I started writing some thoughts on homeschooling for parents who are considering it as an option and discovered that I had much more to say than even weird homeschool types would like to read in one sitting. So I’ve divided it into a two-parter. Read PART 1 here.

In this second installment, I’ll cover the following points: 6) the learning gap in public education, 7) why you ARE qualified to teach your children, 8) why homeschooling encourages higher order thinking, 9) assessment in homeschooling, and the one you’ve been waiting for… 10) the answers to all your burning questions about SOCIALIZATION.

Point #6 – For people of faith, homeschooling is a more holistic choice in education.

If you believe that your faith intersects with and informs every other subject, homeschooling might be for you. Public schools can cover a lot of ground, but they aren’t able to tell the whole story.

Of course a presumed Christian worldview has been a part of American schools much longer than it has not been. However, we’ve seen a great turnabout in the last century. And we could debate all day as to whether it was owing to John Dewey or Charles Darwin or even Thomas Jefferson. AND as to whether or not it’s a good thing. But whatever the case, religion and education haven’t mixed in our public schools for some time.

Separation of church and state, while protecting our children from unwanted indoctrination, leaves a big hole in education.

In our ever-increasingly diverse culture, I would be hard-pressed to expect my children’s teachers’ values and beliefs to match my own. However, to divorce science from the Creator, math from our Infinite God, and history from God’s redemptive narrative, leaves great gaping holes in instruction.

And I believe it indoctrinates our children into a secular worldview. Others may disagree, but I don’t think there’s such a thing as an absence of worldview. Removing one belief system always makes way for another. And in the US today, the current belief system seems to be mostly secular humanism.

I’m also in no way suggesting that it would be possible or practical to include all the different belief perspectives in public school instruction. I don’t even think that’s what most of us would want.

It’s well and good to educate children on what different people believe. But it’s another thing entirely to teach those differing viewpoints as alternative truths. And schools do try to present information that is considered factual truth. But what our culture counts as truth is increasingly at odds with what Christians believe.

Christianity, by definition, is exclusive.

If you are a Christian, for example, you cannot agree that there is any other belief system that would be an acceptable alternative. Jesus said, “I am the way, the, truth, and the life (emphasis mine). No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The exclusive nature of our faith goes clear back to the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-7: “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one (emphasis mine again). You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “

Interestingly, God’s chosen people were commanded to teach those words diligently to their children when sitting in the house, walking on their way, and when lying down and rising up. Pretty much all the time. NOT that this is necessarily a mandate for Christians to homeschool, but it is a compelling argument to keep the tenets of the faith ever before your offspring. And many parents much wiser than I am have done so as they sent their children to public school. As I’ve said before, I don’t believe homeschooling is the only right choice. But it is a path to which some of us may be called.

If you choose to homeschool, you still have freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM it.

Believe it or not, some deem homeschool parents as enemies of the state, unfairly taking advantage of their influence and brainwashing their children.

But as I indicated above, I feel we can do no less than to mercifully introduce them to the ONLY way to be saved from sin and death and Hell. (Realizing only God can actually save them, of course.) And we must drive home the idea that school subjects are not something devoid of God, but rather it’s ALL about Him and it’s because of Him these things exist.

Point #7 – Contrary to popular belief, you ARE qualified to teach your children.

I’ve been cross-examined questioned regularly for years, even by people I barely know, whenever they hear me say “we homeschool.” (But I’m not bitter about it. Really.) Many a homeschool skeptic has breathed a huge sigh of relief when they hear that I’m a former public school teacher. This assures them that my children are safe from growing up to be wholly uneducated rubes. (It’s okay folks. I’m a trained professional.)

It seems that a surprising majority of people have “hidden educational expertise.” For this reason, they are certain that anyone without training cannot properly educate their own children.

I’ve said SO many times, however, that I often find my educational background to be more of a liability than an asset. Because of it, I have to overcome the tendency to focus more on educational objectives than on the child. I have to resist the urge to pigeonhole my children into grade levels which either ask too much too soon or hold them back.

I have to remember it’s okay to move more quickly in some subjects than others. And I have to relax and know that no one’s constantly looking over my shoulder to see that I’m following the latest educational methodology du jour.

What seasoned homeschoolers know is that if you are a reasonably intelligent parent, highly educated or not, you CAN do a good job homeschooling your kids (by the grace of God), and even see them go on to be productive members of society.

The heart of homeschooling is simple:

At least in my humble opinion, children are born curious, and with an inherent inclination to learn about the world around them. Parents, having lived in that world long enough to bring children into it are generally qualified to teach their young, even though the state might have you think otherwise.

