August 18th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

If you’re just joining us on this “why we’re homeschooling” series, you might want to go back and read Why We’re homeschooling, Radical Discipleship, and Packing for Ephesus!

Today’s post isn’t so much why we’re homeschooling as much as a basic look at the philosophy undergirding our general thinking about how we want to go about educating our children.

Among other things, I believe strongly that the education we provide for our children must not settle for being “adequate” or “comparable” – it must be excellent. My kids’ “pretend grandma” (who is an old family friend of my in-laws) was an administrator in a very well respected district in our area for many years – it breaks my heart when we talk about homeschooling and she has so many stories to share of families in the area who claimed to be “homeschooling” and were providing a very poor, substandard education for their kids. I think most of these homeschooling families are probably well intentioned, but I think that neglecting to provide excellent education is often a reflection of the “keep the kids out of public schools” mentality rather than a mentality of discipling our children and preparing them for the Ephesus of our day.

Now, when I say that I want my children to have an excellent, even superior, education, I have to be careful. Homeschooling, like anything else, can quickly turn into something motivated by pride and self-righteousness. Am I seeking to educate my kids in order to be little living trophies to my excellent parenting and homeschooling skills? [Ack - that sounds terrible even typing it as a question!] Or, am I seeking to disciple to follow humbly after Christ and equip them to engage their world with the good news He offers?

With that in mind, not only do I want my children to know Scripture extremely well:

I want my children to know math and science well- in our day and age, they must be well equipped to engage and answer the faith-challenging questions that come out of scientific fields. Sometimes Christians undervalue scientific study – but, this is our Father’s world! Proverbs 25:2 tells us, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” God’s glory is embedded in all of creation; as we study the intricacies of the human body, of the marvels of a butterfly’s metamorphosis, of the mathematical nature of music, it is an honor to us to learn it and it brings great glory to Him as the creator of it all! Truly, the “heavens declare the glory of God,” and home education gives fantastic opportunities to teach our children to see the Creator behind the creation!

I want my children to communicate well- from creative writing, to good grammar and spelling, to communicating through the fine arts or building a webpage, communication skills are not an end to themselves. Ultimately, homeschooling is not about preparing the next batch of crazy homeschoolers to win the national spelling bees! In the end, what it boils down to is that God has given us a message that needs to be communicated. The Scriptures echo with the message that God has communicated to us – through the written word and the Living Word – and He tells us to go and tell, to be a city on a hill rather than a light under a bushel. That message can be given through the internet, through the written word, through skillful conversation, through public speaking, through drama, through story, through art, through song!

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the jist. Education is not an end to itself. I pray that my children will master their areas of study, but not so that they can look down upon their peers with an air that says, “I’m smarter and better educated than you. I can spell better than you, I’ve memorized Oedipus Rex, I built a computer out of spare parts I found at a flea market, and I can speak four languages!” :) Once again it boils down to discipling them, training them, preparing them to engage their world with God’s Truth.

And to end with a laugh, I love this spoof video! :)