Homeschooling: Not My Gift?

I was chatting with Kristina, a bright, creative, and very capable young mother. We hadn’t seen each other in awhile so she was updating me on her family. Her oldest child, she told me, would be starting kindergarten at a wonderful Christian school this year. “I’m not going to homeschool,” she said hastily. “I mean - trying to keep up with all the little ones at once and teach too…that’s just not my gift.”

Are you like Kristina? Have you decided against homeschooling because you feel that you lack the skill and ability to do it? Is homeschooling outside your comfort zone? Does it seem difficult, frightening, or overwhelming? Does it just seem like it's not your gift?

These are understandable fears and feelings. However, they bear investigating. There are three problems with the “not my gift” perspective.

1. First, most parents are far more gifted than they think they are. If I were to list the “most likely to succeed” candidates for Homeschool Mom, Kristina would be near the top of the list. Kristina is very talented and has done a terrific job teaching her children life skills already. The notion that her ability suddenly stops when it comes to teaching her child his ABCs or the multiplication tables is simply untrue. Kristina should look back on what she has already done and pluck up confidence! I have often been pleasantly surprised to find that I could actually do things I thought I had no talent for if I had a little guidance and persevered. We can learn to do things that at the moment seem overwhelming.

2. Second, usually false assumptions are hiding behind the “not my gift” argument. Kristina set up an untrue either/or situation in her mind. EITHER she would homeschool and it would be impossible to help the eldest with school work because of the demands of the younger children, OR her eldest would go to an institutional school and everything would be easy. 

Scenario One is stressful and Scenario Two is a breeze. Is that really the case? Isn’t she reckoning without needing to help her eldest with homework, making sure that he is all packed each morning, trying to get him fed and dressed and out the door on time in between the others clamoring for attention, and so forth? And if we want to talk about stress, isn’t Kristina reckoning without school politics, demanding school schedules, her child being picked on or having his feelings hurt by other students, and teachers who don’t understand her child as well as she does? There are plenty of stressors in an institutional setting.

Yes, to Kristina’s point, doing school work with just one child while the other children want attention too might be challenging. But it’s certainly manageable. Millions—literally millions—of mothers all through history have made it work. 

Whether it is doing school with the eldest while the younger children nap, or having special “school time only” coloring books to keep the little ones busy, there are a variety of options to make it happen. But remember, if you send your child to a public or private school, you will still have to spend routine one-on-one time with them helping them with school assignments. Since it is going to happen regardless, wouldn’t you rather be the one in charge? Wouldn’t you rather be the one in choosing the curriculum, setting the schedule, and establishing the routine?

3. The third problem with the “not my gift” concept is that it is a faulty way to plan our lives because it places the emphasis on our talents, not our duties. When we approach a situation, we need to look honestly at what we are called to do, not what our “gifts” are. 

The fact is, a “gift” simply means something comes naturally to you. If you don’t have a “gift” for something, does that mean you don’t have to bother trying? Of course not. It simply means that you have to seek extra guidance, pray diligently, and keep persevering. 

What if it’s not our “gift” to keep our tempers? What if it’s not our “gift” to follow a budget? What if it’s not our “gift” to drive at a safe speed? What if it’s not our “gift” to forgive someone who hurts our feelings? Does that mean we can say, “Oh well, too bad, these aren’t my gifts”? Of course not. If they are a duty, we should say, “Since these are not my gifts, I need to work extra hard to get better at them.”

Let’s say that you think homeschooling isn’t your gift. Is that really the question you should be concerned about? No. Instead parents should explore what the Bible says about parental discipleship and decide which method of schooling allows them to best train their children in life and godliness. 

Institutional schooling can rarely compete with the benefits of one-on-one tutoring and the wholesome, Christ-centered learning environment of the home. Your personal giftedness is frankly irrelevant to the question. But the good news is that you can learn and you will learn! God is on your side and will not fail you! 

Remember, God never says that His power is made perfect in our giftedness. His power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) You’re not going to do this alone. He is going to empower you every step of the way. 

Not your gift, eh? It doesn’t matter. You can do it anyway!

