When people find out we homeschool many times the question comes, " Are you a teacher?" Meaning, have I had formal training that has qualified me to teach our children.
When our children were born we knew that they were gifts from God to us. It didn't take long for us to realize that this parenting thing was a 24/7, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They were ours to care for, to love, to nurture and to teach the ways of God.
A verse that has been very important to us in our homeschooling journey is taken from
Deuteronomy 11:18-19 "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."
We know our children are gifts from God. But when our children were young we started to ask the question, "Why did God give these children to us?" Was it for our joy? Was it to build character in us? Was it to keep us from being idle? Was it to feel the heart of God as we experience the deep love a parent has for their child? Was it to teach them to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength? We believe yes, it was for these reasons and more.
We believe that God gave our children to us to be a parent to them. One who will nurture and teach them the ways of God. One who will train them to love others. One who will be there to discipline them when necessary. One who will teach them life skills.
We believe that we are best able to do this when we spend our days with our children rather than sending them to school every day. And this is the reason we homeschool.
Even though we believe our children are receiving a very fine education at home and are developing a love for learning plus the life skills they will need in life, this is not our primary reason for homeschooling our children. A good education is not our priority in teaching our children at home. This is a by product. Our reason for homeschooling them is so that we can be the primary influence in their lives. So that we can, day in and day out, teach them to walk with God, love His Word and be a light to the world.
So to answer the question, am I qualified to be a teacher to my children? In the world's eyes.....maybe not? In God's eyes, I am their parent, thus I am qualified.
5 comments:
Thank you for this. Very encouraging.
Great post.Thank you!
Débora
Thanks for this great post!
It is very encouraging!
Thanks for your time Rosalie~
Blessings~
~Lori
P.S.Did you see our "give-away"?
For the CD?
Thank you for doing these posts about homeschooling! I am looking forward to hearing more from you on this subject.
Jeanette
excellent. 20+ yrs hs-ing and lately feeling like the only family left in the world (or in our area.. lol) ...
your words encourage. It is our lifestyle. I do not even think about any other way... just what we do.
Much love,
Teena
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