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Homeschooling: Success or Failure

April 15, 2014
Homeschooling: Success or Failure

It is such a marvelous pleasure to observe the many young couples coming out of the homeschooling community. They are bright as spring flowers, full of hope and good cheer. Children are springing up like dandelions, without a care in the world, secure in their parents’ love. There has never been a movement in America that has so consistently produced godly young people and holy marriages. These kids—they are in their 20s and 30s but to me they are kids—are the most emotionally balanced, mentally positive, and hopeful human beings in the world; and let me tell you something: Even at 68 years old I can see that among them are the prettiest girls ever. There is something about a genuine joyful smile and an inquisitive, positive expression that lights up a healthy female face like sun, moon, stars, and fireworks at the same time.

Two of our kids multiply to become eight, ten, or nineteen in about 20 years.

I see young mamas and daddies producing a whole new generation of godly, wholesome kids. If we can’t beat the progressives today, we will beat them tomorrow in the numbers game. While they kill their children and stuff them in a green refuse container bound for the city dump, two of our kids multiply to become eight, ten, or nineteen in about 20 years. Think about that—two million homeschoolers today, ten to sixteen million in twenty years. If you can’t out-vote them today, out-breed them for tomorrow.

I know there are a few highly-publicized stories from time to time of homeschooling failures. There is an online militant group of ex-homeschoolers who hate the experience and are actively trying to denigrate us; but anything that grows large will accumulate detractors and dissenters—great enemies even. Satan hates goodness and will find broken people who want everything to be as broken as they are. But we are not moved by their bitterness; we have too much joy and hope to be brought down by someone already way down near the bottom.

Goodness without God is humanism at its finest.

Not every homeschool experience will be a great success. Some will be total failures; others will be good but not altogether good. In some cases, out of six children a family may lose one or two to the world, but they will have two or three that are exceptional human beings. The Devil is after us. The flesh is still weak. The world has not lost its luster. So there will be casualties. We are saddened by every failure, but we are not daunted or discouraged. The large number of beautiful successes keeps us charging ahead with confidence.

It has been our ministry to help parents raise godly children from birth to grandkids. We have addressed every conceivable subject several times from different angles, written over twenty books and thousands of articles, read your letters and answered many of them. We have heard your stories and sought to understand problem areas and the things that make for consistent success. So one more time, I will address the reasons for the few who fail.

big book of homeschooling

How many times have you heard me say, “More is caught than taught,” or, “Your attitude speaks louder than your words”? I have often said, “Children are rooted in the soil of their parents,” and, “You must model what you want your children to become.”

It is not enough to teach morals, good character, the Constitution, Creationism, and modesty. Goodness without God is humanism at its finest. Right living without worship is the arrogance of Cain, unacceptable for its lack of faith. Satan can tolerate us being good as long as God does not receive the praise and worship. The world can appreciate and even praise our morals (it makes for good citizenship), but they despise us giving glory to the God of creation, who is the judge of all men.

Good kids without God are just bait for the sharks of this world. Sometimes the bait in its naïveté wants to be eaten. We can control the family and our environment so as to protect our children from the world—until they get old enough to seek it out, and then the only protection they have is that which is within. If God is not within, they are empty vessels waiting to be filled with folly and fornication. Those who fall from the highest moral standards fall further and land harder, doing more damage.

If your family is not part of a Bible-believing congregation of saints, your children are being deprived of God’s method of sanctification and ministry.

I have observed that most of the failures come from families who did not raise their children in a community of believers. Few families are completely balanced, able to supply all the needs of their kids. But in a church of like-minded saints there is balance. The church of Jesus Christ is God’s supply line of ministry to the family. If your family is not part of a Bible-believing congregation of saints, your children are being deprived of God’s method of sanctification and ministry. If there is no church or community of believers within comfortable driving distance, then move to where you can hear the preaching of the word and participate in ministry, and your kids can socialize with other godly youth.

