I recently received a question in my inbox. Since I took the time to type up an answer and since it’s not the first time I have received questions like this, I’m taking the liberty of cc’ing the World Wide Web on my answer.
To the asker: I hope you don’t mind. Just for the record, I wrote the answer to and for you personally. The idea to post it here was an afterthought. I’ve taken out your name, but feel free to chime in if you’d like!
Question:
I have been reading your blog recently, really enjoy the site! I found it while looking for homeschoolers online. I have a four year old that I haven’t even started teaching yet, but I have already been subjected to so many “opinions” from people about homeschooling. Just tonight, two women at church were talking about what THEY viewed the negative affects of
homeschooling were. Could I ask, what motivated you to make the choice to educate your own children, and what has sustained your decision when other people put their two bits in?
Answer:
The decision to homeschool was an easy one for us, since my husband and I were homeschooled ourselves. Our parents were the brave pioneers who went against the grain and weren’t afraid to be different.
This is not *why* we homeschool, but it certainly made it easier for us to do what we believe is right, even when people doubt us.
To put it simply, we believe that God has entrusted these children of His to our care, with a charge to train them up in the way they should go (Prov 22:6), to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4), to speak of Him with and to our children when we rise up and lie down, in the house and out, through every part of our days and our lives (Deut 6:4-9).
We can’t do this if we send them away for 8-10 hours/day.
There are other issues at work as well: the inherent corruption of the government school system is a big one. The system was conceived upon the tenets of Marxism and Darwinism, is paid for by theft, openly indoctrinates children into secular humanism and all the abominations that flow from it.
I would love to hear about the “negatives” of homeschooling. I think that many of the standard objections are based upon the false presupposition that institutionalized schooling is a good thing and homeschoolers ought to try to duplicate it in their homes. These people miss the point: we are not trying to do school like they do, but better. We are educating our children in an entirely different way because we have entirely different goals.
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If you are not a Christian then this post was not written for you. The commands God laid on His people to raise their children in His fear have no hold on you.
If you are a Christian and you were hoppin’ mad by the time you finished reading this post then I’m glad you are here. I am not pointing my finger at you, yelling that you and your kids are all going to hell. But I do want you to stop and think – again – about your decision to let your children spend their early years in a godless institution. Would you send your children to a Muslim school just because some of the teachers were professing Christians? There is a preponderance of evidence available to prove that the modern public school system in America is firmly grounded in the religion of secular humanism. Why is that any better?
Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me.” There is no neutrality in education. Textbooks publishers are not neutral. Educational methods are not neutral.
There is a right and a wrong in this issue.
We must use the Bible to judge between right and wrong, and we must act in clear conscience (Rom 14:5). Each of us will answer to God for our decisions (Rom 14:12). You will stand before God and answer for the way you raised your kids. I will stand before God and answer for the way I raised mine.
This is my statement of what we sincerely believe the Scriptures to teach. If I am wrong I humbly invite you to demonstrate this from the Word of God.
If you read all the way to the bottom and you’re still really mad, you might need to have a look at my standard disclaimer. Then again, it might just made you madder…
Related posts:
Yay! I truly enjoy your unashamed, straightforward defense of homeschooling. I also was homeschooled, and my husband and I plan to do the same for our children. I am wondering, however, what you think about the problem of college, since the same things can be said of colleges and universities as of public grade schools. Any schools of higher education you wouldn’t mind sending your kids to?
I’m considering homeschooling a little more every day. although not for the same reasons (I’m rather new to religion, after all!)… but I get a lot of resistance from people around me, and my man doesn’t seem convinced, but I have worries about the poor quality of teaching in public school and all the drinking and drugs that is so common… and dress codes that are not enforced… it’s bone chilling for any caring parent!
I really like to read about your beliefs, because I know so few people who care about religion. Thank you for inspiring me (and probably many others!) to spend more time reading the Bible!
Oh, by the way, there would be one good thing about muslim school: the dress code would definitely be more respected then in public schools
Kim, I also second the college question. I was shocked (shocked!) at how much secular humanism was spun into my education at a private school with religious origins.
I know that most of my husband’s cousins simply went to bible college and then went to a professional trade school. It seemed that trade schools were less indoctrinated by liberalism.
It really is a hard question to know what higher learning institute can be trusted. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Kim,
I applaud your commitment to training up your children through homeschooling. However, going so far as saying that there is a “right and wrong answer” as to whether parents homeschool is a bit of a stretch.
