“Education is an adventure! It’s about people, children, life, reality!” 
Susan Schaeffer Macauley, author of For the Children’s Sake.

As parents, we desire to give our children the best education possible. In today’s culture, it’s becoming more and more difficult to achieve any kind of education through the government schools with their anti-God agenda. Private schooling, while an option for some, is not an option for many. And while it is important to not “get on our high horse” about homeschooling being the only “Christian” option, we do want to celebrate that homeschooling is a very real, desirable, and viable option! Once a family decides to enter the homeschooling arena, however, the choices regarding the method of how to homeschool can be daunting!

I’d like to share a vision of what education can be for your child, in your home, and even in your micro-school. This “method” of education is based first and foremost on a Christian understanding of what it means to be human and on the Christian meaning of life. Second in importance, it is deeply practical and has been proven for over a century in a myriad of educational situations. This method, based on the Philosophy of Education of Charlotte Mason (1842-1923), has been nicknamed “the gentle art of learning,” but its approach is one that rigorously prepares students to first and foremost think and then to be able to articulate those thoughts with clarity. A skill sorely needed in our current culture.

What’s also attractive about the gentle art of learning is that there is no expensive curriculum to buy. Based on the idea of “living books,” nature study, art and music appreciation, and a Christian world-view, one can apply this approach with a library card and access to museums and/or the internet!

If you doubt the validity of this educational method because you simply have not heard of it, that’s actually not all that surprising. Charlotte Mason’s philosophy is built upon a strong Christian base which in and of itself is enough to make it an unpopular approach in secular education. As Christians, our starting point for an educational system or approach must be rooted in our Christian worldview. As persons, our God has established that our education starts from the moment we are first held, talked to, and cuddled. As human beings, we are constantly in a state of learning–from birth to death. With this understanding, it is easy to realize that all of life is an education! Clearly, whether we “homeschool” or not, we as parents are actually the curators of our children’s education.

So what does it mean to be educated? An educated person is not someone who has this or that degree after their name, rather “the truly educated person has only had many doors of interest opened. He knows that life will not be long enough to follow everything fully.” As a parent considering home education, there is relief in that truism. One does not have to check all the boxes and ensure that there are no gaps in the child’s education. Once one realizes your goal is to first of all develop a love of learning in the child and then to equip the child with the skills of being able to think, articulate and compute, confidence and freedom ensue.

While a Charlotte Mason education is built upon the bricks of not *“twaddle” but living books, narration, no homework, short lessons, free afternoons, few lectures, ideas, culture (art, literature, and music), and good habits, it’s foundation is centered in the idea of “children are born persons”.  This truth is a central truth to our interaction with each child.  A child is not a being for us to prune or mold. Rather he is an individual made in the likeness of God, entrusted by God to our care, who thinks, acts, and feels. His value is not in what he will become, but who he is right now. He is not an extension of us to do our bidding, but an individual who must grow to embrace for himself reality and the framework of truth. Our role? To come alongside this individual as he grows in the knowledge of truth. We have something to offer not because we are adults, but because we are also persons who have experienced life and its lessons in possibly the same ways this little person might.

As one approaches a child from the perspective of his individual personhood, one begins from a place of respect for this individual recognizing that one “cannot own him, but only love and serve him and be his friend.” At the heart of this idea is the rejection that each individual is merely a cog to be “educated” to grow up and fit into a mold society may have for him. It is the embracing of the idea of respect for the child’s mind which is not the product of his education, but rather the instrument of it.

“The most prosaic of us comes across evidence of mind in children, and of mind astonishingly alert. Let us consider, in the first two years of life they manage to get through more intellectual effort than any following two years can show.  . . . If we have not proved that a child is born a person with a mind as complete and beautiful as his little body, we can at least show that he always has all the mind he requires for these occasions; that is, that his mind is the instrument of his education and that his education does not produce his mind.”

In the end, as parents, our job then becomes not how to fill this mind, but rather how to nourish it so it can flourish and become all that God intends it to be.

In my next installment, we will look at Charlotte Mason’s answer as to how best to accomplish this momentous task–for our children’s sake!

If you have been reading any emails from Illinois Family Institute, you are aware of how nefarious the so-called teaching has become in government schools. The state snapshot (click on Mathematics) for children who met or exceeded proficiency in math is only at 32 percent. You read that right – only 32 percent have met or exceeded math proficiency in their grade! Unacceptable! That means 68 percent are failing.

Children are not being taught academics, but if they were to be tested on their knowledge of what constitutes a homosexual or how to use a condom, they would likely ace that test. They are being indoctrinated, and as bad as things are, certain lawmakers want to make it worse.

Every Christian in the state of Illinois should be disturbed in knowing what the majority of Illinois children are being subjected to. But we are offering a solution! A way to help some children be able to leave that environment and be taught solid academics, but more importantly, eternal Truths.

We want to offer an opportunity to assist in launching Petra, a Christian homeschool co-op in the Freeport, Illinois area. Petra means “The Rock.” The purpose of this co-op is to supplement homeschool instruction with strong high school level academics. All classes follow solid Biblical standards

As a new school, Petra is seeking a $7,000 start-up fund for operational costs, insurance, and classroom and office supplies. Please join IFI in helping to provide a Christ-centered education to high school students in northwest Illinois. Your help will launch a safe Christian environment that is attainable and affordable for families in the Freeport area.

Illinois Family Institute supports Petra and we encourage you to support them as well.

CLICK HERE to make a donation to Petra. Donations to Petra are tax deductible. A receipt showing your tax deductible donation to Petra will come from IFI.

Thank you!

As incomprehensible to average Americans as it may seem, three stories about government school students facing disciplinary actions for expressing their Christian faith were featured in Christian media publications over the past few months:

• A six-year-old girl loves Jesus and is concerned about her second grade classmates’ eternities. She shares her newfound faith and it scares her friends. The Des Moines Washington teacher hears concerns from the classmates’ parents, and the little one finds her book bag searched everyday when she enters the schoolyard.

• A 14 year old student in Florida is ridiculed for reading his Bible at school. Not only did classmates reportedly threaten the boy on account of his faith, the high school freshman’s science teacher publicly questioned him and insinuated he was “ignorant” for believing in God and the Bible.

• Last year, yet another Florida high school student was reprimanded by her drama teacher for writing a monologue that referenced her faith in Jesus. The student was told to rewrite the assignment with no reference to religion.

Those are only three instances made public by legal groups representing the students who, their lawyers say, have had their First Amendment rights restricted in government schools.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

While the First Amendment focuses on the U.S. Congress and what they cannot do, it asserts that public policies restricting religious practice or expression at lower levels are not acceptable, either.

The 14-year-old Florida student whose teacher ridiculed him for his faith experienced something no American should ever have to experience, his attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement.

“It’s bad enough that the school has done nothing to stop the bullying from his peers, but have gone as far as joining in on targeting [the student] for simply practicing his faith. This blatant violation of his First Amendment rights is another example of how extreme so many in our education system have become,” Dhillon said, and why her law firm took on his case.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which took on the 14-year-old drama student’s case, described a similar legal scenario.

