Why I Homeschool

Wow – we have our fifth child (out of six) graduating from high school this month.  We had started our kids in public school way back in 1999 in Canada and carried on when we came to the States. When I look back at taking my 4 year old to a preschool, I ask myself “WHY”? I can’t imagine doing that today. When we finally made the decision to homeschool, Genevieve (our third born) was halfway through K5 and I wanted them home. I have never looked back and never questioned my decision. I have never wanted to return them to the public school. Why do I homeschool?

From the perspective of my faith.

When God gave us our children, they came with the responsibility to train them up in the way they should go. Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The training is for the parents, not anyone else. God also gave us so many principles, precepts and ways to teach them all through His Word. It is such a good book to study and use as a guide even today. Our children are definitely our responsibility! It goes along with our faith and we want to raise them and teach them from God’s Word so they can be strong, godly citizens in this world. Trust me, it’s worth it!

From the perspective of being a mother

Yes, I’m a mother that wants to have all my kids around. I enjoy having them around. I DO covet my hour in the morning (from 6-7ish) to have personal time with God but after that, it is great to have the laughter and talking and joy in the house. I also enjoy having them around as we learn together from their different subjects. The classroom setting is a little different and sometimes they are on their own and sometimes we are all together in the school area as we study. I love that some of my kids pop up and comment on something they’ve learned. As a mom, I can be there for every moment of their lives; for every obstacle climbed and every mission accomplished. I’m so blessed to have been home with them all these years to cross milestones off together and to really know how well they are doing in every area of their lives. What a reward for a mother!

From the perspective of parenting

Pierre and I have always striven to raise the children in the Word of God. Having been raised in the era of “because I told you so”, we wanted them to know our words were less important than God’s Words. Obviously, to be able to raise them in this manner we needed to be in and stay in the Word. It has paid off in many ways today as our older children go out in the world to live and work and serve. They are strong, seeking God and they know what they believe. Why? They know because their father has taken them time and again to the Bible for answers. We meet every morning to study it (right now we are going through the Comfort Bible which you can pick up here)  and they can now identify false information and can tell you why based on the Bible. How could they learn this if they were not being trained at home? To stand up for one’s faith, don’t you think one must be immersed in the basis of your faith – for us – the Bible, God’s Holy Word? I keep thinking about our children now being out in the world daily. It calms me to know that they are saved and living for God and so therefore know they must answer to God. All these years in the home have been not a time of sheltering them from the world but rather training them to live IN the world. I’m not so sure if they were in the public school for 6+ hours a day for over 12 years they’d be in the same place. The control and the indoctrination of world philosophies would be a huge pull. As the picture above says, it’s easier to get pulled off something. I’d rather take pro-active measures from the start and have them strong in their faith BEFORE putting them out there to defend it. The devil is such a deceptive, controlling, manipulative force that we have to be so strong to handle his fiery darts. I Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

From the perspective of education

I heard a guy on the news say, “we tell them the monsters are under the bed but they are in the schools, the tech companies….” They were discussing how our institutions are being eroded by not only liberal media but by communist countries. Still, I totally see his point because our secular schools today are chalked full of teachers with liberal philosophies that go so against God’s Word they can’t even stand to let Christians have a voice. Is this in the universities? Yes, but not only there. These teachers are in our schools right down to Pre-K. I have an acquaintance who has made the difficult decision to stop teaching Pre-K this year because of the perverted material she is expected to teach. She can’t in good conscience as a Christian do so. And we want to put our children into these situations? My kids are educated at home, as well, because I love to learn.  Do you need some resources?  Check out this article for some help.

If we can teach our children to attain to wisdom and knowledge from God’s Word as we intertwine it into our day, then wouldn’t this suggest they will be ready and willing to ask God to teach them as they continue out into the world? They can then truly pray like the Psalmist (27:11), “Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.”