Ready to Answer

OK, I'm going to get down on "paper" what all has been bouncing around in my brain since last summer. I read a book on homeschooling because I thought "What if I have to do this one day because we are missionaries?" Well, we are not ready to go to the mission field right now, but I was sold on homeschooling---because of the Christian perspective. I still think homeschooling can be a good thing even if the family is not doing it because of their beliefs--but how much more powerful when done for the Lord!

WHY WE ARE HOMESCHOOLING

1. We believe that God has entrusted the training of these children to us. We do not believe we can properly train them if they are away from us for 6-7 hours a day. I do not want to entrust this training to others anymore.
2. To protect them from outside influences which do not support our parenting goals. To have more control over what they are exposed to and when. To prolong their childhoods by letting them be little girls and not heavily influenced by what their peers are concerned with.
3. To allow the Bible, prayer, and learning about God to permeate everything we do all day rather than being something we mainly do at church.
4. To give our family more time together. To free our schedule to be flexible to allow for what is really important.
5. To include in our daughters' education learning homemaking skills such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, home management, financial planning, sewing, etc. Instead of spending their day with others their own age waiting to join the "real world," they will be participating in the real world every day.

These are just some of the things that have been swimming around in my head. But if someone asks, #1 will be my short answer to why we are doing this. I expect the question to come up as we are now the only homeschooling family in our church. We haven't really told many people we are homeschooling. I have told several people that I am quitting work. And I have already been asked, "What are you going to do?" I told them I was going to be a mom! I cannot believe that in this day and age people still react that way--at church, even! Now we do have stay-at-home moms at our church. I guess because I have always been a working mom people assume I will not know what to do with myself if I stay home? It's such a strange question. "What are you going to do?"

From what I read in the Bible about being a wife and mother, I have PLENTY to do!