20 Mar So You’ve Decided to Homeschool. Now What?
I am a second generation homeschooler married to a second generation homeschooler, and we have four school-aged children. We’ve homeschooled all of them from the beginning. I also run a private library out of our home. To say that we have a lot of books and a wide variety of curricula would be an understatement. We love this homeschooling life, and we’re very open about it. Consequently, parents who are interested in homeschooling frequently come to our home to ask questions, express fears, and look for direction.
Most often a mom will drop in for afternoon tea, her children and mine kicking off their shoes and running barefoot through the backyard to wade in the creek or ride the zipline through the trees. As the kettle comes to a boil, she and I might make small talk in the kitchen. But once our mugs are filled with the steaming, cozy beverage, it’s time to get down to business. I don’t lead her to our converted garage-turned-schoolroom with its myriad of books. I don’t open up my storage cabinets filled with curricula. We don’t go upstairs to the sofa surrounded on three sides with children’s fiction. Instead, we settle down at the dining table or the living room couch, and our conversation turns first to the one necessity that most new homeschoolers don’t realize they need: vision.
Looking Ahead
Whether it’s dissatisfaction with resources, crowded classrooms, ever-increasing tuition, or any of a host of other issues, most families are running away from something when they fall into homeschooling. They dust themselves off and ask, “What now?” What they lack is vision – a clear picture of where they’re going. Choosing a math book, setting a schedule, and even deciding which local homeschool groups to join – all of these things are secondary. Each choice will lead a family down some kind of path, but if the parents don’t have a solid destination in mind, they’re unlikely to make decisions that take them in the direction they want to go.
As believers, we recognize that the children in our care are eternal beings made in the image of our Creator. We are given the task of raising them, and it is a task not to be taken lightly. We need vision. Who is it that we want our children to be by the time they leave our homes? What does it mean to educate an image-bearer of God? How do we as parents continue to grow and learn so that we can lead them? What kind of family culture do we want to nurture in our homes? These and other questions must be answered to have a firm footing as we begin homeschooling.
When we have vision, we have direction. We are then able to make very purposeful decisions about which subjects to teach, which resources to use, and which local groups to join. Vision allows us to consider each opportunity and determine whether it is helping us move farther along the path that we’ve chosen for our families.
Resources for Setting Your Vision
If you’ve decided to homeschool but don’t know how to get started, let me encourage you to begin by clarifying your vision. My favorite vision-developing resource is the book For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. I hand this book to nearly every person who asks for advice about homeschooling. You can find it on Amazon here. It is also available as an audiobook on the Libby app through both the Rutherford County library system and the Nashville public library. If you want more personal help, feel free to contact us. Our heart at Legacy Homeschool Resource Center is to encourage and empower parents as they homeschool their children, and we are happy to talk with you!