Why do we homeschool?

I think this is perhaps the best time of the year to address this. It is the start of a new academic year and all around me I see kids in their shiny new uniforms, wearing a big smile and walking towards their school with a sense of excitement (and perhaps nervousness too), and I ask myself why are we walking the opposite direction?. The decision to home educate our kids didn’t come overnight and there were many a sleepless nights sacrificed over this. My eldest kid had just completed 2 years of education in an outstanding primary school. It was very difficult to then justify why we would want to pull her out of school and home educate. The reason to home educate was simply because I felt that is what the Lord was asking us to do. Now how do you explain that to someone! That was the dilemma I faced but a calling so strong that I couldn’t ignore either. So, against all reasoning and without any understanding of what lay ahead of us, my husband and I decided to take the leap of faith and decided to homeschool our kids.

In the initial days I admit I felt like I had to come up with a list of negatives for why school is not the right choice for us in order to justify home schooling or in other words I went straight into defense mode and offered my opinions even when no one asked for it 😛 . But with experience comes wisdom (not that I have earned on my own but received by God’s grace) and my reason to homeschool has become a lot clearer – given the limited years that I have with my kids before they choose their own paths, I want to be there for them and create as many memories as possible. I want to be their biggest cheerleader and witness the little and big progress they make. I don’t want to give the best part of their day to school and settle for moody, tired after school kids. I want to see them thrive in a safe environment where they can make mistakes and not feel the pressure to compete when they are not ready and at the same time challenge them to discover new areas which can only come when learning is embedded organically in your day to day living. I want them to enjoy being kids as long as possible and genuinely be excited about even the silliest things. I want them to work on sibling relationships and family first and the world after. And above all I want them to have a sense of wonder and awe when it comes to discovering faith and the love of God. I want to create an atmosphere of learning at home where God is at the center of everything we do and any subject we learn would naturally point us to the creator.

Although my conviction is strong, my heart is easily overwhelmed when I think of the responsibility that is ahead of me because I cannot see the finish line and there are genuine struggles along the way mixed with fear and anxieties. My friends who know me know how goal oriented and hard working I am, so I am not the one who gives up easily but I can easily be drowned by my own thoughts and the pressure I put on myself. All this to further point out that I am in no way skilled for this calling but by God’s grace we move ahead one day at a time. This continues to be an incredible journey where God is teaching me as I teach my kids and refining me and my character as I model what is Christian living to my kids.

I have nowhere to hide, when I struggle my kids see it and together as a family we work on our shortcomings and overcome the hurdles. And together as a family we celebrate our little victories. We have been brought closer as a family and although not every day is a “pat on the back” type of day but we LOVE it nonetheless. My biggest takeaway so far – in our weakness Christ is glorified and his grace is sufficient for us.

 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)