Why Do We Homeschool?, Part 2

Thank you for joining me for Part 2 in my Why We Choose to Homeschool series.

If you missed last week, skip on over to Part 1.

We Homeschool because we see it clearly AFFIRMED in Scripture.

As I mentioned last Monday, EVERY decision we make as believers must be sifted through a grid of Scripture. After much searching, my husband and I found numerous accounts in Scripture that support and encourage parents to home-educate, or to at least delegate our educational authority to someone who adheres to a Biblical worldview. We found absolutely NO references to support the alternative. On the contrary, we came across numerous verses that caution against it.

I recognize that God can use a verse to speak a certain TRUTH to one person and use that exact same verse to speak an entirely different TRUTH to the next. That is one of the most amazing wonders of the Christian walk...convictions are as varied as those they convict. So, I am including a list of the verses that have been the most admonishing to US and a brief description of how God used those particular verses to AFFIRM the calling we felt in our hearts.

Proverbs 22:6  

Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.

As is the case with every decision we make as Christians, I believe that the Hubs and I will stand before God one day and answer to him for how we "trained up" our children. Although I do believe this is one area where we, as parents, will at times have the license to delegate to someone else. (Just as the hubs, as the head of the home, will answer someday for how we used our finances even though he has delegated the day-to-day authority of that to me.)

I do not believe I would feel at all comfortable standing before an ALMIGHTY God and saying that I opted to delegate the authority of six of my child's twelve waking hours to someone who did not share my same faith, who at times made a mockery of Him, who supported and even encouraged practices that were in complete opposition of His word. How could/would He ever condone that kind of "training?" especially in light of Christ's words in Luke 17:1-2 where He said, "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one to whom they come! It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin."

Deuteronomy 11:18-19  

You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.  

Again, God has laid out in Scripture the command that PARENTS are to use every opportunity to pour TRUTH into their children. How are we to do that when we are not with them for at least half...if not more...of their day? I appreciate SO MUCH the opportunity I have as a homeschooling mom to be able to mingle Scriptural examples into everyday conversations and happenings. "Bible time" doesn't necessarily have to be just before bed every night. It can and should, according to this verse, be during REAL LIFE...seeped into every life experience, into every memory.

As a former teacher, I knew ALL TOO WELL how much influence I had on my students. Most of the time, they interpreted what I said as gospel, even over the thoughts of their parents. I will admit that there are many Believing teachers in the school system. But in truth, these same devoted Christians are bound by the curriculum and viewpoints that are dictated to them by the "powers that be." Rest assured, the "truth" that they are teaching their students as they "walk by the way" with them, is NOT the TRUTH according to God. The "powers that be" have determined that it CAN NOT be.

Philippians 4:8  

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Many Christian parents are watchful to make sure that the movies, television shows, books, magazines, and music that their children experience adhere to this Scriptural admonition, and yet some of those same faithful parents send their children to a school that interprets truth, honor, justice, purity, loveliness, commendation, and excellence in a completely different way than how they, and most importantly, SCRIPTURE does. TRUTH is only true if it holds up against the standard of God's Word.

So as a parent, I could very well be ever-vigilant in guarding against untruth in the books, movies, and music I allow in my home. But, what kind of mixed message does it send if I say "no" to a particular Disney movie on Saturday, but then send my little one off on Monday to read a book about evolution or homosexuality or "safe" sex?

Mark 12:17  

Jesus said to them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.  And they marveled at him. 

Now I realize that most of us are used to viewing that verse from a financial context, but in reality, Jesus was encompassing all areas of life. We are to give to God THAT WHICH IS RIGHTFULLY HIS.
If my tithe belongs to God, and my time belongs to God, and my talents belong to God, how much more do my CHILDREN...the only thing I possess that has any ETERNAL significance...belong to God? By sending my children to a school that is run by "Caesar" and is infiltrated with a Caesar worldview and not a Biblical worldview, am I not "rendering" them to the wrong person?

Nearly the Entire book of Proverbs

Wisdom...or rather the SOURCE of wisdom...is mentioned all throughout the book of Proverbs. In EVERY reference, wisdom is shown to come from God. So, if you take God out of the equation, it is safe to assume that there is NO WISDOM. Yes, KNOWLEDGE can be gained. But there is quite a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge plus discernment. It will do my children absolutely no eternal good to KNOW the History of Civilization if they do not also see how God has orchestrated it all for our good and His glory...if they memorize the scientific Table of Elements but do not recognize how and why those elements were CREATED by the Creator.

