Disclaimer

If I am to embark on this homeschooling journey, it will require all of my heart, mind, energy, and patience; especially patience. The hard work I foresee is daunting. Therefore, if it is to be, I must be absolutely convinced of the value of it and that it is the absolute best choice for my family. With this as my chief purpose, I will argue the benefits of homeschooling to myself; I will tout its superiority because I must be convinced that it is the best option for my family . . . . not necessarily for yours, and here is my disclaimer . . . . I am seeking to assure myself of this formidable path. I am also hoping to encourage any other parents who are or are considering homeschooling. I suppose I also want to somewhat present my reasoning to relatives and other secondary stakeholders who may think I'm crazy (and may be right). What I am not trying to do is say that homeschooling is what's best for every kid because I don't think it is. God created each child as a unique individual and placed them with the parents they are with purposefully. What's best for my family isn't necessarily what's best for yours; God didn't use cookie cutters.

I have the utmost respect for any parent who has seriously considered their child's education and made a conscious decision about what is best for that child, whatever it may be; as opposed to those parents who follow the path of least resistance with little or no thought and fail to recognize the immense stewardship entrusted to them. Furthermore, all any of us can hope to do is our best with what we've been given.

I have a deeper respect than ever for the homeschooling families I oversaw as an education specialist. It is not an easy thing to set-out to do what you believe is best for your family when it puts you and your kids in a minority. I am overwhelmed and struggling with whether or not this is what I am going to do and I have a professional life behind me and framed fancy pieces of paper on the wall in front of me that say this should be a walk in the park for me. I do not think these qualify me any more than anyone else who is seriously in pursuit of what's best for their kids but I would think (or wish) they'd give me some confidence! Why am I not more qualified? My own education, for the most part, taught me how to jump through hoops. It did not teach me any secret formulas for making schooling work. If anything it made me question trends and decide that there is no one way that works perfectly for everyone. Homeschooling parents who are sincere and willing to put in the hard work are qualified on the basis of knowing their child better than anyone else in the world and God giving that parent responsibility over that education (as He did every parent whether they choose to delegate or tackle it head-on).

So, next comes my list of pros and cons, which is looking something like this - Pros: great lofty hopes, subjective principles, research, beautiful sounding stuff. Cons: time, energy, patience, sanity, adequate space, nuts and bolts. Yikes! Both are important and other options I might consider would require both significant driving and significant money. Somehow this will all work out! Faithful is He who called and He also will bring it to pass!