1. The Bible tells parents that they are responsible for their children's education.
"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 is probably one of the most quoted yet most ignored scriptures. Many parents abdicate their responsibility these days to personally train up their children. Starting with day care and extending through 13 years of public schooling we allow the majority of our children's day, for the majority of the week, for the vast majority of their precious years to be spent with strangers simply assuming they will be trained up. Well, they will certainly be "trained up" but will it be in the way they should go - that is to say, the right direction?
"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them [the words of the Lord] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. " Deut. 6:5-9
We cannot really teach the word of God to our children diligently while we sit in our house, while we are going to and from life pursuits, while we are napping or putting them to bed, and when they rise up if you have them in school eight hours per day.
Christ taught in Luke 20:25 that we should "Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s." My children do not belong to Caesar AKA the government, period. They are not the property of the government to do with as they please. They are made in my earthly image and ultimately in the image of God. They are His and it is my responsibility to be sure I have done everything to guide them back to Him.
For more Bible quotes on homeschooling visit here.
2. To create a Christian worldview and combat the religion of secularism
Make no mistake secularism is a belief system - it is a religion. It is suppose to be a system where religion is treated as neutral but that's not the reality as it is practiced. Secularism is a belief itself. It is the belief that education somehow can be conveyed without turning to God or His word. Secularism behaves as if we can stick God in one container and education in the other, yet how can we do this when God is the author of everything? How can you teach wisdom on any subject and leave the creator out? It isn't possible to do! Yet that is exactly what school both public, charter and private attempt to do!
The scriptures teach us the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom simply cannot be gained any other way except looking at it God's way! Math becomes God's recipe for creation, science the result of that recipe, language the gift of communication given to us to use not only with each other but to pray to our Father. Reading is important to learn so that we may read the scriptures and be guided by God's word that He has given us. Writing supports that learning through scripture study and the ability to share the Gospel with others. Everything is related to God otherwise they are just meaningless half facts on a sheet of paper which are worth nothing eternally.
3. Sheltering my child from bad behavior/bad examples
I was a preschool teacher for many years before having my own children. I also taught kindergarten for a time. I saw first hand how bad behavior set by the bad example of other children. This behavior was like a virus that would infect even the sweetest, best behaved children.
I would see a dear child dropped at day care for the first time. Mom was going back to work and the child who had been at home until then was now in a world of children from a variety of backgrounds. I don't blame the bad behaved children. Some of their parents were alcoholics who hit them, some were ignored, some had mental issues - whatever the problem every school class had at least one or two bad kids and those kids infected the ones around them.
Part of the problem was that one teacher cannot guide the emotional and behavioral needs of 30 students at a time. Even 10, all the same age, was too many. Without individual care and attention the class dissolves into a child created, child led hierarchy which places the most aggressive at the top and the weakest firmly at the bottom.
My children are constantly praised for their good behavior, their kindness, their patience, their hard work ethic. They weren't born that way (don't we wish we could be! LOL) No, I instilled those virtues, through God's grace, and sheltered my children from the wrong examples of badly behaved children while my children's minds were too young to properly processes the negative examples of children around them.
4. Giving my children real socialization
The 30 children to 1 adult ratio of most schools is not real socialization. No where else in life will you ever be in such a situation where you are placed only with your peers, plus or minus six months of age.
In homeschooling my children interact with their family first -multiple age levels with a variety of ways to interact with them. They learn how to interact with their older siblings, their younger siblings as well as their parents. They go out to museums and playgroups where the population is always varied and changing. They learn to interact with all people, young and old, healthy and sick, smart and challenged, etc in real life settings, not a class room.
5. To build strong family ties
As I write this my 7 year old son is reading a book to his brother who is four and his sister who is two while my 10 year old works on answering questions about ancient Greece. Later when Papa gets home the older boys will go with him to get the oil changed on the car and the younger ones will stay home with me to help prepare dinner.
We are together all day. My children get to experience a deep family connection that children in school simply cannot because they are sectioned away from each other all day. My children aren't placed in grades or age groups. They cheerfully interact with older and younger siblings they have never been segmented from. Siblings are best friends - someone to play with, serve and love everyday.
We get to experience milestones together. We are together when the youngest member of the family takes their first steps. We share in the joy of a child learning to read, we see the baby teeth fall out one by one, we help each other on Scout badges and advancements. Nothing is missed, all is shared.
6. A superior education
It's no secret that homeschooled children do better on all testing. The attention of loving parents is simply far superior than the best teachers in the public and private system and the homeschooled children learn more. Period. Like any parent I want the best education for my children.
7. Sexual predators
Your child is more likely to be sexually abused by a teacher than anyone else. Not a priest, not a Scout leader - a public school teacher. This issues has largely been ignored by the media but has recently gained some traction. Keeping my kids at home keeps them safe.
8. School Violence
School violence is no secret. It seems nearly every week we hear of a school shooting, a school stabbing or other violent act. Home is safer for my children.
9. Commercialism
My children are not potential consumers to be branded and exploited yet that is exactly what happens in public schools.
10. Time with my children as they grow (it goes by so quick!)
My children are only children for a blink of an eye. The days may seem long but the years are too short! I want to be with my children and I want them to love being with me! I don't want family day to be Saturdays. That gives me 52 days per year with my children? No way! Everyday is a day to relish in my sweet babies because once they are gone I cannot get those moments back.
11. Avoiding Common Core, mental conditioning and data mining
Government is eroding our rights everyday and one of the main battle grounds is public schools. They are exploiting our children as future slave laborers in Bill Gate's workforce. It's no surprise that Bill Gates was the biggest supporter of Common Core. My children are not going to be educated to only ever be low level clerical employees for the elite and I will not have the government trolling and stock piling personal data on my children. My children do not need a "permanent record" following them around in this new digital age based on something they said when they were 7.
12. Protect their hearts
Small children can get their hearts and hopes set on things and people who make promises or who show caring to them. A child may feel all the love and affection for a school teacher that should be directed at their patents and siblings only to discover a year later this precious teacher cannot recall the child's name. The child is simply one child in a revolving door of children in this adult's life. That can crush their spirit, their heart and their trust in authority figures, leaving a child who misdirected their love away from their family, feeling completely alone and bitter.
13. Listening to the Holy Ghost and relying on prayer for guidance
Listening to the guidance of the Holy Ghost is probably the most important thing we can teach our children. Schools teach this out if them (and of course they are largely successful, they spend more time with our children than we do!).
Schools teach children to go to "facts" and "experts" alone for true wisdom. They will present science theory as fact and counsel our children to regard only the footnotes for guidance on what is "true." However, as anyone who's tried to research a subject online can attest; finding out the "truth" can be tricky when you can find studies supporting different sides and "experts" who cannot agree.
Our public schooled children learn to chase down elusive "facts" as a way to seek truth and guidance in their life and this directs them to ignore the Holy Spirit. In home school we can stop, pray, and wait for revelation as we explore various subject matter. We can gain powerful insight when coupling the "facts" with personal revelation and we strengthen our ability to hear and quickly respond to the guidance of the Holy Ghost in our lives. This relationship with the Holy Ghost will be more instrumental in our children's successful future than anything they could possibly learn in school.
So those are my top reasons. Of course these are my insights and my opinions and many are based on my faith. I don't judge people who choose to, or who must for the time being, use public schools. I don't judge public school teachers, many of whom are doing their very best in an imperfect system. Of course good children can come out of public schooling. This isn't meant as a personal attack or judgment.
Much love :) <3
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