(Please welcome Addie as she begins posting here by sharing her personal journey toward homeschooling!)
Motivations for homeschooling are many. Dissatisfaction with public or private schools, illness of the child or parent, unusual work schedule, or needing to travel frequently may be some reasons. If you are a missionary in a country other than the U.S., there may be fewer education options available for your child. If you’re anything like me, the idea of homeschooling might not have sounded too thrilling at the beginning.
Growing up I attended public school in a small town. I had good experiences and did well in my classes. I entered college without a set career in mind but went into the education department and specialized in early childhood special education, that is, the education of children with developmental disabilities. I was in this field for one reason; I cared about kids. I cared that children were given the best education possible and I worked hard to serve the kids in my classes and to help them learn. None of the teacher candidates in my classes were in the field because they were looking to get rich quick; they were there because they cared about kids as well.
In college I met this cute family at my church, who had the most well-behaved kids I’d ever met, and was surprised to learn they were homeschoolers. They didn’t fit my preconceived notion of the anti-social homeschooling family. To hear the mom defend their choice to homeschool just aggravated me—at first. It didn’t matter that they had prayed over their decision and had researched curricula, state requirements and the law. I found it personally offensive that they believed (or I perceived they did) teacher’s motives to anything but well-intended toward their students. That certainly wasn’t why I was becoming a teacher. I loved kids!
Then I became a parent. We had our daughter, Caley, in January of 2005. I was about halfway through my program to obtain a Masters of Education and teaching certificate. I believe God gave us our daughter at precisely the right time, because it was then that I began to weigh what I was hearing in my classes with what I was living as a new parent. Becoming a parent showed me that my love for my daughter was different than my care for my students. It also showed me that though teachers have many wonderful motives, they aren’t my child’s parent, so their level of involvement and burden to provide a good environment is less simply because they don’t have that parent-child bond God that gives to parents.
It wasn’t instantly that I decided to scrap my plan on schooling. I finished my degree with the intention of returning to the schools when my kids were school-aged themselves. While staying home, God worked on my heart even more. When Caley was about 15 months I remember actually considering homeschooling. At about 20 months I started a weekly play-group for Caley and her peers, mainly to keep up the skills I’d learned in school. Over time it became less about my skills being maintained, and more about educating my child. Here and there I could hear God say, “Yes you can do this” and “Just trust me.” He put me in community with other homeschooling families, and a few who let me observe how they do school and ask questions. He showed me resources in books and online with fun ideas and curricula to explore. He brought my husband on board, which was essential. Eventually I tried doing some direct “school time” with my then 3-year-old Caley and she loved it!
We are going into our second year of homeschooling preschool and our schedule is more organized in terms of what we study and when we do school. But I feel like we’ve been homeschooling since Caley’s birth because really it’s just doing what comes natural between child and parent. As a parent you want your child to succeed. You taught them how to speak, walk, eat with a spoon, and potty in the toilet. You are also more than qualified to teach them how to read, write, add, and subtract if you are led to do so! Certainly homeschooling isn’t for everyone in every stage of life. I’m sure we will face a time where things will need to change, but for now, God has placed us in this stage and I know He has our best interest at heart.
By: Addie
Have you ever considered homeschooling? What are your thoughts? If you are homeschooling, what are/were the reasons and circumstances surrounding your decision? Were you resistant at first? How have you seen God work through that decision?
