Why Homeschool? Part 2

PART 1 RECAP
Last month I talked about how homeschooling moms don’t have to feel like lonely islands out at sea. There are over 2 million¹ homeschooling families in the United States and most homeschool mothers are more than willing to share their encouragement and how to tips. I also discussed the excuses we make for not homeschooling, the reasons many of us are loathe to even look into taking on such a challenge. It certainly isn’t the easiest or most financially rewarding lifestyle. As for other rewards, if you are after the BEST kind of rewards (those that are worth more than money), homeschooling is definitely the best way to educate. That’s because homeschooling is, as I said last month in Part 1 of this series, “an affair of the heart.” If things get difficult, God is able to make you stand. If your goals are to honor Him, the only outcome can be success. Pray about the calling for your family to homeschool and see where God leads you. Faith first, then the rest of the details will fall in line.

Isaiah 40:11 (NIV) ~
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT - PRIVATE SCHOOL
Unfortunately some of us have to take awhile claiming peace with our decisions. We second guess ourselves and wonder if that gut instinct and strong desire really is the voice of God. We were one of those families – the ones that had to try other options first before we could let go of school “in the box.” I was sold on homeschool pretty quick, but my husband wasn’t on the bandwagon. So if you are not in agreement (yet) with Dad on keeping the kids home, I can certainly sympathize. Keep praying and God will lead you both into unity on whatever is best for your child.

After homeschooling my kids when they were just 4 and 2, we hit some financial pitfalls. This wasn’t anything new. Living on one income has never been easy. We weren’t gifted in budgeting, so the money seemed to never be there. My husband asked me to go back to work when things got tight and summer had rolled around after our first year of homeschool. My son had just completed kindergarten at home. I was not thrilled. Being a Christian, I reluctantly submitted - because that's how Christian wives should act (even if our hearts aren't in it). Obedience pays off. God had other ideas on how to win my husband over to homeschooling. While waiting on God to bring us to the same conclusions in answer to my pleas, I was offered a job at a private school affiliated with a church. We figured we would give Christian private school a try since both of us were not excited about public school as an option.

I just happened to end up working as the school's registrar and kept their database of student records. I saw the applicants’ files, their essays and test scores, their personal information, and medical information. I knew who was accepted and who was declined. I saw differences in the applicants who were from public schools, other private schools, and homeschool settings. I was able to see just from these applications what kind of fruit homeschooling produces. This wasn’t news to me (since I was the one who WANTED to homeschool). It was my husband who needed to know this stuff.

Then there was the eye-opening behavioral problems ON campus and at school functions. I knew who was expelled at our school (yes, they have discipline problems in private schools, too!) and for what reasons (the same reasons you would expect in a public school). While my kids attended school on their elementary campus, I worked on the junior high/high school campus. I saw most of the kids every day and interacted with many of them. Ours was a large private school, and very expensive (thousands of dollars a year per kid). If I hadn’t gotten a whale of a deal on tuition, I would never have been able to afford this type of education. And even if I could have afforded it, it still wouldn’t have lasted long once I discovered the many other pitfalls associated with “in the box” schooling (schooling that mimics public school).

While there were many benefits to private school as opposed to public school (less competition and more ability to excel in sports and clubs, better quality of academics and teachers, more Christian values than public schools had to offer), I still saw a lot of the same problems and downsides in the private school setting as I saw with the public schools. One of the main problems being negative socialization skills. My daughter (then only three years old) came home with a new trick she had learned in preschool class: eye-rolling. My son followed around another child who was sent to the principal every week, and ended up being extremely distracted by this "friendship" for most of the entire year. This child was later requested to leave the school (a kindergartener!) because of behavioral issues (and in my opinion, the kid needed to be homeschooled and cared for by mom. But not every mom has that option. - it broke my heart!). Social skills are meant to be learned through imitation and you can’t control the variables with a school full of little kids who are all parented in different ways. That’s what public or private schools afford you: lots of opportunities for needing to UN-LEARN negative behaviors (or worse).

Not only was social "skill instruction" (peer example) a problem, but boredom crept in – and boredom is the gateway to negative character. As grandma always says, "Idle time is the devil’s playground." It did not help matters that we had already covered all the Kindergarten material at home (and more). When things were not taking him as long to do as his peers, he had more time to focus on negative friendships and daydreaming. I was very thankful that we had such a lively and interesting teacher for him that year. She went out of her way to keep him engaged, and I was so grateful for her. Of course, in any school situation, there will always be positives and negatives, and I in no way want to cast all blame to any particular schooling method or group. We just learn as we go and make choices based on what we feel is best for our family. After being publicly educated, having our children attend a private school, and trying homeschool out. we made the educated choice of the latter as the method that would be best for our family.