Proverbs also places much emphasis on the dangers of surrounding yourself with harmful, UNGODLY influences. If half of their childhood day is spent surrounded by "the fool,""the ungodly," the "way of the wicked"...they WILL without a shadow of a doubt, according to Proverbs 12:26, be "led astray." (Matthew 16:26 For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world [and all the knowledge in it] and forfeits his own soul?)

The Examples given in the Life of Christ

Although He was, in fact, God come to earth, Jesus needed to increase in WISDOM, and STATURE, and FAVOR with GOD and MAN before His "time had come" for public ministry. Too often I hear the phrase "be ye in the world, but not of it" quoted as a charge to send my children to the public school in order that they may be SALT and LIGHT to the unbelieving. The truth is, that phrase is NOT EVEN SCRIPTURE. Nowhere in the Bible will you EVER find those words. It is not a VERSE, it is a man-made proverb that comes from loosely combining the thoughts of several different selections of Scripture. Jesus gave a charge to His disciples to "go into all the world and preach the Good News", and I believe that was a command to ALL OF US. But, it was a command, in fact, given to adults. Adults who, themselves, knew the GOOD NEWS well enough to preach it.

It is clearly seen in Scripture that even Jesus had to "increase" before He was ready to "be about [His] Father's business." How much more do my earthly children with VERY earthly parents training them need to "increase" before they are thrown out into the world and expected to "GO."

I think, on the contrary, Jesus set a straightforward precedence when He began His earthly ministry as an ADULT and when He spent three years training and teaching the disciples before He charged them to "GO." If Christ, the perfect teacher and model, knew the advantages of daily walking with His twelve "students"...to model, encourage, equip, and train them before He allowed them to venture into ministry on their own...how much more do I, a selfish sinner and fallible failure, need to daily walk with my "students" until they are fully equipped to "be about [the] Father's business?"

Again, let me reiterate that I am in NO WAY saying that my interpretation of these Scriptures is THE ONLY way to interpret them. They are merely the tools that God used to support the calling He had already placed in OUR hearts to home-educate.

Why We Choose to Homeschool

1. We homeschool because we were CALLED to homeschooling by God. 
2. We homeschool because we see it clearly AFFIRMED in Scripture. 
3. We homeschool because we believe it affords the very best possible and most-well rounded educational experience.
4. We Homeschool because we believe it provides the most accurate picture of true socialization...that's right...SOCIALIZATION!

Has God used any particular Scripture verse to confirm your calling?  I'd love to hear it.

Color-Coded Homeschoolers

One of my biggest energy wasters is finding and having to deal with miscellaneous school or craft supplies lying around with no one to claim them except the mysterious "child" I seem to have inherited...a little tot named "Not Me."  I've never personally met this child, but he leaves quite a mess in his wake.

A few years ago, I decided that color-coding each child's school/art supplies would ensure its "ownership" if it suddenly went missing or was out of place.

So, at the beginning of each school year, I outfit each child with supplies in the color of his/her choice... everything from scissors to notebooks to pencils and erasers.  Now when something is left lying around, I know exactly whose it is and who needs to be encouraged to put it back in place.  

In addition, I never have to label notebooks or folders.  Although I know that my kids would recognize their own personal belongings no matter what the color or design, I'll admit that I never would.  Now I can just open the school cupboard and instantly pull out the exact item that I need without looking for a name or distinguishing picture.  

This color-coding worked so well, that I now apply this same principle to other items throughout the house...toothbrushes, dishes (The kids use a kid-friendly set from IKEA that contains all the basic colors.), laundering items, etc.

Introducing the Gang: Homeschool Co-op

One of our favorite homeschool happenings here at The Unlikely Homeschool is our bi-weekly gatherings with three other families for our homeschool co-operative. We've been a part of this group for the last five years...back when it was just an organized preschool playgroup.

This small handful of homeschool hopefuls determined to band together and support each other along the journey by providing a few extracurriculars for our, then, little preschool tots.

Since then, a few families have come and gone but our intent has remained constant...to provide a healthy social outlet for our children while imparting some exceptional educational experiences.

We began our group back then with a unit study concentration. But three years ago, with three and eventually four faithful families with fourteen kids ranging in age from nine to newborn, we evolved into a kid-friendly Book Club. 