Regardless of the many benefits of homeschooling, God does indeed lead some parents to send their children to Christian schools and/or to public schools. In all three choices, parents must still obey God by actively training their children to follow Jesus Christ. I think it is a mistake to universalize personal convictions (to homeschool) to apply as a Biblical mandate for all Christians. (P.S. I do believe in absolute truth.)
I love your blog, and I hope to be part of the process of iron sharpening iron. I look forward to your thoughts.
Katie
Katy & Lauren,
To put it simply, I think the same standards apply for any level of education; the rules don’t change after 12th grade. I’ll be happy to talk about this in more depth, maybe on a separate post.
Katie,
Thanks for disagreeing with courtesy on a sensitive topic.
I didn’t mention Christian schools in my post, so let’s stick with public schools in this discussion.
How do you know that God leads some parents to send their children to public school? Can you show from Scripture how a parent would identify and confirm such leading?
Kim, thanks for such an encouraging response! I am very grateful you took the time to answer my question. When I feel my convictions getting challenged, I need to remember there are other brave Christian parents out there facing the same adversities and issues. I am certain homeschooling is the right choice for our family, in fact, the only choice.
Thanks again!
Kim, great post on homeschooling. It’s hard to make such an abrupt statement but I fully agree. Can I ask another question, you don’t have to answer here or even now. I have four children (just turned 4, 2 1/2, 13 months, 3 weeks). We are going to homeschool, and knowing that you had several children when you started your first homeschooling, how did you know when to start her, what did you start with? Thanks for your thoughts Kim! Blessings!
Well, one “negative” of homeschooling is having bright children who think for themselves.
A major stated goal of the public education system is to make good employees.
What on earth are corporations supposed to do with people who are not trained to respond to bells, false praise, and aren’t blind followers? LOL
We’ve homeschooled before, but this year some of my children are in the government schools (out of obedience to my husband, who felt this was best for our family this particular year). I am hoping to bring them home next year!
Mama Says
Fantastic and well-said, Kim! A hearty “amen” here! I have found that the only opposition I’ve heard in the Christian community with which I’m affiliated is that our children need to be “salt and light”. Yes, as disciples of Christ, rooted and grounded in the faith, I pray they each someday will be salt and light to their fellow man. But, right now, they are in training – and, as a family, I pray that we can be the “city on the hill.” Thanks for your salty, enlightening post.
(I’m interested in how you, Kim, and some fellow commentors respond to the “salt and light in the public schools” mentality.)
One of my biggest concerns regarding homeschooling is that if we as Christians take all of our children away from public schools who will ever be left to let their light shine for Christ and reach out to all the hurting children in this world. I have a 16 yr old who has been in public school her whole life and is a wonderful christian example. Her friends have learned to respect her beliefs and she even has chance to answer questions that they may have about God or problems in their lives. It has also made her treasure the christian upbringing she has had and has a heart for missions and ministry. I think that people need to realize that just because a choice is right for them doesn’t mean it is the only choice or that others choices are wrong. Here is a scripture for your consideration:Matt 5:14-16
14 Ye are the light of the world . A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
KJV
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.
Charity
Also, milehimama, be encouraged that in honoring your husband you are fulfilling a direct command of God in Scripture. You will be held accountable to that, first and foremost. I will pray that the homeschooling factor will indeed “iron itself out”!
Kim, this post brought tears to my eyes — tears of joy and hope. I mean, I KNOW my daughters will stay the course after I am gone, and my grandchildren with their children, but it is so rare to find Christian parents these days, even homeschoolers, who base their life actions on the WORD’s plain commands, not on proof-texts chosen to support a pre-conceived agenda. (What a run-on!)
So you have encouraged me that I am not the only absolutist nut. As children of the King who will answer to Him one day, we better be sure we start with the Word and align ourselves, rather than start with preconceived notions impressed upon us by the culture around us, and try to justify them in the Word.
Well, I know this isn’t my blog, and I am on a rant. Seriously, this is not meant to be argumentative with any of your “repliers”, but simply to affirm what you have said, repliers aside. Thank you, Kim. You know, I have quite a few sweet grandsons who will be needing godly wives some day . . .
This was a wonderful post!! I wholeheartedly agree. There is really NO good reason that a christian child should be in a public school. When people say that God wants them to put their children in pulic school, it really upsets me. I know there are a FEW exceptions where a child can be Salt & Light, but most of the time it is quite the opposite. I was homeschooled till I was 15 and for reasons I am not going to go into, I went to public school when I was 15. Before I entered school I was so determined to be the salt & Light, well lets just say that did NOT happen. No child should be put in that place at such a young age and be expected to stand up for their beliefs, they just are NOT ready.