“This is what ‘wokeness’ has come to—shaming middle school students for expressing their joy in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ because it is considered ‘offensive,’” Christina Compagnone (Stierhoff) of the ACLJ wrote in April 2021. “This was a clear violation of this student’s First Amendment rights and an affront to the religious liberties rooted deeply in the history and culture of the United States.”

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt with the First Amendment rights of students five decades ago, in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969). In their ruling favoring the plaintiffs, the highest court in the land wrote:

In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school, as well as out of school, are “persons” under our Constitution. They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State. In our system, students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate. They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views.

And while that’s a strong statement in favor of students’ rights to express their opinions, the question is whether the Court would hold a similar position in 2022, or would the Court decide that maintaining peace in a politically- and religiously-divided setting is the “greater good?”

A growing number of Christian parents are choosing home schools and private Christian schools rather than dealing with antagonistic settings and curriculum offered in state-operated schools.

As more and more cases like those hit Christian media headlines and eventually make it to dominant media, the more intense the issue will become and all the more urgent for American freedom-loving parents to defend future generations from anti-Christian sentiments within government schools.

Illinois Family Institute offers an array of resources on their website at illinoisfamily.org to help parents make crucial decisions about their children’s education.

As it becomes increasingly obvious that homeschoolers do significantly better than victims of government “education” on every academic metric, apologists for the public-school system often fall back on their “socialization” mantra.

But under its true definition, “socialization” is hardly something to be desired. And under the commonly held understanding of socialization — gaining certain desirable social skills — the data show clearly that home-educated children outperform public school students on every key indicator.

Before examining the issue of “socialization,” it helps to define the term itself. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, it is “the process whereby an individual learns to adjust to a group (or society) and behave in a manner approved by the group (or society).”

Contrast that with the biblical command that Christians “be not conformed to this world,” or that they are to be “not of the world.” Throughout the Scriptures, God repeatedly makes clear that His people are not supposed to “adjust” to a society that does not respect Him and His moral code.

In short, if one accepts the common definition of “socialization,” Christians — and anyone else who realizes that the “world” and society are becoming increasingly immoral — should be deeply skeptical at the very least of this supposedly essential process being carried out by government schools. In fact, alarm bells should be ringing.

Of course, many of those who ask about “socialization” regarding home education do not have that definition in mind. Instead, they are mostly thinking about whether children will fail to learn basic social skills such as communication and healthy interaction with others. In that case, the “socialization” questions are based on myths and anti-Christian talking points.

The first myth is that homeschool families deprive their children of contact with other people outside the home. While there are always exceptions, nothing could be further from the truth. Typical homeschool families are involved in educational co-ops with other families, church, sports teams, and all manner of extra-curricular activities.

Under the guidance of their parents and other family members, these children become “socialized” in the best sense of the word. This has been true for virtually all of human history prior to the widespread proliferation of government “education” over the last century.

Indeed, to the extent that the term “socialization” is meant as some sort of process whereby children acquire positive social skills that can be measured, homeschoolers do far better than their government-educated peers. This is true on everything from peer interaction and self-concept to leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, tolerance, and self-esteem.

According to a review of the empirical research on home education published in the Journal of School Choice by National Home Education Research Institute chief Dr. Brian Ray, “87% of peer-reviewed studies on social, emotional, and psychological development show homeschool students perform statistically significantly better than those in conventional schools.”

But there is more to the story. In his book Faithful Parents Faithful Children: Why We Homeschool, Christian author Donald Schanzenbach explains that the entire concept of schools as engines for “socialization” is relatively new and did not exist even 200 years ago. Indeed, the term was not even in the dictionaries of the early 1800s.

Rather, the idea of “socialization” goes back to anti-Christian philosopher Auguste Comte, the founder of sociology in the mid-1800s. His goal was to overturn Christian civilization by replacing the Christian moral order then reigning in the West with the pseudo-scientific principles of “sociology” derived from the “study of society and group life,” as Comte put it.

With that in mind, it is true that what is referred to as “socialization” does occur in government schools. But that should hardly be considered a positive development — much less as reason to subject children to godless indoctrination by a government that openly wages war on Christian morality. As the Bible explains in 1 Corinthians 15:33,

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’”

In a typical government school today, a child will be surrounded by peers who are all being indoctrinated to believe morality is subjective, the Bible is at best irrelevant if not downright harmful, parents are “old fashioned” and should be ignored, and much more. The pressure from fellow students to get involved in drugs, promiscuity, perversion, crime and evil is ubiquitous.

Schanzenbach, the homeschool author, cites the American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of socialize: “1. To place under public ownership or control. 2. To convert or adapt to social needs. 3. To take part in social activities.” He argues that this is precisely what is happening on all three levels, very much including the placing of children under government control.

“Socialization is an idea in direct opposition to biblical thought,” continues Schanzenbach. “Socialized children will likely spend their lives working against the Kingdom of God just as a matter of natural habit. They will have been taught to do so under the socializing influence of a humanist mindset, taught by example, and assumed in every classroom at the government institutions.”

Even the best teachers in government schools have publicly repudiated the notion that they are helping “socialize” the children in any positive manner. Consider John Taylor Gatto, the New York City and New York State teacher of the year in the early 90s. After realizing the damage he was doing to children in the public system, he sent his resignation letter to the Wall Street Journal.

“I’ve come slowly to understand what it is I really teach: A curriculum of confusion, class position, arbitrary justice, vulgarity, rudeness, disrespect for privacy, indifference to quality, and utter dependency,” Gatto explained in his letter that sent shockwaves through the education world. “I teach how to fit into a world I don’t want to live in.”

“My orders as schoolteacher are to make children fit an animal training system, not to help each find his or her personal path,” added Gatto, who went on to write books on the devastation caused by public schools. “There isn’t a right way to become educated; there are as many ways as fingerprints. We don’t need state-certified teachers to make education happen–that probably guarantees it won’t.”

Those who fashioned the system to socialize children appear to have had some of that in mind. Anti-Christian humanist John Dewey, widely regarded as the father of America’s public-school system, outlined his views on the subject in Democracy and Education in 1916 shortly before his infamous trip to fawn over the Soviet Union.

“Education, in its broadest sense, is the means of this social continuity of life,” Dewey explained, implying that education was not so much about the individual or God, but about society and the collective. “Each individual, each unit who is the carrier of the life-experience of the group, in time passes away. Yet the life of the group goes on.”

In other words, in Dewey’s mind, the purpose of education and “socialization” was to train individuals for the benefit of the group and its perpetuation. Whatever this may be or not be, it is certainly not the biblical view of education as a parent-led means of teaching individual children to know, fear and glorify God while giving them the tools to live a moral and meaningful life on this side of eternity.