Written by Raquelle Sheen

The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Light

It’s been a rough time for Christian conservatives lately. From the Supreme Court’s ruling on homosexual marriage to the shooting in Charleston to the banning in some places of the Confederate flag, conservative culture has been under attack. It can be a discouraging time for godly families.

What kind of world will your children grow up in? What can one family do to counteract the paganism and anti-Christianity that seems to be gaining ground all around us? It can feel like we are fighting a losing battle.

Lately, however, I have found good grounds for encouragement. The Lord has been showing me how we may be facing one of the best opportunities in generations to share the gospel in our nation. Here are some thoughts you may find uplifting.

We Are On the Winning Side

If you’ve read Revelation, you know how the story ends. God wins! Actually, if you read the whole Bible you realize that God is controlling and ordaining everything that happens and using it for our good and His glory. God controls history.

Time after time in history, ungodly people have tried to thwart God’s will. We see it from Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery out of jealousy, to King Nebuchadnezzer trying to stamp out all worship except that of himself. Time after time God not only turns the battle into a victory, He actually uses the activities of the pagans to bring even more glory to Himself. We need have no fear that God is overwhelmed or caught off guard by what is happening in our culture. He knew it and planned it before time began. His side will win, regardless of the way things look from our perspective.

It’s Been Worse Before

A quick look at history will reveal that, rough as these times are for Christians, there have been far rougher times for Christians in the past. And even now life is far worse for Christians in other nations. At first that may not seem encouraging until you realize that out of the darkness and paganism of past history, God has brought the light of His gospel to every corner of the globe.

For instance, out of the terrible persecution of the Reformers came the Protestant church, the Bible in the common people’s language, and missionaries who evangelized the world – including the American continent. God has used – and continues to use – hard times to refine His people and make them into a brighter light to the dark world.

God Asks for Faithfulness, Not Results

God doesn’t give us a “quota” of converts we must make. He doesn’t give us a list of laws we must pass or cultural standards we must implement. Instead, He tells us to be faithful to His Word. When we repent of our own sin and strive to be holy, there are natural cultural changes that occur in our lives. When we “preach the gospel” to others, “making disciples” of them, there are natural cultural changes that will occur in their lives too. The more we are faithful to apply the gospel truth to our lives and share it with others, the more the culture will change on its own into a godly society. It starts with one person at a time being faithful.

The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Light

Have you ever lit a candle during the daytime? It can be difficult to even see the flame unless you’re close to it. But contrast that with lighting a candle in the night. You can surely see the light in that situation!

I’ve talked to many people who remember the “good old days” when everybody was nice and decent (supposedly). But that feel-good culture of the past evidently was only skin-deep as the children and grand-children of that generation went on to create an ever more rebellious society. I can’t help but wonder if the “candle” of past Christianity blended in too much with the “decent” culture of the times. “Cultural Christianity” sometimes makes it hard to witness to people who figure they are already decent enough to make it to heaven on their own, and perhaps it was no different in the “good old days.”

Today, there is less confusion on that score. It’s getting to be pretty clear who is a Christian and who isn’t, who lives by biblical cultural standards and who doesn’t. The “candle” of Christianity is shining ever brighter in the darkness of our current societal paganism. Someone who has wrecked their life with sin is far more ready to hear and accept the gospel than someone who has always lived a “decent” life and has it all together.

In closing, remember this famous passage from 2 Chronicles 7:14. Note that in order to heal a nation, God does not give us intricate formulas for elections or lists of laws to pass or quotas for church membership. Instead, He simply calls His people to be faithful in their own personal lives. God moves mightily in the prayers and obedience of Christians.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Written by Heather Sheen

Who’s Really Building the House?

King David got a great idea one day. He looked around at his luxurious palace and compared it to the tent that the Ark of the Covenant reposed in. The contrast jarred him. He told Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent." (1 Samuel 7:2). He was disturbed. He wanted to honor God and create a permanent tribute to the Lord Almighty. He wanted to build God a house.

Maybe you feel like David. You want to honor God too. God has blessed you and you want to build a permanent tribute to the Lord through your own service. You want to build God a house.