Hardly any parents I’ve met have failed to teach their children to walk and talk and go to the potty. Granted, the skills and knowledge become more complex as they get older. But we live in a time when information abounds.

Anyone with an internet connection has access to pretty much everything they need to facilitate their child’s education. Not to mention the fact that there are more pre-packaged curriculum choices than ever before, for those who may not be willing to piece things together on their own.

In fact, I would submit that parents, assuming they are the people that know and love their children best, are quite often the people BEST qualified to teach them. They are definitely the ones most invested in their children’s future.

The advantages are hard to quantify, and perhaps they should stay that way…

Parents who wish to educate should strive to provide the best education they can, and in a way that suits the learning styles of their children. But the whole endeavor should be more akin to delight than drudgery.

The numbers bear it out. Homeschooled students do at least as well and often better than their public-schooled counterparts in academics.

My own two (even the one who’s still technically in high school) have transitioned beautifully to college courses, in spite of some really imperfect teaching on my part.

So when laboring over whether or not you have what it takes, remember that you are quite possibly the most qualified person to address the educational needs of your child in a holistic fashion (remember point #6?).

Point #8 – Individual teaching naturally addresses higher order thinking.

So I think a lot of surprising homeschool success relates back to what educators know as Bloom’s taxonomy—a scale of thinking skills ranging from lower to higher order as follows: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. 

As a classroom teacher, I was tasked with trying to incorporate higher order skills into my lessons to develop the minds of my students. The irony is that the easiest skills to teach and test (especially to large classes) are the lower order skills. Think rote memorization, and simple multiple choice questions and answers. They certainly have their place. The lower order skills work especially well when children are like little sponges and soak up large volumes of knowledge. Or when laying the foundation for more complex ideas. But alone they’re not enough for true mastery of any subject.

The higher order skills become a lot messier to teach while maintaining any semblance of order in a classroom. 

Building, making, creating, experimenting—all activities that could cause a classroom of twenty children to devolve into chaos–are much more manageable exercises in a home setting. Therefore they can be done with much more regularity.

These more complex activities are also significantly harder to evaluate, which as you may know, is a top priority in public education. But at home, there’s no need to score anything with a complex rubric. The student can do the evaluating, thereby incorporating the highest level of thinking, while hopefully completing an engaging project.

Higher order thinking also comes naturally with the more complex (often everyday) tasks that homeschoolers are able to tackle by just being at home, and that, in my opinion, prepares them well for higher education. Activities like meal planning or growing a garden bring a wide variety of skills into play.

Other great examples of activities that promote higher order thinking are those which involve creativity, like arts and crafts, and even construction and engineering.

Many homeschooled students have more free time to devote to creative pursuits, which often require long hours of practice and rehearsal. They’re also able to go beyond simply participating, and can get involved in choreographing, composing, directing, designing–all activities that require higher order thinking. And many of which teach real-world skills.

Point #9 – In homeschooling, assessment of learning is much more organic.

When I taught over twenty years ago, I thought testing was getting to be slightly excessive. What I’ve heard in the last few years is that it’s insane. Like the proverbial “tail wagging the dog.” Instead of the tests being tools, they have become the end goal.

The constant testing and evaluation in public schools are primarily for accountability within the system. A system of checks and balances, so to speak.

But here’s the truth: Teachers and parents who teach KNOW what their students know and don’t know.

And they don’t need a test to prove it! The test is only needed to prove to superiors that the teacher did his/her job. And to show the child’s gains or lack thereof. And for funding… and for testing companies to make money… but I digress.

When the need for near CONSTANT formal evaluation is eliminated, teachers (whether in a school setting or at home) have much more time they can devote to facilitating student learning.

In science, I didn’t always go to the trouble to do hands-on experiments with every concept (even though it seemed like we did a lot!). But my girls enjoyed beautifully illustrated LIVING science books which completely captured their imaginations. We looked at real, live scientific specimens in the yard. We visited museums. But what we NEVER did until the high school level was to read science textbooks and answer questions in them OR take a test once a week. (Blech!)

We still took standardized tests–just not very many.

So I can tell you, I was a little nervous about how they might measure up. Not that they didn’t know stuff–but would it be the right stuff? Not that I planned on sending them to public school…

But I always said I’d decide what was best (with prayer!) on a yearly basis. So I did have them tested every few years (because to my family full of educators this homeschool thing all still seemed pretty experimental!).

