Well, actually…the jury is still out on that one.
No, seriously though. I hear this quite often when I tell people that we homeschool our children. They just can’t fathom how or why someone not only survived, but thrived in public school would choose to homeschool her children.
The answer is quite simple really.
God has led our family down the homeschooling path, and He didn’t lead my parents down this same path. You see, everyone has a different journey in this life. God places each of you where you are for a divine reason. It doesn’t matter if he calls you to homeschool or calls you to be a public school teacher, as long as you are seeking His will for your life, you’re doing right.
My parents did the very best they could with the options available for them. God obviously didn’t call them to homeschool, so I went to public school. I had a great experience in public school, and had all intentions of sending my children to public school too. However, God had other plans and He began convicting my heart of these plans {which to my dismay involved homeschooling} a few months before my oldest child was to begin kindergarten.
Reluctantly, I gave in and gave the standard new homeschooling mom answer, “Fine, God! I’ll homeschool for one year, but after that, they are going to public school!”
Four years later, I’m still alive {most days} and my children are still homeschooled, and I love it. Seriously, homeschooling my children has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.
When I think about my life as a homeschooling mom, I realize all that my parents missed by sending me to public school.
16,380 hours.
That is the number of hours that I spent in public school. The number of hours that my parents missed of my childhood. The number of hours I was in the care of someone who in no way loved and/or discipled me the way my parents could’ve.
They didnt see the look on my face when long division finally clicked.
They didn’t see my eyes light up when I discovered something I was truly passionate for.
They didn’t hear me read my first words.
They were there for me every evening when I came home, but look at what they missed during the day.
They didn’t get the chance to talk with me about those “hard” topics before my peers introduced me to the world. Not because they didn’t want to, but because in public school, kids grow up much faster than intended.
Hear me out here, my parents are incredible. I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood.
And yes, it’s true. I went to public school and I turned out fine, but friends, God has led us to homeschool and I am so thankful, because I don’t want to miss one single moment of my sweet daughters’ childhoods.
Time is fleeting, moms. If God is calling you to homeschool, know that He is wanting to pour out more blessings on you than you can imagine. Ignore what the critics are saying. Open your hands and your heart and embrace the gifts God is giving you.
Rebecca says
I love the way you share the truth about your parents’ choices in a VERY LOVING manner! It breaks my heart to hear so many in the homeschooling world trample the feelings of others by telling them what they should do. We can all share our story, it’s our story, and encourage others – without being critical or hurting others. You have done that beautifully! I am so proud of you for taking a very touchy subject and sharing the road God gave YOU!!!! Love you sweet friend!
Heather Bowen says
You bless me. Thank you!
Frank says
I have to say this was the last resort for us in our house. We both work and there wasn’t a reason for us to consider any other option – until this year. My youngest son although smart, happy, and content to learn at home with my wife – was struggling in a great public school system due to bullying, teacher’s not wanting to deal with his ability to speak his mind or to want to learn at a faster rate. He started to get serious anxiety about school. Then a teacher bruised his arm and hurt him. He, only 8yrs old at the time, asked to be homeschooled. We’d never told him what it meant or mentioned it. This year, we tried it out. My oldest daughter who was an honor student in high school wanted to take college courses instead of AP, and her High school counselor refused to sign her paperwork. I offered homeschooling to her as an option and she jumped at it. Now she’s finishing up her 1st full semester at community college, working with our umbrella group and graduating from high school at 16yrs old. Then she mentioned that we should do this for her little brother. After some thought, research, and creativity, we two as working parents can do this for my youngest. Then the best part was, his sister who is in college offered to tutor him, and my other daughter volunteered to be homeschooled to since she admitted to being bored in her school and wanted to have more hands on control of her learning. Wow! So we have an oldest son that has never been homeschooled (but his mom always re-taught him after school) and 2 girls who pretty much tried it out because they love their youngest brother who was so depressed at public school. And I can honestly say this has really worked out well for our family.
Heather Bowen says
I am so happy to hear homeschooling is working for your family, Frank! That is quite the testimony you have there. Good luck in the future!
Aadel says
That number made my heart beat fast. Over 16,000 hours in school, wishing I could be home and playing out on the farm. I don’t blame my parents, but man I really want that time with MY kids.
