Congratulations! You’ve decided to take the plunge and start homeschooling. Excellent! Kudos! So uhhhh…. how do you start?

Here your assignment for day 1 is summed up in one word: why? Why you want to home school? Answering this question is essential to your commitment to homeschooling and your readiness to follow through. I won’t lie to you, homeschooling has its joys, but there are days that will be rough. Having a strong why will see you through. There are two whys that you need to answer. The first why is based on your decision, the second why is based on your philosophy. They might be similar but they are still different.

Why? The Decision

So why are you homeschooling? Do you feel that the curriculum at the local school is not rigorous enough or too rigorous? Would simply changing schools solve your problem? Did you see something in your child that you think you would be able to develop further? Do you want your child to have undivided attention?

My decision to home school started in my college education course. The course discussed the fact that the first seven years of a child’s life are the most formative and most important. It was then that I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit and I decided I was going to home school for the first seven years at least. I wanted to be my child’s first teacher. Now my oldest past seven and I am still going.

While my decision to home school might sound perfect I must say that all my education courses did not truly prepare me for the life of a home school parent. Don’t let your education or background be the reason why you decide not to home school.

Why? The Philosophy

So you’ve decided to home school for a myriad of reasons, so now you need to answer the deeper why. What is your educational philosophy that will take you deeper and keep you on track as you home school?

My philosophy and the reason why I home school is to create 21 ^st century Christian leaders who will stand for right though the heavens fall. I desire for my children to be critical thinkers and not mere reflectors of other men’s thoughts ( Education by E. White).