What a wonderful post! Our reasons for homeschooling in the future are pretty much summed up in your post. I cannot tell you what an encouragement & blessing it is to see such a straightforward declaration! Thank you for sharing this post
)
I’ve been to public schools all my life. I’m still in a public school and can hardly wait to get out! During highschool at least I was encouraged to learn by myself, in college all they want us to do is memorize stuff. Useless stuff. My parents couldn’t have homeschool me if they wanted to, yet, I wish I could do it to children I hope I’ll have some day. And I wish so for different reasons: dress code (who goes to a class in a short skirt?!); respecting the level of development of the children (in a class they don’t all understand the same concepts at the same age and teachers can’t wait for the ones who don’t), drugs (p*tt is not harmless), the quality of teaching (one of my highscool teachers said the only thing she knew for sure was that the sun rises up north and sets on south, I took the liberty of blocking out all she has “taught” after that) and I would love to show them that we do not have to know the same as everybody at the same age. Learning must be flexible enough to suit the interests of the child so that we can introduce areas they don’t like as much without raisin aversion for it (like the teachers in the public schools of my country do with math or gym class; they just don’t know any better). I think that is best to teach them how to learn and that learning is a good thing, so that when children become adults (and hopefully responsible too
) they can learn for themselves whatever want or what school might have missed teaching.
(I apologize if this posts twice… having trouble with blogger)
Charity,
What prevents a family from being a light to the world outside of public schools?
My largest opportunities for influence when I was in public schools were in outside programs such as our neighborhood swim team, band, etc — all of which can be done as a homeschooler, and (very important as well) can be done *with* your family. Jesus never sent his disciples out by themselves; they were always at least in pairs. Why should we send our children out on their own before they are fully trained?
Hi Kim, although i disagreed with some of your post with VF awhile back, I wholeheartedly agree with this post!
we are not called to put our kids in the PS system so our kindergarten children (or older) can win others to Christ or be the light to the world, just like we would not send them alone to the mission field overseas, I don’t see a difference and I really dont understand how parents find it a logical theory???
Our children are not responsible for this mission…
Nicely stated and wonderful use of Scripture. I might have to print out your post to hand to people who give us a hard time!
Harmony
I agree that children can have infuence during organized activities. I’m not saying that a witness is limited to only school. We have taught our daughter that she is always a witness. My point was I believe that their are people that my daughter has had an oppurtunity to reach out to that she would never of had the chance otherwise. I believe that everyone is put in our path for a reason. I don’t just send my daughter off to school to fend for herself either. She is equipped with a deep knowledge of the Bible that has been instilled in her thru her father and I, Sunday School and involvement in Bible quizzing. I also have always been very invovled in her school so I knew what was going on an dwhat was being taught. We have had occasions when we didn’t agree with the curriculum and the teachers had no problem with her doing alternate lessons. I think the most important thing is for each parent to do what they feel is right for their family and for parents to supoort each other whether or not they agree.
Charity
Well, I’m a mom who did both.(All mine are grown now.) I’m a big fan of homeschooling, and not fond of public schools in general.
I do think there are some of us who God leads to enroll in public school. A lot depends on the area one lives in. Here in the South many of our schools are filled with Christian teachers and principals-that certainly helps.
For us, my husband came home from a retreat with the firm conviction that ours needed to go back in school when our oldest was in 9th grade. (we also had an 8th and 7th grader.) So at the very least I submitted to my husband as to the Lord.
I guess my main thought is that if God could tell Hosea to marry a prostitute, He could very well tell a Christian to utilize a public school for His glory. What matters is that Jesus IS our Lord, and that we obey Him. If our hearts are set on obedience to Him, and not to our own convenience, if we act in faith, and not fear, THAT is the issue.
Personally, I think homeschooling is superior education in the long run. For us personally, God had a plan for our oldest that required more than I was able to give him. (He is now at a service academy.) However in fairness I must point out that one of his roommates at that academy was homeschooled for ALL his prior education. So for you folks who are led to go the whole way at home, the sky is indeed the limit!
My two oldest, including the one I just mentioned, are strong Christians who stand strong against peer pressure. My youngest stumbled somewhat-but is now back in church. I can truthfully say that I think they’d have all followed the exact same path no matter how or where they were educated.
