Encouragement for Home Schooling Moms
Twenty-four years ago, I was happily teaching sixth grade in a wonderful Christian school, and loving it! One day, my dear husband came home enthusiastically telling me about a new home education curriculum being discussed by Bill Gothard at the Minister's Seminar. My first response was, "Is that legal?" As a school teacher and having been educated in humanistic schools and universities, my only exposure to home schooling was negative. God gradually made it clear to us that if and when He ever chose to bless us with children, home education was His plan for our little ones! I am so thankful that He taught us about the great benefits of home education BEFORE blessing us with children. What a mighty God we serve! We began having Wisdom Search together in God's Word, reading through the Character Sketch volumes, and reading everything we could put our hands on about parenting and home schooling. His will became clearer and clearer for us. Home education was not a choice; it was the only way for our family! It has been one of the greatest blessings of our lives for the past 16 years. I am so thankful to spend every hour of every day with my precious children. When our oldest daughter, Rebekah, graduated from high school, I had NO REGRETS that I had spent every day with her for 18 years! How do parents get to know their children when they only see them for a few hours each day? How do they fulfill the commands of Scripture when they hand their children over to the school authorities all day long?
I'd like to share with you some of the main aspects of home education that have encouraged us through the years. Maybe they will be a help to you as well!
The Reason for Home Education
The first aspect of home schooling to examine is your reason for doing so. Is it a passing whimsy that will disappear with the first hectic, difficult day of "school"? Is it something that you've seen others do that you think "might" work for you? Are you discouraged with the school environment that your child faces every day? These things are not enough!! The command to home educate MUST be from God!! For us, it is a conviction that no circumstances could change. God commanded us in Deuteronomy 6:7, "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Home education is the ONLY way that we could accomplish this. How else can you be with your children when they sit in the house, when they walk in the way, when they lie down, and when they rise up?! Our conviction is so strong that if it became illegal to home educate in the US, we would not hesitate to move to where it was legal. RARELY have I seen a family succeed at home schooling when they began with the idea of "Well, we'll try it for a month (or a year) and see if it works". IT WON'T!! Not unless you have a conviction that it is God's will for your family and the only way to train your children. Believe me, you'll need that conviction when the going gets tough!
The Definition of Home Education
I personally believe that there is a distinction between "home schooling" and "home education". "Home schooling" is simply doing school at home. The mindset is that when your "schoolwork" is finished, school is over. In "home education", learning takes place all day, every day! Home education is a way of life! All situations can be used to teach the principles of God's Word. Daily activities are a wonderful way to teach character! In fact, at our house, we don't do "chores", we do "character builders"! "Home education" begins when you discover that a little blessing is on the way! Talking, singing, reading and praying with your unborn child is the beginning of their education! "Church training" is the best way to teach little ones to sit still in church...before you ever try to take them into the service. Set aside a time each day when you can line your little ones up on the couch and put in a Bible story tape. Then sit across from them where you can observe their behavior. Explain to them what you expect during church time. (Sitting straight and still, keeping hands to themselves, being attentive to the speaker, etc.) Then begin with 5 minutes at a time and enforce those standards. When your rules are broken, patiently, lovingly use a little rod or switch. Increase the time each day until your children are able to sit still for 45 minutes to an hour. THEN you can enjoy your church worship services with minimal distractions to yourself and to others!
The Foundation of Home Education
Our home education curriculum is based on the Word of God and on the character of Christ. It takes us approximately 7 years to study through the Sermon on the Mount, and all other learning is based on that Scripture. Our children are taught to take all knowledge through the grid of God's Word to see if it is in line with what the Scripture teaches. We learn together how to meditate on God's Word. Each month we fill in a meditation worksheet that helps us to study the Scripture and apply it to our lives. We study great hymns and learn the stories of why these hymns were written. In addition to Scripture, our emphasis is on teaching character. After all, what benefit is it if our children know all their multiplication tables and can diagram a sentence if they don't demonstrate the qualities of attentiveness, obedience, diligence, truthfulness, and self-control? How much easier it is to learn math when our children demonstrate determination and diligence. 2 Peter 2:5 says to "...add to your faith, virtue, and to your virtue, knowledge..." It is imperative that our children add faith (a personal knowledge of and trust in Jesus as their Savior), and virtue (separating yourselves from the world by obeying God's Word) BEFORE adding knowledge! Knowledge without faith and virtue "puffs up". I think we've all known very intelligent or gifted children who were trained by their parents to "perform" for others, but were proud and obnoxious because they had not first been taught the character of Christ! What a tragedy. The first quality to teach young children is that of Attentiveness because until children learn to be attentive to the voice of their parents, they cannot learn the quality of obedience. After teaching God's Word and the character of Christ, then it is time to add academics to your home education program. I will list some great resources that we have used at the end of this article.