Heather Bowen says
Me too, Aadel. 🙂
Leslie says
At first I was leery this was another post dogging public school and parents who choose it. But it was so refreshing and stated so well! You talked about WHY you are homeschooling, not why others should or shouldn’t, not why your parents missed the boat, etc. I love this loving explanation!
I homeschool as well, and my DH and I went to public school. I love how you shared this! LIKE!
Heather Bowen says
Hi, Leslie! I don’t think public school is all bad. I just know it isn’t the path God has chosen for my family. 🙂 (Hugs)
Amy says
<3 this! Great job talking about a not so fun topic. You were gentle to address everyone's feelings. . homeschooling and public schooling parents alike. I, too, went to public school and never imagined homeschooling. So glad God had other plans for my family. 🙂 I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Heather Bowen says
Good for you, Amy!! 🙂 I wouldn’t trade it either. Blessings to you!!
Jamie {See Jamie Blog} says
Yep. I survived public school, too, even with honors. But we’d never even heard of homeschooling until I was almost out of high school, so that was never even considered as an option. My mom now thinks very highly of homeschooling and is very supportive; I think if she was a young mom now, she’d be very likely to do it. Anyway, I did turn out “ok” but I also was exposed to a whole lot of things I’d rather not have been in exposed to; we even had 1-800 turn-in-a drug-dealer signs all over our nice expensive high school.
Heather Bowen says
Jamie- agreed. I was exposed to quite a bit that I don’t want my children exposed to. Thanks for commenting!
Amy says
I’m interested, not critical, when people say one of the reasons they home school is so their kids aren’t exposed to bad and/or un-Christian things. Once they are out in the world they will be exposed to all the bad things their parent are trying to avoid. Is the goal to have your kids at home as long as possible to set a good foundation so they’ll know how to handle those bad things?
Anna Lynn says
Yes, that is part of the reason for a lot of families. It’s not our job to hide kids from the negative influences in the world, but to teach them how to respond to those things as they are ready and able–so that they are influencing others for good, rather than being negatively influenced themselves. Some kids may be strong-minded enough to take on “the world” in first grade, other kids don’t have the strength to do id until they’re in high school or later. Depends on the child.
Jennifer says
Thank you for the well written article. I will be Home Schooling my soon to be Kindergartener. We have a new baby on the way come October and im little nervous. I also felt called to HS and I know the Lord will provide time and wisdom to carry out this task 😉
I appreciate the encouragement and your passion for others who desire to Home School.
Heather Bowen says
Good luck to you, Jennifer!! (Hugs)
dianne says
Jennifer! All 3 of my kids were five years apart, so guess what? EVERY time I started a new kid in school, I had a tiny baby to care for. Well, except for the last one. 🙂 So you can totally do it. Really K is so low key and fun that you should really be able to fit it in during morning and afternoon naps. As baby grows, use a bouncie or put the baby on the floor with toys and do school in the living room. Just relax and be flexible. You will be GREAT!!! Bless you in BOTH of your new endeavors! 😉
Emily says
Heather, I just love this and can so relate! I had a good experience in public school as well – but I actually told my mom I wanted to be homeschooled when I was in high school – not because I didn’t like school, but just because I truly wanted to be home with my family and disliked all the high school drama. I was always a pretty counter-culture person 😉 My mom has told me that if she could go back in time – she would homeschool. Sharing this on facebook today!
Jennifer Lambert says
Glad you turned out fine (even if the jury is still out on that one)…I think public school was very damaging to me. My parents were very hands off. My husband had a great experience, but his parents were educators. I am so glad that God pushed me into homeschooling because the anxiety surrounding sending my kids to school was strangling me.
Jana @ HowToRunAHomeDaycare says
I love this post. We are all on our own path and come to homeschooling from different perspectives. I taught my daughter how to read this year and I wouldn’t have missed it FOR THE WORLD. It would have broken my heart to miss all those moments with her as she figured out the written word. The days are long but the years fly by.
