We tried homeschooling during the pandemic. Like most schools across the nation, our kids’ school went remote, and classes were conducted via video. We didn’t love the idea of our kids on a screen all day, so we pulled the trigger and decided to homeschool.
It didn’t go great.
My wife Grace did her best, but the kids didn’t want to cooperate. They’d stick with it for an hour or so, then sneak over to the living room and try to watch TV. Meanwhile our toddler had invented an exciting game. She would climb up onto the table where her brother and sister were doing homework, sweep all the pencils and pens onto the ground, and tear up their papers.
“Mom!” our six-year-old howled. “She’s doing it again!”
We made it through the year but when schools opened again, we enrolled the kids. We felt ambivalent sending them back. Not just because it meant our homeschooling experiment had failed but because I’d seen many Christians online claiming that sending your kids to public school essentially meant putting their faith in peril. I didn’t quite buy that (after all, I’m a product of public school) but there was a part of me that wondered.
That’s why it was refreshing to read There’s No One Equation for Educating Christian Kids by homeschooling mom, Gretchen Ronnevik. She writes, “Homeschooling was a rewarding part of our family’s story. But had we not been able to homeschool, sin would still be real, and God would still be faithful.”
One crucial part of our children’s spiritual development that we often overlook is prayer. Our resource on Teaching Children How to Pray explores types and methods of prayer, as well as biblical foundations and practical activities. It’s a good guide for parents or for Sunday school teachers.
