I was homeschooled in a time when homeschoolers were almost 100% conservative Christians who operated under the conviction that their children should not be raised in a government run school system. Our journey began in 1983. We were the weirdos and there was little support from friends, family, or church. We stayed home during school hours to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. And since we were home all day, we talked, worked together, played together, and built strong bonds. Modern homeschooling looks very different.
I’m not knocking it; the opportunities available to homeschoolers are astounding. But to those who have recently joined the movement I want to say that you are operating in a very different kind of homeschool world than the old-timey ones, and I have seen some detriments.
I’m a very big believer that homeschooling should be taking place at home. That’s probably because I’m an introverted homebody, and I’m a little biased. But I’ve seen the benefits. I think the tendency to sign up for multiple classes and activities or spend 6 hours in online school stems from the belief that our children won’t get enough ___________________. Enough socialization, enough science, enough credits, enough fun, enough whatever.
But after all these years of homeschooling, I have witnessed outcomes that sadden me.
And here is where we get to the point:
My heart breaks when I see the homeschool graduates of conservative Christian families embrace secular lifestyles and worldviews that their parents do not subscribe to. It’s not just the lifestyle; there appears to be a lack of basic education in fundamentals. Oh, they finished all their math books, they have impeccable grammar and writing skills, and they even go to college and pursue impressive degrees.
The fundamentals I’m referring to are Judeao-Christian values, Biblical principles, economic understanding, and a balanced view of history. These are the things that matter. These are, a majority of the time, the basic principles that led to homeschooling in the first place.
These young adults, instead of using critical thinking skills, rehash the trendy views of the moment. They are pro-LGBT, pro-Islam, anti-Christian, anti-anything-American, pro-socialism, and they lack a very basic knowledge of world history and American history. When I see these things, I think, “How did a Christian homeschool produce these kids?”
Since I am not in other homes, I cannot say how it happens, but I have some ideas based on many years of observations.
So how do you, who are in the homeschooling years right now, prevent this shift away from basic principles?
Know who is influencing your children. In a homeschool, it should be YOU, first and foremost. I mean, is this not WHY you chose to homeschool? There are many influences in children’s lives, and many of them are wonderful, but beware of those that aren’t.
The number one culprit today is the internet
Social Media is a big part of our world, and it can be both wonderful and terrible. It can also provide a passive education, or encourage passive rebellion. If your children are on any social media you should be right there with them. If they have Instagram, you should, too, and you should be friends with them. If they are on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook — you should be, too, providing parental oversight.
Many well-meaning parents are super-informed about what their children watch and read, and yet they have not a clue about the vast amount of information being gleaned from social media. Favorite celebrities, mainstream media, and trendy sites all work overtime to push their social agendas. Are they talking to your kids more than you? You betcha. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, hop on over to any one of these sites, and search your favorite actor, or check the hashtag trends.
When you check out these sites, ask yourself: what economic and social worldviews are most prevalent? Those are what is influencing kids today.
“A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?” ― George Washington
Another danger is the farming out of subjects
Homeschooling co-ops are all the rage in the 21st Century. They are fun, provide friendships, and expose children to activities they may not get at home. But as with any good thing, they can go overboard. The co-ops themselves are not a bad thing; it’s the increasing dependence that parents place on these “educational opportunities.” Some co-ops have become replacement schools, providing more instruction than the parents. In some communities, there is a different co-op to attend every day of the week, and many families attend them all.
So what’s the big deal?
Depending on these outside classes negates much of the original intent of homeschooling: the family home as the center of life, minimal peer pressure and dependence, and avoiding the public-school mindset. Families have inadvertently given over to someone else’s schedule, scope and sequence, and worldview. Many programs hire “certified” teachers and don’t welcome parents on the premises, and before you know it parents have given up their child’s education to someone else. Doesn’t this sound like the system we left?
We think because they are all “homeschool” families, that it is a perfectly safe environment. But is it right for your family? All homeschoolers are definitely not the same anymore. Do you know that the leaders and families involved share your spiritual beliefs and worldview?
