I first heard about home education when my oldest boy was just a toddler. I visited a friend from church who had 6 kids. When I asked about all the school books, posters, and maps she had around the house, she told me she "home-schooled" her children. "You can do that?" I asked. It was the first I'd heard of such a thing. I was aware of the kids in the outback of Australia, who did school over a radio with teachers provided by the government, but a parent? Teaching her own kids? Who would have thought of such a thing! The concept intrigued me. I thought of all the things I would have liked to have studied in school, but never got the opportunity -- astronomy and the constellations, art, and various languages. What a wonderful idea! To teach one's own child, all the things that are interesting in the world. I realized then that in some way I had been shortchanged by my public school education. Learning had become a chore, instead of an adventure. |
The final corner was turned when my second son was born, and he was just getting settled in at home when I was watching a morning news show on TV. The president of the teachers' union stated, "It's not the job of schools to teach children morality; that's the job of the parents or the churches." I couldn't believe my ears! It sounded like something an official in a Communist country might say! I immediately went into the room where my baby lay and picked him up in my arms. "I will not let them have you," I promised him. "I will not let this corrupt society teach you." And with that, the decision was made. I would homeschool my children.
Nineteen years later, I retired from homeschooling when my fourth and final child decided to complete his education at the local high school. He went 2 years -- 11th and 12th grades -- and graduated with Beta Club honors. He probably would have been an honor graduate if he had studied, but he insisted that he would either homeschool or public-school, but he wouldn't do both. So, in the 2 years he went to public school I never saw him bring any books home to study.
Given my perspective as a veteran home-educator, seasoned with tales of my son's experience in public school, I will give you what I see as 5 of the most important reasons to teach your own children...
1. God's word tells parents to "train up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6) and "teach these to your children" (Deuteronomy 4:9, 10). God holds the parents accountable -- not the government, not the church, not the public schools, but the parents.
2. Education should be a joy, not a chore. Public schools tend to suck all the life out of your children, rather than invigorating them with anticipation and curiosity.
3. In recent years, the public school system has become a brainwashing apparatus. You don't even want to know what they're teaching impressionable young children.
4. Less than half the Christian children that enter the public school system come out with their faith intact. Do you really want to turn your children over to someone who will steal the knowledge of God from them?
5. Some Christian parents send their children to the government school in the mistaken belief that their kids will be a light shining in the darkness for the lost kids. Yet these parents, who would not entrust their children to a city bus driver to get safely across a large town, will intentionally put them in the hands of the ungodly to be influenced continuously for the larger part of every day. Your kids are outnumbered, and they are not mature enough to stand the fires of an ungodly system.
Homeschooling is fun. It will enrich the life and intimacy of your family. Don't be afraid -- teaching your children is one of the most fulfilling callings a parent can have.
Nineteen years later, I retired from homeschooling when my fourth and final child decided to complete his education at the local high school. He went 2 years -- 11th and 12th grades -- and graduated with Beta Club honors. He probably would have been an honor graduate if he had studied, but he insisted that he would either homeschool or public-school, but he wouldn't do both. So, in the 2 years he went to public school I never saw him bring any books home to study.
Given my perspective as a veteran home-educator, seasoned with tales of my son's experience in public school, I will give you what I see as 5 of the most important reasons to teach your own children...
1. God's word tells parents to "train up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6) and "teach these to your children" (Deuteronomy 4:9, 10). God holds the parents accountable -- not the government, not the church, not the public schools, but the parents.
2. Education should be a joy, not a chore. Public schools tend to suck all the life out of your children, rather than invigorating them with anticipation and curiosity.
3. In recent years, the public school system has become a brainwashing apparatus. You don't even want to know what they're teaching impressionable young children.
4. Less than half the Christian children that enter the public school system come out with their faith intact. Do you really want to turn your children over to someone who will steal the knowledge of God from them?
5. Some Christian parents send their children to the government school in the mistaken belief that their kids will be a light shining in the darkness for the lost kids. Yet these parents, who would not entrust their children to a city bus driver to get safely across a large town, will intentionally put them in the hands of the ungodly to be influenced continuously for the larger part of every day. Your kids are outnumbered, and they are not mature enough to stand the fires of an ungodly system.
Homeschooling is fun. It will enrich the life and intimacy of your family. Don't be afraid -- teaching your children is one of the most fulfilling callings a parent can have.