Dear Kim,
I’ll be honest, I quit reading your blog a few weeks ago after your post about Virginia Tech. This morning, I linked to your home school post from Biblical Womanhood. As I read, I decided I really wanted to explain why I will never read your blog again. Though I was raised in a Christian home, I have a past full sin and regret which I have confessed, which is forgiven, but still shaped the person I have become. I cannot quote verses and defend each sentence I say with a Scripture verse that may or may not be taken out of context, but I can use my experience of salvation through Christ?s love as a guide. While I would like to blog about all the ways I am a wonderful Christian, all the ways I am a Godly example and influence as a mother, and all the ways I am a fantastic submissive wife, I choose not to admit to being something I am not. I am a work in progress and admit to not know the answer to everything. I do know that while I may disagree with you on many levels, our salvation is probably the one thing we have in common.
I appreciate your concise arguments and Biblical references in this post on home school and also your post(s) on Virginia Tech. You are a courageous woman to stand for what you believe and I have no doubt that you are sincere about your beliefs. That said:
Thank goodness you cleared up the conspiracy about public education. I am a Christian mother, who has home schooled in the past, with a child currently in public school. I volunteer at least one day a week in my daughter’s classroom for several reasons.
One, to keep an eye out for anything that may need to be addressed by our family, such as evolution, homosexuality and other views with which we would disagree. My kids were introduced to evolution well before school by their interest in dinosaurs. This gave my husband and me an opportunity to address evolution and compare it to what we believe the Bible teaches. I have a gay friend. This also is an opportunity for family discussion and Biblical guidance.
The second reason that I volunteer is to be involved in my daughter’s school. An informed parent is important. I am fortunate enough not to work, so I have the time. When I first started volunteering, it was all I could do to get through the 2.5 hour day and get some peace and quiet from other people?s annoying children. I prayed for a better attitude, an attitude of ministry. What I got was a broken heart.
I wish you could spend one day in my daughter?s classroom. Maybe you would come home with a broken heart for the children instead of an intolerant attitude for a system that attempts to help children less fortunate than your own. Because it seems to me, that the children I speak of, have nothing to do with thievery and corruption of the institution. These children are not blessed enough to be born into a shoe full of happy Christians. Truthfully, knowing our Christ, I see Him sitting on the floor of a public school classroom reading to children, rather than sitting at your home school table telling you what a wonderful mother you are for forsaking the corruption of public schools. If you left your Marxist fears at the door and visited my daughter’s classroom, be prepared to be the only person who might speak with kindness to them that day, to be the one person who hugs them just because, brace yourself to find out that school is the one place in their day where there is no yelling or cursing, hear that they eat breakfast and lunch at school because there is no supper at home, and hold on to your hat, because the majority of the children you will meet come from broken homes. Maybe you should talk to the hundreds of teachers who are Christians in the public school system. They may disagree with you on the ministry opportunities they have everyday. For example, my mom has taught for 32 years in a public school and is asked everyday, by her peers, to uphold someone in prayer. She is truly an example to not only the children in her school, but also the adults. What an opportunity to everyday get to be an example of Christ to 30 children who may have never heard of Him. But you should do what is right for your family. I would like to think that my children, who have confessed before Christ, might have a heart that bleeds for children who do not know Him, rather than fear the evil that you seem to think might grab them around each corner of their school. Are there times that we will debate our decision? Yes. Are there things that we will have to address? Yes. Are there things that I would change about my daughter’s school? Sure. Am I blind to the advantages of home school? No. Do I think the Bible demands it? No.
On your first post about Virginia Tech, you linked to a post called No More Window Jumping. It was this post and this link that made me decide that I no longer wanted to read your blog. It is my choice to read or not, and your choice to write or not. Did we all react to the Virginia Tech shooting? Absolutely. Did I feel the need to personally write about the tragedy? No, now, if I had a child involved or some other personal relationship, maybe. But I didn’t. Is it wrong to express an opinion on the topic? No. But, in the aftermath, did I see Christ?s love more in the student on his knees praying in the grass or in your post about trumpets of judgment. Back to the link you posted, WOW. I wish I had never read that link. God spare me from one day becoming a smug, know-it-all about someone else’s demise. I wish I had her psychic link to a room full of dead children so that I could judge which son, which brother, which husband, was the better man; who jumped the highest for the bullets and who hid under a desk. Thank goodness she is here to raise men of whom we can be truly proud. What a blessing it was that you linked to her post and we all could admire the men in her family and her stand against feminism. I urge you to consider your links.
And thirdly, since I have your ear, the public library is not out to eat your children?s soul alive. It is a place for books, which ones you read are up to you. I do not like Western novels so I choose not to read them. If my daughter wants to read a chapter book that I am unfamiliar with, I?ll read it with her. I don?t care if you go to the library or not, but consider your audience may be easily swayed by over-the-top boycotts of places where you must ?sort through tripe and filth.? Again, lucky you, you can afford a home library of only the books you want to your children to read. I guess I should thank you since your boycott of the library will leave wonderful tales available for my children to enjoy.
