I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many new homeschoolers that have just begun their homeschool journey. Most of them find homeschooling a delight. As they spend each day with their children, they begin to glimpse into the windows of their little hearts and see things they didn’t know were there—good things and not so good things.
What is so precious about this is that we really do come to know our children the way God intended for us to know them. God did not set up schools where children would depart for hours from the very people to whom He gave them to be reared. Education was intended to be done at home from the very beginning, as was the training of our children’s hearts. God’s perfect order has been disrupted by the institution that came in to replace God’s intention for homes and families. That order was disrupted so long ago that now parents don’t know how to parent because they weren’t parented, and they weren’t parented properly because their parents weren’t parented—and on and on it goes down the line.
The home became second to the institution of school. There was a time, long ago, when most kids were either home educated or only went to school during certain seasons. Most of the time was spent at home with the family where generations passed on what the generations before had been passing on for as long as anyone could remember.
If we don’t have lengthy amounts of time with our children, we will likely miss the nuances that betray what is really happening in their hearts, what they really believe. If I only had a few hours every night with them, when we were all worn out from the day, I may not know what their wrong beliefs are, or what their right beliefs are. Would I even have the time or energy to work to correct them? Because I spent my entire days with my kids, I knew them so well. I knew the exact areas where I could trust them to always make the right choice, and I knew the exact areas where they needed more training. I knew their hearts. When I saw misconceptions, we worked through them during the morning devotions, prayed through them, and explored what the Bible said about them. No big hurry. We had time.
I had one mom describe to me, when she brought her children home from school to homeschool them, the experience of getting to know her kids. She was astonished when she realized that because they had been in school for several years, she didn’t even know—really know—her kids. Could not really knowing your children be God’s plan for the family? No. Sadly, it’s really no wonder children are in the mess they are today.
I believe homeschooling is so right.
It is the model God set in place. It’s a return to the ways of old. Isaiah 58:12 says,
…you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.
I pray you will find joy in your homeschooling journey as you get to know and disciple the hearts of your children—the way God designed it to be.
Read on for more homeschool encouragement.
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