Late January through February can represent some challenging days for homeschoolers. The holidays are over, the weather is cold, the kids are stuck inside more than normal, and academic motivation can be at a low. It is easy to feel discouraged during this season. But the reality is homeschooling discouragement is not limited to the winter months but can be a challenge in any month of the year. I have had numerous parents ask, “Why is homeschooling so hard?”
Any time you go against the cultural flow, it brings challenges. We wonder, “Are we doing the right thing? Are we messing up our children? Are we compromising their future in any way?” This is not based on statistics or facts but is simply the result of fear since we are doing it differently than others … and the way we were raised. This produces anxiety, and anxiety at any level demands energy to survive. Parental disapproval or ongoing questions and concerns from friend circles can add condemnation to the mix. If we allow these forces to get to us, it can literally drain us of our joy and hope.
For those who homeschool for religious reasons, you have to know that a very real demonic realm is not pleased with your choice. Why? According to the Gen2 survey, children who 1) have a good relationship with their parents—especially their fathers—2) are active in their local church 3) are taught about worldviews and 4) are homeschooled are in the 86th percentile of maintaining their spiritual trajectory. Compare this with the typical evangelic survey which suggests the church in America is losing somewhere between sixty to ninety percent of their children after their first year in college. The devil is not happy with you parents who put feet to your prayers of having your children follow Christ by actively and intentionally discipling them at home. He is going to do whatever he can to get you to release your grip on the plow. He wants your seed. He wants to spoil your spiritual legacy. On a personal note, it is amazing how many first-generation Christians are homeschooling. This means on top of learning the basics of Christianity for themselves, they are also trying to disciple their children in the gospel. May God give them extra grace.
Then there is the extra pressure of living as a one-income family in a two-income family society. We drive older cars—which break down. We pass clothes down from one child to another, hoping they will last a little longer. We hardly ever eat out. We pack eight kids into a hotel room made for five. S-h-h-h. If they don’t ask, we don’t tell. The devil parades cultural elite lifestyles in front of us, saying nothing about the average length of a marriage in Hollywood lasting only 7.4 years compared to the national average of 32 years, at least in the UK.
Lastly, we are working out practically our positional sanctification. We’re selfish. We’re spoiled. We’re worldly. And everything about homeschooling clearly mirrors that. Sadly, this motivates some to throw in the towel while others realize these revelations are proof positive that we are sons and daughters of the living Lord. Hallelujah! Yes, it is ugly. Yes, we fall short. But God said that He who began this good work in us will complete it at the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6)
So what can we do to encourage ourselves? First, we must make up our minds that this is the path that God set us on. We decide this once and then manage it daily. Some days look and feel better than others. We necessarily adjust our expectations, schedules, and attitudes. Sometimes hourly. We do not give up when we face an occasional stiff wind of resistance because we know that greater is He that is within us than he that is behind the spirit of discouragement (1 John 4:4) and faithful is the one who called us into this lifestyle; He will surely do it! (1 Thes. 5:24)
We must also accept the fact that there are setbacks in life. We don’t always win. Sometimes we do take a step backwards to ultimately take two steps forward. We don’t always meet our own expectations. We fall. We get the breath knocked out of us, and THAT IS OKAY as long as we get back up and go again. Some might say this is even necessary for it reminds us of what it means to be human, and we must never take the humanity out of homeschooling lest we appear as something we most definitely are not.
Homeschooling is indeed hard, but I would suggest that not homeschooling is even harder. For the most part, we get to see our children’s first steps because we are with them. We hold the book as they sit in our lap, listening as they read their first book. As they age and face life in a fallen world, we get to counsel them in the word of God rather than turning them over to the public school’s religion of secular humanism. We acknowledge that some children make choices that grieve us as Satan may deceive them for a season. Still, we know that we have done what we could to plant the word of God deep within their hearts, and we wait for God to water that seed and to prepare it for harvest.
Embrace the challenges in 2024. Thank God your weaknesses and shortcomings as they drive you to a deeper relationship with Christ. Exalt in His sovereignty over every disappointment. Jesus did the hard thing by going to the cross for us, how much more with Him will God now freely give us everything we need to disciple our children at home. (Romans 8:32)
-300x147.jpg)