But when everything else is right, if the husband and wife relationship is not a thing to be envied by the children, you can be sure that you are going to lose some if not all of your children to the world. The last you will hear of them as they look back over their shoulder is, “Hypocrite.” I have heard many say, “If that is what a Christian is, I don’t want anything to do with it.”

jumping ship

You need to have a family Proverbs time. You need to “go to church.” You need to involve your family in ministering to others. You need to teach morals, character, and the Bible stories; but most of all, you need to look at your children and smile with delight, and they need to see you looking at your spouse and smiling with appreciation and thanksgiving. It is the difference between success and failure. Read again Created to Be His Help Meet and Created to Need a Help Meet. Listen to my FREE Romans messages online, and my series Sin No More, available through the NGJ web store.

 

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10 comments on “Homeschooling: Success or Failure”

  1. What about those of us who grew up in abusive situations? I was homeschooled the entire way, and was educationally neglected, exposed to sexual abuse, and even denied food on a regular basis. While I don't directly blame homeschooling, my parents certainly used it to cover up their tracks and keep us from understanding that what they did to us was wrong until I was past 20 years old. How are my siblings and I supposed to share our story and prevent that from happening again in other homeschool families?

  2. I guess I would be one of those experiences you referred to as being "good but not altogether good." I know the forum you refer to; I'm very glad they exist. I am still hugely in favor of homeschooling. I am staunchly opposed to abuse, including religious abuse. And that is what has happened to most of these homeschooling "failures," as you call them. I just hope you realize it was their parents who failed, not them.

    Has it ever occurred to you, Mr. Pearl, how very recent your version of "fundamental" Christianity is? Just a few hundred years old, out of two thousand years of Christian existence. Please take some time to think about that.

  3. I did laugh out loud when I read this article...and then called my folks and several friends and read them the second paragraph. I do enjoy your articles so much.

  4. Not sure if I would be considered a "homeschool failure", but what i didnt like about homeschooling is parents grroming you to get married as soon as someone "godly" wants you, whether you're attracted to them or not, and how it's "worldly" to want to do anything else with your life other than be in some sort of ministry. I'm sorry, but i didnt want to continue living in near poverty or always shopping at goodwill and never able to buy a brand new pair of shoes. I dont mind homeschooling my kids through elementary school, but after that i would want them to have everything i didnt: friends, excel at sports, be on an acutal sports team with other kdis and not in some lame church group where "everyones a winner", be able to decide what college they want to go to and have a shot at getting a scholarship, know what good credit is and have a home at a young age rather than making $10 per hour at some job and deciding to get married at 18 and pop out babies while barely making it, having a tiny little house and a car that works half the time. Some of the most important characters in the bible were well educated ,wealthy men. You dont have to be a backwoods, hill-bllly to be "godly".

  5. Hi there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!

  6. Luke 12:34
    For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

    Success to one person may be failure to another. As a Bible believing homeschooling parent, If my child is academically well off, dressed great, has sports scholarships, friends and is self focus and cares nothing for God, I have failed. I have raised a fool.
    My goal is that my children Love the Lord with ALL their heart soul mind and strength and their neighbors as themselves. Their heart must treasure God , their creator. I am asking God for mercy because I have made huge mistakes.
    We just moved to a town to have more of a like minded community. I hope as Mr. Pearl has suggested being here can help fill in the cracks for my children. The Church is for the edifying of the believers. We are to encourage one another and help build each others faith. We are to bare one another's burdens.
    To those ex homeschoolers crying out for this world, I am sorry I can't sympathize. I left living in this world . You canhave it. I am headed toward 1 john 5 that talks about not loving the world and the things of the world. To those abused, that was not right. God does not approve of that behavior. Please seek God's word for healing and a true understanding of who he is. Maybe God will use you to help others. I am truly sorry. John10:10 the thief cometh not but for to kill steal and destroy.I am come that you might have life and that more abundately.

    1. The way for kids to get to love their Creator is by understanding HIS love for them! When you know what He did to rescue you and understand it and believe and get faith in Jesus alone for eternal life and forgiveness then only can you really love God. I was raised by a single Christian mom and never understood the Gospel until I was 32!!! All those wasted years trying to love and please God fruitlessly when all along I just needed to receive His love to set me free thru Jesus and what He did before I was born! I can love Him back now!!! Jesus Jesus Jesus!!!