Great question came in…

• I don’t agree with you on all of the public school view but some of it sounds right. What is the answer when it comes to local public schools? Join the PTA, run for the school board, what options are there?

Now there is a question I was hoping to get! But you might not appreciate my answer…you might even hate it and me by the time you are done reading.

The answer comes after some additional needed insight into your life. Here are two questions that I need to hear the answer to first:

1. What priority are your children?
2. Are you in economic chains?

What priority are your children? –

This isn’t a trick question but it can be a painful one. I want to know if you children are your #1 priority…or, where exactly do they rate in your list of priorities? And that has to be answered by both spouses to get an accurate answer.

And don’t give me a pat, rote memory, answer like “My children are everything?” or “I would give my life for them?”

Would you take a lower paying job to spend more time with your children? Would you sell your 2,700sq’ home for a 20 year old mobile home…with ½ the payment so your wife could stay home with your children? Would you give up your two-week hunting trip with your friends to take your sons camping for a week…then your daughters the next week?

If your children are your #1 priority then this gets easier for me to answer.

Are you in economic chains? –

Have you made financial decisions in your life that force both parents to work? Do you have two car payments? Is your house payment more than 20% of your take-home pay? Do you have student debt? Do you pay off your credit cards each month? Can you live on one income?

Do your finances, or personal desires, dictate your choice of jobs and/or income?

My Answer –

If your children are the highest, priority then the answer gets pretty dang easy…homeschool. No one is more interested or more committed to your children than you…or at least you should be. So you are the logical ones to teach your children.

I am a traditional kind of guy and believe that the man/husband/father is better at providing and protecting…so do that job. A woman/wife/mother is better at nurturing…by far. So then logically I believe that the man/husband/father earns the household income…or at least the majority of it. The woman/wife/mother is the natural choice to take the lead on homeschooling.

Are there clear lines on that? Of course not. The man/husband/father can help with homeschooling when they are home. And the woman/wife/mother can help earn money for the household. Actually, the children can help with that as well. A well thought out, home-based business can be use the help of the children where/when appropriate.

Now, if you want to say, “But our lifestyle requires two incomes.” Then you are already lost. You have made some very bad financial choices in your life with your family, and your children are far down your priority list. But there is still hope…and this could potentially apply to single-parent families as well…private school.

Find a private school that has curriculum that you approve of that will benefit your children in their life. You will still need to monitor every aspect of what is being taught to your children…because their education is YOUR responsibility.

Will homeschooling be easy? Maybe…maybe not. It depends solely on you. If your children are your #1 priority and you take responsibility for raising the best children possible…then just do it!

Let me share this…let’s say the woman/wife/mother will take the lead in homeschooling your children. But, she works, or has worked, full-time. Think of all the effort she puts into that job. All the work, decisions, conflicts, complications, issues, resolutions, etc. that go into that job. Put that same effort into raising and teaching your children how to be the best people they can be.

Let me ask this…

• Who loves your children more?
• Does anyone want what is best for your children more than you?
• Who is more committed to your children?
• Do you want your children to grow to be the best adults and parents possible?
• Who do you think would, or should, work the hardest to make that happen?
• Do you think government schools are better at preparing your children for life than you?
• Do you trust the government with your children for 13 years of their lives?
• Are your children your responsibility…or will they be products of the government?

Life isn’t meant to be easy…it is meant to be rewarding…and worth it…choose wisely.

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Articles in this series –

• Public Schools – Part #1
• Public Schools – Part #2
• Public Schools – Part #3
• Public Schools – Part #4
• Public Schools – Part #5
• Public Schools – Ann’s Comments

 

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