Since my oldest was about two, my husband and I noodled a lot on the idea of homeschooling. We know a few families who have had a lot of success with it, notably my sister-in-law and her four kiddos. Hearing their experiences is probably what got us interested in the idea, but we feel like the universe (read: God) keeps pushing us in that direction. What started out as interest grew into an idea that we just couldn’t let go, so we felt that we should give it a shot.
Before I go into more detail, here’s what you need to know about us: we’re a fairly conservative Christian family. There’s a lot of variety in what “conservative” and “Christian” mean to different people, but here’s what it means to us:
- We firmly believe that true happiness comes from keeping God’s commandments and striving to live a Godly life.
- We aim to have “eternal perspective”, meaning we live our lives with eternal goals in mind, not just worldly pursuits. Our primary measures of success are the strength and love within our family and our efforts to follow and trust in Christ.
- While the world is complicated and there aren’t always clear answers to every question, we believe that absolute truth does exist, and we want our children to learn and internalize those fundamental truths.
My husband and I both grew up going to public school, and both of us had great experiences (for the most part). We were privileged to live in wonderful school districts and each of us had lots of support at home. However, in the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of indications that public schooling is heading in a direction that might not be the right fit for our family right now.
Values-Aligned Education
First, we grow increasingly nervous, not that our kids will be exposed to ideologies that contradict our beliefs, but that they’ll be taught those ideologies as undeniable reality rather than as ideas which individuals may accept or reject based on their own discernment and morals. This practice is becoming too common and is particularly dangerous at such an impressionable age, when kids may not realize what’s happening. Therein lies our primary motivation. To take it a step further, something my sister-in-law said once stuck with me. She said (paraphrasing): “The way I see it, God created everything and is the author of truth, so education that doesn’t include God is incomplete.”
Lifestyle Flexibility
My husband is self-employed and works from home with one remote employee. While the business can’t run without him for extended periods of time, he does have the flexibility to take time off for family responsibilities and traveling as needed. We realized that if we put our kids in public school, their school schedules would be the thing holding us back from traveling the world with them. Free from that schedule, we can travel as we wish without worrying about missing too many days or falling behind in school. Plus, we can incorporate travel into our kids’ education and hopefully inspire passion for cultures and areas of study they might not otherwise have been exposed to.
Time
This may seem like an oxymoron, but we believe that homeschooling will be a way to protect our most precious resource: time. We firmly believe that success in public schooling requires support at home. Our hopes and expectations for our kids’ education mean that we would undoubtedly be spending hours every week helping our kids with homework, reinforcing new concepts, and talking with our kids about school. From the stories I’ve heard from homeschoolers, you can get through the same amount of material in half the time at home with one-on-one attention. This higher efficiency means that we will get to see our kids at their best – not just when they’re exhausted from a long, tedious day, and then need to be prodded into completing additional homework, which they will often need help with. There’s more time for play (!), self-guided learning, family bonding, helping around the house, exercise, church activities, and developing passions and talents.
Personalized Education
While I have great respect for teachers and their expertise and abilities, I have much less faith in a system that expects 20-30 (or even more!) kids to learn in one room, at the same pace, from one adult. Inevitably, some kids get left behind, while some kids don’t have adequate opportunities to achieve at the level they’re capable of. Both outcomes are a failure of the public school system, and we want to avoid them. We look forward to being able to teach our kids at their pace, give them one-on-one help, and focus on what interests them most.
The other side of the story
Even with all these great reasons to homeschool, the prospect still seems incredibly daunting. Every day I wonder if I’m making the right choice. I have my concerns and hurdles I know I’ll need to overcome. For one – homeschooling means that I’m having to accept a delay in continuing my own professional career or furthering my own formal education. That is not to say I won’t find meaning, fulfillment, or passion in this season… but significant financial contribution – probably not. I also know that the work of teaching my kids will be tough. We plan to have a couple more kids, so juggling all of their educational, emotional, and physical needs will undoubtedly be a major challenge. For quite a few years, there will be babies and toddlers around who demand attention constantly. We’ll have to navigate that as we go, but I have to believe it’s possible! I will need to develop a lot more patience. I’ll have to (re)learn a lot, especially teaching/parenting skills and strategies. Another worry is that my kids won’t get everything they need- my biggest concern being things like socialization and fun cultural experiences like school sports. I do think though that this stems from wanting my kids to experience what I experienced, even if that’s not necessarily the right path for them or our family.
I am no super mom. I honestly feel that my capacity, energy, abilities, and motivation are severely lacking in comparison to the awesome parents I see around me. It seems like some people can do it all. I’m over here, probably biting off more than I can chew, but praying that God (and my family) will give me grace as I try. Maybe you feel that way too. If so, we’re in this together!
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