To my great relief, my girls were always several grade levels ahead in most subjects. But SCIENCE—one of several subjects in which we took a non-traditional approach— was really high, and I’m not generally a science person! In fact they stayed ahead of the curve throughout the years in ALL of their subjects, some more than others.

And while purely anecdotal, our results haven’t been atypical from most other homeschoolers we know.

But academics aren’t and never will be the highest measure of success. I’ll admit this truth gets muddied when well-meaning, skeptical friends and neighbors and family are breathing down your neck. And when it comes time to head off to college. What does real success look like to me? Young men and women who “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with (their) God.” Micah 6:8. Young people who will make the world a better place. That’s success.

Point #10 – You needn’t worry about socialization, unless you’re trying to isolate your children. (…You’re not, are you?)

“But what about socialization…?” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked about my girls’ socialization… Well, let’s just put it this way: they certainly wouldn’t need scholarships for college. No questions about gaps in learning. No worries about access to curriculum and equipment. Sometimes concern about my teaching qualifications. But always, ALWAYS, the socialization question!

So here’s my experience, and granted, we didn’t live off grid and have fifteen children and dress them all alike in denim jumpers (not that there’s anything wrong with that…): My children have participated in dance, theater, playgroups, tutorials, sports, and church activities of EVERY kind. But here’s the thing–I didn’t intentionally put them in those activities so they’d be socialized.

We just pursued the things we thought were important and that they were interested in, and TRIED to make sure we had enough non-social time each week to actually do some schoolwork. I don’t know where ANYONE gets the idea that if children don’t go to school, they’ll never learn how to be around other children! (Pretty sure John Dewey planted that seed!)

Is public school-style socialization even really a good thing?

And here’s where I’m gonna go off on a little tangent: Socializing children by putting them in large groups of children ONLY their own age is what happens in public school, but is an entirely artificial type of socialization. (I’ve even heard it referred to as negative socialization.) As if the best way to teach children to grow up and be well-adjusted is to surround them with at least twenty others their own age! 

If everyone around them is their own age, and ideally (in a public school setting) at their same ability level, how much are they learning from each other and/or teaching each other? Think of it this way: With the exception of the “Octo-Mom” and some other parents of extreme multiples, most children are born into their family at different times. The people they naturally spend time with in their extended family, family friends, and church friends, are of all different ages. And I think that’s a good thing! 

Are all of your friends the same age?

Even as adults, most people work with co-workers of all different ages. School is almost the ONLY time in life in which we are placed with a wildly disproportionate amount of people our own age. Some would argue that it breeds bad behavior (#herdmentality), or at the very least doesn’t give enough models of other types of behavior. 

One older wiser voice (the teacher) at a time trying to drown out maybe twenty or so voices of all the same age/maturity/knowledge level often fails to have the more significant influence. Spend a little time in a middle school and you’ll see this principle in action. 

As a side note, my two daughters who are two and a half years apart in age, and would have been three years apart in school, have danced together and shared friends and experiences throughout their growing-up years that I firmly believe would not have been possible if they had grown up in a traditional school environment. At least in my experience, mingling with other age groups is often stigmatized. And it seemed much less the norm with our daughters’ public-schooled friends.

To sum it up, lack of socialization is NOT A HOMESCHOOLING THING. UNLESS YOU MAKE IT A THING. And if it is, perhaps it would be a thing regardless of your schooling solution. I’m just sayin’…

In conclusion

Homeschooling is SO much more about unlocking your child’s unique interests and gifting than it is causing them to conform to standards that match every other child their age. 

If you have more than one child, you know that they all learn different things at different times and rates, and they all have unique approaches to learning and processing the world around them. 

Let go of the notion of public school for a moment, and just embrace your children as priceless, unique individuals. They each have one-of-a-kind gifts they brings to the world. Then maybe the idea of educating them individually makes a little more sense.

Let them be kids. Let them dig in the dirt and climb trees, and help feed the poor, and cook and grocery shop. Visit farms and science and art museums and attend family funerals. Spend time with grandparents and other wise people. Read wonderful books together. Help them to discover the fingerprints of the Creator all over His creation.

There is so much to learn outside of a classroom and out from behind a desk. And for a few hours a day, as they get older, maybe put a pencil in their hands and have them do some writing and math, but when they’re ready, not necessarily when the state says they should be.

And don’t be like me, spending lots of the time that is so fleeting worrying if you’re doing the right thing. Rest in knowing the Lord created them to learn, and they WILL learn in ways that surprise and delight you. And the bonus is that YOU will learn lots, while spending time investing in the most precious people in your life.

Blessings,