Seven days and counting! We start school again this coming Monday! I LOVE homeschooling my children, and would not have it any other way, but every home is different. Homeschooling is not for everyone, and that is fine. I understand that, but it is “for us”. You might be a homeschooling veteran needing inspiration, a homeschool newbie, be thinking about homeschooling, or be wondering why anyone would want to homeschool. READ ON!
WHAT IS HOMESCHOOLING?
Homeschooling is defined in its name. It is “schooling at home”. It is legal to homeschool in every state of the U. S. and in some foreign countries. Homeschooling can be done for any child, Preschool through Graduation.WHO IS HOMESCHOOLING FOR?
Like I said earlier, homeschooling is not for everyone. God mandates in Scripture that we, as the parents, are responsible for training our children. We do, however, have the choice of delegating that responsibility to someone else. Each family needs to sit down and discuss the idea of homeschooling before you decide one way or the other.
There are many things to consider when making this decision:
1. Work schedules—If you are not going to be home for a sufficient amount of time every day to school your children, homeschooling may not be for you. Some families have a single parent home, others require two incomes. Situations like this make it difficult to homeschool. If you spend eight hours a day at work, then pick your children up from the babysitter and only have three or four hours with them each evening before bed, it may not be wise for you to spend that time cramming in eight hours’ worth of school work. If this is the case, homeschooling may not be for you.
2. Your education—In some states, you must have completed at least two grade levels above the grade level at which you are planning to homeschool your child. This will not be a problem for most parents. Contact your the Homeschool Legal Defense to learn the homeschooling laws in your state.
3. Your health—Some parents may not have the ability to homeschool due to health issues. If you have severe health problems that will keep you away from home a lot due to multiple doctor visits or hospital stays, homeschooling may not be for you.
4. Your stick-to-it-ive-ness—If you do not have the ability to stick to a task through completion, homeschooling may not be for you. This can be remedied! You can choose to fix your inability bad habit to stick to tasks! You can choose to stick to it!
5. Your preference—Some families choose to send their children to school instead of keeping them home. There is nothing wrong with this. Whether or not to homeschool is between the parents of each family and God. Make your decision, and do not let anyone shame you into changing your mind, especially if you have prayed about it!
WHY HOMESCHOOL?
People homeschool for many reasons, but the reason you will hear the most is, “I don’t want my kids in public school”. The public school system is anti-God and anti-Bible. They promote “safe sex”, homosexuality, Evolution, and more. Children do not just get pressured into putting a frog into the teacher’s desk drawer or letting someone else cheat off their paper anymore. Now they face standing up to the pressure from friends, to smoke, do drugs, and have sex. With the increase in shootings, bombings, bullying, and violence many parents worry about their children’s safety in these schools. Others site the fact that a public school education is too close to not being an education at all.
The biggest reason we choose to homeschool is because we firmly believe that is what God wants our family to do. We homeschool because I can better train our daughters to love God and serve him and train them to be a good wife, homemaker, and mother if I spend that eight hour a day window with my children instead of outsourcing it to someone else. My children are only awake twelve hours out of every day. If I allow someone else the blessing of training my children for eight hours of that, and then they come home and spend an hour or two doing homework, time eating and doing chores, and an hour playing, what does that leave me to work with? Nothing… “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart form it” (Proverbs 22:6). We want our children to grow up to love and serve God, and we believe the best way for us to do that is through homeschooling. No other reasons compare.
If you are trying to decide whether to homeschool or not, think about these things other reasons:
- Parents know their children’s strengths and weaknesses and can provide a learning environment that will better serve their child.
- Homeschooling prevents most negative peer pressure until the child is old enough and established enough in God’s Word to appropriately deal with it.
- Homeschooled children can mature at their own rates without pressure to be or do what they are not ready for.
- It provides positive an appropriate socialization with people of all ages, making homeschooled children comfortable interacting with people of all ages.
- In homeschooling, the parents are a large part of their child’s world and natural partners in learning.
- Your family’s values and beliefs are taught and are not contradicted eight hours a day by an outside source.
- Your family is free to schedule their day however they need.
- Homeschooling creates stronger bond between siblings.
- You can provide extra learning opportunities to advance your children in their interests and talents.
- When homeschooling, there is a high student/ teacher ratio.
- Homeschooled children become good at studying, independent in their thinking, and secure in their own convictions.
Like I said, homeschooling is not for everyone. Homeschooling is not the only way, but it is the best way for my family, and it may be the best way for yours. Talk about it, research it, pray about it, and decide!
Are you homeschooling this year? What are the reasons you homeschool? What are the reasons you do not?
Homeschool Creations
The Homeschool Village
Holy Spirit-led Homeschooling
The Encouraging Home
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