WORLDVIEWS: TRUTH IN SCIENCE
One of our biggest reasons for homeschooling is to combat relativism and instill a biblical worldview in our children. We believe that the Bible is paramount for morality and truth. We believe what most of the founding fathers of America believed when they penned The Declaration of Independence. In fact, I find this truth to be “self-evident” that public schools are leaning towards the left, and when a government institution (in this case an education system) becomes destructive of my rights to bring up a moral and Christian child, it is my right to “abolish” it in my life. So I took it as my duty to “throw off such Government and to provide new Guards for their future security”² (‘their’ in this case meaning my kids). I think homeschooling is a path that returns us to the principles of the truly freethinker – and the method that makes the most room for instilling a moral compass. Why in the world would I want to raise a child that was completely opposed to my worldview? Turning them over to the public schools would do just that. After all, studies show that up to 67% of Christian children who attend secular colleges will lose their faith by the time they graduate ("students coming from more conservative religious backgrounds lose their faith at a higher rate")³. The fact is: secular education has a huge God-sized hole. If you believe in God, why would you want to educate the kids without Him?

When I found out that the private school I worked at was using secular science books (the same that the public school uses, in fact), I was astounded. I firmly believe that one of the leading ways American public schools erase the reality of God is through the teaching of humanism and evolution. While evolution can’t be proven as factual because no person was there to witness the creation of the world, it is taught as fact (and larger than fiction in full color "artist rendered" illustration). This may or may not be true in a private school setting, but it is most certainly the case in public schools (even if the teacher is a Christian). I asked the administrator of the elementary school’s office how the evolution material would be presented to the children and her answer to me was even more surprising than the fact that they were using those books in the first place, "It is up to the individual teacher how they present the material". With no official policy regarding the teaching of evolution, I would be forced each year to confront my child’s new teacher (who was busy with her other 20 students and their parents) and interview her on her beliefs. In homeschooling, I am the primary teacher, so I am able to teach from many different sources, and explain each subject in light of the Truth (and being a Christian, I do believe in absolute Truth). We still learn about the theory of evolution, I admit, but it is taught in accordance with fact (without the lies in most textbooks). We include the "theory" of Creation and have a lot of interesting discussion about popular opinion and current articles in National Geographic and Answers, too. I feel that this is a balanced view of science that my children may or may not get in private school, and most assuredly would NOT get in public school.

I happen to believe that God really did “speak” the universe in to existence (uni-verse = one spoken sentence). It is just as plausible as all the other stories about how we got here. Aliens, rocks and time, or God? If we are speculating, why not allow my side of the story to be told alongside the others? If you are a Christian who believes in Creation, secular books without mom’s explanations are a slippery slope. The textbooks aren’t the only problem, either – magazines, books, and even teachers promote this diametric worldview (sometimes without even knowing it). Even children’s science and history books are full of macro-evolution and humanistic view points. I’m sure you’ve seen the Kindergarten Dinosaur book that starts off with “millions of years ago.” Who will be there to discuss the topic with your children when they have honest questions? My decision was to be the one who stood in the culture-gap so their minds wouldn’t be offered up on Darwin’s altar.

SUMMING IT UP
While Christian private schools are a much better option than public schools, they just can’t equal a homeschool education (even with all your personal faults as a teacher). If you believe in God and hope to instill your faith and worldview to your child, the best instruction for your child will come from YOU. No matter how imperfect you are, God had a purpose in choosing YOU to be the parent of your child(ren). The Old Testament is rich with examples of imperfect parents and God was able to use all of them for His purposes. He’s delightfully concerned with the details of your child’s education and the quality of your child’s life. He wants us to have the best of the best of the best. The best mind, the best heart, the best friends and mentors that He has for us. Purposeful thought about our path is biblically recommended. That includes the books we read, the spiritual instruction we get, the food we eat, and the people we associate with. Our children are looking at an uncertain future in modern times, so we owe it to them to make sure one thing is certain: their faith and foundation. May we aspire to take the hand of God and walk with Him where he leads us as we bring Him our offering: the children He entrusted to us.

To Be Continued...
Be sure to join me next month for part 3 of Why Homeschool? I'll discuss the academics, the ‘cafeteria’ and even more reasons why we chose to educate the kids at home. I promise, this article series will end (with part 3), but our reasons for homeschooling probably won’t stop popping up!


REFERENCES
1. http://nheri.org/: "National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI)". Retrieved on 2008-7-4.
2. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html: "The Declaration of Independence"; U.S. CONGRESS, July 4, 1776 (transcription). Retrieved on 2008-7-4.
3. Kingsriter, Dayton A., Ed.D. (2007). "Is the Lower Cost Worth the High Price? Part I
Why Choose a Christian College?" (PDF) Gospel Publishing House. p 5.



Sprittibee (Heather)has been homeschooling for 6 years and has one crazy husband, 2 crazy kids (ages 9 and 11) and 2 crazy cats. When she isn't making Tex-Mex, learning web design, teaching the kids, or rubbing her face on the cat's belly, she loves to blog. Heather reminds us to stop and smell the proverbial flowers on this journey we call homeschooling. Not every day will be a great one. She admonishes us to learn to focus on the beauty of the moments God has blessed us with - for better or for worse - because our hearts are shaped by the memories we are making.