Several years ago, I came across rather an aggressive post on Facebook that has stayed with me. It must have been posted by somebody who was in the process of adopting a child and the article, highly sarcastically, answered lots of the most common questions put to adoptive parents from friends and relatives. I realised as I read the article that the questions answered were exactly the ones that I would have asked! The point is this: that none of us are experts in everything. Sometimes we ask what may appear an obvious question to the expert because we genuinely want to understand an issue or a different point of view. We are not trying to be ignorant, offensive, insulting or annoying. An ungracious response shuts the door to further investigation.
Thinking along these lines, I am uncomfortable when I come across comments on Facebook amongst home educators complaining that somebody has asked them about socialization or exams AGAIN. I agree that some people are offended by what we do and perhaps their questioning feels like an attack. However, the truth is that a large number of people just want to understand where we are coming from. We are a minority and we stick out like sore thumbs. It is natural that others will have concerns and queries and if we are to do our job faithfully, we need to be able to answer well. Perhaps we do get asked the same questions over and over again, but this is no reason to mock the questioner. A question from a truly curious person is an open door for us to be an ambassador for Christian education.
It occurs to me that there are three broad areas of questioning that we need to be prepared for:
1. Questions About our Philosophy
I realise that some parents do not agree with Christian education, end of story. I doubt anything you or I said would persuade them. Ultimately parents are accountable before God for the decisions they make about their child’s education and we do not do the work of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of others. However, I do think that many parents have simply never heard the case for Christian education. Not only that, but there are so many stereotypes and perceptions about what we do and how we do it, that unless somebody has taken just a little bit of time to help them to think harder about these issues, the overwhelming majority will take the path of least resistance and go with the status quo of the government school system. Our desire is that all parents would be able to hear the case for Christian education which is why my husband wrote this booklet: https://answersingenesis.co.uk/…/leading-them-out/
It is also for this reason that I spend time writing articles about three biggies: ‘The salt and Light Argument’, ‘Socialisation’ and ‘Is Education Neutral?’ If we want to make the case for Christian education, then we need to inform ourselves (and our understanding grows as we go along) in order that we may inform others.
2. Questions About the Nitty-Gritty
When people ask what we have been doing, let’s talk about it! Have confidence that what we are doing is good, is not a state secret and is worth discussing with joy! We do not need to apologise for our choice to home educate, the curricula we use, how we organise our day, nor the fact that we may take one subject and leave another. If people want to hear then I will tell them all about the experiments growing on the window sill, the salt water freezing in the freezer, the homemade timeline, the bird-feeders, hand-drawn maps or why we learn Latin!
We do spend hours and hours outside digging holes and building dens, but we also place a high value on learning. Proverbs commands us to seek out knowledge, good education lights a flame and I love to talk about what we are doing!
3. Questions From the Unbeliever
The truth is that many people home educate, and many home educators have no interest in giving their children a biblical worldview. They may have good reasons to home educate; they may have not-so-good reasons to home educate. My point is that we need to avoid hiding behind good and ‘acceptable’ arguments (we go at the child’s pace, time spent together etc.) when we can explain what is best; namely, that we have chosen to give our children a Christian education. When unbelievers ask about why we are educating our children at home, I want them to know first and foremost that my love for Christ compels me to teach my children about what he says.
A number of years ago, questions about home education made me nervous and perhaps even a little defensive. As I have grown in confidence and grown in the Lord, I am thrilled by the opportunities I have to speak about what we do, and by God’s grace I think some have been persuaded to at least think about a better way than allowing the state to educate our little ones. Proverbs says that ‘the sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness’ (Proverbs 16:21) and so here is my encouragement: that our replies are sweet and persuasive the next time we respond to questions from the curious.