What does this “house” look like? Maybe it means you want to raise a big family of God-fearing children who will be mighty for the kingdom. Maybe, as a homeschooler, you want to start some sort of ministry to strengthen other homeschoolers as they disciple their children. Perhaps there’s a fantastic Christian organization your family wants to work with and thereby reach many people for Christ. Or maybe you simply want to be so much like Christ that your life and testimony speaks volumes for Him. Whatever it is, deep down there is something you are passionate about that you want to do to “build a house” for God.

God commended David for his desire. He told David, “Because it was in your heart to build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart.” (2 Chronicles 6:8). Likewise, God is pleased when we want to honor Him and spend ourselves in His service. We do well to have these kinds of desires in our heart.

But then what happened? God chose not to have David built the temple. He told David, “You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.” (1 Chronicles 22:8)

Sometimes God chooses not to let our desires on His behalf be carried out either. Maybe God has chosen not to let you have as many children as you’d like. Instead of the small army of godly offspring that you wanted to raise for Him you have just one or two children. Maybe the homeschool ministry you tried to start has petered out for lack of interest from others. Perhaps health problems or unexpected responsibilities prevent you from working with that fabulous Christian organization you wanted to be a part of. Or maybe you find that, despite your best efforts to be a good testimony, your sinful self gets in the way over and over and you always seem to muff the job.

Of course, at this point we have to remember that God is God. While He is pleased with us when we want to do great things for Him, sometimes He has other plans for us. Sometimes He prevents us from carrying out our desires the way we’d like.

However, this does not mean God won’t use us. Just because God doesn’t always choose to have us carry out our Plan A does not mean He won’t use us just as effectively for Plan B. David didn’t build the temple. But he did provide a huge helping hand to Solomon. We learn in 1 Chronicles 22:5: David said, "My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it." So David made extensive preparations before his death.

Have you stopped to think about the ways you can serve right now, in spite of being thwarted in your initial desires? Maybe the fact that you have just a few children instead of a dozen means that you can open your home more often to others. Maybe the time you would have spent on that homeschool ministry you wanted to start is being spent caring for an aging relative instead. Maybe the fact that you’ve stumbled so often as you strive to be a good testimony gives you a perspective that allows you to extend grace and encourage others who face the same problems. I could go on, but you get the point.

One other thing stands out in this whole story with David. Sometimes we miss it because we get so focused on David’s good desire and how God shut the door on it. However, if we keep reading, God’s incredible love shines forth. God essentially told David, “You wanted to build me a house. That’s great. But instead, here’s what’s going to happen: I’M going to build YOU a house.” We read, “The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.” (2 Samuel 7:11-12)

Haven’t you seen this in your life over and over? I know I have. We come to God with our Big Ideas to serve Him. Sometimes God says no to those Big Ideas. Then He takes that “no” and turns around and eventually blesses the socks off of us in ways we can’t even imagine. He “builds us a house.” It may not always be at the time or place that we expect. Sometimes the results of our labor may not even come fully to fruition in our lifetime. But God does not forget. In His faithful timing, He overlooks our unworthiness, turning our godly desires and faltering efforts into something that does in fact glorify Him. So be encouraged, friends! Maybe you can’t build that temple you wanted to build. But that’s okay. If you love God and seek to serve Him, He will use you anyway. And, in the love and mercy that so characterizes our Lord, He will build a house for you.

Written by Raquelle Sheen

Home-Centered Summer Activities

Ahhh, summer time! Warm sunny days…drinking iced tea…family vacations…what’s not to like? But perhaps that’s not your vision of summer at all. Maybe your family summer means bored, grumpy children. Maybe it means thousands of extra activities. Maybe it means an exhausting family vacation from which you have to take another vacation to recover! If any of these visions match your family, read on!

Summer is the perfect time to focus on family-centered activities that you might not have time for during the regular school year. Without the distraction of academics, you can work on craft projects, home businesses, and fun activities. It’s a great time to teach some special skills to your children as well as build some memories for a lifetime. Here are some ideas and tips to consider.