Webb95 says
I see the 16,380 as the number of hours that both my parents had to work. Yes, had to. My father was a pastor (and believe me, Sunday is the least amount of work he had to do in a week), and my mother was a public school teacher, and we were still on reduced lunch (and could have had food stamps if my parents chose that route). Regardless, both of my parents were there to hear me read my first words, because they worked on teaching me to read before I started school, and were there for me when long division finally clicked because they were the ones that were at the table with me until long into the night helping me with homework, and helped me to discover the things I was/am truly passionate for by nurturing said interests outside of a school setting. I know, it seems as though my parents could have done all of that by home schooling me, but many of the experiences I had in a classroom would have been lost. Watching the Challenger tragedy while surrounded by my friends; experiencing subjects taught with passion to me by highly trained teachers, as opposed to my parents who didn’t care for a subject, or had as much education in it as I was getting; being forced to show respect to teachers that I maybe didn’t like, but was taught at an early age by both parents, and teachers that respect was to be shown. Overall, I wouldn’t trade my public schooling for anything, and can’t imagine home schooling my children because of those experiences. While 16,380 hours seems like a lot of lost time, it’s about quality time, not quantity. I would rather spend 1 hour just talking to my father about life, then an entire day learning math from him.
Corrina says
There are benefits of both, that is why it is God that calls you. Even parents who say, “I can’t imagine homeschooling my kids,” have ended up homeschooling because God called them. In all honesty, 3 out of 5 children are now exposed to pornography from other children’s mobile devices because there are over 1.8 Billion pornographic websites….there are sooo many different experiences your kids can have but it will never be your experience. That is enough for me to seek God in calling me to homeschool.
Shay says
I love your point of view! As a kid who was homeschooled and hated it and resented my parents, I understand why they did it.
I think that as parents we are told to try to do what’s right by everyone and we forgot that we need to do what is right by our kids. And we, especially as moms, forget that we all have a different purpose to be here.
First and foremost are our kids and to take care of them and we all have a different passage, whether its homeschooling, public and/or private schooling. We all have a different purpose but in the end, we all just need to agree that we all want what is absolutely best for our kids.
I loved reading your perspective! Very nicely written and a great truth for you 🙂
Charleen says
Hi Heather
Thank you for the time you put into your blog to help us out!
When I tell ppl this is one of the reasons we home school, ppl will tell me I’m being selfish to keep her home like this.
Although it’s not how I feel and I understand it’s ultimately my families decision to home school including my daughter. How would you respond to this type of come back?
Thanks again!
Ester says
Great post! I too am a public school kid who is now homeschooling my three kids, two of which are dyslexic. We’re going on year five this year and it has been an adventure, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. My kids are thriving and yes, we may have critics, but many of them quickly realize our kids are very bright and are not being denied anything. You are right, we are blessed!
Jamie @ The Unlikely Homeschool says
Yep! Exactly! And really, is our goal to have our kids be “fine”? Kind of mediocre, isn’t it? And as a Christian, do I really wish to have the world’s standard of “fine” be MY benchmark?! Great post, Heather.
Anna Lynn says
I was homeschooled through 8th grade, then went to a private homeschool-high school that was set up like college courses–we went to school all day on Tues/Fri, and did our work (provided by the teachers) at home the other 3 days. Needless to say…when I spent the next 3 semesters at community college before transferring to a 4 year school, I was bored!
What do I do now? Teach at a public school. Last year was my first year with my own class–of kindergartners. Pretty sure there aren’t many other people who were 24 years old on their first day of kindergarten! I love teaching…but just like you said, I realize by teaching (K especially) just how much of their childrens’ lives parents are missing. I get to be the one to help them read their first words, the one to hug and hold them when they scratch their knees or just need a hug, the one to hold them accountable for their actions and help them learn self-control, the one to see the lightbulb go on when we are learning addition and subtraction and how to infer and write stories and all the other things they do that first year. Not that parents don’t do that at home as well…but like you said, I have 6-7 hours with them during the day, and for most of them, those are their best hours–by the time they get home they are exhausted, and some have other activities that they are rushed off to.
I am not entirely opposed to putting my own kids in a public school if we live in an area where the school system is good, but if it’s feasible, I would absolutely love to stay home with them. Yes they still need plenty of interaction with people outside our family…but that can be easily accomplished through venues other than the public school system.
kim says
I love our public schools my three children have Amazing teachers and love going we need to support our schools
Anna Lynn says
As a public school teacher, I appreciate your appreciation! 🙂 However, parents’ first duty is to do right by their child–not support anything else, no matter how honorable the institution. Some public schools are great, some are not. Some teachers are excellent, some are not. Ultimately, it comes down to what’s right for each child–some kids will do better at home, and some will do better in a public school setting. God gave the responsibility of that decision to the parents, not to the government or anyone else.
Jennifer says
Absolutely!
