Why?

A group of area homeschoolers has been meeting in order to try to establish a high school co-op. I recently had a chance to speak with the french teacher at the local high school who is willing to do some tutoring for us. We had a lovely chat. Her family lived in Europe for several years (military) and she was expressing how important having a worldview is, especially for us egocentric Americans!! Anyway, at one point this charming woman posed a question. She prefaced it with the disclaimer that I didn't have to answer if I didn't want to. Then she simply said, "Why?"
Why do we homeschool? This is a question that I have been struggling to put into words. Good, charitable, gracious words. It has been my experience that professional educators become quite defensive and bristly when confronted with a homeschooler. Therefore, I wanted my answer to be, first of all, truthful, but also generous, fair-minded, and inviting. I wanted my words to be a tiny point of light dispelling some of the darkness of the negative things she has no doubt heard about homeschooling. (Talk about egocentric!!)
So, I took a breath, sent a pleading look up to heaven and began. I told her that when we first chose homeschooling, our oldest daughter was in pre-school. It was a positive, pro-active choice for us. We did not pull our children out of "evil public school" because of some problem. We did not 'default' to homeschooling because we had no other viable option (i.e. no good Catholic schools in the area) We felt called to a particular lifestyle that would enable us to share our faith intimately with our children daily. We felt the need to live a lifestyle that would enable us to have a deeper, stronger family bond. It was important to keep the children close to us, to form their characters, to strengthen them in love, so that one day they could go into the world and bring the light of Christ into it. We believed the best way to do this was to homeschool them. But, in the end we chose to homeschool because we truly believe God called us to it; and He continues to call us to it. (I keep checking!! ;))
Now, don't get me wrong. In my most uncharitable moments (of which there are plenty!) I can run down the litany of the public school's shortcomings with lightning speed. And do NOT get me started on SOCIALIZATION!!!! Socialization is one of the reasons to choose homeschooling!!! If the key to proper socialization is putting a child in a group with 25 kids his own age so they can learn how to interact, then all public school kids would be perfectly socialized! The truth is good socialization consists of the values, manners and behaviors a child is taught, normally at home, with regard to respecting himself and others.....but I digress (see I told you not to get me started on socialization!)
I have heard homeschooling called a "cop-out" and a choice some people make because something else (perhaps a strong father/leader) is missing in their family life. I am offended by both assertions. Families homeschool for varied reasons, and we all know that homeschooling is not perfect...no educational choice is. But the fact of the matter is, homeschooling is hard!! To take on this incredible responsibility, to sacrifice a second income, personal time, career, is most assuredly not a cop-out. Homeschooling is not the "easy way out".
Homeschooling can be likened to a greenhouse. When we start seeds, we make sure they are protected from sun, wind, and harsh elements. Now, we could say that these plants need to learn to live in the "real world". They are not meant to live always in a greenhouse. God designed them to be planted in fertile ground and bear fruit and beautify His creation. What happens when we put those plants in the ground too soon? This is exactly what we are doing with God's most precious creations, our children. We are not sheltering them from the real world....we are preparing them for it!
We were made by God to know, love and serve Him in this life and to be happy with Him in heaven forever. It is our responsibility as parents to raise our children to know, love and serve Him also. There is no greater responsibility than this. For me, this means I teach my children to think about life. I want them to be able to see this world and the things in it through the eyes of Truth. I do not want them to be able to recite a list of dates of WWII events....I want them to understand why WWII happened, what in our human nature contributed to it, why good people did not oppose Hitler, and how we can try to make sure it doesn't happen again. I want them to see the structure of a cell or other biological concept and wonder at the beauty and order of God's creation. I want them to be thinkers. In order for this to occur, they must be grounded in the Truth. Truth is one, God is Truth. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." How can I entrust such a vital task as the formation of my children to an institution that cannot even utter the name of the Author of all Truth?
In the end, there are as many reasons to homeschool are there are families who are homeschooling. It is not a perfect situation, I am not a perfect mother and my children are not perfect. I am not endowed with an abundance of patience...or peacefulness....or perseverance. What I do have is love. This side of heaven, there is no one who is more invested in or who loves these children more than Scott and I. Our deep love for them means we willingly give of ourselves to prepare these precious souls to become all that He created them to be. Homeschooling is about Love. That is "why".