College or not? Homeschooling or not?

It’s that time of year. Kids are going back to school. We have four sons and the oldest one graduated high school last May. My husband and I attended public school growing up. I remember thinking that people who homeschooled were weird. For some reason, when our oldest was a toddler we decided to try out homeschooling. We wanted to be with our children and teach them a biblical worldview. 

We quickly multiplied and had our older three sons two and a half years apart. My husband traveled and preached a lot during those years and we wanted to be together as a family so we continued to homeschool the boys. We joined different coops that had some great aspects to them & we were able to make friends with like minded people. One coop even put on a huge production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Three of my sons were part of the chimney sweep dancers with canes and hats like the movie. It was so much fun. 

Over the years I read aloud to the boys a lot. We memorized scripture, played games, they played soccer & basketball & played outside a lot. They built bicycle ramps & taught themselves how to do back tucks & flips. They had freedom in their schedule to learn things that interested them. One of them taught himself how to edit & produce videos & had grown adults laughing at his you tube channel he created with his brothers. The older two learned how to play the piano beautifully. The third son was a phenomenal soccer player. 

We took them snow skiing, mountain biking, and to many tent revivals around the country. Life was an adventure! 

Homeschooling three boys was also the hardest thing I had ever done. (Not to mention we planted two churches & started a christian school during this time) I almost had two nervous breakdowns…which could have been due to ministry stress or emotional abuse from some outside sources. 

We took one year at a time & prayed about whether or not we should continue to homeschool. There was a year and a half where they went to a christian school at the church we attended. My sixth grader asked me to homeschool him again after one semester at that school. So I pulled him and his siblings out and that was when our fourth son was born in December. That was a precious time that they got to spend holding their baby brother all the time at home while we homeschooled again. 

As they got older I wanted them to go to a christian school to study the subjects I didn’t want to teach. (Think biology & chemistry, upper level math etc) I enrolled them in a school near our home but then 2020 happened and it went virtual and I didn’t want to pay tuition for virtual classes so I pulled them out after a few weeks to homeschool again. That was a tough decision. Looking back, part of me wishes I kept them enrolled there because they eventually went to class in person and could’ve made more friends. However, being homeschooled created close relationships with their siblings naturally. During high school our oldest & second child took online classes so they could play basketball at the public school. I don’t advocate for online classes by the way. 

When we moved from West Virginia to Georgia we were made aware of a private school not too far from where we lived. This was the first time we enrolled the older three in a school that wasn’t at our church. 

It was wonderful and awful. It was a hard adjustment for some of us. The boys got to play basketball and other sports there and that was a blessing. We made some great friends. We faced some hard challenges. 

Our goal with raising our boys (and we are still raising them at ages 19,16, 14 & 6) is to give them a biblical worldview. We first and foremost shared the gospel with them and prayed for their salvation at a young age which God was so gracious to answer. 

We taught them what the Bible said and bring every decision and conversation back to the authority of Gods Word. 

I tell them (not often enough) that I want us to be like the two percent not the 98 percent-don’t follow the crowd. Dare to be different. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 (Read the whole passage later it’s good). 

When they were younger we discouraged college because we saw that only certain jobs needed a degree and what was more important was God’s Will for their life, making a difference in the world & having life skills with integrity & a work ethic unmatched. 

As I got older I quickly realized how insignificant it was that I was Valedictorian with a 4.0 from college. I didn’t know how to cook or clean when I got married and was led to be a homemaker and homeschool mom. Being book smart didn’t help. I needed life skills. 

My boys got to watch me build side businesses from home with my phone and some friends. They got to watch my husband and I write and publish 11 books. 

They got to hear me talk about supernatural childbirth & interviewing doulas. They got to witness God answering my prayer for a remedy for my health issues and they would film me so I could post it on my You Tube channel. 

They got to help us plant churches and start a school and then attend that church and school. They have been the on call baby sitters for their youngest brother, the second daddy’s to the baby. 

When we homeschooled we did life together. That changes a lot when you enroll them in school all day. We did things different with our fourth son. After homeschooling him for preschool we enrolled him in a half day kindergarten program at a church. Now he’s in First Grade all day. 

My season is different now as I’m working outside the home at our church with my husband. We prayed about each decision carefully. It’s ok to do something different than you’ve done before. Not all of your children are the same. They need different atmospheres to flourish in. 

Shorter University asked my oldest to play basketball on one of their teams but he turned them down. He didn’t like the classroom setting. He began working full time after he graduated at a landscaping business. He works hard and has long hours but he seems to love it. 

If you have children, allow them to learn skills of music and art & take them to a Bible believing church. Certain things are more important than tests and grades and going to college.