Online school is not homeschooling
This is bound to offend a few readers, I know. But online school is not parent-led instruction; it mimics the public-school system. I think many parents choose it for the safety-net of accreditation, covering all the subjects, or looking official.
But what is missing is the instruction and discussion that just doesn’t happen when a child is instructed by a screen for hours per day. Even a “Christian” online curriculum does not replace an involved parent sharing their heart, their beliefs, their excitement, or their experiences.
Children are most impacted when they see, feel, hear, and share with their parents. Memories are cemented by real life, not by textbooks or classes. The difference between online education and parent-led home education are like night and day. No computer screen can match the impact of face-to-face discussions, side-by-side instruction, or hands-on learning.
You don’t have to stand over your children for 5 hours to accomplish this, but replacing the computer with real books, real people, and real life is a huge step.
Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s great
The number one trend I see in new homeschoolers today is their search for a “free curriculum.” Hey, don’t get me wrong: I have been where I needed free and cheap. And I’m not saying free is bad.
While I certainly understand the desire to begin homeschooling without spending a fortune, jumping on something just because it’s free is not the best way to choose homeschooling resources. There are two major problems with free curriculum: 1) they are online all-day school [see above], and 2) they may be government school at home [think K-12], with strings attached.
I have definitely been in a situation where I couldn’t spend money on curriculum. I understand. So, what’s a desperate parent to do?
Choose quality over quantity. Choose a few good resources over a plethora of free stuff. Consider why you are homeschooling, and figure out how to get there. Here’s how we determine what our homeschool looks like.
There are numerous free options that are great. Peruse them. But please don’t just sign up for the first one you hear of. As Christian parents, it is very important that the materials we choose must align with our biblical principles. Avoid sites with secular ideologies. Avoid sites that promote Common Core Standards. Seek out quality materials that will save you money.
21st Century Christian homeschoolers have a lot to consider. It’s important to guard your family and your home carefully against outside influences, and it’s harder than ever to do so, especially when the homeschool community isn’t what it used to be. Parents, go back to the basics. Get your parenting instruction from the Bible – the book Proverbs is the how-to manual! – and don’t let the evolution of education detract from your goals as a parent.
See this article on how Khan Academy quietly slips in the LGBT agenda.
“School Choice” is a Carrot
Many states are dangling the enticing carrot of ESAs and “school choice” under the promise of helping to pay for curriculum and extracurriculars. There is so much to this topic that I have devoted an entire page to it. My page deals specifically with Texas, but no matter where you live, I encourage you to examine the details closely to ensure parental control.
So, here’s my encouragement
In this age of modern homeschooling, there are several things you can do to center your focus on what’s important. Study your curriculum together. Talk about the math concepts. Talk about scientific discoveries, and match them with what the Bible says. Explore the map together. When your high schooler learns about government, talk about the world today. When they learn history, have discussions about the events that led to turning points in history. If your kids ask questions you can’t answer, go search for the answers together. Talk about your faith in God, your values, your economic leaning, your worldview.
Be the biggest influence in your children’s lives, and you will change the world. If I remember correctly, that was the original goal of homeschooling.
If you’ve read this far, you might also like:
For Such a Time as This: Raising Children in a Perverted World
The best book on this type of home education method is Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson. Actually, anything by Sally Clarkson is gold.
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Nicki Truesdell is a 2nd-generation homeschooler and mother to 5. She is a homemaker at heart, and loves books, freedom, history and quilts, and blogs about all of these at nickitruesdell.com. She believes that homeschooling can be relaxed and that history is fun, and both can be done with minimal cost or stress, no matter your family’s circumstances. She is a member of the Texas Home Educators Board of Directors, writes at NickiTruesdell.com, and runs the Knowledge Keepers online bookstore. You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
I couldn’t agree more with this post! Everything you say is spot on. Well done!
I appreciate that! Thank you for visiting my blog.
I don’t feel so bad that I am avoiding co-ops now. There is so much pressure to be doing stuff outside the home.
