Destress the Damsel

“20 Great Reasons You Homeschool” by Jim Erskine

  1. The only “gang” your kids belong to is your family.
  2. The teacher-pupil ratio is great.
  3. You don’t need security guards or metal detectors.
  4. Your kids enjoy socializing with people of all ages.
  5. You don’t have to run to catch the school bus.
  6. You can sleep in on rainy days.
  7. School prayer is encouraged.
  8. You don’t have to buy “back-to-school” clothes.
  9. You don’t have to develop a taste for cafeteria food.
  10. You can celebrate your birthday with a school holiday.
  11. Vacations can be called “extended field trips”.
  12. You get to read more books than you ever realized existed.
  13. The latest fads usually never make it to your house.
  14. You don’t have to worry about what your kids learned in school today.
  15. You don’t have to raise your hand to go to the bathroom.
  16. You can wear pajamas to class and not be kicked out.
  17. Chores may be called “home ec. projects”.
  18. There’s always time to bake cookies.
  19. Learning becomes contagious.
  20. Your family is right where they ought to be…home!

Some of these “20 great reasons you homeschool” are petty and silly, some of them pertinent and serious. If you home educate your children, chances are that a few of them resonate with you. My personal favorites are #’s 1, 2, 7, 12, 13, 14, and, of course…20!

My husband and I have been home educating our children since preschool, and our oldest will be in his freshman year this Autumn. His younger brother is trailing close behind him as he moves into 8th grade. Though homeschooling has never been exactly what you’d call a stress-free experience in the Bolks home (we are raising energetic boys, after all); it has been a privilege to keep our family close together over the years. If we had it to do over again, we would stand resolved in our decision to teach our children at home. For us, home is where the start is.

I realize that home education is not a plausible option for every household (i.e. homes where a parent is single/widowed, etc.), but for those who have opportunity to homeschool, I exhort you to not dismiss the idea. As parents, we have a relatively short 18 years that our child is under our direct sphere of influence. These years are vital for instilling values that will stick with that child for all of his/her days. While, in their free will, a child may ultimately reject what they have been taught, they will have a foundation that continues speaking to their conscience all through life…whether to confirm or to condemn.

Today, I want to share with you the two main reasons why we are convicted that home education is best for our family. Perhaps you will take a second glance at homeschooling and consider what is best for yours. We believe in home education because we believe in…

Home education is no new invention. In fact, it’s been around since the beginning (that is, if the Garden of Eden counts as a “home” school! Or would that be called “garden-schooling”?) Kidding aside, countless students through the ages have emerged from home education with great success…

Some balk at home education, because they are under the impression that homeschoolers are weird, antisocial, and backward. Are there some homeschool students that exude these negative qualities? Certainly! The truth is, I have observed weird, antisocial, and backward children in public, private, and home schools. There are people with a variety of personalities in every type of school. One’s characteristics (positive or negative) speak far more to their individual personality than it does to their mode of education.

We would be remiss to lump all homeschoolers into a negative category on account of “that one kid” we know! We can clearly find many examples of successful, friendly, well-rounded homeschooled individuals from the famous people I highlighted above (not to mention the countless praiseworthy students I have encountered firsthand). Parents teaching and raising their own children is a time-tested and worthy pursuit.

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is 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. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up. – Deuteronomy 6:4-7

Home education has long been tried. For us, home is where the start is.

There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.

– Gandhi

We believe in home education because we believe in…

Home education (as a general rule) protects children from the lies that are prevalent in the modern public school system and society as a whole.

I have a duty to teach my children about these topics from a Biblical perspective. How could I turn a blind eye and allow them to have misinformation presented before them as truth for hours on end over a span of 13 years? That would not only be irresponsible, but furthermore, wrong.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. – Colossians 2:8

In an age where truth is in short supply, I am more convinced than ever that the godless “establishment” is the last place I want my children to be. I want their minds to be transformed by God’s word, not by the liberal agenda of today’s public school system.

But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.- 2 Timothy 3:13-15

In addition to protecting our children from the liberal indoctrination of modern curriculum, we are protecting them from:

…and the list goes on. In the last few months alone, children in countless schools across America have been dealing with these issues. I urge you to find out for yourself what is going on behind the scenes while Father and Mother work and the government’s school system raises the children. It is truly frightening, and I’m afraid it’s not getting any better. Children need brave parents who are willing to do what it takes to make sure their kids are learning truth in a safe environment.

Home education has long been true. For us, home is where the start is.

To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.

– Theodore Roosevelt

In conclusion…

We believe in home education because it is tried and true.

I implore you to do all in your power to guard the children that God has entrusted you with. Godly offspring are our only hope for the future of this nation and the world. We need Christian soldiers who value truth, freedom, and liberty. I have seen countless youth emerge from the modern-day public school system believing lies, their love of Christ snuffed out, just another brick in the worldly wall. Don’t let this be your child. If you are able, parents, get those kids out of the world system and into God’s system. Home is where the start is.

I am as sure as I am of Christ’s reign that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion, as is now commonly proposed, will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of anti-Christian and atheistic unbelief, and of anti-social nihilistic ethics, individual, social and political, which this sin-rent world has ever seen.

– A.A. Hodge

On the flip side…

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.

– Edward Everett

For God’s glory,
Mrs. Dustin Bolks

Chaste Bolks is a church of Christ preacher’s wife, and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.