In March 2000, a few homeschooling families moved to our small Christian Camp. "They homeschool?!" I thought. "That's kinda weird. Why would they want to do that?" Since they were new to homeschooling and I had never personally seen a homeschooling family in action, I thought that within a few weeks, they would quit and send their children to public school along with my son. I was wrong. My thoughts went from, "How weird" to "That's pretty neat".

I felt a nudging by the Lord to take my 2nd-grade son out of public school and bring him home so that I could teach him. At first I thought that my reason to take Andy out of public school was for academics, but now that I look back, I realize that the real reason was not to give him a better education but to give him a spiritual education. I had no confidence in myself, but instead relied on God to help me make the transition. I thought, “How in the world will I be able to homeschool my son, and in a few years our other children in addition to being a good homemaker?” It took a lot more nudging by the Lord and the Bible verse, Proverbs 22:6 kept coming to mind: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” With this Bible verse fresh in my mind, I went ahead and “enrolled” our son in a new school, our own home school.

I’ve had my son home with me for several years now. I’ve had time to look back at my decision and realize that it was the right decision for our family. Since I am my son’s mother, I know him better than any public school teacher. I am familiar with his learning style and I know what will challenge him. I also know what discourages him and keeps him from soaking in new information. I have learned so much myself. I find myself craving more information about history and the world’s past leaders and explorers. What excites me is that I see this light going on in my son, a light which confirms to me that he is catching on to new ideas and likes it. He is learning about Bible figures and Bible times, something that is not addressed in the secular schools. I can teach my children the real meaning of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. I can teach my children about our Founding Fathers and how our nation was founded on Christian principles.

We start off our days with the Bible and prayer. How could I have so easily overlooked the importance of the Bible in teaching my son when he was in public school? I no longer view knowledge as the number one goal for my children’s future, but wisdom. Learning facts and figures are important, but human knowledge will not teach our children Biblical morals and virtues. God’s Word is so important to the whole day’s activites, not just afterschool hours and weekends. “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you- they are your LIFE” (Deuteronomy 32:46-47).

The Bible says that The Word of God is the root of all knowledge, yet why was it acceptable for me, as a Christian, to ignore this command and send my son to a government school that didn't have the same goals in teaching my child "the way he should go"? Deuteronomy 11:19 tells us about God's commands, “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” I found it to be quite hard to talk with my son throughout the day about my faith and about Jesus when he was gone for most of the day! Thankfully now I have ample opportunities to show my children my faith when we 'sit at home and walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up'.

In public school, all the children are placed in a general learning environment. The problem with teaching by a generalized curriculum is that each child is an individual with individual personalities. No two people can learn in the same way. That’s why it takes years to teach a classroom what I can teach my children in one school year. I can't imagine teaching the exact same curriculum to all of my children because they are SO different! How boring it would be if we had to use the same textbooks for such completely different minds! We check out “living” books out of the library and get free resources on-line. God gave each of my children certain talents and gifts. My job is to work with those God-given gifts and enhance them and challenge them, not to mold them into a pre-set curriculum by someone who has no knowledge of my child's interests!

I love being able to devote my time to teaching only my children. I don’t have to focus on the kid in the back of the classroom who keeps throwing paper airplanes at 'Sally'. I don’t have to worry about 'Johnny' calling others bad names while I help 8 other kids who just don’t seem to get what I’m teaching. That must be very frustrating for public school teachers because they want what is best for the class, but I know many of them are going home at night wondering if they are making a difference. They are wondering if they are truly teaching anything to their students.

From experience, I know that there were several classes in school, especially high school, in which I learned nothing. Those classes were a complete waste of time. There were several teachers who got so frustrated with the class that they gave up on teaching and focused all their energy on keeping order. Thank goodness that I don’t have to worry about keeping order. I don’t lie in bed at night wondering if I’m making a difference. I know I am.

I brought my son home to teach him not because I’m taking the easy way out, but because this is what my son deserves. Sure, it will be easier now that I don’t have to whisk my son out the door by 7:00 a.m., but along with the relaxing home environment and more time on our hands, I am taking sole responsibility for the whole outcome of my children’s education. That’s not something I take lightly. Genesis 18:19 says- “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just.”

