Why We Homeschool: Part One

When we came to the decision to pull Camilla out of her wonderful little Christian school halfway through Kindergarten last year, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the people in my circle were very supportive of our decision. Even the teachers at Camilla’s school were understanding. Several had homeschooled their children for a portion of their education. A lot of my friends already homeschooled or were considering it, and if they weren’t doing it themselves they appreciated the sentiments which led us to the decision. But once in a while, I’m rudely awakened by incredulity from one person or another. I suddenly realize that, while I like to think of myself as someone who can be friends with people from all walks of life, I must be surrounding myself with like-minded people to a great degree. So, here on my blog, let me share our reasons for homeschooling. I need to be honest and admit that it was mostly my decision. Todd and I have a rather egalitarian relationship. I would never dream of making a big life decision for myself, let alone our children, without his approval. But this homeschooling idea was my baby from the get-go.

Let’s start at the beginning, though . . . before I had children I did not think I would homeschool them. Todd went to public school and he turned out fine. (Better than fine, actually!) I wanted to write. I didn’t see how I could possibly be a writer if I was homeschooling our children. I had seen my mother homeschool me and my younger siblings, and it is a job, with a capital J. Not only that, I had also watched a lot of my homeschooled friends stray from their faith—or give it up entirely—once they reached adulthood. Many homeschooling parents choose to homeschool because they think it will make their children turn out the way they want them to. Yet, it didn’t work. I had a front row seat to that reality. So, why would I homeschool? All that work with no results!

God doesn’t ever say in His word that Christians need to teach their kids at home. Some people will come to the conclusion that God wants them to homeschool and that’s fine. What is not fine is coming to the conclusion that everybody needs to homeschool. Homeschooling your children will not save them or protect them from the world. Choosing to homeschool in order to control your children and their future is, at best, a questionable motive. Lots of italics here. My apologies.

C.S. Lewis said something wonderfully freeing in his book Mere Christianity:

I believe this applies quite well to homeschoolers. We’ve given up (for a time, or forever) outsourcing education for our children. We have many good reasons for this. But the moment we start saying school, in and of itself, is bad, or looking down on people who send their children to school, we have taken a wrong turn. We get all caught up in the morality of home education, when it’s actually one of several perfectly moral choices.

After much prayer, last January, I came to the conclusion that God was okay with me using whatever methods I chose to educate our children at the present time.

Next time I’ll delve into what are my reasons for homeschooling.