No Degree Required, Reason 3 Why I Homeschool

My intentions were always to home school my children at least through the beginning years. I attended Teachers for the Nations to equip me for the task, but faced with the commitment and understanding required to teach my son I was fearful.

I kept thinking, “Should I send Bug to Christian Heritage School?” They had a loving reading class teacher with years of experience. I had never taught anyone to read, couldn’t remember learning how to read, and lacked discipline. Maybe we should have prayed for the funds to pay tuition. Or, maybe individualized education could be more effective even without any expertise.

Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. Webster’s 1828

Education has a purpose. A teacher with twenty students may do her best to see the each one is enlightened, corrected, formed, and fit, but appealing to the heart of a child is best accomplished individually. The teacher must do what is appropriate for all of the children in her classroom. She cannot spend every lesson dealing with only one child.

If wisdom dictates the necessity, home educators can spend days teaching one concept to one child. Parents motivated by love will do whatever it takes to prepare their children for the future. Lectures Lessons from all of life are used to “enlighten the understanding.” Attitudes are dealt with daily to “correct the temper.” Successes are celebrated and chores are given to help “form the habits of youth.” All these things fulfill the purpose of education and can be done by a prayerful mom whose qualification is knowing and loving her child better than anyone else.

Complete series:

1. Safe and Smart
2. Who is Responsible for Education
3. No Degree Required
4. Fulfilling the Purpose of Education
5. Freedom’s Future

Who is Responsible for Education? Reason 2 of Why I Homeschool

Who is responsible for education? I begin my answer with a simple fact; children are given to parents. It always takes a mother and a father to create life. The obligation to nourish and care for helpless, dependent little ones belongs first to the family. The state may step in only if biological parents give a baby in adoption or if a child is being harmed. So if God gives children to parents, why is the civil government in charge of education?

According to the United States Constitution the purpose of government is to

establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.

It can be argued that education promotes the general welfare of this country. Welfare is defined in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary as “the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, or the ordinary blessings of society and civil government.” Ignorance does not lead to civility, peace, or prosperity, but I do not think that government mandated education will either.

The state uses force and coercion to protect its citizens, but how well does that work in the realm of education? Promising that a degree equals a good job, threatening suspension, or paying students to stay in school seems to miss the point. Isn’t education about preparing to live in the blessings of liberty secured to us in the Constitution? In Life Nurturing Education I wrote,

Children may know how things work, have all the facts memorized, and graduate when they’re sixteen, but it’s more important for them to know how to live.

Children learn how to live from their parents. That is why God commanded parents to teach “diligently…when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7 In all of life, every day, everywhere, we are to instruct our children. This does not mean that parents are the sole teachers of their children, just the primary ones. It is easy to criticize the school if our children are not learning, but the responsibility for education is ultimately up to us.

Complete series:

1. Safe and Smart
2. Who is Responsible for Education
3. No Degree Required
4. Fulfilling the Purpose of Education
5. Freedom’s Future

Safe and Smart, Reason 1 of Why I Homeschool

I was usually bored in school. I finished my lessons quickly then talked to my friends. The teacher would move my desk to the front of the classroom or send me to the hall. Isolation shut me up but it didn’t cure the problem. I kept busy making glue fingernails and bookmarks but felt like school wasted a lot of time.

In fourth grade I figured out it was not “cool” to be smart when kids teased me for being teacher’s pet. I stopped raising my hand to answer questions in class and tried to hide so Mr. V. wouldn’t call on me. There was so much pressure to fit in and that was only elementary school. High school was almost unbearable.

The same problems exist in schools today. Students do not learn at the same pace. The No Child Left Behind act cannot change that fact. Social pressures continue to be obstacles for most children. Many schools have implemented dress codes and uniforms to curb the strain. Teachers and administrators are also faced with growing threats against their safety and the safety of their students. Educators now need training on cyber safety and possibly the correct use of bullet proof backpacks.

Am I sane for wanting to exclude my children from this? I want something different, better, safer, for the precious ones entrusted to my care. Hopefully this goal is being fulfilled. In our school sitting by the teacher is not punishment, my children do not think being smart is stupid, and we have no need of armor unless you count bicycle helmets and shin guards.

Complete series:

1. Safe and Smart
2. Who is Responsible for Education
3. No Degree Required
4. Fulfilling the Purpose of Education
5. Freedom’s Future

Truth is Relaxed

While scanning websites my comfortable-being-at-home self has been assaulted by some rather harsh protests. I have stumbled upon revolts from every side of the proverbial fence. Liberals scream. Conservatives rant. Atheists scoff. Christians boycott. Why all the pandemonium? It seems that our society has become accustomed to fighting.

I understand how riveting ideas can captivate us. In high school and college I was so full of zeal that I burned a few friendships. As I tried my hardest to point out the fallacy of a classmate’s thinking, I don’t think he knew my motivation was love. My vehemence drove him away from my ideas not towards them. There is a place and time for confrontation. Can it be done without uproar and divisiveness?

School of the Bible teacher, Larry Allen, told us, “Truth is relaxed.” He did not mean that truth isn’t passionate. It is, and the more you know the more passionate you will become. Passion however doesn’t have to be hostile. I know we will never all agree but we can refrain from killing each other with words. We can win the argument yet still lose. I echo Ravi Zacharias; “People are more important than ideas.” The intrinsic value of individuals impels us to at least attempt patience.

Burn the Textbooks?

As I begin to plan school for next year, I peruse my crammed bookshelves to see what I’ve already gathered. I have a stack of literature, curriculum, and even a new white board.

The books are wonderful: Treasure Island; Bach,The Boy from Thuringia; Tales from Shakespeare; and Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. Curriculum includes RightStart Math, English from the Roots Up, The Mighty Works of God-Divine Providence, The Easy Spanish, and The Child’s Book of Nature. We also have a devotional, Small Talks on Big Questions, and I’m considering getting Noah Plan’s Walking with Jesus for Bible. Oh, and don’t I need a grammar book? I know that a stack of books does not equal education, but, somehow, I feel secure having a list of subjects to check off.

Looking at all these subjects I tend to get overwhelmed. Then I remember God has challenged me to renew my dependence on Him, and lessen my reliance on textbooks. Dependence on anything other than God leads to bondage. How many times have I tried to teach a lesson that has no life just to get school done? I have a tendency to plow through the textbooks and call that learning. However, the Creator who made us individually knows how we learn best. He will give me wisdom to infuse creativity into our lessons, if I’ll just ask.

So here I sit crying out for grace to use this curriculum as a reference for our lessons. The Bible is the source of truth, and the Holy Spirit is the guide to life. I want to walk through the valley of scope and sequence knowing that freedom.