“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
What IS the goal of homeschooling? Why do we decide not to put them in public or private schools? Everyone has their reasons and while similar I’m sure they are still different. Here is ours?
Schooling our children is a responsibility for the parents given to us by God.
We are to train the children first and foremost in all things godly. This means taking them to God’s Word daily. It wasn’t that long ago in our great nation that school children were taught to read and write and even do math using the Bible. I’ve always held to the belief that any teaching we can give through God’s Word can only help our children later on. “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Isaiah 54:13
The schooling of our children, though, isn’t just teaching them clinical subjects like math, science, etc. It is our duty to teach them how to put these skills and others to use in their daily lives. We are to teach them subjects like history and literature so they can learn from the past and be ready for their future.
People are always surprised when I say my fifth grader can be “done school” in a couple of hours a day. Oh the horror of thinking she isn’t learning. However, she isn’t “done” school. Her schooling starts the moment she gets out of bed and comes into our living room for family devotions. My husband is reading the book of Acts to us right now. She is learning the history of the New Testament church.
Her schooling carries on past the subjects of math and science, history and English when I read to her a book as she practices her penmanship or colors a picture.
Right now we are reading about a man named Benjamin West (famous painter) and his cat Grimalkin. So far we are loving it!
Does her schooling finish when her older sister tells us lunch is ready? No, she still has her violin to practice and her list of chores to accomplish. She is learning how to take her talent of music and use it for the Lord. My daughter is also learning that living in a family brings along with it responsibilities of housework and everyone contributes. Her day carries on in the afternoon where she may watch something with her older sister and spend time with her or she may work on crafts. Is this schooling? She is learning things about nature (they love animals) and design as she progresses through the afternoon.
All we do in this house is for learning and as she goes about her day, I am with her to help her learn. Some days she is teaching me from something she saw while watching a show. Like how to make slime from her favorite craft lady or how to build a castle for a cat from the owner of her favorite cats. We sit and talk, too and cuddle still. She writes me notes all the time about how much she loves me.
As a ten year old, jokes are big right now and riddles so I’m getting many of those. There are just so many hours in a day and we spend them together learning!
I had to add some pictures of Melanie and her learning over the years. She has had such an education in her ten short years already!
Whether you homeschool, send them to private or public, your child is constantly learning. Who do you want to be their teacher, their influence?