New Adventures in Teaching

It’s been a year since my last post, and this was intentional. Last fall I poured all of my effort into doctoral studies once more, but after growing sufficiently disappointed with the school, I chose not to continue my studies there. It was a painful decision after putting so much work into returning. This year I have been taking time to lament that in silence, seek God’s wisdom and direction, and return to volunteering in the areas I had given up. Professionally, I have continued working part-time at my church and returned to adjuncting and course design work on the side.

This fall, I had planned to resume writing and work on some pet projects that I’m excited about. And then, rather suddenly, my wife and I found ourselves wondering whether we should start homeschooling our kids.

We decided the answer was “yes.” And today we will begin our first day of class.

How did we end up making this decision? I want to share some of the reasons we did—and some of the reasons we didn’t.

Familiarity. Homeschooling has been on our minds since before we had children. I was homeschooled myself, and I had a great experience. I knew how it could work, and after going to a public university for college and private seminary for grad school, I had a better sense of its strengths and weaknesses.

Socialization. I have to laugh. Growing up, the refrain I always heard was that homeschoolers were in danger of not being properly socialized. Public school could do this. What were we going to do without it? Then after a few years of sending our oldest to public school, I was told that she wasn’t sufficiently socialized and that we needed to work on that at home. Ha! Ok. So public school can’t do it all. Socialization is more complicated than that. And after years of being told “You’re homeschooled?! You seem so normal!” I am convinced that homeschooling in and of itself poses no threat to proper socialization and can actually do it better if approached in the right way. I look forward to the chance to spend more time shaping this than I could on just nights and weekends.

Responsibility. One key concept for me in making this decision is the clear conviction that education is a parent’s responsibility. Period. As a Christian, I see this pattern in the Old Testament, where parents were to teach their children the law and the right way to live. Historically, parents either trained their children in the work they would do as adults or connected them with someone who could teach them the work. Even though modern society has made it possible for everyone to get a free education, and the state is responsible in practice for quality and inclusion, this does not absolve parents from being responsible for raising their children. This doesn’t mean parents have to do all the educating themselves! But it does mean that they need to stay engaged and make decisions about what will best prepare their children. And while public school was working for us, we found ourselves with an opportunity to offer something we think can be better.

Efficiency. At this point, let me pause and say I have lots of respect for public school teachers. I have friends and family engaged in this important work and I know it’s a difficult job. I am not criticizing the people or even the concept of public school. But public school has the challenge of trying to teach a diverse group of kids the same content. And I don’t mean “diverse” as a code-word for race; I mean every kid has his or her strengths and weaknesses, both cognitively and behaviorally. Every kid finds some subjects easier than others. Every kid has his own emotional triggers or her own bad habits. Every kid brings their home life to school with him for better or worse. Many teachers work hard to diversify their teaching methods, but even so trying to teach everyone on the same schedule results in holding some kids back and pushing other kids on. One kid acts out in math because he mastered the concept weeks ago and he’s bored; the other acts out because it still doesn’t make sense and she’s frustrated. At home we have the luxury of meeting each kid where he or she is at.

Technology. As you may or may not know, there’s more than one educational philosophy out there. Neuroscience hasn’t settled all debates (and the things we think we know are still provisional). There are some times that public schools bet on one philosophy where I would bet on another. One big example for me is that our school district works hard to stay up on technology and implement it in the classroom. They give each kid either an iPad or a laptop. They watch YouTube videos on a daily basis. They do gamified homework online. While I understand there are benefits to practicing with tools, offering entertaining mental breaks, and hacking motivation, I am convinced the costs outweigh these benefits. I believe my kids are capable of internalizing more cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills, and that the way technology is implemented in the classroom often stunts growth more than it fosters it. There may be kids who need one help or another! But that doesn’t mean every kid should have every tool. And from what I’ve read, we use more technology than any other nation in the world, but it doesn’t amount to better performance (see Ripley, The Smartest Kids in the World). I don’t want my kids dependent on technology to think or to manage their emotions and behaviors.

Worldview. Before signing off, I have to say something about this. I have never been one to back away from “culture,” nor have I desired to shelter my kids from the real world (except where obvious—some things they have to grow into later). Many people assume we’re taking our kids out of public school because of the culture wars. In the most basic sense, we’re not. We have stayed engaged with our kids and talk with them when they experience things like classmates with divorced parents, people of different religions, and kids who identify as nonbinary. That being said, I believe that education always comes with a worldview. Beliefs and learning are inseparable. A public education is not just a public education; it is a secular education. And while that’s not the worst thing in the world, I think it’s better (and maybe easier) to relate faith to learning at the organic level than to try and bolt it on afterward. So we’re taking an opportunity to provide a Christian education at much cheaper rates than a private school could offer.

There’s more I could say about each of these reasons, and more reasons besides. Ultimately, we are currently in a position to offer our kids a tailored education that adapts to their strengths and weaknesses and maximizes our philosophy and values. Not everyone can do this, and maybe not all who can should. But we are in a position to do it, and to do it thoughtfully. We will not be perfect, because perfect is not an option. But I am excited to see what we can do.

I don’t know yet if this is what will make sense every year. We may go back to public school again later. But it makes sense this year. And in future posts I hope to tell you more about what we chose to do and how it’s going. This is in one sense a new adventure in education, but in another it’s an extension of what I was already passionate about: learning and equipping.