It’s 3:47am and I am awake. My heart is restless within me. I can’t sleep b/c I have a million and one thoughts running through my mind…and writing them down helps me establish importance within my soul. I’m sorting through some major questions in my brain, and since this is my blog, I will use this outlet to figure a few things out!
Question #1: Why do we homeschool? Homeschooling isn’t easy! It isn’t some lame excuse of a way to get out of getting up early and making lunches and putting kids on the bus. It isn’t our way of saving gas money in not having to run all over the place taking kids to and from school. Homeschooling in our family is a hard, yet beautiful commitment! We choose to homeschool b/c we want to instill in our children more than just a secular education. Reading, writing, math, science, social studies….all of those things are important! We spend countless hours choosing curriculum, praying over what will suit our children’s learning styles best, preparing lessons and teaching those lessons to little minds and hearts. But deeper still than educating their minds, we want to educate their hearts in the depth of God’s Word and His ways. Children are so impressionable at these young, tender ages. I want to impress God’s way into their hearts, to teach them the importance of living for Christ and lay a foundation in their life rich in the ways of God so that when they are older, they will KNOW how to stand for HIM when faced with adversity, difficulties, and peer pressure. The world is so big, so aggressive, so hungry to deceive our minds and lure us into it’s way of thinking. Homeschooling provides such an amazing opportunity for me as a mother to spend time weaving the fundamentals of following after Christ into the day in and day out of education and living in this world but not becoming indoctrinated by it! It is such a fine line, a hard line to distinguish and we think as a society that our children are ready to figure this out at the age of 5? 6? 7? And these days, with preschool so popular, we throw our children out there in the world at the ages of 3 and 4! (Preschool is an entirely different post I could write about…but I’ll save that one for another day!) We have these precious little people in our care for such a short time! We have to make these years count! One day, far too soon, they will be at the age where they won’t want to listen to what we have to say. The world is grabbing and trying to grasp their attention at every loop and bend! Through television, advertisements, movies, music, entertainment as a whole, the world screams at our children that it can offer them so much more! Our time with them is limited! And in that limited time, I want to teach my children what IS important, what will last for eternity, that this world is but for a moment and we are placed upon this earth for one ultimate reason! And that reason is to bring glory and honor to our Creator! This life isn’t about us! It isn’t about having fun or becoming bigger and better at whatever it is that we are doing! It is about pointing others to the cross! It is about Kingdom building! Christ-Kingdom! And when I think of sending my children off for 7-8 hours a day to have a system (which I don’t even respect or trust) instill in my children what THEY deem important and acceptable, that just screams a BIG FAT NO!
Not only is homeschooling meeting my expectations in a spiritual manner for my children, but I am able to work with my kids in a one on one environment where learning is faster and more efficient! I am able to pin-point their struggles quickly. And then we are able to work on those areas specifically. As soon as they grasp a concept, we are able to move on to the next, we don’t have to wait for anyone to catch up.
For me as a mother, it isn’t an easy task to undertake! I spend hours and hours of preparing and then teaching! But it is so worth every minute of my time. The joy and exhilaration of that moment when one my kids grasps a concept we have been studying, it is beyond words or explanation! And when I watch my kids sharing with each other, serving one another, loving on each other…it brings such a peace to my spirit, and to our household.
I’m not a super-mom either. I have plenty of moments of impatience and insanity! Days when I just don’t remember why we have chosen this path! But God will gently whisper into my heart and I am reminded once again. We are not perfect. We are no different than anyone else. Homeschooling doesn’t make me a better parent than my neighbor. I am not taking pride in my commitment. Homeschooling is a blessed opportunity that I never ever want to take for granted. Can you instill all of these character traits in your child and still send them to public school? Most definitely. But I believe that you have to be deliberate and have much resolve in the time you have with them at home. Will I forever homeschool? I can’t answer that question this morning b/c I don’t know what the future holds. I do know that while they are young, I want to teach them and direct them as much as possible. I want to provide as many opportunities to instruct them in the ways of the Lord as I can! Homeschooling provides one of those opportunities.
Parenting is much bigger than changing diapers and making lunches. Christ-parenting is a daily responsibility to teach our children how to become God-fearers, not man-pleasers! Christ-parenting is growing our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Parenting is 24/7. We don’t “get a break”. It’s definitely a privilege we receive from the Lord, and I don’t ever want to take it for granted ,or think of it lightly. It’s big! But it is so AMAZING! I love my children…and I want to sow into their lives as much as I possibly can! And that is why we homeschool.
(There are many more reasons why we have chosen this path, but for now, this is what I needed to write down. I will expound more later.)
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