by 
This morning as I slipped and slid my way to the chicken house over ice and snow, hurrying to get my morning chores done, I realized how cool it is that I was excited to get back to the house, back to my hot cup of black currant tea and my 9 year old and her ‘highest common factors’ math worksheets.
[Even if you don’t homeschool, you can imagine with me how it might be hard to be excited about math! *wink*]
But I was. It’s my dream job, one that I never would have taken on without God’s pressuring me to do so! Sometimes I even marvel that in His perfect plan, our finances have never allowed for us to afford private school tuitions. I’m sure I would have caved and enrolled my firstborn at the first opportunity if so. And we would have missed out on this awesome family bonding adventure! And spent so much time on the road, carpooling. Ugh.
I know some of you might be saying “Ugh” to the homeschooling lifestyle, as you read this! Never fear, I’m not here to condemn, just to reason. Please be forewarned though, the following might require a little blindfolding of our cultural prejudices and misconceptions…here is a little of what led my husband and I to choose to home educate.
As a young Christian parent, Deuteronomy 6:5-9 was unsettling to me, when I thought about trying to raise godly children according to this kind of standard. How can you (paraphrasing here) “diligently teach your children to love God with all their heart, soul and might, when you sit and when you stand, when you walk along the way, when you lie down and when you rise up…” That’s a tall order no matter what your lifestyle!
Then, too, my husband and I were surrounded by homeschooling families with bright minds, genuinely loving relationships, and sincere hearts for God. What an advertisement, right there. God spoke to us in many ways, nudging us in the home educating direction, and I’m so glad we listened! He used scripture, videos, Christian family radio, among other things. We were surrounded by good reasons!
Now, this many years later, when I think about all the religious lies being taught in public school, it breaks my heart. Evolution IS a religion, and it IS an unproved theory. In fact, more and more tenets of evolution have been proven wrong in the last fifty years, yet it is still taught as a fact in public schools, in museums, in zoos, etc. Wasn’t it Hitler that said, “The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it?”
What bothers me the most about this, is that if you lined up the basic teachings of evolution with what is taught in God’s word, they are complete opposites. Satan at work, no doubt. It takes a lot more faith to believe that we all came from rocks than to believe that there’s a significantly intelligent engineer behind this universe. In fact, if you really want to be scientific about it, the proof is all over the place. Maybe I’ll go into that in another post.
Guess what God had to say about evolution and public schools, way back in the early church age?
“They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” Romans 1:28
Well, in 1963, God was no longer welcome in public schools. And evolution moved right on in. Interesting that as a result, in the 30 years following this switch off, there was a 500% increase in violent crimes, 400% increase in the divorce rate, 400% increase in illegitimate births, 300% increase in single parent homes, 200% increase in teenage suicides, and a 75% drop in SAT scores. (Heritage Foundations 1993)
Even more scary, is that studies are now relaying the appalling news that75% of all children raised in Christian homes who attend public school will reject the Christian faith by their 1st year of college.
Excuse me? NOT on my watch! God forbid.
2 Thessalonians 2:11 says,
“God will send them strong delusion, that they shall believe a lie.”
[For instance, believing we came from a big bang, billions of years ago?]
Some more heart-sick things to consider…from opposite poles of humanity so to speak:
“I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth.” –Martin Luther
“Let me control the textbooks and I will control the state.” –Adolph Hitler
I know this is hard stuff, remember, I said you might have to shed some prejudices to get through this with me…
If you are still here…bless you, I hope you get where I’m coming from.
I know many people who say that they could never homeschool their children. That’s true for some, yes, but not true for the majority of Americans. Yes, it has to be a husband-wife-God decision, but even single moms have pulled it off. I even know of a single mom with cancer who kept homeschooling through it all. Homeschooling is a passionate movement, and yes, it takes dedication.
I haven’t always wanted to hurry inside and snuggle on the couch over math problems with my 9 year old. Every good thing is going to come under attack by the enemy. Nothing worth doing is easy. Yes we’ve had our struggles, but God has been so faithful in all the ways that really matter.
If I can ever be of assistance to you on the subject of homeschooling, drop me a line!
Feel free to air your honest and respectful thoughts in comments. :O)
Homeschooling is hard work– especially in highly regulated states like mine. But training a child in the ways of God as well as the amount of things that they learn– nothing compares.
Thank you. I needed exactly this exactly now.
You know I agree with you, whole heartedly. Today was one of those days that I know are important- not a lot of school has gotten done, but a lot of real life. Would it have been easier to deal with my sick dad if the kids were in school? Maybe. However, I think going to his house to get his necessities, cleaning off his steps for when he comes home, visiting him in the hospital, etc. was invaluable.
I did the ps thing for awhile, and I am so grateful for this opportunity. The relationships we have within our (crazy) family, the fun we come up with, even the tears we cry are enriched by the TIME we have with each other.
I won’t even touch on the subject matter that they are teaching these days. I think you covered it!
I have one nearing the end of his schooling career. While I have always been one to try to hold on to the moment and not miss anything, I have become more so. When he starts talking non stop at an inconvenient time, I am trying to take more time to listen. I am not looking forward to the day when we have one less person in our home. I am so thankful to have had these years with him.
Long winded today, aren’t I?
Oh Anne–I LOVE long-winded, lol! Thanks for sharing this here. Definitely this hands on kind of TLC for your dad is invaluable for your kids. Especially in a culture that devalues the elderly, making this a priority is a life lesson well learned. I also hear you on suddenly wondering where all the years have gone…my oldest has a few years at home yet, but I can’t imagine my life apart from any of this…it’s bad enough to think what I might have missed out on if we’d gone the traditional schooling route. So thankful that homeschooling is still a freedom in America!
Aubrey, thank YOU for letting me know you were here, and that this helped. Blessings to you, wherever you may be on this homeschooling journey. :O)
MInTheGap, it is worth it–regulations and all, huh. A ton of work, but who better to do it than a child’s own parents. I love that it’s a Biblical model that worked well for the majority of history. Isn’t your wife due to have number 4 fairly soon? That adds a whole new challenge to the mix!
Mary, you show all the best reasons to homeschool. Those stats gave me the chills! So frightening the direction our country is headed, and it’s starting with education in the schools. Didn’t Hitler say, “Give me your young…”? I’ve also heard that homeschooled kids actually have better test scores than those going to public schools.
We’ve got a few years until schooling, but dh and I have already made the decision. We value the truth and we’re going to give it to our kids. Good thing I love school ;).
Thanks for such a relevant and timely topic.
Awesome, Shelley! I was wondering if you’d thought that far ahead…so glad we will have that in common as well as all the fun of “fitting writing in”! You should check out the Writer…Interrupted webring…lots of homeschoolers on board there. I’ll try to get the info to you privately…thanks for commenting!
Amen sister!!! I think homeschooling is the BEST way to go. I think if you are like me, and your husband won’t allow it, then a private Christian school is a good 2nd choice. I think women who can homeschool are the most blessed women.
#4 came January 10– so yes, that has made it more difficult. Not sure how you pull it off, Mary.
Oh wow! How’d I miss that?! Congratulations! At least they are coming one at a time, right? :O) Hugs to your dear wife!!!