Why I Homeschool My Kids

I worked in public education as an elementary school teacher for 14 years and you may be interested to know why I homeschool now instead of sending my kids to public school.  In fact, when I chose to leave to stay home, the number one question I was asked was, “why did you decide to homeschool?”

Why I Homeschool

I worked with some of the most wonderful, talented, passionate, loving teachers I’ve ever seen.  They genuinely cared for their students and would move mountains for them.   My students were precious, innocent (well, mostly!), and usually poverty-stricken and struggling to learn English.  These kids desperately needed public education and all the services that went along with it: speech, vision and hearing screenings, social services, access to clothes and books, and free lunch.

Public education is a bedrock of our society and an absolute non-negotiable.  I support it and believe in it 100%.  I admire and support our teachers 100%.  Only, when I had my own children…I wanted something MORE.

Well, honestly, I want better for all the children of America.  As a teacher, I was fiercely protective of my little charges.  I fought for them.  I cried for them.  I dreamed about them.  I dreamed for them and tried to point them in the direction of their future.  Most good teachers I know do exactly the same.  Most teachers genuinely love their students and will do anything they can for them.  Only they can’t.

So, when it came time for my own little tikes to go to school, naturally I wanted the best for them.

And I wasn’t convinced that what public schools have to offer was the “best”.

Is public education really the best option?

You see, great teachers’ hands are tied by red tape.  Precious teaching time is stolen daily.  Teachers are so exhausted with pointless meetings and requirements, that little time is left over for planning instruction.  Students’ time is wasted by transitions, even necessary ones like arrival, dismissal, walking in line, bathroom breaks, waiting on peers can add up to a fearful number of minutes each day. Add in the daily announcements, occasional assemblies, and social propaganda that little time is left over for…well, learning. 

So, teachers can’t teach, and learners can’t learn.  There’s a huge problem here.

Added to that, there is the appalling issue of THE TEST that is always looming, no matter what grade level is taught.  As a 3^rd grade teacher, facing the state examinations, I felt tremendous pressure to teach to the test and waste what little instruction time I did have in test-prep instead of content mastery.  Then after the big test day in the spring, teachers and students alike are so exhausted that the remaining weeks of the school year are just sort of frittered away. 

As a kindergarten and pre-k teacher, I was frustrated and angered by the pointless one-on-one testing that stole HOURS and DAYS that added up to WEEKS of instructional time. It provided data no one ever really bothered to look at.  Teachers in these lower grades orally test each student individually (while the other 20 children amuse themselves in centers or watch movies or do anything that keeps them quiet, really).  We did this 3 times each year:  beginning, middle, and end.  Each time it took about two weeks to get through the entire class for a grand total of around 6 weeks of testing!  Just as a comparison , the average kindergartner can learn the basics of beginning reading in 6 solid weeks of instruction.

What they’re really getting in Public Education.

Besides the idea of what students aren’t learning is the appalling idea of what they ARE learning.  Since religion has been pulled from the schools, teachers can no longer appeal to Biblical authority as the standard for moral behavior.  Instead, most elementary schools are passionately infused with some sort of character education.  While this sounds fine on the surface, it is a whispery shadow of the godly fruit of the Spirit that God requires and expects from His people.  Schools can’t explain to students any reason as to WHY they ought to be nice, or persistent, or courageous.  So, they inevitably just tell kids, “You’re awesome!  That’s why!” 

Not, “God is awesome!”, but, “YOU are awesome”.  Children across our nation today are fed a steady, heavy, deadly diet of “You are amazing and everything in the whole world revolves around you.   You can be anything you want to be. ” This message is idolatrous and exceedingly dangerous.  It has led to an entire generation believing that truth is simply the reality they imagine for themselves.  It has deceived millions of children, now adults,   who think they are absolutely entitled and deserving of life on easy street.  Americans in public schools are taught to thrive on empty praise for themselves, the created, instead of giving praise to the Creator.

Distorted Core Instruction

In science, they aren’t taught about the beauty and orderliness of God’s great creation.  They learn that man is supreme and is endangering the environment.  In elementary school social studies, they do not learn from the valuable repetitions of history, how human kingdoms rise and fall while God’s kingdom reigns forever.  History and geography are infrequently taught.  Social studies, where we learn about multiculturalism, social agendas, differing family structures (such as homosexual families and one-parent homes)  and caring for the environment, has replaced history.  Our kids learn that we are all a part of an open-minded society where you’re ok, I’m ok, and it’s ok to live in whatever way makes you happy (as long as you’re being tolerant , saving the turtles, supporting LGBTQ, and recycling). 