Brenda @TripleBraided says
I was a public school teacher for 13 years, and severely disliked it for several reasons. I feel not only called but also convicted to homeschool. The only problem is my husband doesn’t feel the same way. Do you have any advice/suggestions for this circumstance? Am I not being called if he’s not feeling the same way? Thank you!
Brenda @TripleBraided says
I was a public school teacher for 13 years, and severely disliked it for several reasons. I feel not only called but also convicted to homeschool. The only problem is my husband doesn’t feel the same way. Do you have any advice/suggestions for this circumstance? Am I not being called if he’s not feeling the same way?
TwinMommy says
I’m struggling with this very issue right now! My twins are due to start kindergarten in the Fall and I really feel like I want to homeschool them but I am afraid of the responsibility and am worried I won’t do as good a job as the schools! After having my kids with me 24/7 for the last 5 years, I’m just not ready to hand them off to someone else!
Mike Southerland says
I do not blame my parents. Homeschooling was not very well known when I was in school. In some states it wasn’t even legal at the time. However, in this age of homeschool liberty and government school oppression, I could not imagine sending my children to a government school. I like the title of Chris Klicka’s book, Homeschooling: The Right Choice. If anyone is on the fence, that’s a great book to read. My reasons for homeschooling? The best reason is jurisdictional authority. God has given parents, not civil government, the duty to educate their children. Parents may delegate some training if they must, but this is a solemn responsibility for which we will give an account. Lesser reasons include all the time factors you mention, quality of education, physical, mental, and spiritual safety. We have one homeschool graduate and we are expecting our ninth child and fifth son in August. I only say this because we’ve “walked the walk” though we still have many miles to go. Thanks for the article. You are more gracious than I tend to be. I appreciate that.
michele says
Hi, i have legal custody of my now 6 1/2 yr old grandson. I’ve prayed about homeschooling since he was 18 months. He seems to want to be the attention getter in school and is a leader. He gets in trouble and so i wonder if this is going to carry threw to high school? Public high school can be the turning point in their lives, bad or good. It scares me if he is going to go down the wrong path. I’ve gone to homeschooling conferences. They seemed overwhelming, and so many have the support of a spouse, i do not. If the Lord provides a way for me to homeschool, how do i get started, how do i know what criculumn to use? How can i find other homeschoolers in my town? Help i need help. Thanks for your posts!
michele says
Hello, i am raising my now 6 1/2 yr old grandson. Have had the desire to home school him since he was 18 months. Went to homeschooling conferences, alittle over whelming, i noticed the people teaching a class had the support of their spouses. I do not. I don’t have the patients most days either, but if the Lord leads me in the path of homeschooling he’ll give me what i need. How do i get started, how do i know what criculumn to use, and how can i find other homeschoolers in my area? Thank you so much for your posts.
Anna Lynn says
What state are you in?
Mrs H says
Hi,
I can recommend the following website as a great starting point. It is a free curriculum with the only outlay being the books you will be reading each year. Many of these are available *very* cheaply (or free) on Amazon.
http://www.amblesideonline.org/
Marissa says
I appreciate that you said as long as we’re following God’s will, then we’re doing the right thing. I am a public school teacher, and I’m often dismayed at how homeschoolers discuss public school. I’m the first to admit that public school systems have a lot of issues; however, my love of my students and the joy of doing what God has called me to do outweighs all the red tape by leaps and bounds. Your parents may have missed all those educational milestones, but believe me when I say a caring, dedicated teacher treasures those moments with you in her or his heart. I have many such moments from my students that mean the world to me. For years I prayed to God to show me my life’s work, and He drug me kicking and screaming down this path to my destination. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank Him for the wonderful blessing of my “job” and my students. I wish all could be so blessed. So, again thank you for not condemning the public schools
Marissa says
I appreciate that you said as long as we’re following God’s will, then we’re doing the right thing. I am a public school teacher, and I’m often dismayed at how homeschoolers discuss public school. I’m the first to admit that public school systems have a lot of issues; however, my love of my students and the joy of doing what God has called me to do outweighs all the red tape by leaps and bounds. Your parents may have missed all those educational milestones, but believe me when I say a caring, dedicated teacher treasures those moments with you in her or his heart. I have many such moments from my students that mean the world to me. For years I prayed to God to show me my life’s work, and He drug me kicking and screaming down this path to my destination. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank Him for the wonderful blessing of my “job” and my students. I wish all could be so blessed. So, again thank you for not condemning the public schools and the people who work so hard for our children.