You have a lot of readers, mostly believers, some not; I urge you to take that into consideration.
Sincerely, Evie Buisch
Hi! I’m Charity’s daughter. Personally, I’m quite glad that I was put into a public school system. It is indeed true that public schools can be scary places sometimes. But if Christians don’t step up and go to public schools and witness to the people and make friends with them, who will? I have made friends with many people of different walks of life. I’m not bosom buddies with them and I don’t allow them to sway my beliefs by any means- I’ve been taught when a situation has gone too far and I know when to get out. I think that being in public school has had a great effect on me because I have been able to reach out to people, some of whom believe nothing like I do. For example- I have atheist and agnostic friends and when they have a problem, they don’t go to their other atheist and agnostic friends. They go to the funny holy-roller girl with the skirts and the long hair. I think it’s great for Christian kids to be in public schools. We may be the only Jesus some of the “bad kids” see.
On the subject of sending our children to be “light and salt,” to witness to the other students in public schools, is there ever an example in the Bible of sending children out to witness? Christ sent grown men, and as a reader pointed out they seem to be consistently sent in pairs or more throughout the New Testament.
Secondly, I would point you again to a Muslim school. Would you send your children there for the purpose of witnessing? What if they were nice Muslims who only wanted your child to get a good education, reject silly Christian doctrines, and go to Muslim heaven?
I don’t think the “light and salt” argument can be used as a Biblical case to send children into the mission field.
The presence of Christian teachers within an institution does not make it a godly system, any more than bringing a Filet’o'Fish into my home and feeding it to my children makes my home a McDonald’s.
The fact that you or your grown children went to public school and “turned out fine” doesn’t mean that you should send your children to public school. I have done many foolish things in my life but I certainly won’t hold them up as examples to my children or willingly let them follow in *those* footsteps.
And the philosophy behind the modern public school system is not the stuff of conspiracies. Even the textbooks they hand you give the credit to great humanists and Darwinists of the time.
Bottom line:
Now we fall back to raising our children (our duty in this case is first to our own children) in the fear and admonition of the Lord; training them up in the way they should go; speaking to them of His works at home and abroad, when we lie down and when we rise up.
How does public school actively contribute toward this charge God lays upon Christian parents?
Another verse for your consideration:
Isaiah 11:6
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
KJV
Samuel was used by God to speak to Israel as a child. Namaan’s servant girl advised her to dip in the river Jordan as the prophet commanded. Joash was seven when he ascended the throne of Israel, etc., etc.
He may have been young, but the throne of Israel was NOT a backalley in Babylon. I think most of our current public schools are closer to Babylon…
Christ tells us that it is better to tie a millstone around our neck and jump into the ocean, than to cause a little one to stumble. He didn’t tell us to send them into harm’s way.
I’m just thankful that the school my children go to is for little ones only (it only goes to 2nd grade) and my son’s teacher attends our church.
Mama Says
When Joash ascended the throne of Isreal it was after having hid for seven years from his grandmother. When he got the throne his first act was to kill idolatrist grandmother. He then had to lead Isreal out of the Idolatry ridden state it had become.
Joash had Jehoiada, a priest, to instruct him. He didn’t go away to the Baal School of Instruction for 8 hours a day to be taught with 35 other 6 year olds. He spent the first 6 years at the temple with his nurse. He was homeschooled!
“Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” 2 Judges 12:2
Ha ha! But, tell us Kim, what do you *really* think?
I enjoy your frankness.
I think my comment must have gotten lost in the shuffle.
I just wanted to say that I feel the same way that you do about how we’re not as capable of raising our children if we send them to school full time– the system is basically raising them instead.
That’s why we homeschool.
A great book on the pro/cons of each public, private and homeschooling is called A+ Education by William Eckenwiler. The Amazon review has some interesting things to say about it – what it is and isn’t. But for looking objectively at these three types of education – it is great.
While I also have a great appreciation for homeschooling, I have seen it have some fallout on marriages, children and at times not be managed well. I have also seen it done wonderfully!
I think it is a serious mistake to use Deuteronomy 6 as a proof-text for homeschooling. Deuteronomy 6 is about the heart of a parent, and what is both “taught” and “caught” from them about their walk with the Lord, and how they handle all of life from a Christian world and life view, and they live out their lives with their children, which is education (not necessarily in it’s formal sense).