Take control of your schedule now. It’s too easy in the summer to think, “Oh, school’s out so of course we have time for that activity!” Next thing you know, your family is over-committed and exhausted. Don’t let that happen this summer. Make a calendar, decide how many outside activities you will do and stick to it. Schedule in days that are free of outside activities. Plan not only your vacation(s), but also plan in days before and after to pack up and recover. This will allow you more freedom to consider some of the family-building activities below.

Try a home business. What better way to teach your children skills like balancing a bank account, maintaining a schedule, working on a budget, and customer service skills? The possibilities are endless, as you consider what would work best for your family. There are businesses that even small children can help with and businesses that require a high school student’s abilities. Dog sitting, yard work, baking, and music teaching are easy businesses to start. If you prefer something more in-depth, you can try a multi-level marketing company such as Pampered Chef or Mary Kay products. Look at what your child’s interests and abilities are and help him or her come up with a way to market those skills.

Read aloud together. Some of my best childhood memories are centered around our family’s read-aloud times. Studies show that parents who read aloud to their children help develop their children’s reading skills. And when your children get to read aloud to you, they can be motivated to become better readers. Let each person pick a book to read aloud and take turns. This isn’t a time for criticism (other than maybe occasional help in pronouncing a word), but rather just for fun. Help your children associate reading with fun family time. It may be too hard for the people not reading to sit still, so come up with some quiet handwork to be done during the read-aloud time – puzzles, sewing, crocheting, drawing, wood carving, legos, tinker toys, etc.

Check out some nearby educational sites. Rather than waiting for someone to organize a field trip during the school year, take your kids this summer! Museums, battlefields, zoos, nature trails, you name it. Pack a picnic lunch if you want to save some money and eat at a nearby park. When you visit these places as a family rather than in a big group, you have the opportunity to go more slowly and focus on what your children are interested in.

Learn a new skill as a family. Take lessons together and encourage each other as you learn. This could be anything from sewing to singing to rocket-building! Get books on the subject, read about it online, go to some classes. Let your children see that you’re interested in learning too, and they will be encouraged to learn more themselves. And who knows, this could be the start of a new favorite activity. (This is how my sister and I wound up becoming professional harpists, by the way!)

Complete a big home project. Clean out the garage. Paint the living room. Plant a garden. Remodel a bathroom. Get your kids involved in these activities. Someday they will own their own homes and these skills will come in handy. Teach them how to clean properly, how to remodel, how to build, how to garden – basically, teach them good stewardship of property. They may or may not enjoy these “chores” now, but will thank you some day when they have their own homes to maintain.

Let this be a summer of fun and productive family time. I hope you enjoy your summer! 

3 Principles for Teaching Your Kids Finances

As the hot California sun streamed down, I huffed and puffed on my knees along the rock-walled flower garden. Weeding those rocks was a chore I hated. Not only was it grubby and uncomfortable, but sometimes big scary spiders were lurking in the weeds – anathema to a little 7 year old like me. (Actually, big scary spiders are still anathema to me!)

So why was I sticking with it? Because Mom and Dad promised my sister and I weekly allowances if we completed certain chores – one of them being the weeding of the rock wall.

It was so exciting when we got our allowance on Saturday (assuming the chores were satisfactorily completed). My sister and I each had a piggy bank on our dresser. Hers was a little fat pink pig and mine was a lovely green pig. The CHINK of the coins dropping in was such a satisfying sound.

Each Sunday, we felt excessively generous as we plinked our little coins into the offering plate. I can still remember the sudden grins of the deacons as they watched us importantly drop in our nickels and pennies. The story of the widow’s mite in the Bible always made me feel that God would probably do something amazing with my little ten cents – maybe save an entire continent or fund a new Bible translation or something.

And the part of our savings that we got to spend was fun too! After several weeks of savings, Mom would take us to the store to buy a toy or a candy bar with our very own money! Oh, how we agonized over those choices. After all, once our $2-$3 was gone, it would take several more weeks of chores to build up the savings again. I still have some of the little dolls and doll clothes I bought with that money. (I don’t have the candy bars any more though.)

Why do I share this story? Because learning how to manage money wisely seems to be a lost art in our culture. Parents themselves often are confused about how to properly save, spend and give. So they find it difficult to come up with a good way to teach their children these things.

