The Freedom of Homeschooling

Often as homeschoolers we get asked questions about our choices.
Why/how we decided to home school is one of the more frequent questions that we hear. I thought I would take this opportunity to share a little about my answer to this often asked question.
The answers to the question of, “Why home school?” are as varied as the families homeschooling. Many families choose to home educate as a means to live out their faith as fully as they are able. The scriptures certainly lead us to instruct our children.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. ~Deuteronomy 6:6-9~

 Is homeschooling the only way for parents to be obedient to commands like that of Deuteronomy 6:6-9?  I don’t think so. Plenty of parents of children who attend schools everywhere take their God given responsibility for the spiritual instruction of their children very seriously, and they do a great job. Homeschooling helps parents by giving them the gift of time. There isn’t the hurrying out the door early each morning that you have when trying to catch a bus. Homeschooling makes it easier for us to fulfill these commands but it isn’t the only way. For our family religion wasn’t our top reason to home educate although it was in the mix as one of our reasons. My problem with public schools is the division they create between religion and the rest of life. I don’t want my children to have to check their faith at the door. To us God is everywhere, all present. We see him in the falling leaves, the bird that sings at the feeder, the sun and the clouds, and in the faces of those around us. He’s even in the public schools of our country…the kids just aren’t allowed to talk to him openly. That being said, there are many wonderful and talented christian teachers working in our public schools who are doing a great job in spite of the challenges posed by current laws. We simply want our children to have the freedom to pray or discuss religious issues anytime they want, even if it’s during math. Homeschooling gives us this freedom.
Another popular reason for homeschooling is the desire of parents to preserve their children’s childhoods. This was a big one for me. I want my children to spend hours in free play.  I want them to have time to explore the world around them and use their imaginations to create. I want to secure time for them to grow and be. Time for them to sit under the shade of a tree and watch the clouds float past. Time for them to watch the ants and bees as they work. Time for them to build and discover. Time for them to try things and fail and try again. I have made sure that this blessed time was set aside in early childhood for my boys and want the same for my daughter.  Homeschooling gives us this freedom. If my children are involved in a game of the imagination they are free to see it through to the end. There aren’t any bells ringing to announce lunch or the next subject they must focus on. They are free to play. They decide when the game is over.
Great books. Another reason for what I do. I want only the best thoughts and ideas for my children. These thoughts and ideas are usually found in Living Books. A living book is a book written by a single author who is an expert on their subject. An author that makes their subject come alive and writes with literary style. Text books do not qualify.  Homeschooling gives us the freedom to read only the best living books. Books that spark the imagination and kindle it to flame with new ideas. Books that stay with us and become part of who we are and who we will become.
Homeschooling gives our family the freedom to focus on the things that are most important to us. That is the best reason of all and we are thankful every day for the freedom to home school.
Serena is a lover of the outdoors, wool, and coffee. She is married to her Sweetie and Mom to two boys and one baby girl that she home educates using the methods of Charlotte Mason in a relaxed manner. She is a believer of big things and loves to talk about books, ideas, and knitting.  She blogs about whatever strikes her fancy at CastingPearls. 

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7 Comments

  1. The Narrative of Frederick Douglas would be a living book. His story by him, a slave.
    Text books are insanely dreary reading. They do nothing except fill the student with what may be tested. The truth on the other hand is not always cut and dry and can not always be tested. Life is funny like that.
    That is one of my reasons we home educate. It is even a reason I hate using the term school, because it assumes I use the mainstream idea of education.

  2. Six, I too cringe at using the word ‘school’ to describe what we are doing. My kids and I made up a name that we felt better describes our mode of education. We call it Living, Learning, Environment at our house. 😉
    Brooke, check out the Ambleside Online website for loads of great living book ideas. Some of my absolute favorites for little kids are the Burgess Bird and Animal books. My boys also loved the Burgess Seashore book. It’s a great way to teach littles science and nature through the form of an interesting story.

    1. Other books that we use are the field guides, rocks,birds,mushrooms and more. We take them along and when the kids find something they want to id they rush for the books. Encyclopedias are good for this too.
      The science is self taught. One must be observant and detailed to id look alikes etc.. My daughter taught herself to read because of a bird book (pocket sized) that she took everywhere and watched birds. She still loves birds.
      The outdoors is so important. I wonder how we ever managed in public school.( I am a PS grad).
      If my bunch are not out for a few hours a day they are quite a handful. I think this is part of the rise in ritalin et al..

  3. I totally agree with this. The time is such a big factor that hadn’t occurred to me until this year. Our girls also love to play outside for hours and they get to sleep past 8 am. Which I love 🙂

  4. My husband decided long before me that his children were going to be home schooled. I have always thought that was funny. I am so glad that we do school our kids. I generally say when some one ask that, ” I just like to make sure my children are getting a great education and I do not want them to have to grow up with all the pressures that children face in public school.” That is because I think it is rude to say “I do not want my little ones exposed to a bunch vulgar baloney that seems to permeate the play yard, we do not need that kind of socialization.”

  5. Wonderful thoughts on homeschooling.

    Free exploration is such a bonus to homeschooling. My children spend hours outdoors exploring their world, we spend hours snuggled together reading and learning and we spends hour after hour living with God naturally rather than just learning about The Bible in “Sunday School.”

    Another huge bonus for our family is the bond we are growing each and every day. I see families so involved with school and outside activities that they have very little family time. We cherish our strong family bond.

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