So, Why Do You Do What You Do?

Homeschooling with a large family provides some logistical challenges. Things that smaller families deal with are multiplied. Many of the things that have helped me to get my “Ducks in a Row” are applicable to any family. My goal in writing this column is to share those things with you.

For me, keeping in mind why I am doing what I am doing is a necessity. Why do I keep my children at home to school them? This may seem simplistic but I believe it is a necessary question to ask ourselves. There are many different reasons people decide to homeschool their children. What is yours? When we are fully aware of our reasons it propels us forward and it gives us purpose.

Let me share my reasons with you today and then I would encourage you to know your own reasons for homeschooling. Place those reasons ever before you and push on toward your goal.

I believe that as a Christian parent it is part of my duty as a mother. Parents are responsible for their children and their training. Christian parents are to raise them in the training and admonition of the Lord. We will be held accountable for what we have done with the blessings God bestows upon us. Most know these verses below as they are considered foundational verses for home education.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them 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.

This encompasses every aspect of life, at all times and in all things. I do not believe this can be fully accomplished if the responsibility is abdicated to others and children are put under the authority of those who disagree with the biblical approach to every aspect of life or are obligated to teach using a secular curriculum with a humanistic and atheistic approach. There truly is no real neutrality. Here is a quote from a book I have read recently, it gives a good summary. This is enough to propel me to move forward and count the rewards when I am feeling overwhelmed. It is what God has called me to do as a Christian mother.

The biblical mind is not compartmentalized into two distinct areas of though: secular and sacred. All of life is under the authority of God’s revealed Word, and children were to be taught in terms of this comprehensive authority all the time.

from: Standing on the Promises by Doug Wilson

I acknowledge that all will not agree with my reasons for homeschooling. Many will have other reasons and that is ok. I encourage you to evaluate what those reasons are and make them forefront in your mind. Use those reasons as propulsion to continue on in your homeschooling journey. When you have a frustrating day, they will urge you forward and help to keep you focused.