It’s like homeschool-mom peer pressure! Good for you. I have a co-op I love, but I chose it carefully and if it became detrimental, we would leave it.
I am fairly new to the HS scene and chose to pull my children for all the reasons you cited. The pressure to join co-ops is real and palpable. It is as if I’m doing it wrong if I want to be the primary influencer on all subjects. The opportunities we’ve had for Biblical correlations and world view steering are worth more than any socialization could provide. Homschooling has a swimming upstream feel to it. Homeschooling without a co-op feels more like swimming up a waterfall. God never promised us easy, in fact, scripture yells the opposite. We will make it up that waterfall! Thank you for your spot on blog!
I know what you’re talking about with the swimming up a waterfall feeling. It’s not popular to actually school at home all week! But it is a really good thing, and I encourage you to keep on truckin’! Your family will be so much better off in the long run!
Well said, Nicki! I agree with everything you said.
This is excellent. It is certainly important for conservative homeschoolers to remember why most started homeschooling in the first place. You are so right!
Thank you for visiting!
I don’t normally comment on blogs (unless it’s in hopes of getting something free lol). I used to be a public school teacher, and then went stay-at-home mom, now homeschooler. This is our 1st year HSing after I pulled my son from public school towards the end of last year. (Yeah, we had issues I’d rather not go into–he wasn’t a behavior problem though) I have felt the pressure to join a co-op. I didn’t this year b/c I didn’t want to overwhelm us starting out. Now, I am again, having this gut feeling it isn’t for us. I literally had a convo in my head today about how the point of homeschooling is to school here, at home. I recently went into this co-op the other day that I have thought about joining, and the facility they use is huge. I mean, huge like get lost inside huge. Kids were so spread out that it made me feel overwhelmed. After I left, I thought, “I don’t know that this best for us”. Why? It seemed so much like a public school. My kids might not even see me while there. I don’t know these people well, or really at all… I want to thank you for this post. This has helped my gnawing gut feeling feel even more spot on. My main reason for homeschooling was so we could instill the Word in our boys and teach them better (IMO) than our school system here. Thank you! Such a blessing!
I started homeschooling years ago (1995) when it was almost all Christians as well. I was very lucky to be an at home mom who was able to give my full day to my kids and husband. But, after a major injury occurred to my husband, I have now returned to the work force. We each do a few subjects, but no longer do we have the time to invest like in the past. With that said, I am happy that there are online Christian schools. For without them, I couldn’t continue to homeschool with the diminished time that I am at home now. You are blessed to be able to be home every day and nurture like this article says. But, don’t knock down the ones who are doing their best and soooo happy there are more options out there than what was available 20 years ago. If things hadn’t changed, my kids would be back in the public school where things are extremely liberal. Yep, having mom invest her time in every subject was nice. But, having other options has saved this home.
Tammy, thank you for your comment. I totally understand and sympathize with your situation. It is certainly tough when life throws new circumstances at you. You have a great option: online Christian school. I’m so glad, too, that your kids are still able to be at home. God bless you and your family!
I was looking forward to an insightful critic to my homeschooling approach. Because despite being a homeschooling mum, I look forward to learn from all sources. But what offends me in this article is not that it purports online schooling as not homeschooling, but that being pro-Islam as one of the dangers of modern homeschooling?
As you might have seen, I’m a Christian homeschooler: “The fundamentals I’m referring to are American, Judeao-Christian values, Biblical principles, economic understanding, and a balanced view of history. These are the things that matter.”
So, no, I am not pro-Islam.
There is no compulsion in religion in the Qur’an, hence I’m not asking you to be pro-Islam. I understand that the American Judeo-Christian values are what matter to you, but it is not the same as saying one being pro-Islam as a danger to this understanding. And again, my question is, why single out Islam?
I’m a Muslim, not just pro Islam. Simply being pro a religion just makes one respectful, perhaps an advocate in times when it is under seige, but not an adherent to it. I do not think standing up for another religion in this age of secularism necessarily makes a Christian or Muslim homeschooler any less faithful. Even if you think so, why single out Islam? Why not Judaism? Why not Buddhism?
