When people find out that my wife and I homeschool our kids, I usually explain it by telling them that I didn’t want my kids to get smarter than me.
If another joke is needed, I follow it up with the fact that I felt I could educate my kids better than the government; whenever I use a modern gas can, I’m grateful I didn’t let the same institution that screwed the gas can up educate my children!
In reality, there are lots of reasons to consider homeschooling your children these days. I’ve learned that anytime I encourage homeschooling, it’s often interpreted as an attack on the government schools. That’s not my purpose; I recognize many good people in the Graham County school system making a difference and doing it well, even with the handicaps (policies/curriculum) from Raleigh and Washington.
But, here are some reasons why I am glad that my wife and I homeschool:
* My kids are allowed to pray and read the Bible in “school” every day;
* My kids all learned that only women can have babies, men can’t become women and human life begins at conception before they were 10;
* No funding from the state (we have to live more frugally to be able to afford to pay for our kids’ education; but no one can make us teach falsehoods or force remote learning on our young kids);
* No masks. My kids were never in a high-risk category from COVID-19 and therefore, never had to wear a mask at “school”;
* It forces us to take responsibility for the content we are teaching our children. According to God’s word, parents are responsible for instructing their kids. That doesn’t mean that they can’t delegate to government schools, but it does mean that parents (and not the state) are ultimately responsible before God for the instruction of their children;
* Influence. As homeschooling parents, we can have more influence and more control of the other influences that pervade our children’s lives;
* My kids have been taught Christian character and morality from the youngest grade, which includes understanding true justice. This instruction includes teaching on the sin of partiality. They would see the injustice of CRT immediately;
* I get to teach my kids to work with their hands in addition to using their minds;
* God is central to their education. If we send our kids to be educated in an institution where God is omitted, we are not being neutral or silent about God. Instead, we are teaching our kids that God is unimportant in the most compelling way possible.
More families are homeschooling now because it’s clearly the better option for most kids. While not every family can do this, with sacrifice, many can.
I would encourage all parents to carefully consider their schooling choices and especially consider the benefits of homeschooling.
Whatever we choose, let us try to be involved in the education of our children and grateful for those who are seeking to admonish them in the Lord.
Scott Kamps writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, thestableguy@frontier.com.