Next time somebody asks about “socialization” of homeschoolers, you might start by asking exactly what they mean with that term. No matter how they answer, for Christians and even those who simply value true education, homeschooling clearly comes out on top.

Written by Billy Hollowell

“God’s Not Dead: We the People,” the latest installment in the popular “God’s Not Dead” franchise, offers a powerful reminder to viewers: the importance of human freedom.

“[The central message of the film is] a reminder that the life we have in America is pretty darn good and a reminder of the freedoms that enable such a life,” Vance Null, the film’s director, told Pure Flix Insider. “And, ultimately, a reminder of the price that was paid for the ultimate freedom we have in Jesus.”

GET TICKETS: SEE ‘GOD’S NOT DEAD: WE THE PEOPLE’ AT THE THEATER

Null, who played important roles in the previous three films before going on to direct the fourth installment, is excited to bring these powerful messages to audiences.

“These films have always been relevant to the times,” he said, “So I was most interested in discovering together with my cast and crew where the next chapter of the story would take us: Washington, D.C.”

Like each of the “God’s Not Dead” films before it, “God’s Not Dead: We the People” is unique. The first installment in the franchise tackled college campuses, the second explored high school and the third dove into the role of faith in the local community.

This film deals with a related yet untouched subject in the series: homeschooling. Null revealed that the original plan was to tackle homeschooling in the third film, though producers chose a different direction for that movie.

“The homeschool plot was actually central to the story before I came onboard. The first script was penned by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, and had actually been written to be the third film,” Null explained. “As you might guess, ‘God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness’ (the third in the series) took a different turn.”

Null worked with writer Tommy Blaze to update the “God’s Not Dead: We the People” script — and that’s when they realized they wanted to go broader than just the homeschool storyline.

“We wanted to make things bigger than that — and raise the stakes by taking our characters to Washington, D.C., to not only defend their right to homeschool and raise their children as they see fit, but also to realize that this was just one of many freedoms potentially at stake unless they actively worked to defend and preserve them.”

As for Null, he’s grateful to be able to create powerful stories with the team behind “God’s Not Dead,” noting that he is getting to “live my dream.”

Null’s favorite part of filmmaking, he said, is working with the actors.

“Truthfully, I was a bit nervous about stepping on set to work with such a large cast,” he said. “But I soon discovered that this was my favorite part about the filmmaking process — crafting a story with talented people who embody their characters, and ultimately bringing an imaginary world to life.”

Find out more about “God’s Not Dead: We the People” tickets here.

This article was originally published at PureFlix.com.

As Brazilian lawmakers worked to recognize and legitimize home education, which has been wildly successful in the United States for decades, senior United Nations “education” bureaucrat Italo Dutra warned that homeschooling threatens “harm to children and adolescents.”

The UN hack’s reasoning behind the bizarre screed is that school is supposedly “fundamental to guaranteeing the right to learning, socialization, and a plurality of ideas, in addition to being an essential space for the protection of girls and boys against violence.” By “plurality of ideas,” he no doubt includes the grotesque UN sex-ed standards that would shock any normal person.

Dutra, who serves as UNICEF’s top education official, did not make clear where he got the idea that children have a “right” to such things, or where he got the idea that schools rather than family protect children from violence. Similar arguments have been made by UN bureaucrats and anti-family totalitarians around the world for decades.

Ironically, though, the UN’s own key documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) actually protect the right of parents — not government — to direct the education and upbringing of their children. In fact the UN declaration states that parents have a “prior right” to choose the education of their offspring.

Those measures protecting parental rights and educational liberty were enshrined in UN agreements after mass-murdering National Socialist (Nazi) dictator Adolf Hitler undermined parental rights, criminalized homeschooling, and used indoctrination posing as “education” to weaponize German children for his “Reich.” The result was catastrophe.

At the time, following the defeat of Hitler, humanity said “never again.” But with World Word II so far in the rearview mirror, and with generations of children indoctrinated by governments to believe in statism, those lessons on the extreme danger of allowing government to sideline parents have been obscured in many places.

While homeschooling has been taking place successfully in Brazil for decades, it has so far existed in a kind of legal limbo. The nation’s Supreme Court called on lawmakers in 2018 to enshrine the practice, ostensibly protected under the Brazilian Constitution, in federal law. And President Jair Bolsonaro, sometimes known as “Tropical Trump,” has been a vocal supporter.

However, totalitarian forces including UN operatives, communist politicians, and even well-known “Christian” charities such as World Vision have sought to demonize and restrict the rights of parents to educate their own children. Regimes and governments including those in North Korea, China, Cuba, Germany, and Sweden have made similar arguments to justify persecuting homeschooling families.

The UN has become increasingly vociferous in its efforts to restrict the fundamental human rights of parents to direct the education of children. In fact, the dictator-dominated UN “Human Rights Council” passed a measure in 2015 calling on governments to regulate private schools, as well — supposedly to protect “human rights.”

Meanwhile, leading UN officials, including a top UNICEF “child rights” campaigner, have been repeatedly caught raping and sexually assaulting children. Estimates by former officials suggest some 60,000 women and children have been raped by UN “aid” workers and “peace” troops in the last decade.

The UN should have no say in nation’s policies on education or anything else. The fact that an unelected agent of the dictators’ club is lobbying against fundamental human rights offers more proof that this rogue collection of tyrants, perverts, and kleptocrats must be not just reined in, but abolished, for the benefit of mankind.

This article was originally published at FreedomProject.com

Written by Larry Sand

According to data released by Education Week, America’s government-run schools lost almost 1.3 million students this year. (Delaware, Illinois, and North Carolina didn’t supply enrollment statistics, so the true number is probably somewhat higher.) The downtick was due to the Covid pandemic and its overwrought response, including draconian lockdowns and subsequent forced digital learning – mostly occurring in school districts with strong teachers unions.

While undoubtedly some of the “missing” kids will return when schools open their doors in August and September, to be sure many will not. And for those who don’t, increasing numbers will have more choices than ever.

As EdChoice Director of Policy Jason Bedrick notes, 14 states have enacted 18 new or expanded educational choice policies so far this year. Additionally, it’s expected that six additional states will usher in new or expanded choice programs. On a national level, Utah U.S. Senator Mike Lee has introduced the Children Have Opportunities in Classrooms Everywhere Act, which would “modernize how, and to whom, we distribute our K-12 resources.” Lee explains that his bill “would allow low-income families with children in grades K-12 to apply for federal education funds that they can choose to put toward the public schools in which their children are enrolled or toward an education savings account, known as a 529 account.” (Education savings accounts (ESAs) allow parents to pull their children from a public school and receive a deposit of public funds into government-authorized savings accounts with restricted, but multiple, uses.)

Additionally, homeschooling has been booming. The Census Bureau reports that between 2012 and 2020, the number of homeschooling families remained steady at around 3.3%. But by May 2020, about 5.4% of U.S. households with school-aged children reported they were homeschooling. And by October 2020, the number jumped to 11.1%.