Thank God these kids are pro-LGBT…why wouldn’t they be???? Why wouldn’t you want kids to learn to “live and let live?” I’ve never read anything as closed-minded as this post, I’m actually quite shocked. Why would anyone want kids to grow up intolerant of others and hateful of people that don’t have their exact lifestyle? So hypocritical, wow! I PRAY my daughter is supportive of LGBT rights, and I know she will be because her parents are open-minded, progressive and accepting. 🙂
This is spot on. There is a popular phrase within the homeschool community that if your day looks anything like it does in traditional school, you’re doing it wrong.
Great article Nicki!
I’ve been homeschooling since 2007. Two have graduated, one is an RN and the other is graduating nursing school next year, my youngest is in 11th grade. I agree with your article and I would like to add that TV (as well as social media) has shifted and worldly, not Christian, celebrities influence today’s youth. Limit regular prime-time TV shows, sitcoms as they are the culprit! I live in NC where we have a huge homeschool community but I never get involved with co-ops, we do a lot of fun and interesting things on our own. I immediately read your “About” page. How did you teach your kids Government & Economics? I have used a formal curriculum for my first two but I wanted to try adding something different with the last one. I am a Conservative and have found a 2 part documentary on Adam Smith, as well as a 90’s version of Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose” series. I am coupling this with a few books, one regular textbook from Sonlight and one book titled “The Education of Reagan”. What are your thoughts on this? I have had success making my own curriculum as well and my kids have always scored very high on their SATs and standardized tests. I just haven’t found someone who has also made their own curriculum like I have.
No Computers, No Phones, No Electronics, No Internet, No Video Games: Why?
The Robinson Self-Teaching Curriculum is designed to develop the computer that reside between the ears of the student. This is done within the context of a loving family and a set of the best books in the English language.
Part of the secret to the success of Robinson Curriculum students is a simple rule: “No electronics in the child’s life till a year or two before graduation.” This lets them focus on learning how to think, solve problems, express themselves in writing, and interacting with some of the best minds in history through the marvelous medium of books.
Together with a carefully curated 6,464 word vocabulary system, a selection of the great classics by the best authors in the English language, a strong math component, and daily writing, the Robinson Curriculum prepares a student to leverage the ever changing world of technology as a tool in the service of the mind.
By walling off the Internet, the values of the parents become the influence that shapes the students, not those of our cultural enemies.
When the time comes when they need to use a computer they will very quickly and easily learn whatever skill is needed.
My husband tagged me in this post and I’m glad he did. This is a much discussed and agreed upon point with the two of us. The hardship/challenge is with our teen son who will be a junior next year. We’ve homeschooled all the way, and I am finding that in his highschool years he has wanted less input from us as parents during his schooling day and prefers as much independent time and work as possible. We are very aware and see some of the dangers of technology and social media lurking more often than we wish. Do you have any suggestions for steering the ship a new and refreshed direction such as you’ve written about? As I’ve stated, my husband and I agree on this, but the objections come from our son. We value and prize our relationship with him, so we walk cautiously in making changes.
Well, this is a good question! Independence is definitely one of the goals of raising children. I think the question to be asked here is: do you know your son’s heart? Do you trust him to make wise decisions? Do you have regular conversations about all topics? AND, do you have a method for some oversight? Of course you don’t have to sit beside him all day at this age, so it’s time for that balancing act where you train him and trust him and talk with him, while letting him show his independence. There’s a lot to consider here.
I truly loved this article..i agree wholeheartedly with you..I have been homeschooling since 2005 .I was part of a homeschool support group in MA ..the group was lead by women who were old school homeschoolers it was awesome i learned soo much and i am so grateful for that time in my life.
I have seen these changes and I struggle keep things simple ..I really feel it is important to meet together with other like minded homeschoolers for support and prayer..It really helped me to know that there was a meeting once a month that i could attend for e couragement information and prayer i feel this is what is missing also…i have lived in the dfw for 4 yrs and have not been able to find anything llke this ..currently i am homeschooling my 11, and 6 yr old..