Cari says
I love this post! As a mom just starting out on this homeschooling journey I have already encountered more naysayers than I thought I would. But your post reaffirms every reason why we are going to homeschool. Maybe I’m a little selfish but I want to have all those moments with my kids, I don’t want to give them up to a random teacher who may or may not be excited for my child. I just might be directing anyone who is unsure why we have made the decision to homeschool to your post. So well said, thank you!!
dianne says
Yes! Thank you for sharing your perspective. I did not have a totally good or totally bad experience in school. I definitely learned, but wasn’t particularly challenged and not everything I learned was edifying. I am sure that God used my childhood experiences to direct me toward homeschooling, but that is key, isn’t it? Being God-led. It is very easy to get all wrapped up in what WE think is right that we forget to acknowledge God’s authority in our lives and the lives of others as well. Living a life that honors HIM is more important than making all the “right choices” on your own steam.
homeschool mama says
But that’s just it – I didn’t turn out fine. I was kicked by a boy double my size, but was afraid to ever tell a soul! I was one of those kids with ADD, so I didn’t catch everything the first time around – and instead of nurturing this intense desire to learn, I was constantly being put down. I felt like tests were all about what I didn’t know and punishable! Not to mention – while I was writing notebook after notebook of stories and shorts and songs – everyone was focused on my lack of great math skills. After all that tutoring, I’m still a math non-wiz, but the creative part of me did eventually die out. Is that what they wanted? How about taking the kids who are passionate about something and letting them take it as far as they can???? There’s a thought. Bah, I’m not complaining, who knew? It’s just, that’s why I homeschool – I want to see passion in my children’s lives… they don’t view learning as an Aug-May event with time off for good behavior – we learn at every opportunity. Non curriculumed (my own word, haha), but when we do read, it’s by folks with passion about the subjects they write. It’s so different than textbook learning. 🙂
Audrey says
Yes, bullying is a LARGE part of why I homeschool. For me, it wasn’t just other kids, bit teachers bullying me as well. I also want my kids to find something they’re passionate about and take it as far as they can. At least twice during my K-8 years, I asked the teacher a question, and instead of answering my question, I was told “we’re not studying about that this year”. High school got better just because I went to a continuation school. I loved the teachers, and for the first time I was able to dig as deep as I wanted into any subject that I wanted.
homeschool mama says
You ever click post – and the re-read what you’ve written? 🙂 I just wanted to say – thank you for sharing, this was beautifully written and with wonderful observations! Watching your children read for the first time hands down beats potty training 🙂
Altima says
I wish I had been homeschooled. I am deaf and I did not like public school. I was sent to Sunnyside Elementary where in 2nd grade, it was discovered that I had already lost 55% of my hearing and I was getting worse. My teachers heard deaf and thought retarded. I was given only part of the work to do. I reached fifth grade, and my teacher was ‘supposedly’ trained to teach special needs kids like me. At first everything was fine. For once I was being challenged and I loved it. I quickly proved that I could and would do all the work. I thought I had one of the best teachers in the world. That all changed one Friday in October. My fifth grade teacher turned from sweet older lady to she-devil. I found myself in trouble all because I corrected her on a math problem on the board. I raised my hand when asked for questions, was nice about it, but still I was punished. After that, my teacher bullied me constantly. She told me that I was never going to amount to anything so why don’t I just go kill myself. She drove me to the brink of suicide. I actually started planning to slit open my wrists. After a particularly rough day, I went to my room with a knife to do it. Just as I was about to make the first cut, my cat came in and stopped me. I found myself crying and spilling the whole story out to him. Licorice made it his mission to be waiting in my room after school everyday and each day I talked to him. I have a theory why my fifth grade teacher hated me.
Some teachers pick students to be their prized students, and I think my fifth grade teacher picked what she thought was a promising student only to end up with a dud. Then she had the student pegged as the retard do better then most of her class. This made her look bad to the other teachers so she decided to bully me so I would perform poorly and make her ‘dud’ a star student by comparison. She failed to realize that I don’t break easily, and that I had a cat that was my closest friend to see me through. Every day after school Licorice and I had our cuddle time where I told him about my day.
