By Victoria Botkin, posted on 14 October, 2009

I started homeschooling my children in the early 80’s when the movement was young, examples were few, and the only educational paradigm I had for reference was my own public schooled experience. Homeschooling, I thought, simply meant doing “school” at home. But I knew there would be nothing simple about that.

Any mother considering homeschooling for the first time will be able to sympathize with the dread I felt of trying to replicate the classroom experience in our living room, my flood of doubts over whether I had the patience to make my children sit at a desk for six hours a day, and whether I was even qualified to teach them everything they would need to know. After all, taking full responsibility for a child’s life-training and preparation for the real world is no small matter, especially according to the standards of the modern education system that dictates that it can only be done by trained, qualified, and certified professionals (which most of us ordinary parents are not), in expensive, state-of-the-art institutions (which most ordinary homes are not).

In the face of all these doubts, fears and false presuppositions, I discovered that my husband’s simple input was a comforting default reference point. What a relief this can be to a nervous wife and mother. He pointed out two very basic Biblical ideas which have sustained me and guided me for a quarter century. The first was that our goal is to educate our children, not to “school” them. The second was that we are the most qualified to educate our children, simply because we are their parents, ordained by God.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says,

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

This passage showed me several things: first, parents are the ones directed to teach their children. No certification or experience is required by God. Being the parent qualifies us. Obviously, parents can augment their child’s education through the use of carefully chosen books and materials written by others, or lessons from a trusted piano or violin teacher, but we are called to direct the course of their study and be the primary teachers and mentors. The responsibility rests on our shoulders.

Secondly, I learned that the Biblical model for education does not look like a cold, sterile classroom with rows of little desks, or consist of a rigid schedule or set of rules. This model derives from the traditions of men. These scientific conventions of the public school appeared late in American history. They were not developed for the sake of parents, children or education, but to make people compliant to state authority. As they spread with new laws of forced schooling, literacy fell, crime rates rose, and families became fragmented.

The Biblical model of education is relationship driven and happens within the context of daily life and family interaction. It can happen wherever you are, “when you’re sitting in your house, and when you’re walking by the way…” And it happens at any time, in fact, continually, “when you lie down and when you rise up…”

Finally, this passage teaches that the curriculum itself must be God-centered and God glorifying – not man centered or State centered.
Over the years, I have counseled many young mothers who had just taken their first step into the unknown territory of home education, only to find themselves in a jungle of homeschool curriculum vendors. Many such mothers felt paralyzed by the seemingly limitless options available, as well as overburdened by the pressure to provide the “perfect” education for their child, ensuring that their child would not miss out on anything. Often the curriculum industry is driven by guilt manipulation and preys on our lack of confidence and our fear that our children aren’t keeping up with the Jones’s children, or the public-schooled children – or that they won’t succeed at all.

If there is one thing I could go back and tell myself as a beginning home educator, it would be, “Relax, focus on building relationships with your children and trust God for the results.” Or to a mother wondering how on earth to just get started, “You’re doing educating at home already without knowing it; if your child knows how to walk, eat, and communicate, then you are already off to a great start and doing a fine job as your child’s teacher.”

There is a lot of unnecessary fear and doubt hanging in the hearts and minds of mothers who are new to home education, and it has always been a particular joy of mine to alleviate as much of it as I can.

This is why I was recently persuaded to record a set of CD’s called Curriculum Advice by Victoria Botkin. On these CD’s I told stories from my 28 years of experience, shared my secrets for how to create your own curriculum and answered my most frequently asked questions from, “How did you teach your children to write?” to “What did you do about socialization?”.

Throughout the series I encourage mothers to relax, be at peace, be enthusiastic and enjoy the ride; home educating is a wonderful adventure that provides many opportunities to learn alongside your children – you may find that you are getting the education you never got in school.

My chief advice in this CD series is, “Do not fear, but trust in God.” In 28 years of homeschooling, God and His principles for living found in the Bible have never failed me or any of my seven children – among whom are published authors, professional composers, filmmakers, graphic designers and most of all, dedicated and devout men and women of God who are striving to love the Lord with all their heart, soul and might — and that should be our ultimate measure of success.