Many polls reflect the fact that the zip-code mandated education system just isn’t cutting it anymore for many Americans. The American Federation for Children reports that 65% of voters support school choice, with 69% of Blacks and 67% of Hispanics in favor, according to just-released survey results. An EdChoice poll, shows that when given a fair description of school choice types, a great majority are in approval. For example, 80% of Black and Hispanic parents support ESAs, and 76% of White parents are in favor.

Even in California, where the private option is nonexistent, things are happening. In a recent poll, voters were asked if they’d approve a ballot initiative establishing ESAs, and a majority said they would. In fact, 54% of voters said they’d vote “yes” if given the chance, while only 34% said they’d vote “no.” Support among Black and Latino voters was even higher, with 71% and 66% respectively in favor. Toward that end, the California School Choice Foundation will be sending an education freedom initiative to Sacramento for title and summary in July.

Not surprisingly, the Education Industrial Complex has taken note of the upheaval. The Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss, big education’s Apologist-in-Chief laments, “The (parental choice) movement’s agenda is clear in the minimal accountability and few protections for students included in these bills.”

Strauss has it backwards. It’s the education establishment that is essentially accountability-free. In reality, a system of choice actually paves the way for higher quality. Citing the results of a study conducted by the University of Arkansas, Patrick Wolf, the college’s Endowed Chair in School Choice, writes, “Our conclusion is that the more a state provides parents with the freedom to choose their child’s school, the better the state’s students score on the National Assessment of Education Outcomes (NAEP). Even controlling for other state-level factors, and focusing on test score gains instead of levels, more freedom equals more achievement.” Competition makes all enterprises better, including education. School choice has also been shown to have a positive effect on taxpayers, ethnic segregation in schools and students’ civic values and practices.

While no one knows for sure what the future will bring, Foundation for Economic Education scholar Kerry McDonald is optimistic. She asserts that there are “4 Signs Parents Won’t Be Sending Their Kids Back to Public School This Fall.” Declining kindergarten enrollment, the major uptick in homeschooling, additional choice options, and divisive public school subjects like Critical Race Theory worming its way into curricula indicate that the move toward parental choice will be ongoing.

If nothing else, the pandemic has drawn back the curtain and exposed the wizard, revealing the truth about public schools. The myth that government duopoly – union bullies and toady school boards – has children as its #1 priority has been shattered. What newly empowered parents do next will be known shortly.

Larry Sand, a former classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. 

This article was originally published by the California Policy Center.

Written by Sandy Glenn

The pleas for Christian parents to pull their kids out of public schools are growing louder and more fervent every day. And, while many parents agree that the time for exodus has come for their family, some feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. They know they need to leave but they don’t know where to go!

If this sounds like you, I’ve got great news. You do have options! But here’s the catch. You’ll need to take more than just a passing glance at the alternatives. It’s all too easy to make quick, sweeping judgements such as “we can’t afford private school” or “I could never homeschool” without really giving those alternatives a fair chance.

About ten years ago, when God first put homeschooling on my heart and in my mind, I was armed with all kinds of excuses as to why it wouldn’t work. I’m not a teacher. I don’t remember calculus. We’re not homesteaders. I hate bugs; how will I teach about bugs? We can’t afford for me not to work; what about my career? How will my kids make friends? The list went on and on.

If I’d given more thoughtful consideration to my list of fear-based objections, I might’ve saved myself years of anxiety. But, over time, God has helped dismantle the stereotypes and misconceptions I once had about home education. As I’ve shed my preconceived notions about what school is “supposed” to look like, my family and I have discovered an amazing lifestyle of learning, togetherness, and blessing.

Sadly, many prospective homeschooling parents do what I did at first. They look into homeschooling briefly and, even if they think the method has some merit, they dismiss it because they feel it’s ineffective, lacking in opportunities, or just not practical.

In reality, it’s often just their mental picture of homeschooling that’s impractical. For example, if someone thinks homeschooling means recreating the entire public school experience in their home or teaching every subject for every grade for every child, then of course they’d feel that it’s an impossible feat. Or, if someone’s idea of homeschooling includes kids who never interact with anyone outside their immediate family, then naturally that person would be skeptical about it.

Thankfully, real homeschooling is nothing like those imagined scenarios. Not only is home education absolutely doable for the average family, it’s also exceedingly efficient and endlessly customizable. In fact, it’s the efficiency and flexibility of home education that makes it so successful for so many different families.

Maybe you feel that this past year of virtual schooling in your home proved that you could never homeschool successfully. Believe me, “pandemic-public-schooling-at-home” and “home education” are not the same thing!  Though their kids may have been at home, the experience many public schooling families endured over the past school year is a far cry from the day-to-day experience of home educators who aren’t tied to public school curricula, schedules, or systems.

If you’re considering educating your kids at home but you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thought of it, take a deep breath (or ten). As I said in my new book Think About Homeschooling: What It Is, What It Isn’t, & Why It Works, homeschooling “is no less practically possible than any other career, educational method, or way of life. The simple fact that it’s less well understood in our culture just makes it seem that way. In actuality, the skill sets you use to adapt and succeed in other areas of life can be the same ones you use to homeschool successfully.”

In Think About Homeschooling, I tackle the five most common categories of misunderstanding surrounding home education as well as its main advantages. With a clearer picture of what homeschooling is and isn’t, parents are then equipped to truly consider homeschooling as a real possibility for their family. Whether or not you end up deciding to home educate, it’s critical that you are basing your decision on accurate information.

As stewards and guardians of the children God has placed in our care, it’s our privilege and responsibility to provide spiritual and academic training and instruction for them. Whether we send them to the public school down the street, the private school in the next town, or the homeschool co-op at our church, we make a choice to delegate some portion of their education to those institutions. It’s critically important that we’re mindful of the training that our kids are receiving in those settings. And it’s equally as important that we’re aware that we have a choice in the matter!

Christian parents, as you consider your schooling options for next year, please give careful and intentional thought to all of your choices. Do your best to research the specific alternative schooling opportunities available to you in your area (private schools, hybrid or co-schools, co-ops, homeschooling, etc.) and pray for clear direction from the Lord. If you feel convicted to find an alternative to public schooling, don’t let fear stand in your way!

For those of you curious or skeptical about home education, or if you’re new at it and need a confidence boost, my book Think About Homeschooling would be a great next step. You can buy it now in ebook or paperback format or find out more here.

Sandy Glenn, MAE, went from “Homeschooling? No way!” to “Homeschooling is awesome!” in just a few short years. After working in the architectural engineering industry for over eleven years, she left the workforce to stay home with her firstborn and she’s been home educating ever since! She and her husband live and learn with their three children in the Chicago suburbs. Sandy’s writing has been published in the Journal of Architectural Engineering and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, and she also provides practical help and encouragement to homeschooling parents on her blog: sensiblehomeschool.com. 

Parents across the state and nation have had enough of the COVID-19 lockdowns and the cancellation of numerous conferences and other events. Thankfully, it looks like we are slowly getting back to normal. That said, some public school districts are still planning on limited in-person class time in the fall of 2021. Additionally, the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health will also continue to require that students wear masks in schools.