After Sunnyside, I was to attend middle school. I lasted three days before having a breakdown. Thankfully, my uncle had recently married a teacher who worked at a special school for children like me. My uncle told her about me and she pulled some strings. Before I knew it, I was attending North West School for Hearing Impaired Children. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t the only one. I was surrounded by other students like me.
Now, I wish I had been homeschooled. My mother ran an in home daycare and could have easily homeschooled me and she would have had another set of hands to work with in the daycare. I have actually missed school to work in the daycare instead. It happened five times while I was in high school, and each time was because my dad was working, and my mother and sister were both sick along with both of my grandparents. Each time I made myself study my school books so I never fell too far behind.
I am for homeschooling after my experience with public schools.
Sherry says
I was blessed to be able to homeschool my son for five years. He talks now to his friends who have spent all of that time in public school and told me a couple of weeks ago that he was surprised when he first noticed that his friends don’t have half the stories of growing up that he does. He realized after a few minutes that it was because they spent most of their waking hours inside of cinder block walls and not out in the world living! I’d homeschool him again in a heartbeat if circumstances would allow… he is learning to get along in public school, but for us, homeschooling was the better option. He used to love to learn and dig and discover when something interested him. Now, he is just doing enough to barely get by, as he has learned since going back two years ago…
Toni says
I have a 3 year old and am feeling that this is the path I am being called to. I incorporate teaching moments just throughout the day right now but when the 4k time starts hope to find a more structured curriculum or dabble in WI virtual schooling through the public system.
Tanya says
This is absolutely beautiful! It is exactly what so many people think and feel,but cannot put into such wonderful and caring words. 🙂 Kudos.
I have added your post to my post (at the end).
http://naturalhomeschool.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-in-world-i-homeschool-my-children.html
Cathy says
I agree….a very well-written article. The only thing you didn’t mention, though, in regards to your parents choice is…it was a very different world then. In a very short time, the level of confusion and teachers’ inability to focus on teaching has grown exponentially. If I had it to do over again, I also would homeschool.
crystal says
This was a well spoken article and matches me entirely. I went to public school, as did my DH. My sister homeschoolsolutions and I was drawn into the idea through her. My husband wasn’t an advocate @ first…then when it came time for the first one to go to kindergarten, he was like…”uhhh, no way, just this year.” Yeah right, ever since and love it, wouldn’t have it any other way, and the DH is a huge advocate now. God led us down the same path and so blessed he did.
Homeschool on the Croft says
Wow … 16,000 hours. *THAT* made me gasp
Like you, I suspect, when God began convicting me to homeschool, I ‘argued’ with him for a year – basically, my argument was that although the *idea* of homeschooling was great, I was totally and utterly the wrong person for it. I had *none* of the skills! (This is in Scotland, where homeschooling was pretty much unheard of – still is, really)
I am SO thankful God placed this on our hearts. It truly is the best thing that ever happened to us as a family 🙂
Erica says
Thank you so very much for writing this! God has led me to homeschool, which I said I never would! This is my first year and I often question what I am doing. However, I want to do what God asks of me. So I will homeschool unless God tells me otherwise. 🙂
Kathy Wright says
I believe God has designed homeschooling to change the culture for HIS glory if HE is at the center of it. If our current culture is representative of the product of public schools across America, which I believe it is, then I would not call it a success by any stretch. How can the removal of God from something result in anything ” just fine” ?
Cari says
The time spent with children is priceless. I also respond to this by saying it’s not about turning out “just fine” it’s about being educated and after homeschooling my children and learning what education really is, I have realized that I did not get an education. I had plenty of job training, my masters degree prepared me for a job, but I did not get an education. I was not introduced to great literature, works of art and music or history the way I should have been and homeschooling has opened my eyes to this. I feel like I am finally learning for the first time and I am so grateful that my children get to have a real education.
Missy @ Dot-to-Dot Connections says
Great post! I went to public school and had never even heard of homeschooling until I met my husband, who was homeschooled. Now my mom says that if she had known about homeschooling she would have homeschooled my brother and I 🙂 My husband knew that he wanted his children homeschooled and by the time we were engaged I knew I would be homeschooling our children. I love homeschooling and wouldn’t have it any other way! 🙂
Audrey says
Love this post! I knew before I ever had a child I would be homeschooling. However, I had never planned on teaching kindergarten, and I was on the fence regarding first grade. Last September, it was evident that my then *barely* four year old was ready to start kindergarten work, so I decided we’d give it a “trial run”. If nothing else, she’d be ahead of the game when she entered public school kindergarten. The past nine month’s I’ve realized just how much I would’ve missed had she been in public school kindergarten (like you mentioned, her reading her first words on her own). There have been times (like when I drop her off at AWANA and have nearly two hours of “child free time”) that I find myself thinking “Was public school THAT bad??? I survived” but while I’m not “anti-public-school”, I don’t see her going to public school in the near future.
