Why We Chose to Homeschool

When I received my degree in Music Education and minor in Elementary Education in the spring of 1991, it never once occured to me that twenty years later, I would be homeschooling my own children!

As a young child in the late 1970's, the idea of homeschooling was still quite new. Even though we lived in the "Buckle of the Bible Belt", many Christian parents, including my own, believed to get a good, solid education, one must attend a public school. There were a few Christian schools in the area where I lived, but they were either too far away, too expensive or not administrated well. What I meant by the last comment was at that time, every church seemed to have a small school in a dark, dank basement.

Fortunately, the area in which I lived had a wonderful public school system. I was blessed to have many Christian teachers in my life that strove to be salt and light to their students.

Fast-forward to the Fall of 2005. My oldest was about to begin kindergarten. We live in a capital city, and let's just say that the school district we live in isn't as kind and gentle as mine was. Also, throw 30 years of moral depravity into the mix. I felt as if we had no choice but to put her into a Christian school that we really couldn't afford.

Now fast-forward to the Fall of 2007. My son was to begin kindergarten, and there was no way we could afford the pricey tuition for both children at the Christian school. We had no choice but to put them into the "dreaded" public school.

At first, all was well. Both children had wonderful teachers. They helped them and worked with them in many postitive ways.

By the beginning of their second year, however, the Lord began working in my heart. I tried to push the disquiet away, but it took some disturbing circumstances to finally get my attention.

You see, I believed the lie that the media bombards all moms/women with: I deserve time to myself! I reasoned that I was too unstructured, too undisciplined, and too impatient to teach my children!

However, I coudn't ignore the tug of the Holy Spirit, so I began to browse online about Christian homeschooling and read many articles about it. These 2 quotes have stuck with me ever since:

1. When you send your child to Caesar, why are you surprised when they return as Romans?
2. When you shoot the arrows out of your quiver, don't be surprised that when they are returned, they are shot back.

Humbled and convicted, I felt a sense of urgency to remove my children out of public school at semester. We began our homeschooling journey in the Spring of 2009. Although it can be frustrating at times and I can allow myself to become overwhelmed by the enormity of my responsibility of it all, I've seen my children flourish. I truly enjoy being with them each day, and delight in their learning. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!