Hey Mama,

 

What does God’s Word say about raising children? “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

 

Can we achieve this if we send them out all day (to the public school)? Sounds like we are to be training them up in Him and, teaching them, right? We should do so. When we rise in the morning; when we lay them down at night; when we walk throughout the day, and even while sitting with them in our homes. If they are gone all day long, how does this work? Can it? Even worse, what about the sponge (the knowledge they are soaking up)? Who is filling it? Even if you can get a few quick pearls of wisdom into them in the morning and at night, what about their real life? What about those who are truly raising them up? Because if you send them away, make no mistake, you are not personally raising them up—someone or something else is. Be aware of this truth, please.

 

The ones who raised me (in the public school) accomplished their goal. My sponge was filled and filled until it "ran over." And the things that ran out were a stench, pure sewage. I got quite the education while being raised by my wolves. And, statistically, I should have ended up a wolf myself, wholly poised to carry on the tradition and raise my own.

 

But, the Lord had our next generation in mind for something greater. He stopped the tradition in its tracks and issued Paul and me a brand new one. Our children are homeschooled. Their sponges are filled by those whom we allow to influence them, namely, us (and those we trust). We fill them with God's Word, Truth itself. We tailor their education so that, unlike what I experienced, they actually receive an education based on truth and logic.

 

The Lord has equipped us imperfect mommies and daddies to raise them up in the way they should go. He gave us these precious gifts for a reason!

He gave them to you, too, Mama. And those who are His will endure to the end. He has PLANS for the next generation. Good plans! Plans to fulfill His purposes, to His glory and to our joy. Keep walking. You've got it right. Keep them home where they belong. 

~gena

publisher@theoldschoolhouse.com

This article, in part, was taken from I Was Raised By Wolves. To download your free WeE-book, so you can read it in its entirety, click HERE.

A few things have changed for me regarding education choices over the past few decades. I will not be adamant that homeschool is the only way for everyone. There are certain circumstances that are unavoidable, and it simply isn’t right to put them all in a box.  

However, we can’t argue with the numbers. In 2015, there were an estimated two million students being home educated in the United States. I believe that number reflects the positive way that home education has advanced over the years. Technology has allowed parents (like me) to be able to work from home and home educate. There is a staggering array of homeschool curricula perfectly tailored to all types of learning styles. There is way more help available to educate special needs. This list is endless.

Now a single mother of seven, my own circumstance has led me to consider what is best for my children and what is even possible for me. Here is why public school is not an option for me: 

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:7-9 ESV*).

Yes, there were days that we failed in getting things done. There were certainly days that grief and trauma took over, and there wasn’t much done at all. But those were the moments I could walk with my children in this story that God chose for us. We could look at verses that reminded us of His promises. There has been much spiritual growth and understanding of the God of Scripture together through our trials that would have been difficult to accomplish had they been in traditional school.

Deuteronomy 6:7-9 has been so difficult to achieve for me. I know it is the most important charge that He has given me to date. I have to be purposeful to make that time happen. As difficult as it is to make it happen while walking through life with them, I don’t believe I could possibly fulfill that adequately if they were gone for eight hours every day. I am slowly realizing that faithfulness is not in grades and achievements.   

I will add that one of the hardest things I’ve had to endure was being a supermom-type-woman, who lived and breathed schooling, who was turned into to a mess-of-a-mom who barely has it together. This has been one of the ways the Lord has worked in my life to humble me and change me. So I choose to imperfectly walk Deuteronomy 6:7-9 and get up every time I stumble. (Sometimes I do have to delegate that to faithful friends!) Public school is not an option for us.

~ Kerry

Kerry Tittle is a mother of 9 children and an 18-year homeschool veteran. She was the founder of ReformationKidz Publishing that was lost to a natural disaster. Her desire is to honor Christ while encouraging parents during the hard years of homeschooling.

*The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®)
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
All rights reserved.
ESV Text Edition: 2016

The year was 1987. Shortly after the birth of my first child, I started bleeding internally, losing fifty pounds in five months, so that by the time she was a year old, I was pretty much wheelchair-bound. My late husband, Chris, and I had decided to teach at home the children God would one day give us. Now, we were looking at the possibility that I might never be able to homeschool.

That was thirty years ago, and by God’s miraculous grace, I taught all seven of my children, K-12, just finishing with my last child the end of last year. In between this span of 30 years, my husband was diagnosed with MS, dying after a 15-year battle with the disease. 

In addition, doctors predicted during my high-risk pregnancy with twins that they wouldn’t survive, or if they did, one would be a vegetable. They just turned 22 in April and are both beautiful, healthy, and whole young women. Again, God’s kindness prevailed.

And at my busiest time as a parent, I had active ulcerative colitis; my husband had advancing MS, and I was homeschooling seven children, 10 and under. Did I ever think about quitting homeschooling? You bet I did! Did I contemplate putting them in public school? No, not once. What made the difference?

Remember Why You are Doing This

When you are tempted to quit, some important questions to ask yourself are:

1. Why did I choose to homeschool in the first place? 

Maybe your reasons were simple, hoped-for benefits untested by the crucible of laundry mountains, grumpy attitudes (your kids’, too), and schedules that no person can possibly keep. Welcome to reality! Hopefully your reasons, even if they were simple ones at the beginning, have transcended the day-to-day challenges of humanity. 

Having enduring, eternally-valuable goals for your children can help you battle the “I want to quit” demon whispering in your ear when homeschooling looks impossible. For me, remembering that I homeschooled because I wanted to invest in the future of my children—by providing them the best education in the healthiest, most nurturing environment—kept me from focusing too closely on the difficulties that threatened to derail that commitment.

2. Who is responsible for the education and well-being of my children? Plain and simple, you are. God gave you your children (Psalm 127:3-5, Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Ephesians 6:4, Proverbs 22:6), and while you can delegate authority over your children to another person, you can never delegate responsibility to someone else. This is a sobering reminder for me. 

I know I am not a perfect parent, but I am the best parent for my children, or God wouldn’t have given me the name, “Mommy,” for those seven precious ones I call my kids. And because I care so much about what they learn, what they treasure, and how they live, I know that homeschooling is the best way for me to faithfully exercise my responsibility as a parent. Loving God with all of our hearts and minds takes place most naturally in a homeschooling lifestyle.

Some final words of encouragement, Mom:

• If God called you to homeschool, He will help you do this. 
• If you’re in a tough season, you might need to get some help, and that’s okay.
• If you’ve forgotten some of the immensely valuable benefits of home education, you might need to remember them. (Click HERE for some of my favorite reasons to homeschool.)
• Mark the milestones—sometimes you can’t see all the good you are doing. Write them down. Frame it. Put flashing lights around it!
• Press on TOGETHER—your kids are learning how to “do life” with you. That is something only you can give them; homeschooling is the most natural way to do it. God is with you both, every step of the way.
• Celebrate life as you journey down the homeschooling road. All the fun, silly, exciting little things you do together will be what your kids remember and treasure the most.

-Tracy Klicka

Tracy Klicka homeschooled her seven adult children and has been writing for over 20 years, encouraging parents that homeschooling is worth the challenges! As the Director of Development for the Home School Foundation, she helps families homeschooling through hard times. She can be reached at tracy@homeschoolfoundation.org.