Am I Doing the Right Thing By Homeschooling My Children?



How many times have I (or any other homeschool mom) heard something or read something that made me wonder:

Am I doing the right thing by homeschooling my children?

I'm three years into the process and growing more confident each day that homeschooling is right for our family.

And then...

This week I spoke with a homeschool mom of seven, currently schooling the last of her children, who is in junior high.  Her summary of their experience after investing blood, sweat, tears, and years of her life?  "My older children say I've ruined their lives by homeschooling them."

Ugh.

We didn't have time to discuss the reasons why her children feel this way...so it left me free to imagine what went wrong, or which facets of homeschool they didn't like.

 The same things I wonder about on a weekly basis:

Am I giving them enough social opportunities?

Am I scheduling time for them to participate in big group activities?  (sports/games, choirs)
Am I teaching them well enough?
Am I pushing hard enough for them to excel academically without ruining the fun of learning?
Am I depriving them of something they need from public school?

Then I talk to my husband and share my worries and woes.

 He puts my mind at ease (once again), reminding me that:

We want the biggest guiding influence in their lives to be (us) their parents
We want to instill in them godly character traits
We want to impress the truth of Scripture on their hearts
We want them to develop at their own pace
We want them to become confident in their abilities in a supportive environment
We love that schoolwork takes under 2 hours, giving us the rest of the day to relax, create, and explore
We love not having to spend time helping with homework or projects on evenings and weekends

Huh - I just noticed something very important.

I start worrying when it's just me.  "I...I...I..."

I become more confident when it's my husband and I working together.  The "we."

Further, when I add God into the equation, who should be first anyway - every time...

I am reminded that:

"Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."     Ecclesiastes 4:12


God has schooled me once again!  I love it when He's right and He shows me so in a perfectly obvious way.  There is that rope illustration that He has etched into my mind.  Here I am on the dot.  I need to remember that with God, my husband, and little ole' me - we've got a pretty strong defense against the devil's schemes to make me worry or want to quit homeschool.


So...Am I doing the right thing by homeschooling my children?  


If I'm doing it by myself, on my own strength, listening to the doubts Satan plants in my mind, probably not.

If I'm homeschooling because it is God's will for our family, with the support of my husband and through the power He provides (Philippians 4:13),

I believe we are. 

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