Christ Who Strengthens Me

Public domain photo by John Storr.

Christ Who Strengthens Me

by David Sloan

Well, as the HIS kick-off picnic reminded us, it’s the start of another school year again! The picnic allowed us to see old friends, and with several new faces to the group we even made some new ones. We shared food, stories and laughs. It was also a chance to remind ourselves that we are not alone in our homeschooling odyssey. And that, perhaps, was the most important gift that we shared.

 That is so important because it is easy for us parents to have doubts, concerns and questions about how well we are doing as “school teachers.” After all, our schoolhouses are separated so we don’t get constant feedback from one another about how things are going; we are constantly questioned about our qualifications and ability to serve as teachers for our children (Yes, those looks when you tell people you homeschool); and even our very decision to homeschool is often challenged (Yes, those questions when people discover you homeschool).

So I just wanted to take a few minutes to share some facts about kids and education as we start our new school year, sort of a faculty meeting to reassure the troops.

THE TOP INDICATORS OF STUDENT ACADEMIC SUCCESS

·         Parental Involvement: That’s right! The single most important factor in the success of a child’s education is whether or not his or her parents are aware of what is happening with school, and just in general are making sure they are involved in their child’s life. Note that I’m not saying the subject matter expertise of the parent, simply the involvement! This seemingly simple thing, across the board, in every ethnicity, in every socio-economic background, and regardless of the educational level of the parents, is the single most critical component to ensuring academic success! Just take a moment to realize that BY MAKING A DECISION TO HOMESCHOOL YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE A GIANT STEP IN THIS DIRECTION!

Some of the other important factors for student success are simply expansions of this first one:

·         Peer Group Influence:  By making a choice to homeschool you have already shown you are concerned and involved about what your child is doing and who he is doing it with. Most likely the peer group will be family and other homeschoolers. Other likely contacts will be through extra-curricular and/or community involvement (that is, contact with others in a setting where members are not required to be there).

·         Positive Role Models: Again, by homeschooling it is unlikely that students will have a better role model than those in front of them-parents that are sacrificing time, lost income, etc. just so they can offer their children this incredible opportunity!

·          Value Education: This is a non-starter because again, by making a choice to homeschool you have already made a huge neon billboard advertising how much you value education. And eventually even our children, who oftentimes don’t even seem to be aware of our existence much less any sacrifices we make, will see that.

And these are only the academic benefits. Homeschooling also offers many non-academic benefits to home life as well, but we will let other postings cover those.

So the next time you start to fret or people question whether you’re qualified to teach your children, just remember that simply by making a choice to homeschool you have already started them down the path to academic success.  

And on those really tough days just recall Philippians 4:13:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.