But that’s not the worst of it.

Parents and grandparents have serious concerns about the deficiencies of public schools, including academic failings and the teaching of corrupt propaganda. Just this past month, state lawmakers mandated the teaching of “comprehensive” and “age appropriate” sex education that will begin in kindergarten. And in a sign of pure lunacy, state lawmakers overwhelming approved legislation to mandate taxpayer funding of menstrual hygiene products in all bathrooms in every government school building in Illinois. Yes, that includes boys’ bathrooms (4th grade and above).

The time has come to seriously explore Christ-centered educational opportunities for your children.

The annual Illinois Christian Home Educators’ conference is an excellent opportunity for parents and grandparents to explore the great option of homeschooling. A review of the event website (check it out for yourself here) reveals a broad lineup of speakers and subjects. Topics range from the practical to the inspirational to the philosophical. 

Kirk Smith, Executive Director of ICHE points out that “there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach with homeschooling. At the ICHE conference, you will be able to hear a variety of approaches and be able to tailor your school experience to what best fits your values and priorities as a family.”

The ICHE Family Conference will be taking place this weekend: June 3-6 at Olivet Nazarene University.

Homeschool veterans agree on the centrality of home education in passing on their faith and values. “Homeschooling is really an extension of parenting. It’s the opportunity to teach and disciple our children with a degree of intention unmatched by other options,” writes Jonathan Lewis. “So if you want to be a better homeschooler—or a better parent—be sure to check out the ICHE Family Conference!”

As a veteran homeschool father myself, I agree with Kirk Smith who acknowledges that “so many dads and moms want to do parenting right but lack examples and resources. The conference will give them both.” This conference has been a tremendous blessing to my wife and me. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

So if you want to be a better homeschooler—or a better parent—be sure to check out the ICHE Family Conference! Check it out HERE.

Written by Diane O’Burns

Public school parents are terrified of entering back into horrible remote learning programs like the ones they encountered this past spring. They need information so they can make plans for their children’s education, and yet many schools still do not know what materials or e-learning system they will be using later this month. It sounds like the 2020-2021 school year will be one giant experiment using precious human beings.

Ryan Scott, principal of Main Street Elementary School in Shelbyville said this in an email to a parent who inquired about the upcoming school year:

We do not have a specific plan in place for remote learning until we can gather more information.

Mr. Scott then changed his tune in another email:

Each building level Principal works with the parents and student to find the best fit for a student that has been homeschooled and is either returning to the public school, or entering a public school for the first time. The main area of concern is if the student will struggle with the material at a given grade level when they either enter or return to in person learning in the school district. With that being said, the district has not had any discussions about holding students back if they are homeschooled for a semester or a year. It might come into play in extreme cases, but I do not believe it will be the norm.

The public schools are expecting homeschoolers to abide by an arbitrary set of standards that far too many of their own students are failing to meet.

In a separate email to the above parent, Shane Schuricht, superintendent of Shelbyville Unit School District #4, goes on to say this when asked about the remote learning choice:

At the elementary, we are exploring the possibility of an external platform such as “Edgenuity” or the possibility of dedicating a teacher per grade-level to plan, support, etc. … the remote learning families.

Mt. Olive School district provided this inaccurate information regarding homeschooling on their Facebook page as well as in a letter to parents:

All homeschoolers are required to register with the state of IL, they have to make an appointment to bring in their full curriculum for approval by the state, and then they have to also turn in records to the state each year.

Mt. Olive homeschoolers are not required to do any of the above.

Jenny Gregory Binney, a teacher from Mt. Olive School district, decided to post the following on Facebook when the false requirements came into question:

Why in the world would you not be required to register your homeschoolers as homeschoolers? That seems absurd. How in the world are homeschoolers in Illinois held accountable … if they don’t need to be registered or need a certain curriculum? Some parents may say they are “homeschooling” when they are not doing anything. Just seems like there isn’t a way to hold parents accountable.

She later deleted her comment after she was informed by many homeschoolers that the district information was incorrect.

Well, Ms. Binney, I would like to ask the same question of the public school: Who is holding them accountable for the poor student outcomes that are happening in the Illinois public school system. Let us look at the Mt. Olive District stats for the 2019 school year. The district has an 83 percent graduation rate, with 31 percent of students meeting state standards in ELA and 34 percent meeting state math standards.

Of the 11^th grade students taking the SAT college admissions exam, only 21 percent met the standards in ELA and 18 percent met the Math standard. The average score for the SAT in the Mt. Olive district was a 949. Out of the 37 high school graduates in Mt. Olive in 2017 (most recent year listed), 18.9 percent attended community college after graduation, and 14.3 percent of those graduates required remediation before being allowed to take college level courses. Is this acceptable after being educated for 12+ years?

I reached out to several principals and superintendents in other districts regarding what needed to be done to homeschool, but none returned my emails.

The most shocking and egregious statements from public schools have come from district employees stating that should students be homeschooled, they will not be able to return to the public school setting again–ever. This is completely untrue.

For years, many parents homeschooled until 8^th grade and sent their children to public school for high school. Some homeschooled students want to try a year of high school out, so they transfer in and most transfer back out to homeschool the next year.

Parents in the Shelbyville and Taylorville district report that they have been warned that should their child be high school age, they will automatically be placed at the freshmen level, no matter how many homeschool high school credits they have earned or what their age is upon seeking to enroll in the public school.

Parents have also been told that a high school diploma will not be achievable in homeschool and that a GED is necessary. They are also told that colleges will not accept homeschooled students. Again, these claims are false.

Many public schools in Illinois are already tainting the pathway for homeschoolers by providing false information and bullying parents so they are too afraid to leave the supposed safety and comfort of the public school system. What loving, caring parent would want to cause their child not to get a high school diploma or not to be able to get into college? All this false information keeps parents from choosing homeschooling.

These schools, along with countless others in Illinois and across the nation right now, are showing a blatant disregard for the homeschooling laws that we have fought so hard to keep in place. Government school educators are bullying and lying to parents who are seeking to educate their children via a viable and legal alternative: homeschooling.

This is Part3 (of 3) of an extended article about parents seeking to homeschool their children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

IFI recently held two important webinars to help better inform, equip, and encourage parents to make the move to home education. These webinars can be found on the IFI YouTube channel under the “Home Education” playlist tab. These videos are posted for anyone curious about homeschooling.

In our first webinar we featured three experienced homeschool mothers who address frequently asked questions about Illinois law and how to begin homeschooling.

The second video features Dr. Brian Ray, a leading researcher in the area of homeschool education. He is the president of the National Home Education Research Institute (nheri.org).

Over the years, we have reported on the ever-increasing corruptive influences within public education. We’ve changed our message from a suggestion that Christians exercise educational choice to an urgent appeal to parents and grandparents to get them out of government indoctrination centers. If you have been reading our alerts, you know that school officials (and state lawmakers) have approved the teaching of subjects that run contrary to biblical Christianity. In order to protect the hearts and minds of our children, it is wise to consider other education options.

