Over the years I have discovered that there are quite a few reasons why a family chooses to homeschool their children.
This fascinates me as it is still a minority of American families who direct their children’s education, approximately 2.5 million depending on what source you reference.
Let’s unpack some of these factors, what they mean, and how they impact the homeschooling experience for a family. Is your “why” for homeschooling on the list below?
Covid appearing on the scene in 2020 has significantly bumped up the numbers of children schooling at home through their public school system, which will inevitably impact the number of children who stay with it and move into traditional homeschooling.
There is a distinction here, as each state’s law defines the parameters of public school and homeschooling, and simply “doing school at home”, as so many public school children have been forced to do, doesn’t mean they fall under the home-based instruction law of their state.
This is a perfect time to unpack the “why” of homeschooling, which is unique for each family and is foundational for the long game of homeschooling.
Are you considering homeschooling? Read on and see if your reason is below.
Are you considering homeschooling? Read on and see if your reason is below.
Let’s look at the most common reasons many families choose homeschooling, and how each of these affects or impacts the challenges of homeschooling.
#1 Mom or dad (or both) were homeschooled.
Carrying on the traditions and practices with which we were raised is pretty normal for all of us.
If you are in the small percentage of parents who fall into this group, you have a leg up on the rest of us! Homeschooling is perfectly normal for you, and the daily flow is no surprise!
#2 Mom or dad (or both) want a better experience for their child than they had in public school.
This is the group of people who went to public school and didn’t fancy it much.
Often there was a sense that the environment was artificial, learning was subpar, and relationships were superficial. These students did not thrive for no particular reason or negative event but because the experience did not meet or exceed their expectations.
#3 The student is not getting their needs met.
Many fall into this category, whether the student is accelerated and the school is unable to offer enough academic rigor, or the student is delayed in some areas, and resources that will improve the student’s performance are not offered, not working, or not a good fit.
#4 The school system, in general, is seen as flawed or too secular.
This subset includes families who may question the methodology of traditional public schooling and learning models, as well as those who object to subjects and concepts taught and the worldview they are taught from.
A great example of this would be the new sex education laws passed in the state of Washington where I live. There has been push-back from the community over this curriculum and it has called into question the public system to a degree that some families are considering other options outside the public educational system.
#5 The student suffered a great injustice (such as bullying).
This tends to be reactionary or even occasionally a knee-jerk response to an event at school which the parent deems worthy of removing their child from the environment to protect them from ongoing or future harm.
Sometimes homeschooling was in the background all along as a possibility and sometimes it was never considered before the event occurred.
#6 The family has been called to homeschool.
This is the group my family falls into.
I remember attending Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) before I even had children, and asking a friend why she homeschooled. She asked me how you impart knowledge, learning, and wisdom outside of the truth? And if Jesus is the way, truth, and life (John 14:6), how do you educate without Jesus?
This was my light bulb moment!
I’m fairly certain everyone in the sanctuary that day saw the light click on over my head…it made so much sense to me!
This group has made an intentional decision to homeschool based on conviction, sometimes against a desire not to homeschool, or even optimal circumstances in the public or private school choices available to them.
I’m certain there are many more reasons for homeschooling, but let’s move forward with these as six of the “biggies”.
Homeschooling for any of the reasons above is valid and part of our story and journey.
Your homeschooling “why” gives important information about what you want to cultivate in your children. It is a starting point in developing your unique home-education style.
But this is only half the battle. You need a firm foundation to build on that will weather the homeschooling storms!
The truth of the matter is that this way of life can be challenging.
The education of developing humans is a huge task! It involves intense parenting, and a learning curve as parents try to understand the learning styles, behaviors, sibling interactions, and learning challenges of their children.
This is when we begin to question our "why" and doubt ourselves. Been there? Me too!
Satan whispers in our ear that our children would be better off somewhere else…or maybe it’s a family member or friend!
There has to be something grounding our homeschooling, beyond our initial motivation to homeschool, something bigger we lean on that undergirds this way of life.
Your “why” just isn’t enough.
What if we gave homeschooling the same weight as running a business? What if...we developed a mission, vision and values statement to support our "WHY"?
Ok, hold on a second! Get those images of Captain von Trapp lining up the children for inspection out of your head!
We need to stop right here and agree that homeschooling is not “school” at home, nor is it a business venture.
It is educating our children in our home, with love and dedication.
However, we do need to give it the proper place of value and treat it with care. It is a weighty issue, and keeping it healthy and effective is vital.
What is a mission statement and why have one for homeschooling?
A mission statement defines the aims, goals, and purposes of a venture, in this case, your homeschool.
It is a call to action.
Clearly articulating this and writing it down (perhaps in your mom notebook or framed on the wall) defines and reminds you of your “why”!
We need this when things get tough and we want to throw in the towel! It calls us back to the bigger purpose so we persevere through the struggles because we know it is important.
Action steps for strengthening your "WHY":
- Prayer for guidance. Make certain homeschooling is the path the Lord has for your family, then seek his wisdom.
- Ask for a key verse for your homeschooling that sums up your purpose.
- Develop a mission statement that is specific and captures your goals with a call to action.
- Example: The Snodgrass homeschool educates in love and obedience to the Lord and grows ambassadors for Christ Jesus.
- Consider a vision statement as well. This is a picture of the future the mission statement will produce and involves the senses.
- Example: Our homeschool produces leaders for Christ who go into the world with the gospel message to change people’s lives for eternity.
- A statement of values can be helpful. Value statements rank behaviors in importance and serve the vision and mission.
- Example: safety, obedience, and love.
- This is helpful when two things conflict. If your 6-year-old wants to play at a friend’s house, but you have told her “no”, she is serving #2, obedience, even though it may be loving to visit the friend who is sad her cat ran away.
There’s lots of information you can research on the topic of mission, vision, and values, and I encourage you to do some reading.
I am by no means an expert in crafting these statements, but I hope I have inspired you to develop one for yourself.
I believe it will be invaluable when things get hard, the kids are over it and so are you! Believe me, you will live these days!
That’s OK because you have your bigger “WHY” defined and it is too important to ignore. You will know what you’re doing matters and is changing your children for the better.
It is training them in the Lord and finding the path he has for each of them.
Pull out those statements you crafted and read them and let them soak in while you take a few deep breaths and pull yourself together…or pull yourself out from hiding in the closet!
Lean into the "WHY" my friends...the price of not doing so is far too high!