Whichever choice a parent makes for their child’s education (which is that parents responsibility for their particular child(ren) and part of obeying this command is choosing well based on what you know about your child and the choices and resources you have), they can only be obedient to the Lord if they love Him with all their heart, and lead, shepherd and teach their children with love and gospel grounding as broken-but-redeemed people.
Hillary
Evie,
Bravo to you and your mom for ministering to children in public schools! I don’t doubt that the two of you do much to bring the love of Christ into those children’s lives.
However, you haven’t told me why your young daughter is in public school when you seem to recognize that it is an ungodly institution. After all, one of the primary reasons you volunteer there is to identify teachings that go against your worldview – teachings you will need to address and counteract. In spite of these concerns, you indicate that she is there without you for up to 4 days/week. I maintain that this would make it difficult for you to “teach [God's commands] diligently to your children, and talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.(Deut 6:7).
Some question whether this passage in Deuteronomy applies to education, but the assumption within the text is that children are normally with their parents and instructed directly by their parents throughout the day. I think that assumptions like these should make us look with suspicious eyes at anything that takes our children away from us for most of their waking hours.
About Virginia Tech, I’m sorry you were so offended but I think some people will persist in misconstruing what has been said and others simply won’t want to hear it. You might try reading Sheila Wray Gregoire’s take on it. I think her position is very similar to mine and my friend’s, but may be less prone to misunderstanding.
Regarding the public library, let me just say again that nothing is neutral. Somebody is making decisions. Somebody decides to use library funds to buy this book, and discard that one. I am disgusted at much of what I see there, and I choose not to let my children rifle through shelves of worthless or even filthy books (yes, some of the children’s books are true filth) looking for something to read. We are not at all wealthy and our house is very small, but books are an important part of education so we have made our family library a priority. Incidentally, many of our favorite books were library discards that we purchased for $.25. Others were gifts. All have been acquired gradually over the space of many years.
Not all schools cram evolution and humanism down the throats of their students. My school is very careful NOT to do that. I even had a teacher present the case for evolution and then give a creationism based rebuttal for the cases. It was very interesting.
It is my opinion that children raised in public schools are in fact BETTER prepared for everyday life and in some cases are forced to better understand their faith. I know that because of some friends I have with differing beliefs, I have been forced to read up on my scriptures and make sure that I know for sure what I believe in and why. I also feel that I am better prepared for life as an adult because I won’t be surprised as to what I’m up against and I’ll know how to address people who come to me with issues later in life. I’ve had to deal with many a situation all through my school career- ranging anywhere from the gym teachers questioning why I wear skirts in gym class to a friend coming up to me and telling me that she’s just discovered that she is homosexual. It’s true that school’s are not Christian institutions, but are there really that many places in everyday life that are? How many people are lucky enough to work in a place where everyone values the same thing that they do and doesn’t question their beliefs? There aren’t many at all. I certainly don’t expect that I will be able to get a job like that and so I’m glad that I am prepared for almost any situation that may present itself to me in that kind of environment.
If children are taught what they believe and why, I see no reason why they would be ill-equipped to go into a public school system. Most Christian children have parents who will back them and help them with any spiritual question or issue that they encounter while at school.
To milehimama- No,Joash was not in Babylon, but Daniel and the 3 Hebrew children were. Without their parents, even, and they seemed to do okay for themselves.
Daniel and his three friends were not exactly wee young’uns anymore, and their parents did not purposely send them to Babylon. And they were obviously WELL trained by their parents BEFORE they got to Babylon and underwent that trial of their faith.
Kim, loved the post.
Lisa W.
A lot of public school kids are also well trained by their parents before they get to school.
I am a mother of 3 daughters who were tutored at home from the time they were 14, 12 and 10 until they graduated and married. They are all 3 very strong in their faith, and living proof that teaching them at home did NOT damage them. Quite the contrary. Anyone who meets any of the 3 of them now as young wives and mothers at ages 29,27 and 24 assumes they went to college. None of them did, however. But we taught them to never stop learning and they haven’t. However the academic endeavors were definitely not the most important goal in their lives. Learning to love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength were the goals we had as a family. I now have 6 grandchildren. They range in ages from in-utero (one) to almost 9 years old. They are all taught at home. Teaching your children is a lifestyle, not school. I agree 100% with Kim’s post. It was very well said. We were convicted by Deuteronomy 6 when we first took our girls out of the public school in December 1991. But we also cherish to this day another scripture that I don’t believe I have heard anyone mention yet in this debate. This is all I really wanted to say to add my 2 cents worth as the mother and grandmother of children taught about life from their parents. That Scripture is: 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. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me–practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Words spoken by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:8&9.) This is written in Scripture as a command. I just ask you to really think about how you can live this out in regard to the responsibility that God has given His people to teach their children about Him and His Word if you let just any teacher teach them? This verse is hard enough for us as adults to attempt to obey, but how can we help our children obey it if we don’t know what they are being taught to think on? My children were in the public school long enough for me to very much realize I had no idea what they were each hearing and learning and from who. Just something to ponder as we follow the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God Bless you all as you strive to obey Him in all that you do.