The current COVID-19 lockdown of school districts statewide presents parents and grandparents with an opportunity to make a jump to home education. As a veteran homeschool father, I can tell you that it is not as difficult as some think it might be. Once you get started, chances are that you will not only love spending quality time with your children, but you will grow to appreciate the freedom we have in Illinois to provide your children with edifying Christian instruction.

IFI recently held two important webinars to help better inform, equip, and encourage parents to make the move to home education. These webinars can be found on the IFI YouTube channel under the “Home Education” playlist tab. These videos are posted for anyone curious about homeschooling.

In our first webinar we featured three experienced homeschool mothers who address frequently asked questions about Illinois law and how to begin homeschooling.

The second video features Dr. Brian Ray, a leading researcher in the area of homeschool education. He is the president of the National Home Education Research Institute (nheri.org).

These videos provide a wealth of information for those who are new to homeschooling or just curious about the subject. Anyone seeking information about statistics, law, philosophy, trends, or fundamentals about homeschooling are encouraged to check them out.

We pray that you will be excited about the prospect of taking your children out of government schools to educate them at home where they can work at their own pace and focus on their own interests. Moreover, we pray that you will see the value of discipling them in the faith. Teaching Christian ethics and instilling a biblical worldview in your students has never been more important. Instead of learning to celebrate sexual immorality, to fear a climate apocalypse, and to hate America, you can cultivate in them virtues like honesty, purity, gratefulness, patriotism, diligence, courage, kindness, self-control, humility, respect and responsibility.

Homeschooling is a far superior means to raise God-honoring productive members of society who love and serve their neighbors than is public schooling.

Read more:

Three Steps to Start Homeschooling Now 

How to Start Homeschooling: Free Resources for Beginners

Three Big Reasons to Consider Homeschooling This Year 

Escape Charter School Bottleneck—Homeschooling Has No Waiting List!

Illinois Public School Officials Spread Disinformation

Coronavirus, Education, and Tofu: Why Choice is the Solution to the Education Conundrum

Please consider a gift to the Illinois Family Institute.
As always, your gift to IFI is tax-deductible and greatly appreciated!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Written by Diane O’Burns

Illinois parents, along with millions of other parents across the nation, were tossed into an at-home learning environment this past spring that the public school coined “Homeschooling.” The public schools were ill-equipped for this change-over, despite years of “e-learning days” when public school children learned how to use the software during snow days and other days off.

During this time of COVID-19 homeschooling, many parents reconnected with their children, enjoyed the time spent with them, and heeded the words of Bible teacher Dr. Tony Evans: “Don’t waste the Covid.”

This parent-child reconnect helped foster additional learning opportunities when parents realized that they really are the best teachers for their children. Many parents actually threw the public school busy work paper packets into the trash and began teaching their children themselves.

As a veteran homeschool mom, I was keenly aware of the number of parents entering into homeschool groups asking questions about how to supplement the busy work and get on to some real teaching. These parents lamented the long ZOOM meetings, sometimes 4-5 per day, plus all the busy work in addition to the crying, bored, and bleary-eyed children who stared at screens for way too long each day. These parents reached out for help and found a loving homeschooling community waiting to accept them.

Special online communities were created for these COVID-19 homeschoolers to encourage them in the middle of a pandemic. The Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE) started a special Facebook group called Homeschoolers Encouraging Loving Parents (H.E.L.P.), whose mission is to provide “help for those suddenly schooling at home.” In addition, there is a Facebook page called Illinois Homeschooling, seeking to remind parents that “there is nothing better than networking when you homeschool.”

Becoming part of these communities as well as getting involved in local homeschool support groups has helped parents make the decision to leave the public school system for home education. These parents were encouraged to send letters of withdrawal to their child’s school informing them that the child was transferring to a private school. No more information is required.

School Administrators Intimidate Parents

In Illinois, homeschools are legal private schools. Some parents who thought they were on a solid footing with their friendly local public school decided to go in person to the school office instead of sending their letter to withdraw by mail as is recommended. Some of these parents were completely shocked and caught off guard by the hostile environment they found themselves in. For the first time in their lives, they were making educational decisions for their children, and government school administrators were not pleased with this newfound parental right.

Parents were told in some cases that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) could become involved if they began homeschooling. They were told that truant/resource officers could come to their home at any time to make sure the children were being properly educated. Parents were told that by law they had to register their child with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), which is not accurate. In 2011, a homeschool registration bill SB136 was tabled after more than 4,000 Illinois homeschoolers gathered at the state capitol in Springfield to show their disapproval of this bill. Illinois homeschoolers do not register with the ISBE, the local school, or the Regional Office of Education (ROE).

Some Illinois parents were told they had to bring in their 2020-2021 school year curriculum (books, workbooks, teaching materials, videos etc.) and show complete lesson plans for the entire school year and that these all had to be approved by the school district. School district teachers are not even required to complete an entire school year of lesson plans at one time.

Others were told that all Individualized Educational Plans (IEP) services would be denied if they chose to homeschool their special needs children. Again, this is not accurate information. According to the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), students with special needs may be eligible for services, and “homeschool students with disabilities have a right to enroll part-time in the public school in the district where they reside.”

During a Taylorville school district board meeting, superintendent Dr. Chris Dougherty, PhD, said this regarding the choice to homeschool:

We’re more than willing to work with families who make that decision, then realize they are in over their heads because we are the educational experts. The ROE said really, once they start the year in that status, we can honor it and they can be a homeschool student the entire year. But because of the pandemic and because we run education for the community we will absolutely review them case by case and get kids where they need to be and support to the families (heard on taylorvilledailynews.com).

Here, parents were told that they did not have the educational background and expertise required to homeschool their children. This is coming from a school district in which in 2019, only 35 percent of students met state standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and only 29 percent of the district’s students were meeting the state standards in math. If those numbers are not enough to scare you, then maybe the fact that in 2017 (the most recent year listed), 57.4 percent of the Taylorville High School graduates required remediation in college. That 57.4 percent only includes students that actually went on to attend community college and not the total number of graduates that year.

Think about the 57.4 percent that needed remediation in basic course materials. These students had been in school for 12+ years, and some as many as 15 years when you include kindergarten, preschool or Head Start. Over 57 percent were ineligible to enroll in college level courses such as basic composition or a college-level math course. The Illinois state average is only 44.2 percent of students needing remedial college course work. It would be fair to say that with those low numbers, parents would be wise to homeschool their children and get them as far away from the “educational experts” (as Dougherty calls them) in the Taylorville school district as possible. (Statistics come from illinoisreportcard.com)

This month, the Taylorville CUSD #3 Facebook page, as well as a letter sent to parents, reads,

Homeschooling requires parents to withdraw from school, complete the state form, and inform the school district and Regional Office of Education of homeschooling.*

The Taylorville school district has been known as unfriendly to homeschoolers for many years. In addition to the above statement from the Taylorville superintendent, parents have been told that if they choose to homeschool their child, the child may never be allowed to return to the public school. They have also been told that high school credits earned in homeschool will not count toward graduation if the child returns to public school in high school. The comments to parents differ between superintendent and principals as to whether or not children are allowed back into school after attending homeschool.