 In language arts, they learn to read scripted passages to pass a test instead of reaping the depth that comes from great literature.  A few years in to homeschooling, my husband and I decided to revisit all our options and we took a tour of our local junior high to consider any benefits it had to offer. It was nearing the end of the school year and teachers were beginning to pack up materials. We were shown the Language Arts book room where all the cabinets were standing open so books could be counted. There were 40+ copies of Huck Finn! A stack of Out of the Dust! A pile of The Witch of Blackbird Pond! We grinned and applauded the choices of some fine literature!

The assistant principal of the school quickly answered, “Oh, they don’t actually read those anymore. They’re just out because they have to be counted in case someone grabbed a copy and forgot to put it back. Nowadays, the kids are given excerpts from the books as a mentor text where they learn one specific skill.” In other words, teaching to the test. Again. How terribly sad!

Too Much Screen Time

Lately, in the schools I have worked in, students spend increasing amounts of time daily viewing screens instead of books.  Throughout the school day they have access to laptops, tablets, handheld devices, interactive white boards, etc.  Technology can be a great thing…or it can be a grand distraction from nobler presentments.  Many students are learning the constant need for screen stimulation instead of learning to read, think, and meditate: a pertinent, imperative prerequisite of faithful Christianity.

In other words, public schools are shaping our kids to be self-centered, shallow, stimulation-seeking, distracted, ignorant individuals who think the entire world revolves around them and that their own ideas and desires shape reality.  Scary.

Why I Homeschool – Choosing Something Different

I wanted my own kids to learn real history, see God’s hand in science, and learn to appreciate gripping, authentic literature.  I want them to passionately know the best piece of literature ever –  the Bible –  and learn how to use their time to serve others instead of themselves.

Read: Top 10 Tips for New Homeschoolers

Reasons Why I Homeschool

Beyond what they are lacking in education and what they are inadvertently learning from the corrupted culture, there were other reasons why I wanted more for my own children.  I was tired.  They were tired.  We were always rushing, rushing, rushing and seeming to get nowhere.  I felt like, “hurry up!” and “we’ve gotta go!” were daily battle cries pouring from my lips.  I longed for peace, tranquility, and a slower pace.  I yearned for quiet moments with my children.  Time to play.  Time to read.  Time to sit and chat.  Time to wonder.  Time with God. 

I was working half-days, in the mornings, teaching in an elementary school.  I left before my children ever woke up.  I missed hugging them in the mornings.  My daughter was in school, my little boy was a preschooler, I was pregnant and exhausted.  I came running home after lunch, had one precious hour with my little guy before we had to dash off to the car for a long, tedious trip to the dreaded car-line to pick up my daughter.  By this point, we had already abandoned the idea of public education and she was attending a private university-model school 40 minutes away. So the car-line ordeal round trip lasted almost 2 hours.  By the time we got home, the kids were inevitably griping at each other and I was on my last-straw.  We came flying home to confront daily folders, homework, piano practice, make dinner, get baths, you know the drill.  It was frazzling for everyone.  I longed for life and felt like it was sprinting past us at a dizzying pace.

Homeschooling Gives the Gift of TIME Together

I realized that in making a decision to homeschool our children, I was making a choice for more LIFE.  A life spent in pursuit of the Creator and abundant life waiting for us at the end.  I want my kids to be God-centered, not self-centered.  I want them to proclaim His awesomeness, not their own. I want them to explore and appreciate the vast depths of knowledge in this amazing world that God has created.  I hope they discover the brevity of life through history, the intricacies of patterns in mathematics, the beauty of creation and imagination.  I want us to be together; to walk hand-in-hand, serving the Lord and helping others together and discovering all that we can learn about God and his greatness.

I wish that all children could be home educated by smart, healthy, loving, knowledgeable, God-fearing parents.  But the reality is that not every family can or should homeschool. There are many children in impoverished homes, disease-riddled parents, abusive families, or uneducated care-takers.  Public education, although in need of sweeping reform, remains vitally important for the good of society and I will continue to support it as foundational and necessary. Schools are filled with many wonderful teachers doing their absolute best to beat the system and serve their kiddos!  And while these are the reasons why I homeschool, I appreciate that we all have options available and may not choose the same style of education.

But for my own family, we have found great solace and joy in learning together, serving God together, and growing our hearts together at home.  That’s why I homeschool my kids.  

For me personally, it means I will continue to support all teachers everywhere, whether home educators or public school teachers and continue to offer quality content in my store and a teensy bit of encouragement every chance I get.

Now, after 8 year of home education, I’ve written my own book to help new homeschooling families learn how to start this amazing journey, too. Grab a copy of Heading into Homeschool on Amazon.

I’d love to have you join me on your teaching and mothering journey! Let’s stay connected.

Next Steps:

• Considering Homeschool? 10 Key Questions to Help You Decide
• How to do Homeschool Planning
• Webinar: Homeschool Behind the Scenes – Key Questions Answered for Newbies

Check out these other blog posts below! If you think you might be interested in homeschooling, start with Top 10 Tips for New Homeschoolers.