Lynnette says
As our homeschool years are drawing to a close, I look back and see all the ways the Lord blessed our family. My story is exactly like yours in that I went to public school and thrived. The Lord put homeschooling on my heart when our oldest son had finished two years of preschool and kindergarten at a christian school and he was going to have to start first grade at the public school. I didn’t even realize at the time that homeschooling was a legal option! That’s how much it was God’s plan and not our own. I wasn’t without my doubts and concerns along the way, but anytime we considered something else, there was never peace. I’ve graduated our oldest son now and he is successfully working for a large contractor in our state. Our daughter will graduate high school this year as a sophomore at the University of Northwestern and our youngest son has two and a half years left here at home with me and I’m savoring every moment. One of the biggest blessing from this is not how academically successful our children can be, but the wonderful people they have become. Not sure what the Lord has for me to do when this season of my life is done. I’m sure I will continue to work for my husband, which was the way the Lord provided for me to be home all these years, but I know I will never look back and question if we did the right thing for our children. I have so many wonderful memories of our time spent together, and their relationships with each other could never be what they are if they hadn’t been together for all these years. I too believe that each family has their own calling and would never condemn anyone for not homeschooling, but I am so grateful the Lord put that calling in me and gave me the strength and ability to carry it out.
Cheryl says
The original question wouldn’t apply to all of us. I attended a public school, but some of my education was done through homeschooling as we traveled. So I’ve seen both sides of the picture from a child’s angle. For those willing to put the time and effort into homeschooling, I have no doubts as to which is better.
As an adult, I’ve taught in public, private, and Dept. of Defense Dependents Schools. I know that another answer to the original question is that public (and other) schools aren’t like they were when we were kids. They’ve changed more than most people outside of education realize. In every homeschool group I’ve belonged to, I’ve seen a large number of current or former teachers homeschooling their own. That alone should say something to the public: Those who really know what’s going on are choosing more and more to opt out of the public school system.
I once had the husband of a top school official in our district ask me why we homeschooled. I told him that I knew too much about the schools. When he asked for more information, I started with a story about the kid who pulled a gun on another student in my classroom. While I managed to end the scenario without a shot fired, school officials worked to cover it up. When I began to give the man a second example, he stopped me and told me that that one example was more than enough for him.
NH Homeschool Mom says
Until Dec 31st only, you can watch the movie “Indoctrination” for free online. I think every Christian parent should watch this movie when considering the public school situation today. http://www.watchindoctrination.com/free The description reads this, “Are the public schools an educational “neutral zone,” or a humanistic program designed to undermine the influence of the Church and the family? Is there any truth to the “salt and light” argument that encourages Christians to send their kids to public school? Join Colin Gunn, a Scotland-born homeschool father as he travels across the USA on a quest to understand the origins and social impact of America’s modern public education system.”
Misty says
Very well said! Thank you for the encouragement as I continue my 22nd year of homeschooling my littles.
Domonick says
This is my testimony for sure I have said this many times before mostly in those battles with myself ?. Thus post has truly blessed me thank you
Liz Olson says
Wow, I really needed to hear this…I have been thinking and praying about homeschooling our first born and I have been hesitant. What encouragement-thank you!
Vanessa says
We are a family of 5 kids in three months. Our 16, and 14 year old attend the local public high school. Partly because this is what they want and party because of our school board. We homeschool our 12 year old and have our 19 month old at home also. We are expecting in July. We choose to homeschool right from the beginning but life sometimes has away if changing circumstances so we were unable to for a time. Being a homeschooled child I wanted the privilege of sharing this with my kids. I have always believed strongly in the role the Mom and home plans in the teaching of values and morals. I have said it often that who better to teach my children than me. I have no control over what happens at school or daycare. Others may not understand but that is ok. Homeschooling is my journey with my children and we are loving it.
People often remark how well behaved my children are, how helpful and kind they are to each other, and respectful and thoughtful. Parenting is a full time job and we have chosen not to share this with the public school system at least not when they are young.