When I began homeschooling 8 years ago, the estimated average percentage of families educating at home in America was about 1. In less than a decade, some statistics would say that we are now approaching 4%, with demographics like secular families, African American families and female same sex parent families, especially in the northeast, among the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population to join the home education movement. While homeschooling may have originated primarily out of the vestigages of the hippie rebellion against perceived authoritarian government or with families committed to providing a Christian education no longer permitted in public schools, it certainly has gained traction and spread seed to curious onlookers, who bring with them a broader definition of the motivation to educate their children outside traditional schooling options.
Since 1963, SAT scores have been in steady decline. Literacy is down. Morality is down. And violence is up. Americans are less competitive in the world market resulting in the outsourcing of our jobs to other countries simply because other countries produce an product that is more employable. Despite a contingent of loving, gifted, well-intentioned public educators, they are admirably, but regretably spitting into the wind and all attempts at revitalizing this method of education with any degree of success worthy of celebration has been futile to the point that secularists are abandoning the system in growing numbers. It is not my intention to list here all of the various ways the system fails to educate our kids, or all the ways it's broken. There are books and web sites full of statistics all of which you've probably already at least aquainted yourself with, otherwise you would not be even slightly interested in this post. But I believe there are times when, out of fear, we make God too small. Is it possible that young people are graduating from the public school system today with a marketable education and a firm foundation of moral, even Christian, beliefs? Absolutely. I know some. I'm proud to know young people that are active in their college campus ministries, have done missionary service in foreign countries and are having God honoring spouse choosing relationships while continuing to get an upper education and prepare for the next phase of their life after having graduated with a public school diploma. Heck, I have a public school diploma. So does my husband. But I will say this; I did not find a love of learning until I began to homeschool my children and my children have never know what it means to not love learning. I do have some strong opinions about why homeschooling might be a first choice option for some without having any intent to condemn those who may choose not to.
The WHO of homeschooling is taking on a more broad definition than the previous few decades. For me, the WHO of it all is that I'm a lover of Jesus Christ, by God's grace and mercy toward me for reasons known only to Him, and certainly not at all understood by me. I believe that He is able to accompany my children in whatever educational environment they are in, but I'm am humbled that He has allowed me the opportunity to be with my children, in lovely home and able to avail myself of many, but not all,opportunities offered homeschoolers for a fee and I'm grateful for my husband's job and his willingness to bare, cheerfully, the responsiblity of being sole financial provider. I am thankful to have 3 wonderful children with 4 and 3 years between, each with their own wonderful, but very different personalities. I am thankful to have fostered another precious child for a time and for the lessons learned and growth that has resulted. At various times I have attempted to grow a garden, I am currently purchasing raw milk that my kids will only drink in pinch and while I do like to wear skirts, I most frequently look as though I've been to Zumba, but have, in fact, not. Unless we are very close, VERY, you will never catch me without makeup on, it's just my way of serving the community. I love coffee and curriculum, although even I would argue that curriculum, especially for elementary, is not all it's cracked up to be, but it is pretty and it stirs up the hope of new possibilities...until I get bored, which is a huge weakness of mine. That and organization. And follow through. And patience. And run on sentences, because I write like I talk. I believe in freedom, but respect structure. I have confronted challenges, researched options and chosen solutions. For example, I don't answer the phone during school or family time and it has made some people mad. It's ok. I have spent hundreds of dollars on curriculum I have never used. I have overscheduled our family. I have underscheduled our family. I've let my family run out of clean underwear. I've fed them hotdogs, with nitrates. I've kept them out till 11, woke up at 10 and gone to Disney on a Tuesday because we can. If you ask my daughter what a pronoun is, she'll probably tell you it's a noun that's lost it's amatuer status because it's funnier than the real answer. My youngest prefers to do his phonics lessons adorned in only his underwear, a cape and lightsaber. Because he's not in public school, and therefore not on ridalin, he is usually running, jumping, kicking, punching or swordfighting something that only he can see, and will occassionally chime in with a right answer just to let you know he's actually listening, too. I crochet only because I can not knit and I sew because it's the one thing I learned from my deceased grandma that I can pass on to my daughter who shares her name. I'm not a perfect wife, ask my husband, he has a list. My kids think I'm pretty neat, but my oldest is only 12, he might change his mind, I will probably refer to it as losing his mind. My house is not gross, but it's not clean. Well, the boys bathroom's probably gross, but you'd have to climb over the pile of laundry to see it, and you can't do that through the computer.
The WHO of it all is that we're not perfect but by God's grace, we will be blessed when we seek first to bring Him glory.
Up next? The What of it all.