We must remember that teaching a child does not include only math, reading, and science. It’s so much more than that. It’s about instilling values, ethics, and morals into our children. What they learn in these impressionable childhood years will be brought along with him into adulthood and parenthood, and then passed on to their children because “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33). I knew that I could provide a better learning environment for my children than the public school system. I felt like if I placed them in that environment, I would be forfeiting their education and teaching them that it is o.k. to compromise our beliefs to the secular schools. A child’s education, morals, and value system is a lot to sacrifice.

I do know, however, that every family is different. Homeschooling might not be an option for certain families, such as the single mother, or a husband who doesn’t support the idea of homeschooling. In situations like this, I believe the spiritual training of the child should be the main focus. After your child comes home from school and on the weekends, make a genuine effort to have Bible study be your top priority. Reading God’s Word together makes a bigger difference than we think in molding a child’s life.

When my son was in public school, I missed out on most of his day. I didn’t truly know who his friends were, what his teacher was like or even what he was really being taught. Others ask, “What about socialization?” I’m not worried about socialization because I would rather have my children socialize with others in a safe environment than to be negatively socialized in a school where they are either belittled for being different or praised for conforming to the popular crowd. My children aren't stuck in a classroom with children only in their own age-group anymore. They get to be around others of all ages which means they must learn to relate to toddlers as well as hold a conversation with the elderly. This diversity is more fitting to the real world and what they should expect when they're older.

How do we think the Founding Fathers and a large percentage of our Presidents were socialized? At school? No, because public schools were not available and attended en mass until the late 1800's. One of America's greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, was probably the most 'un-socialized' and ‘uneducated’ of all Presidents. He lived in an extremely remote one-room log cabin. His schooling consisted of reading books on his own when he was able to walk the several miles to town and borrow one. The extent of his formal schooling was a mere eighteen months when he went to law school. His own mother and father didn't even know how to sign their name or read. Did he turn out o.k.? Well, let's put it this way: If this is what happens to a boy when he lacks "proper socialization" and “proper education”, then I'm all for it!

I used to think homeschoolers were weird, non-social misfits who purposely isolated themselves from the real world. Now I have a different viewpoint. I believe the Lord has given me my children to raise them with personal, Christian values. It makes it very difficult to 'train a child in the way he should go' when he's not even with you for 8 hours a day! My children are my responsibility and no one else's. They are too precious to be given over to a school system that doesn't care anything about my wonderful Savior, Jesus. Sadly in some schools, you can't even talk about Jesus. And in the schools where you can, like when I was growing up, Jesus was the farthest thing from most people's minds. It shouldn't be like that. I feel like the best way to foster a close, loving relationship with the Lord in our children's hearts is to have them live it every day at home with their parents, learning history and science and all other subjects with a Christian viewpoint. As HSLDA President Michael Smith said, “God did not call us to prepare our children for Harvard, but for Heaven.”

Children are so moldable when they are younger and the Bible tells us that who we hang around with will mold our attitudes and values. If our children are around ungodly people day in and day out, how do we think they will end up feeling? Happy? Secure? "On a mission"? If it's hard enough on us long-time Christian adults to be around ungodly people (although God says we must witness to the lost!), how do we expect a mere child to react? If the Israelites conformed to the heathen nations around them, how can we expect a 6-year-old to evangelize a secular school? I know there are some mighty tough spiritual warriors out there among little children, but most of them just slip by, learning informational facts as well as a whole bunch of worldly 'wisdom'. Jesus called The Church as adults to witness and be the salt and light of the earth, not the most innocent of His fold.

Phillippians 4:9 says to us- “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” I am giving my children the necessary tools, both academically and spiritually, so they can put their faith into practice. They will be able to boldly stand firm, take up their God-given armor, and be strong soldiers for the Lord!

'Children are schooled, churched, socialized, culturalized, virtualized and "parentified" from a young age until they have no uniqueness or creativity, no character or true fellowship in healthy relationships, no maturity and love to give and most of all they become void of the very Life we think we are trying to give them'.- Marilyn Howshall, author of Wisdom's Way of Learning.
"The goal of our instruction (should be) love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." 1 Timothy 1:5

For a list of famous homeschoolers, click here.

"The Home As A School"-Excellent newspaper article!

Another excellent article!!

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