Homeschooling is a gift our nation has squandered for decades now. In many countries, parents cannot control their children’s education like we can here in America. In some countries, homeschooling is illegal; in others, it is heavily restricted. Millions of parents worldwide are forced to send their children to be educated by the state. They have no say in what their children are taught. They have no input into their mental, spiritual, and emotional formation for 7+ hours a day, every day, for many years.
In America, we have essentially complete freedom in how we educate our children. If we so choose, we are allowed to determine not only what our children are taught but how they are taught. This means that their entire formation—mentally and spiritually— is left open to parents. If we so choose, we could offer our children a thorough and comprehensive education that prioritizes God for the first 18 years of their lives. We could be building our children up into strong, intelligent, and hard-working young adults who are ready to make a positive impact in our culture. We have been given every good gift and every available opportunity here in America to do so. We could be raising children like this, but many of us aren’t.
What do many choose to do instead? They squander it for ease. Parents have assumed this freedom will last forever, believing homeschooling will be available for future generations. But that isn’t certain! Homeschoolers have fully bought into every poisonous modern philosophy available to them, and it’s cutting off the branch on which we all sit. The prevailing sentiment among homeschoolers right now is that it doesn’t matter what you teach your kids, how you teach them, or how they spend their days. In fact, you’re doing it right if you don’t care about what happens during the school day and instead focus on creating a relaxed, laid-back environment—ideally one that looks good on Instagram.
This has resulted in homeschoolers frequently advertising their ambivalence towards their children’s education, and as a result, many people in our culture have picked up on that ambivalence. This has devalued homeschooling in the eyes of many of those around us. If you don’t value education and flaunt that fact, then society and the government at large will soon listen to you and take you seriously. They’re going to believe you cannot and will not do a good job of educating your children. Even though our society has most things turned upside down, and despite the mess they’ve made of the educational system here in America, even they know that education matters to some extent. Even pagans understand that not educating children will affect their future. They realize that wasting a child’s most formative educational years and pretending outdoor play is equivalent to it, is positively barbaric. Soon, people are going to say, “Since you don’t care enough to do this well, the government needs to step in and do it for you.”
We should be setting an outstanding example for society. We should show people what education can and should be like. We have the ability to demonstrate the beauty and magnificence of a rigorous, Christian education. We should be producing such a steady stream of children who contrast so starkly with those around them on every level that it attracts people to homeschooling rather than repelling them from it. So brush your kid’s hair, get them out of bed, and start doing what God has graciously and mercifully blessed you with the ability to do—educate your children well.
