Successful Homeschooling
2 09 2014
Beneth and I were both educated in traditional classrooms of education. Upon entering the ministry, we both found ourselves teaching and administrating in a Christian school. When we moved to Folsom five years ago, we chose to break from our experiences of education and chose to educate our girls at home. The choice to homeschool has been far more difficult than we anticipated but also far more profitable than we imagined. Because neither of us was experienced in homeschooling, we sought the advice of others and have given careful observation to families who have seemed to succeed at homeschooling their children. Through that observation, I have noted five things that successful homeschooling families all seem to have in common. In light of the many families within our church that are starting a new year of homeschooling with their children, I pass this on to you today with the hope that it is a help.
1. Successful homeschoolers are motivated by conviction, not convenience. The conveniences of homeschooling range all the way from determining your own schedule and pace of a school year to choosing your own dress code for the day. But as a school year progresses and as our children enter higher grades with tougher subjects, the conveniences of homeschooling begin to fade away. The family that has chosen to homeschool out of a conviction that this is God’s will for them will find a stronger ability to stick with it when the conveniences are not so evident.
2. Successful homeschoolers choose a Bible-based curriculum and stick with it. The market is filled with all kinds of educational curriculum. Those curriculums contain a wide variety of price, difficulty, emphasis, and philosophy. Successful homeschoolers put a high premium on the selection of curriculum. When given the choice between saving a few dollars or obtaining a Bible-based curriculum, the successful homeschooling families choose a Bible-based one. In addition to choosing a good curriculum, they also choose to stick with it and see the scope and sequence of that curriculum all the way through. Try to avoid getting caught up in the marketing ploys of publishers. Find a good curriculum and stick with it.
3. Successful homeschoolers guard against social exclusivity. Exclusivity is sometimes born out of fear – a fear of the sinful world around us and its potential influence. Sometimes it is born out of pride that believes one can ignore Biblical institutions (like the local church) and raise children alone. There are select fringes of the homeschooling movement that foster a mentality of exclusivism that pulls families away from social interaction with the world and committed participation in a local church. The successful homeschooling families that I have observed work hard at not being exclusive. They strive to instill in their children a burden for the lost world and an evangelistic unction to reach that world with the Gospel. They joyfully participate and commit to a local church and teach their children to be discerning about peer dependence, while also emphasizing peer interaction. Most homeschooling families I know have chosen a community to interact with as a family. That community ranges from sports leagues, Scout troops, orchestras, theatre clubs, sometimes even just a particular fellowship of homeschooling families. The greatest community we can be a part of is our own local church. Don’t let your involvement in extracurricular communities eliminate your ability to be a part of your church community.
4. Successful homeschoolers strive for structured flexibility. The shouldering of responsibility to train our children at home is huge! The teaching, scheduling, and administrating of homeschooling can be extremely overwhelming. Add the management of a home, work responsibilities, church involvement, and extended family obligations; and you have a full schedule. The choice to homeschool includes a choice to be disciplined and regimented in getting the task done. One of the conveniences of homeschooling is the ability to be flexible, but flexibility cannot reign to the expense of finishing the required subjects and making sure education is actually happening. Children need the parents to set the structure and enforce it. Successful homeschooling families don’t allow education to slip, because they have failed to be disciplined in maintaining a structure.
5. Successful homeschoolers trust God, not their methods of education. The educational path we choose for our children will impact our children but not determine our child’s outcome. Godly children have come from more traditional school environments like public or private education. The method of education does not guarantee a particular outcome in our children’s lives. Successful homeschooling families all seek to trust God for the outcome of their children. They pray, plead, and present Biblical truth to their children while maintaining a full trust in God.
Homeschooling is hard work! Successful homeschooling doesn’t happen accidently. I’m praying today for the many families of our church that have begun a new school year. May the Lord bless your efforts and raise up a great generation of God-fearing children to be used in the harvest fields of ministry.
