seeing
the youngest learn to read. Nothing is more fun than the competition between
siblings to get the better French grade. There’s not much that’s more
entertaining than hearing your kids’ hilarious banter at the table while they’re
doing their workbooks. Where else can children get home economics hours in a
real kitchen, in their own home, baking for God’s servants who are coming to
stay for a few days?
8. Learning is
more natural when done at home and all through the day. I was a stickler
for the core subjects. (Ask my kids!) But, I think that a lot of what our
children learned was through sharing
rather than teaching. We could talk things over—like history and current events
and God’s working in the world. We could philosophize and think and hash out
reasonable answers. A lot of teaching has to do with teaching children to think. I felt that we did this more
naturally in an all-day setting, with siblings and parents for company, and without
peer pressure.
9. Your kids are
isolated from negative influences. (Hear me out on this one. First,
understand that my kids were not isolated
from other kids. They were in music lessons, orchestra, church youth group,
played with neighbor children, etc. They had all the opportunities they wanted
to be with other children, to laugh, to play, and to be crazy. I believe that
homeschooled children should be socialized.) Homeschooling allowed us parents to
be the biggest influence in our
children’s lives. They didn’t have brand consciousness, materialistic
pressures, peer pressures—to be like the group. They were able to stand alone,
enjoy simple pleasures, watch decent movies, read good books, help at home—all
without being “judged” from without. We believe that they are both the strong
Christian leaders that they are today because they were kept from too many
ungodly influences during childhood.
10. Homeschooled
kids tend to excel and to relate to everyone equally. (Is that two points?)
I find that, wherever we go, it’s the homeschooled kids that walk up and ask
intelligent questions about Spain, about missions, about living abroad, about
the Spanish language. They are comfortable talking to adults. They are also
comfortable with little children. You’ll often see an older home educated child
carrying a baby.
Colleges used to be wary of homeschoolers. They thought
they would have inferior educations and needed to be watched. No more! Who are
the winners of the National Spelling Bee? Homeschoolers. Who win science fairs?
Homeschoolers. Who are world-renowned musicians? Homeschoolers. Who are the
kids who start college at age sixteen? Homeschooled kids. (I’m thinking of two
boys right now. Their mom taught in public schools and noticed a certain ethnic
group—theirs—was being left behind. She decided that wasn’t going to happen to her kids, and she began homeschooling
her sons. One is an aeronautical engineer today, and the other just got his
doctorate in communications from Purdue.)
By the way, both of our children are career teachers. Our
daughter will start her eighth year of teaching in a Christian elementary
school. Our son teaches theology, Greek, Bible, and gives private music lessons
at a Bible college. This will be his fourth year. I’d like to think they caught
the love of teaching and learning from us.
Do you have any “reasons for homeschooling” you’d like to
share? Do you want to comment on any of mine? Feel free! I’d love to hear from
you.