Even in past years, principals and superintendents in Taylorville have threatened to sic the DCFS on parents inquiring about homeschooling or turning in letters to withdraw their child to homeschool, and they have sent parents to the Christian County Courthouse to fill out “mandatory paperwork to protect against truancy claims.”

Imagine how intimidating that was to that mom who only wanted to make an informed educational decision for her children. She went to the school office that was normally friendly and helpful and was told that she had to go to the courthouse to fill out paperwork to homeschool. She then goes timidly to the courthouse and is put in a room with a supposed truant officer (she never did find out who the man in uniform was that made her fill out papers to be allowed to homeschool). I have seen copies of the papers that she was required to fill out, and they are the homeschool registration form from the ISBE website. This registration paper is not required to be filled out in Illinois to homeschool. It is voluntary, not required, and can be detrimental to homeschoolers.

These lies and others create unnecessary difficulties for parents seeking to homeschool their children in the upcoming school year.

This is Part 1 of an extended article about parents seeking to homeschool their children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diane O’Burns is a veteran homeschool mother from Illinois.

Please consider a gift to the Illinois Family Institute.
As always, your gift to IFI is tax-deductible and greatly appreciated!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

With the debate raging across America about opening the nation’s schools this fall, many parents are considering home education.

As a homeschool graduate and second-generation homeschooling dad, I’d like to share with you three huge reasons why I believe homeschooling is a great choice whether the public schools are in session this fall or not. 

#1: We Get to Do Our God-Given Job

God has commanded parents to teach their children in His ways. It’s the example of Scripture from beginning to end, in passages such as Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 78, and Ephesians 6.

Viewed through a Biblical lens, home education is simply a method for parents to take seriously—and, I would add, at face value—God’s commands to teach their children. Homeschooling gives parents a platform for discipleship like nothing else.

Even if there were no problems in our public schools, it could still be argued that home education is the most Biblical form of education available to parents today because it puts them in the driver’s seat of their children’s training and instruction.

Too often, parents in modern American culture have a mindset of delegation when it comes to the raising of their children. We delegate our children’s minds to the teachers at school, their physical development to a coach or P.E. instructor, their spiritual well-being to a youth pastor, and their leisure time to devices and friends. But does God call us to simply coordinate our children’s lives while others do the heavy lifting, or does He call us to be the ones getting our hands dirty in the daily teaching and training of our kids?

As my brother once pointed out, God gives parents the jurisdictional responsibility to teach their children—not as something to delegate but as something to do. Homeschooling gives us the opportunity to do more than delegate—and that puts it right in line with God’s model.

#2: We Know What Our Children Are Being Taught

Andrew Pudewa, founder of the Institute for Excellence in Writing and a popular speaker at homeschool conferences, raises an important point for parents whose children attend public school. Could you read the textbooks your children are using and say, “I approve of my children being taught this?”

It’s probably safe to say that most parents haven’t thoroughly perused and evaluated their children’s curriculum, let alone decided if they approve of it.

Homeschooling changes this dynamic. Not only do we have the opportunity to guide our children through their studies each day, we get to pick the curriculum! In other words, we get to choose the worldview that forms the basis of our children’s education.

There are many curriculum options available to homeschoolers that are written from a Christian perspective. If your desire is for your children to develop a Biblical worldview, homeschooling is a great choice on that basis alone.

#3: We Can Tailor the Education to the Child

Another incredible blessing of homeschooling is that we can tailor each child’s education to where they are and what they need. We can appreciate both their strengths and weaknesses and adapt their education to fit them.

Have you ever stopped to think about the artificiality of our modern system of grade levels? Is it rational to think that every student who is ready for fifth grade math will also be ready for fifth grade language arts—or vice versa? Chances are, many students are being held back in some subjects and forced ahead in others.

Homeschooling gives you the flexibility to allow your child to press on in subjects where they excel, while giving extra time and attention to subjects where they struggle. It allows you to pick resources that will help each unique child reach their full potential rather than being forced into the same cookie cutter as everyone else.

Blessings Abound

These are just a few of the blessings of homeschooling. The good news is, these blessings—and many others—hold true whether the public schools are open or closed, whether masks are required or not, and whether the pandemic is still disrupting lives or things are getting back to normal.

If you’re considering homeschooling, be sure to check out Illinois Christian Home Educators and Home School Legal Defense Association. You’ll find helpful information on both sites as you prayerfully consider your options.

Please consider a gift to the Illinois Family Institute.
As always, your gift to IFI is tax-deductible and greatly appreciated!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Written by Ruth Hoskins

In the age of COVID-19, many people are finding themselves in an unfamiliar educational camp with their children. Homeschooling is a subject that every parent with school-aged children is now talking about. But with so much information on homeschooling available online, many parents are overwhelmed and unsure of how to get started. The question I am asked most often is “Where do I begin”?

Below are three steps to getting a good start with homeschooling your children. Follow these three steps and you will be well on your way to having a successful homeschool year.

Step One:  Write down why you intend to homeschool your children.

As you begin your homeschooling journey, one of the first hurdles to cross is one of the most important. Why are you homeschooling? If you do not spend some time with this question, and really get clarity on why you are deciding to take the homeschool journey, you might find yourself having difficulties down the line. I almost guarantee it. Please don’t skip this step.

People homeschool for a variety of different reasons. I am hard pressed to say that one reason is more noble than another. They are all different. The important thing is to know why you are doing it. Knowing why from the onset is going to be your guiding light, your north star. It will be what you come back to again and again. I don’t think that the initial reason that you homeschool will change. It might expand or shrink, but the root of the reason for homeschooling will remain.

Knowing why will also determine how long you will homeschool, and it will impact the curricular choices you make. I am a firm believer in homeschooling from kindergarten through high school. Many people choose a shorter time frame. Knowing how long you intend to homeschool will help you decide if you need to teach your children in a way that will keep in step with the local school, or if you have a broader window to set your own pace with your children.

You do not have to have everything determined at the onset of homeschooling, but you should know why you are doing it.

Once you decide why you are homeschooling, write it down and keep it in a file folder. You will have this as a reference when the challenges of teaching your children at home arise.

Below are a few questions to consider when thinking about your why:

1.) Am I homeschooling because I want to or because my kids are begging me to?

2.) Do I intend to homeschool throughout the compulsory educational years or just a fraction of them?

3.) Am I homeschooling because of my child’s educational needs (i.e., gifted, slower learner, different learner, etc.)?

4.) Am I homeschooling because of family life? I want our time to be our own, not dictated by our local school. We can take vacations when it is best for our family. We move a lot, and homeschooling can help to keep the educational process constant.

