A few fundamentalist Christians have recently spoken out on Twitter with strong opinions on homeschooling children, claiming that it is a Biblical calling and even mandated in scripture. As a former homeschooler who had a good experience, and because I currently am a homeschooling parent/teacher, I feel I have a somewhat unique perspective to add to the conversation. Not only do I love homeschooling and think it is best for my kids at this time, I do not see the proof of this claim in scripture nor statistical evidence over the years.
There is a significant impact this attitude has on families who choose not to homeschool, the implications for families living below the poverty line, the duplicity of Christians who believe this, and the misrepresentation of scripture which leads to the attitudes of Christian toward the poor and people not like them. As valuable as I see homeschooling in my own life and the lives of my children, I do see it’s drawbacks and weaknesses and work to combat that as I would whatever educational environment my children were in.
There are two main questions I’d like to address, though often they’ve been posed as facts rather than something up for debate. One is the idea that homeschooling produces faith-filled adults or at the very least, gives children a better chance at being saved, and the other is the claim that homeschooling is Biblical, a “must, if at all possible”, and decision for which you’ll be blessed. Here’s why I disagree.
Poorer families who can't afford to stay home and homeschool their kids are seen as the exception (are they?) and in that case they just have to do what they have to do. The idea that only those with means can access God's best plan is an elitist attitude within Christianity. Requiring the financial ability to work within those parameters means that some people do not have the choice or opportunity to live within that calling and subsequent blessing.
The only response I have heard that addresses the issue of point 1 is the explanation that God's grace covers people in tough situations. Why? Because of course we can't believe that those poor kids are screwed. We trust God for their salvation and that their parents are taking responsibility for raising their children in the faith despite the public school system. But this reveals where we're placing our faith. In parents and homeschooling. Not God. Unless it's a last resort. And in conversations on other topics it's often made clear that the same people don't expect poor parents to be responsible to raise their kids properly, in faith or otherwise, because they are either lazy, welfare-dependent, or too busy with their jobs to be present. Do you see how there's no way to live up to those standards if you're poor? And the condition and funding of schools in poorer neighborhoods and cities is continually ignored. If the Christians saying how important educational environment is really cared about the kids, wouldn't they be fighting tooth and nail to remedy this issue?
To address the opinion that there's always a way to make homeschooling work, take the hourly income of an upper lower-class, one working parent (about $18/hr) and apply it to your own expense budget. Keep in mind homeschooling Christians are encouraged/pressured to have multiple children (budget for a family of 6), and that homeschoolers need a second vehicle to be able to connect with other homeschoolers or be part of a co-op. Factor in a computer and printer expenses when you budget for your curriculum for four students. Sports and extracurriculars cost extra, as do tutoring and co-op classes. Government aid is frowned upon so if you choose that, keep it a secret. The point I'm trying to make is that there is judgment towards poorer families, which exposes elitist mentalities and a disconnect between the realities faced by people who have less freedom to choose because of financial situation, often at no fault of their own. Those who are well off may not be aware that many people did all the right things, got their degree, worked hard and tried to save their money, but the puzzle pieces of the American dream just won't fit, financial comfort is out of reach, and the gap is widening. But that is a Ted Talk for another day.
I was homeschooled K-12th. Most of my friends were homeschoolers, my basketball team, my youth group. Almost every homeschool family I knew was Christian. The results as far as academic and college and career “success” vary greatly, even in my own family. The same can be said for faith and church attendance. National statistics prove that homeschooled students on average have higher academic scores at the college level. But that's not what Christians are trying to prove. They claim that homeschooling increases the chances of your children being saved. Or, at the very least, argue that there's a biblical mandate for training children at home and by the mother. They fail to explain where the line is for joining co-ops and taking classes with other homeschoolers, or if it's detrimental to attend online classes. This is concerning to non-homeschoolers because if Christians are afraid to send their kids to classes, the kids may not be getting a full education when the parent reaches the limit of her ability to teach a certain subject.
On the other hand, Christians who send their children to public school take offense to the argument for reasons including their efforts to partner with the schools and to parent their children well when with them. While money may be a reason for some couples to work and send their kids to school, it's rather disingenuous to hear this from the homeschooling Christian mom in a big house with manicured yard and enough surplus to hire help. Setting aside the assumptions that public school is either a better or worse academic education compared to homeschooling (it varies widely depending on school district and family choices for home education), the base claim is that children in public school will be indoctrinated with worldly beliefs and influenced by their peers, leading to an abandonment of their faith. While I agree Bible cautions us to be careful of the company we keep and to teach our children the Word of God, it also warns us to not be controlled by fear, place our hope in anything other than the Lord (like homeschooling), and Jesus himself tells us to be IN the world. How we decide to do that is not spelled out in scripture so we must take risks at our own discretion. Choosing the education we want for our children is a highly privileged, American freedom that not all Americans have access to, let alone the majority of the world. When we make absolute statements without considering how millions of Christians outside of the United States are operating, we show our ignorance and elitism.
I homeschool my kids. As a second generation homeschooler I've seen a lot of variety and common tendencies in the homeschool community where I grew up. It's the only community I've known firsthand and I have no personal experience in a public school. I can speak about my experience as a homeschooled student, as a homeschooling parent/teacher, and as a mother in a Christian homeschooling family living below the poverty line. We all need to remember that our own personal experience is not only limited, but also not evidence for what we're trying to prove. It's anecdotal. Unless you've done hours of peer reviewed research, your opinion is no weightier than mine.
Finally, the proof is in the pudding. Of all the pastors, preachers, authors, speakers, evangelists, missionaries, and Christian men and women we look up to, how many do we attribute their success in ministry to their early education experience? Regardless, they all undoubtedly agree that their experiences shaped them, good or bad. We hear biographies of blessed and traumatic childhoods, of amazing parents and absent or abusive parents. But the humble will credit God and His grace alone for where they are today.
We are saved not because of a good home life, a sheltered upbringing, the lack of negative influence or the trials we went through, but because of the grace of God and grace alone.
Comments