Home education is the best option for Christian families

For an alternative view see here.

Mention ‘homeschooling’ and a lot of parents tense up. Some feel threatened. Others think it’s weird – although it’s increasingly common. A few get cross and defend their school, or a teacher. I won’t persuade you. Not in a few paragraphs. But some of you are intrigued. Why not at least think about it?

There are plenty of good schools with brilliant teachers. But let’s be honest: most of what will form your child during their ‘formative’ years won’t come from a teacher or a classroom assistant. It’ll come from the 29 other children in the class. One or two children can set the tone for a whole class or year group. And you have no say in who they are and what they do. This isn’t even about bullying, although that is a serious problem and many schools feel unable to tackle it. How can one teacher discipline 30 kids, especially if half a dozen simply don’t want to play the game?

You will get your children when they are rushed on the way to school, and tired afterwards. If you’d like to do something about that, you’re not crazy

Your child will spend about 12,000 hours in that environment. You will get your children when they are rushed on the way to school, and tired afterwards. If you’d like to do something about that, you’re not crazy.

If we turn to the Bible, we will find lots of exhortations to bring up your children to know and love the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Likewise, Ephesians 6:4, says it is the job of the father to ensure this takes place: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

The education of children in the faith, especially in those early years is critical. Unless you happen to have access to a particularly Christian school (there are very few of those), your children will not be taught the faith as part of their general education. They won’t see examples of Christian behaviour in teachers and peers which is crucial and are in serious danger of turning from the way they should go. And the rate at which children drop out of church when it becomes optional in their teens – or do not find a church when they go to university – would suggest this is a serious, common problem.

At home, you are able to spend time with your children looking at scripture, discussing it, thinking about it, reflecting it and living it out

The fact is that schools and major secular institutions still think Christianity is weird and backward. Watch Horrible Histories. How does it deal with Christian belief? It always portrays is at bizarre and irrational. It’s the message that was drummed into Boomers and Gen X-ers, many of whom are still teachers and administrators in schools.

If you are looking for a ‘slam dunk’ passage of scripture telling parents to educate their children at home, you will not find one. The biblical emphasis is on ensuring your children are brought up to know and love the Lord. Some children run the gauntlet of secular schooling and come out the other side still believing and trusting in Christ.

However, might I suggest we are thinking about this the wrong way? Wouldn’t we like our children to thrive rather than merely survive? At home, you are able to spend time with your children looking at scripture, discussing it, thinking about it, reflecting it and living it out. This will give them foundational habits that will set them up to be godly and productive as they get older. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if they were as spiritually mature at 13 as you were at 30?

Read more:

‘Christians should consider home schooling. Here’s how my family has benefitted’

Homeschooling has its benefits for Christian families but it’s not for everyone

There are lots of other verses we could turn to and books written by Christians on this subject but actually, the most helpful book I ever read on homeschooling wasn’t written by a Christian, but an award-winning teacher in the USA called John Taylor Gatto. What struck me in his book, Dumbing Us Down, was an observation about the school bell. Every time it interrupts your day, telling you to stop caring about what you are doing right now – no matter how fascinating it is – and start caring about something else instead. Now. Hurry up. You’re late. But don’t run. That’s what school teaches best: switching tasks on demand.

With their bells, uniforms, and uninspiring over-lit rooms, many schools prepare children for a lifetime of working in a highly distracted, open-plan office where it is very difficult to focus on anything, have any privacy or be creative. It’s bad enough working in that environment as adults. Why would we inflict that on our kids?

Testing is the death of education

Champion of books for children, Terry Deary, creator of Horrible Histories, told The Guardian that schools are a disaster: “I’ve no interest in schools. They have no relevance in the 21st century. They were a Victorian idea to get kids off the street. Who decided that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom with one teacher was the best way of educating? At my school there were 52 kids in the class and all I learned was how to pass the 11-plus. Testing is the death of education.”

That’s what schools do: test. The reward? Good grades and places at elite universities. We need doctors and engineers who have actually passed exams. Some kids thrive on being top of the class, collecting the gold stars and winning the teacher’s approval – whilst ignoring the commensurate loathing of their peers. Wonderful. But most children aren’t like that. You might have one child like that, unless you have twelve kids in which case you might have two. But if you’ve got twelve kids, you’re probably already homeschooling. You will also baulk at the term ‘homeschooling’, preferring the term ‘home education’. It’s an important distinction. After all, why try to recreate school in your kitchen or living room?

you can shape learning around your child, not around a government department that’s never met them

So, what’s the problem (apart from the disapproval of your parents who will think you’re mad and assume that schools are just like they were in 1978)? The problem is the cost. We have become dependent on ‘free’ state education to provide childcare while both parents work. That’s now the norm. Our entire economy is now predicated on two parents working (so the government gets to tax two sets of income, plus the income of the teachers, classroom assistants, dinner ladies and janitors). Home educating will mean that one parent will need to stop work – or both parents reduce hours – in order to take on the task of teaching. That means living on one income. You might have to skip holidays, delay the new car, tighten the budget. But you’ll gain something that money literally cannot buy, time with your children. And that is something you will never regret.

There has never been a better time to home educate your children. Resources are plentiful, cheap and often free. You’ve heard of libraries, right? And, best of all, you can shape learning around your child, not around a government department that’s never met them. After all, what your child really needs is you. And Jesus. That’s it. Try it.

For an alternative view see here.