5.) Am I homeschooling because of religious reasons and convictions? I want to teach my children my faith and what that looks like in everyday life. I want to help my children navigate life’s complexities. I disagree with the liberal ideology that public schools are bringing into K-12 classrooms.

6.) Am I homeschooling because of bullying or some other unpleasant situation that is occurring in school?

You may find that you homeschool for a combination of reasons. There is no wrong reason. Just be clear on your reason.

Step Two: Know the homeschooling laws of your state. Print them out and file them in a convenient location.

It is amazing what peace of mind and confidence comes from knowing that you are meeting all of the requirements of homeschooling in your state. Confidence comes when you operate your homeschool freely within the confines of the law. Complete the requirements for your state. In Illinois, homeschools operate as private schools. Check out these frequently asked questions from the Illinois State Board of Education.

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is another wonderful resource for checking out the homeschool requirements for Illinois, or any other state in the country.

Step Three: Choose a curriculum and get started.

There are so many methods of teaching, and curriculum choices, that it is very easy to get overwhelmed. The important thing to remember is that the curriculum choice that you decide today is not something that you have to stick with forever. The curriculum is a tool to help you reach your goal and, as with all tools, if one does not do the job, you choose another.

Here are a few things to consider when choosing a curriculum:

First, think about your level of involvement. Do you want an online teacher (school at home) or are you going to be the hands-on teacher, leading the lessons and learning objectives? Do you want to create the lesson plans, or would you like that worked out for you? Do you plan on grading the work yourself and thus will need answer keys, or will you look for a way to outsource that? Will you be keeping records, grades, and creating transcripts? (This is important for high school students.)

Next consider how you would like to have your homeschool structured. Do you prefer a textbook and workbook learning environment, or an all online learning atmosphere. Are you comfortable seeking and creating the learning objectives for each grade, or would you rather follow a plan that has the learning objectives all laid out for you by grade?

What is your budget?

Once you know what you are looking for, search homeschool curricula online with those markers, and choose 3-4 different publishers. Go to their websites and take a look at a few sample lessons. Check to see which publishers have what you need, and then choose one. You are not going to choose wrong. Once you try something, use it, and if possible, use it for the entire year. Then evaluate what worked, what did not, and choose again the next year. It’s that simple.

Here are a few companies to get you started: Abeka books, Time4learning, Saxon, Pearson Online Academy, Calvert Homeschool, and Khan academy. There are hundreds to choose from. Set your sights on just a few to keep from getting overwhelmed. Also, keep in mind that if you are teaching multiple ages, some subjects can be taught together using a Unit Study method of teaching.

Spend some time determining what you are searching for first, and this will help to keep you from venturing into the curriculum world only to come out overwhelmed, discouraged, and defeated. What you choose today may not be what you use next year. That’s okay.

One more thing about choosing a curriculum. There is a lot of talk about understanding what your child’s learning style is before choosing a curriculum. Although helpful, don’t let not knowing stop you from moving forward. You do not have to have everything worked out at the onset of homeschooling.

You can teach your children at home. Understand that you will have good day and not-so-good days. If you prepare with the above steps, you will be on your way to having more good homeschool days than not throughout the year.

Ruth Hoskins is a veteran homeschooling mom, who along with her husband, taught their children from birth through high school. They did this without having an educational degree or certificate. She says that it was one of the most rewarding and challenging endeavors she’s had in her life. Ruth wants to encourage others who have a desire to homeschool their children to go for it. The benefits are so much more than academic achievements. 

Check out Ruth’s blog: Homeschooling As A Lifestyle for more information.

One of the unfortunate side effects of the corona virus pandemic has been the cancellation of numerous conferences and other events. With the benefits of technology, many of those events have been able to take place online. The full experience may not be the same, but at least we don’t have to miss out completely!

One such event my wife and I were planning to attend this year was the annual Family Conference hosted by Illinois Christian Home Educators. Aside from fond personal memories—the two of us met each other for the first time at the conference ten years ago—it’s a great opportunity to hear solid teaching, interact with other Christian families, and peruse curriculum and other resources.

This year, the ICHE board of directors made the decision to host the conference virtually. It may not be the same as the in-person event so many families have come to love, but it certainly has its advantages: no commute, no food or lodging expenses, and—thanks to the generosity of ICHE—no registration fee! (Registration is still required, but the cost is waived.)

The conference is much more than just a homeschool event. As Kirk Smith, Executive Director of ICHE shared with me, it’s “a marriage conference, family conference, parenting conference, biblical worldview conference, economic conference, spiritual renewal conference all rolled up into one.”

A review of the event website (check it out for yourself here) reveals a broad lineup of speakers and subjects. Topics range from the practical, to the inspirational, to the philosophical. Here’s a smattering of the presentations you can enjoy:

• Thoroughly Christian Education (Voddie Baucham)

• Time and Home Management: Managing Life and Home While Homeschooling (Nancy Bjorkman)

• When Motherhood Feels Too Hard (Kelly Crawford)

• Homeschool High School with Confidence (Cheri Frame)

• One Race, One Blood (Ken Ham)

• How to Spot Fake News (Carl Kerby)

• Homeschooling 101 (Jeff Lewis)

• Three Things Every Young Christian Artist Must Know (Dan Lietha)

• The 5 Flavors of Homeschooling (Sonya Shafer)

• Preparing Our Children to Navigate the LGBTQ Movement in Truth and Love (Elizabeth Urbanowicz)

• Motivating the Reluctant Learner (Krisa Winn)

• And many, many more!

With schools closed down for the past couple of months, many moms and dads have become unexpected homeschoolers. If that describes you, and if you’re considering homeschooling long term (I highly recommend it!), this event could be a great way to learn more about how homeschooling works in a more traditional context. Of course, as Kirk Smith points out, “There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach with homeschooling. At the ICHE conference, you will be able to hear a variety of approaches and be able to tailor your school experience for what best fits your values and priorities as a family.”

The ICHE Family Conference will be taking place May 28-31. It will be hosted using the event app Whova, and you’ll have access to the conference sessions via Whova for a full year afterward.

There are at least three groups of people who should consider registering for this conference:

• Homeschooling moms and dads who were planning to attend the regular, in-person event

• Parents who have considered attending the event in the past but were unable to do so because of distance, budget, childcare, etc.

• Anyone interested in learning more about homeschooling (parents, grandparents, pastors, etc.)

Homeschooling is really an extension of parenting. It’s the opportunity to teach and disciple our children with a degree of intention unmatched by other options. As Kirk Smith pointed out, “So many dads and moms want to do parenting right, they just lack examples and resources. The conference will give them both.”

So if you want to be a better homeschooler—or a better parent—be sure to check out the ICHE Family Conference! Check it out HERE.

We take very seriously the trust you place in Illinois Family Institute when you send a gift.
We understand that we are accountable before you and God to honor your trust. 

IFI is supported by voluntary donations from good people like you.