The Methods of Home Education
Different educators use many different methods. Your style of
teaching might be very different from ours, but we've found that our children
respond best when their time is very scheduled and structured. Free time is
usually a recipe for trouble when you have a house full of little ones, so we've
always tried to structure their day to make their time productive. We have made
up our daily schedule on a large white board so that at a glance, we can see
where everyone should be and what they should be doing. Then each child has a
personal notebook that contains schedule pages for each day with an activity
every 30 to 45 minutes, a place to check off when that activity is completed,
and a place for Mom to evaluate their attitudes, work and whether or not they
contributed to family harmony! Then Dad checks each notebook at night and can
keep up with each child's progress. If you will research the puritan families,
you'll see that play was not a part of their lives. We feel that working
together is one of the most productive activities for a family. And when you
have lots of children, there are MANY opportunities for working together! The
"play mindset" is often a destructive force in children that is difficult to
battle. That's not to say that we don't all enjoy a day "off" now and then, but
our normal schedule should be consistent with "redeeming the time." (Ephesians
5:16) Our mornings are filled with God's Word, character studies, grammar and
math, and our afternoons are reserved for personal Bible reading and journals,
piano and violin practice, reading, PE, sewing, and jurisdiction time so that the house
will be clean and straightened when Dad comes home!
The Ingredients Necessary for Home Education
I think most home schooling moms would agree that the
number one ingredient necessary for home schooling is COMMITMENT!
You must be committed to it for the long haul! You must be committed to
it when you're tired, sick, or discouraged! You must realize that it is GOD that
has given you this awesome task, and He will equip you to fulfill His will!
Sure, there will be days when you will want to throw up your hands and quit. There
will be times when you think that you were crazy for ever thinking you could do
this to start with! "Whose idea was this, anyway?" you may ask your husband.
That's okay!! Just stick with it. Your faithfulness will be rewarded by a loving
Heavenly Father who sees your heart and knows your needs!
Another essential ingredient is PRAYER. The Bible says, "Pray without ceasing." This is absolutely necessary when your children's character development, Scripture knowledge, and education all depend on you! What a responsibility!! This home schooling adventure would be impossible without the power of God! We MUST seek His face for the wisdom to carry out this great calling. Pray WITH your children. Let them see you go to the Lord when things are difficult. Teach them by example.
Love is sometimes a missing ingredient in the home. Most of us have known parents that commanded their children with an iron fist, and yet there was no love apparent in their relationships. What a tragedy! God's Word says, "And now abideth faith, hope love (charity), these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13. Love is NOT an emotion or a warm fuzzy feeling. Love is a commitment! Love is doing whatever it takes to build the character of Christ into the lives of those we say we love. It's not enough to say that we love our husbands and children. What are we doing to help them grow to be more like Jesus? That is real love! Home schooling is a wonderful opportunity to put this into practice.
We are so grateful to God for the privilege of teaching our children at home. What an adventure it has been for these 16 years! It is not always easy. There are many distractions! Even ministry opportunities can seem to be a distraction from our "book work". We must trust God to order our days! He knows what opportunities will do the most to help your children develop a servant's heart. He knows when something that seems like a distraction will be a blessing! We've found that when we focus on God's Word, character, and ministry that our children can fill in any "holes" in their academic learning very easily. Let's "look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith"! He will lead us in the right paths!
Recommended resources:
Early Childhood:
Character Booklets www.iblp.org
Christ Centered Curriculum Doreen Claggett
A Child's Book of Character Building Ron and Rebekah Coriell
Home Education:
Advanced Training Institute International