the point of homeschooling

The point of homeschooling: This has been a major topic of discussion in our home lately. Are we giving our kids an eduction, or something more?
Last week we got some disturbing news. A fellow homeschooling mom, one in my group here in Gainesville, lost her son. He had been homeschooled his whole life and was enjoying his second year of college. He is gone. If all homeschooling is, is education, then this mother's years were a waste. This tragedy is showing me there is so much more to what we are doing.
Chris and I together feel that the most important goal of parenting is our children's soul, and that the Lord lives in it. I really want to write about why, in light of the what happened to my friend last week.
Something that I've really enjoyed is all the time spent together. I consider it a blessing when I see them at their worst because I feel that it's clear direction in what we need to talk about. When I see selfishness, rudeness, or anything in them, we take the time to work on it and seek the Lord about it. I was amazed the first time I saw Thing 1 begin to have friends and hang out with them. I thought he was a perfect angel and never in a million years did I think he was capable of bullying. I never would have seen that if I hadn't been there. If I was sending him off to school, I would only know the Thing 1 that I see at home.
I know each of their friends and friend's families. I only take them to spend time with the ones I know well. I had friends who took me into North Philly and showed me how to buy heroin when I was 13. Call it controlling, call it over-protective, I have seen a darker side of the human condition and I'm not taking chances with my kids. I am not losing them to drugs. The Lord promised that if I trained them up in the way they should go, they will not depart from it. He does not lie.
A benefit to homeschooling is closeness. A mom in my homeschool group shared that recently that she has an unusual closeness with her teenagers. A few of the others agreed that the normal teenage rebellion and attitude never happened in their home. There was a closeness between siblings as well as between parent and child. I am hopeful for this.
I am looking forward to homeschooling into the teen years, but only God knows. I want to live life together with them. I don't want a teacher to be with them when they discover new things and during the best hours of their day. I want that time with them. My hope for them is that they would have the opportunity to turn to Christ all day long without getting sidetracked. My hope is that they would choose the friends they want to spend time with and not be forced to be with kids in their class.
If my child dies two years out of their homeschool career, I will know that the time invested in their "education" was not wasted. I got time with them, closeness with them, and I will know that I invested in their soul.
My friend Mardy is confident that Patrick is with our Lord. She talked often about the grace required to raise a teenager. She was loving and forgiving and encouraged me to humble myself before my children. I can see that she did the same with her own children. When we first heard that her son had passed, Chris and I thought about how devastated she must be, after parenting & homeschooling this kid for 15 years, to lose him. But the more we talked about it we saw that this is where the rubber meets the road. We are training our children so that they know the Lord and are prepared at any time to meet Him in heaven. This life is a vapor and I often forget not to get too comfortable here. If my children serve their purpose in 19 short years, then I will be envious of them.
We homeschool because I can not raise them after school and on weekends. I have my hands full with 3 boys and I need all day. I want a closeness with them, conversation with them, and the time with them that I have right now. One day we may put them in public school, but right now the Lord has us here.
Our main goal in parenting and in homeschooling have nothing to do with our earthly lives. It's not about preparing them for work one day, or for college. Our lives as parents is to raise people who know Christ. In knowing Him all the little things happen. If our kids know Christ and He lives on the inside of them, they will be loving people. They will have a good relationship with their dad and me. They will put others above themselves. And best of all, they will be with our Lord when they die.
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Jackie