Why we homeschool

We've been asked many times over the last few years why we homeschool. There are lots of reasons, really, but one chief reason towers above all other reasons. We want our children to love the Lord their God with all their heart, all their mind, all their soul, and with all their strength. Every subject that we study, whether math or history, can be directed back to Christ so that they can learn to love Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. In history, we talk about nations and peoples and what they believed. We talk about their gods and their worship. Then we talk about what the bible says: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. So many good theological conversations start when we read about pagan cultures!

There are so many opportunities throughout the day that I ask the kids (and myself!), “How does God want us to respond?” or “How can we honor Christ in this situation?” There are also lots of opportunities for repentance and forgiveness, too! And this isn’t just during ‘school time’ but through out the entire day.

Another reason that we are glad to be able to homeschool is that their education is tailor made for them. If Seth doesn't understand a math concept, we stop. We look at it from different angles. We work on it until he gets it. We have unlimited time to work on any area that needs more attention.

During Seth’s kindergarten year, we started with a particular math curriculum. We were almost done with it by Christmas - it was just too easy for him. So I found something more challenging for him to do. Micah is in Kindergarten, but is doing 1st grade math because he listened to Seth doing math over the last couple of years. Micah’s grade is Kindergarten, but the level that he is working at is higher than that because he was able to learn along side Seth even when he wasn’t yet ‘in school’.

Teaching my children has been quite a learning experience for me, too. It has stretched me as a person and as a mom to be creative and patient. Neither of these things are in my DNA! I’ve learned so much about my kids that I may have missed if we weren’t learning together.
So it boils down to this for our family: we see it as our joyful responsibility to raise our children in every area, even their education. I love teaching them and wouldn’t trade it for anything.