Each summer, we, moms, get together with a list of potential read alouds...both picture books and chapter books. After some brief deliberation, we begin to make our assignments for the upcoming school year. We set up a rotation of hosting/teaching and helping. Since we meet the second and fourth Thursday of each month from September to May, each mother agrees to host/teach for one month in the fall/winter and one month in the spring. We meet in homes and share in set-up/clean-up duty.

If a mom is not the host/teacher she is either assigned to be the "helper" or to be one of the two "baby wranglers" of that particular meeting. We try to include the littlest Littles as much as possible, but we also understand that sometimes it is more logistically necessary to allow them to play together in a playroom or bedroom.

We, then, divide up potential books. We try to keep to a healthy rotation of one chapter book the first month and two picture books the next month. This pattern is repeated until the end of the year. Hosting moms are responsible to plan a thematic unit filled with hands-on activities that reinforce ideas from the book. In the last three years, we have participated in everything from miniature Renaissance Festivals to dinosaur digs from kid-friendly versions of a presidential election to our adaptation of the winter Olympics. Our scheduling of books is most often dictated by the seasonal settings of the books that we have chosen for that year. Obviously, a fall-themed book like The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold lends itself to some fall fun and should be assigned to the fall.

We also like to schedule in time to celebrate national holidays like Christmas and Valentine's Day. We round out the year by organizing an end-of-the-year program where the children can display their completed projects and participate in a short staged program for the viewing pleasure of doting family and friends.

Stay tuned for details on the nuts and bolts of our co-op morning schedule. But for now, take a moment to get acquainted with the four mommas of the group. You'll see them around these parts quite often. I hope their amazing gifts and creativity will be as much of an encouragement to you as they have been and continue to be to me. So, let me introduce you to (from left to right) the Deputy's wife, me, the Architect's wife, and the Announcer's wife (and her cute baby bump!) We welcome you to peek into our co-op from time to time and hope that you'll share your stories of great Stories with us...we're always in need of a great book suggestion! 

ABC Book: Letter K

Blonde Warrior has been learning the formation and sound of each of his letters this year.  We have a handful of activities that we do together to reinforce these new skills, one of which is the creation of a homemade ABC Book.  Each week when he learns a new letter, we dedicate one day to do a paper craft of that letter.  At the end of the year, I will take all of these creations to an office supply store and have them spiral bound into a keepsake book.

This week, we are tackling "K".  For this particular craft, "K" is for "key."  I printed out the outline of a capital "K,"

gathered several random keys from around the house (I tried to find ones with unusual shapes.), put a bit of masking tape on the back of each one, and had him arrange them onto our work space.

He put the "K" on top of the keys.  While I held the paper in place for him, he was able to do a simple crayon rub to reveal a ghosted imprint of the keys.  

We moved the paper around a bit to "move" the keys to new locations on the "K."

Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks to learn some helpful tips on teaching the ABCs.

Valentine's Day 2012

Since the birth of Sweetie Pea, the Hubs has purposed to make every effort to be her special Valentine. He desires to set the standard of male sentiments and affections high in her life so that she will feel compelled to do the same someday.  So, every Valentine's Day, he buys her a special treat to show her how uniquely special she is to him.  This year, a heart-shaped box of her favorite chocolate treats was awaiting her.  As an added bonus, our boys get to see how the Hubs treats me and Sweetie Pea on this special day and will hopefully tuck that knowledge away for their future wives and daughters someday.

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In addition to Sweetie Pea's early morning surprise from dad, each of the kids received a Valentine card from mom at the breakfast table.  (Each year our co-op hosts a small Valentine's party complete with a card exchange.  Because our group is not that large, my kids always end up with leftover, unused Valentines.  Since my Littles have no desire to give the same cards two years in a row, I save these remnants and repurpose them next year in crafts or special Valentine messages for the family.)

Ever the living-literature learners, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to read Valentine Cats by Jean Marzollo in place of our traditional afternoon read-aloud.

After lunch found us playing a Valentine's version of a popular white elephant Christmas gift exchange game.  To play, you will need a bag of inexpensive candy treats (We used Conversation Hearts.), a dice, and a master list of "the rules."  To make the rules, I just assigned some kind of "action" for every possible roll on the dice.  Actions included:  Pick One (from the communal pile in the middle), Put One Back, Take One from Someone Else, and Skip...with a few repeats.  

Everyone began the game with 5 pieces of candy.  We each took turns rolling the dice and completing the required action.  

After a dozen or so rounds, we got to eat our "earnings."

What were you up to this Valentine's?

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