Every Christian parent recognises the responsibility of raising their children for God; we see their individuality as human beings and we acknowledge God’s command to teach our children about Him (Deut. 11:18-19). For us, home education was one way of fulfilling this command. We knew several families who already home educated so when, eleven years ago, we were faced with choosing a primary school for our eldest son, keeping him at home was one of our options.

The responsibility

The Education Act recognises that education is primarily the responsibility of the parents and whilst the majority of parents choose to allow the state or private schools to educate their children, we felt God had given us that responsibility and could see no reason for us to delegate it to others. After praying about the matter we decided to commit ourselves to a year; our children could join mainstream education at any point we chose, should the need arise (e.g. because of illness). During that year we came to enjoy the flexibility of home education and we also found that by teaching our children at home it was so much easier to teach them about God as we studied and spent time together. As a consequence none of our four children has ever been to school but rather are taught at home by my husband or myself.
Whilst we don’t follow a ‘Christian Curriculum’, we do as believers see God in everything we do or study. As a Christian one cannot learn about history or the human body and not agree with the psalmist ‘such knowledge is too wonderful for me’ (Ps. 139:6). We want our children’s education to strengthen their witnesses, encourage them to use their gifts to glorify God and above all to learn ‘to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8). Our prayer is that God would bless the work of our hands and be glorified through it.

The benefits

How does home education work out practically? One great benefit of home education is its flexibility – no two home education families are the same and their reasons and methods are as varied. As Mum, I do the bulk of the teaching and supervising of work, whilst Dad does Art and Latin and is promising to do Hebrew and Greek (did you know you can do a GCSE in biblical Hebrew?). Lessons are usually over by lunch giving the afternoon to pursue hobbies, crafts, visit friends and take part in local clubs. As parents we can choose what our children learn and when. Whilst we do use textbooks (especially when studying for exams) we prefer to encourage our children to learn for themselves through reading, internet, museum visits, and games. We want learning to be something that they see as lifelong rather than just something you do at ‘school’. The other major advantage we have experienced is the time we have together as a family.

The social aspect

What about socialising with other people? We regularly meet up with other home educators, including a much looked forward to ‘Sports Day’ in the summer. Not all home educators are Christians (or even religious) – and it is good to be able to meet with a variety of parents and children. Apart from church activities we have also encouraged our children to join local clubs and organisations, such as St. John Ambulance, swimming clubs and dancing classes. We don’t want to insulate our children from the world, and they give us many opportunities to befriend unbelievers but we do want to control the amount of influence the world has over them.

The outcome

How do our children plan to use the gifts God has given them? Our eldest wants to be an artist, and ironically would like to be an art teacher. Maybe he will end up in the mainstream education after all, albeit eighteen years after his peers. Our second son is interested in websites and videos and would like to set up his own business. The youngest two children (ten and eight) have no burning ambitions as yet. At fifteen, our eldest is now studying for GCSEs. Next year we will involve him in deciding whether to get a job, go to school or college to do A-levels, study for his A-levels at home, or a combination of these alternatives.
However we decide to educate our children, God’s command to parents to teach our children about Him still stands. Be part of your child’s education; don’t just leave it to the ‘experts’. Get involved with their lessons and make sure that in the busyness of life teaching your children about God is a priority. May God raise up our children to serve and glorify Him.
(If there are any mistakes in this article I blame my state education!)

Elizabeth McDonnell is a member of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church, Newtownabbey.