My oldest daughter, along with her husband, who is teaching her 3 children posted the following blog on her blogsite as a response to much of the debate that has been going on these last few days. I tell you this to encourage those who are trusting God and living Life in Christ with their children teaching them about God and life themselves. There is no way to explain the joy of a mother’s heart as she reads these words written by her own daughter. Those who agreed with Kim, let this be an encouragement from a grandmother who also taught her children at home.
http://www.bransonfamily.wordpress.com
I have appreciated so many of the comments here, especially the most recent one.
My husband and I began homeschooling 22 years ago and I have never had a day that I regretted making that choice. We have 6 children and are now enjoying the blessings of 7, soon to be 9, homeschooling grandchildren.
We have been asked many times through the years why we chose to homeschool and our answer has always been that we simply wanted to be with our children.
We believe that God called us to disciple our own children and that the best way for us to do that is to be with them as much as possible. I only have 2 that I am still schooling and, as crazy as my life used to be when everyone was home, I still long for those days!
Hi Kim, this is Kendra – I met you at your mother’s a few months back. I found you via K-Dad, via Challie’s. This post is obviously getting a lot of attention.
I am a homeschooling mother of four who was brought up in the public school system. We attend a conservative, reformed church where the congregants certainly cover the gamut in their choices of how to educate their children. I know of many couples who are obviously strong believers who feel convinced that they need to send their children to the public schools to be salt and light. I feel like I have to respect this decision, because I just don’t know how God might be leading that particular family.
Despite my respect, I strongly disagree. Looking back on my own Christian upbringing, I can clearly see that I lacked Spiritual maturity until I was at least 20 years old. I may have mentioned Jesus here and there. But, I wasn’t salt and light in those schools. Instead, I walked with the dead. I sought the world. And I paid little heed to the commands of scripture. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I certainly didn’t get it yet.
That being said, I am sure that there are Christian children in the public school system who are much more mature than I was. But, I never saw them. In retrospect, the other Christians at my High School were pray before the game, Jesus-is-my-buddy types at best. Can Godly parents truly raise children who are mature and can be salt and light? I don’t know. I have yet to see a good example of that, but I can’t say that it’s impossible.
For my children, I choose to raise them. And, I choose when they will be introduced to the various lies of the world. I build for them their window through which to view things, and slowly allow them to encounter other ideas. The Lord has given them to me as children of the covenant, and I will not surrender them to another for 8 hours of the day!
I believe that family to family ministry is best and most effective. We do invite non-Christian families into our home. They are our friends and neighbors, and we do not ignore them.
As for the poor, lost children in the public school system. My heart does ache for them. And I admire Christians who give their lives to teaching in the public school systems to show them Christ’s love. But, the Lord has not given them to me. He has given me mine, and it is my duty to train them to stand for him in a dark world when we send them out as adults.
Kim,
I’ve been homeschooling now for four years, and I’d just like to say that the farther I go in life, the more I agree with you. I went to a private Christian school all thru elementary and high school, and based on my experiences there, I swore I would never send my kids to one. Memphis is very much a racially divided city, even today, but I think it was much worse when I was a child in the 60s and 70s. At that time we had a public system that was probably at least 95% black, and many private schools that were 99% (or more) white. So in my experience, many people who sent their children to Christian schools did so mainly to keep them out of all-black city schools, where they might very well be the targets of racial violence. I have one friend my age (49) who was sent an all-black city school as a high school student (her father was a minister), she has stories to tell of that experience that would turn your stomach. So not everyone in Christian school at that time was all that interested in Christianity. Nevertheless, the main thing I learned at that school was that the most important thing about you was who your daddy was, and how much money he had. A great deal of “buying of indulgences” went on in that school. My mother was a teacher there too, so I saw it from the faculty side as well.
As an adult, I didn’t want my kids to learn about bribery and corruption, and also how much better they were than the rest of the world, from a so-called Christian school. So my oldest marched off to kindergarten at the district public school, mostly as a reaction against the Christian school I knew so well. I knew a few homeschoolers in those days, but pretty much all of them homeschooled mainly because they couldn’t afford private school, but were too good for public. At least, that’s how it seemed to me at the time.
