Why We Homeschool Our Kids

This week we conclude our series featuring posts from three of our pastors’ wives describing what influenced their decision for their children’s schooling. In the first post, Karen Helmer shared why she and Pastor Doug chose to send their kids to a Christian school for their high school years. Last week, Krista detailed why she and Pastor Eric decided to send their kids to public schools for this season. In the final post, Amy shares why she and Pastor Nate have elected to homeschool their children.

by Amy Schmidt

Homeschooling Is What Works For Us

First, I want to say that each parent’s decision regarding school is different and each parent that chooses to homeschool does so for different reasons. What is important is that we pray through the decision and move forward in faith and obedience. Homeschooling is what works for us. We aren’t homeschoolers for life. We re-evaluate each year to see if homeschooling is still what is best for our children and for our family. (Although I am not allowed to make this decision during the months of April or May…let’s be honest, most teachers are ready to quit during these months!) We pray, we seek counsel, and we step out in faith.

So why do we homeschool?

1. Children Are A Gift From God

The primary reason we homeschool is because we believe our children are a gift from God and it is our responsibility to train them and point them to Christ. Psalm 127: 3–4 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.” If our children are like arrows, we want to be sharpening them and doing everything possible to make sure they are ready—when the time comes—to leave us. We believe by homeschooling, we are optimizing our time with our children in order to point them to Christ as much as possible.

2. Every Opportunity A Learning Opportunity

Our school day consists of more than just Math, Reading, Science, and History. It includes everything our kids do from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed at night. We have all day to teach, train, and sharpen our little disciples. Every moment of our day can be used to point our children to Christ, from how they play with each other, to how they interact with the FedEx delivery driver, to how they help the older man at Wal-Mart. Everything we do is an opportunity to make disciples of our children. We believe wholeheartedly that, in this season of life, our children are our main mission field. This is our job. A job that we take very seriously and believe that God has called us to. This job has little to do with their education and everything to do with teaching them to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy 6:4–9). Our children have been given to us for this short time and we believe we need to take every opportunity to shepherd their hearts. Homeschooling gives us these opportunities.

3. Time Together

Time together is a big bonus to homeschooling. We genuinely love being together as a family. We love serving together as a family. We love playing together as a family. We love learning together as a family. The flexibility of homeschooling allows us to enjoy Nate’s day off (Monday) as a family. We school Tuesday–Saturday…because we can. Teaching our kids to love God and to love others is lived out in our daily lives. We have the flexibility to stop school and make a meal for someone. There is rarely a meal that I make by myself. Everyone gets involved in some way. Time with extended family is very important as well, from trips to the library with Nana to learning to cook and garden with Mamaw. The flexibility of homeschooling allows additional opportunities for extended family to love and pour into our kids.

Pray, Trust, And Step Out

We take seriously the responsibility of raising the children God has given us. We daily seek the Lord for wisdom. Whether you choose Christian school, public school, or homeschool, I encourage you to pray like crazy, trust God, and step out in faith.

By the way, if you ask our kids why we homeschool, they will tell you, “because we could never get up that early!”