School was generally OK with my oldest son, he is very academic and pretty social as well, although he didn’t seem to learn much. He started kindergarten knowing how to read anything, and he could do exponents in his head into the thousands. His teachers kept telling us not to worry about him, he was way ahead. Looking back, I see that as a problem, I could have probably kept him in a closet for several years and he would have been in the same place academically. But then, I did as I was told, and didn’t worry, and was proud to have a good student. We did get to know our neighbors very well during that time period, and our son made good friends that he keeps to this day. That was definitely the best part of our public elementary school experience – it provided a real sense of community.
When he was in 6th grade, he transfered into the city school system’s magnet academic school. He made many friends there, from all over the world. His high school displays the flags of 38 nations in their auditorium, representing the homelands of the student body. He has good friends from China, India, Korea, Columbia, Germany, Ethiopia, and even Nepal. They are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddist, and agnostic. He lived in a far broader world than I ever have, and in general he loved his high school years. The friends he made, and the influence he had, are the good things. I hope that as the years go on, we will continue to show Jesus’s light to his unbelieving friends.
But there is also bad news. In my opinion, the worst thing that he learned in public school was not evolution (although he certainly was taught that), but rather the idea that education is the answer to all problems. That is a very basic tenet of humanism – that with enough education, we can do anything. It sounds good to Christians at first, because we can’t love our God if we don’t know Him, but that isn’t at all what humanists mean. They truely mean that man is the be-all and end-all, and so if man can just learn enough, he can save himself. But there is only one path to salvation for mankind, and it isn’t education. Another very dangerous idea is the idea of the innate goodness of man – if it weren’t for corrupting circumstances, man would choose good, the whole “noble savage” concept. These teachings don’t just happen in biology class, where most Christian kids are taught to keep their guard up, they are taught as an integral part of almost every subject, but certainly all the humanities. I think they are very subtle, and kids from Christian homes have their worldviews shaped without even realizing it. I think most Christian parents don’t realize it either, because they attended the same humanistic government schools, or else Christian schools like mine where they were taught exactly the same things as in public school, just with a Bible class added.
My son has a very good friend from an observant Jewish family, and every year he invited around a dozen school friends to his family’s Passover Seder. There would be friends attending from 6 continents, and every major world religion. When he was in 9th grade, I though that was so cool, that he could see Passover in a Jewish home, just as Jesus observed it. I told several of my friends about that, until one day my son stopped me and said, “Mom, it’s just a party. It’s just like a Christmas party, but with a lot more wine.” He went on to explain that everyone really respected each other’s religion, in a cultural sort of way, but that none of his friends really believed their religions except the Christians, and most of them didn’t either. You see, in spite of their parents’ beliefs, these kids were all humanists, putting their faiths in their supposedly excellent high school educations, and striving for even more excellent college educations. He has friends now from his graduating class in all the Ivies except one.
But God is a merciful and forgiving God, and in spite of our foolishness in raising our first son, He has blessed us, and him. He just got home today from his first year at an excellent and very academic Christian university. He had a fabulous freshman year and has grown a great deal spiritually. He was just amazed that every class he took was taught with a Biblical worldview. (Even abstract math, he said!) I pray every day that God will continue to use others to teach him the things I failed to teach him in elementary and high school.
To make an already very long story shorter, we pulled our second son out of public school at the beginning of high school, and our two daughters have never been to school. We are doing a much better job teaching them.
I hear so many people quote the “salt and light” verse in reference to public school, but they seem to quit reading right there. Matt 5:13 says, “You are the salt of the world. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” Sadly, I think that is exactly what happens to many children from Christian families. Years of humanistic teachings cause them to lose their saltiness, and many are never salty again. And they are indeed trampled by men.
I don’t know the end of the story, but my God does. I know that we would never have met most of his friends if he hadn’t attended public school. I consider it my job to evangelize them as much as my son’s. Several of them are truth seekers, so maybe God did lead us intentionally into that circumstance to meet them. Or maybe He didn’t, but He is willing and able to work with us to further His kingdom out of our not-so-ideal choices in education. I only know that the best that we can do is to follow Him to the best of our ability at the place we are right now. There is no “redo” of the past, but that shouldn’t keep us from changing our actions in the present. I think you do a great job explaining that to your readers, Kim, but I understand, because I’ve been there, that everyone is not at a place where they can appreciate it. Keep it up, no one is too old to learn.