While I certainly wouldn’t say that running a household’s finances is easy and simple, I am here to say that teaching good financial habits to your children can be simple. There are lots of good curricula, ideas, printables and internet blogs about how to do this. But the basic principles are free and you can easily adapt them to your own family.

Principle 1: All hard work brings a profit. 

That’s not my idea, it’s actually in the Bible. (Proverbs 14:23) Starting when they are just out of toddlerhood, all children can be taught this principle. Though contributing to the family through chores should never be completely on a mercenary basis, it is appropriate to designate certain extra chores or tasks as money-makers for your children. Since you want to teach them that shirking this work leads to no profit, it’s best to pick out some tasks that don’t absolutely have to be done every week.

Children need to learn (as do adults, and our government) that true profit only follows hard work. Get rich quick schemes rarely work long-term, as we who are older and wiser know. But the person who puts in elbow grease, who is willing to learn, who wants to improve their skills, who can take orders from a boss, who can properly complete an assigned task – that person will nearly always find a way to make money. Teach this principle with age-appropriate tasks you are willing to pay for.

Principle 2: Delayed gratification now means more satisfying gratification later on. 

Or in other words, saving money today means you can buy something really cool tomorrow. Helping your children learn to save up for things they want is an excellent way to counteract our instant "microwave" culture. Children today are so used to having everything NOW that parents often have to actively find ways to teach this principle.

Help your children choose age-appropriate goals to save for. Little kids may find it hard to save for a long time, so choose less expensive items for them. Older children and teens, however, should learn to be able to save for months (or even years) for something they really want. Mom and Dad can offer to match their savings, but Mom and Dad shouldn’t always be stepping in to make up the difference if Johnny isn’t disciplined enough to save.

Principle 3: God loves – and blesses – a cheerful giver. Help your children choose an amount to save for tithing and a place to give their tithe. Obviously the Bible instructs us to support the pastors and teachers who feed us at church each week. But you can also help your child look for other opportunities to give. Maybe they can fund their own shoebox for Operation Christmas Child, or perhaps they can purchase a toy to donate to a Toys for Tots drive. Help them learn the joy of giving, and remind them that God is blessing them by making them able to earn money.

The awesome thing about these three principles is that they don’t just apply to money. 

They apply to all of life. For instance, do you want a good relationship with another person? Put in some hard work, be willing to delay gratification, and give cheerfully – and see if that doesn’t improve any relationship out there! These are actually fundamental principles of living that bring peace, wisdom and dignity to everyone who applies them.

Make it practical: As your children learn and grow, continue to apply these principles in a practical manner. It doesn’t necessarily take a super-duper curriculum or intricate plan to teach basic finances to your kids. Simply introduce them in an age appropriate way to things like bank accounts, writing checks, making (and following!) a budget, running a small business, and generally keeping track of income and expenses. Let them see you doing these things on a regular basis as well.

 People who complain about how decadent our government or culture is often forget that “the government” and “the culture” are simply made up of people like us. We the people need to recover biblical basics like hard work, delayed gratification and cheerful giving. When we do, our culture and our government will change for the better. But it all starts with one family at a time!

Written by Heather Sheen

What Every Homeschool Grad Needs to Know

This week I’d like to address my column to the new homeschool graduates. You are probably receiving a lot of advice right now about your future. People may be giving you counsel about where you should attend college, what dreams you should be pursuing, and how to move into the realm of adulthood. 

Today I’d like to address how to deal with your past homeschooling experience, whether good or bad. Your homeschooling background is a part of you and has helped to shape you into who you are today. However, your experience can hold you back if you do not react to it properly as an adult.

Dealing With A Good Experience

Let’s say you had a fabulous experience being homeschooled. You had great relationships with your parents and siblings. You received an excellent academic education. You participated in many unique opportunities, thanks to the freedom that homeschooling offered you. That’s terrific! 

I hope that this will give you a deep appreciation for homeschooling and that it motivates you to repeat the experience with your own future children. However, with this appreciation comes a temptation to feel complacent and to assume that because you were homeschooled, you have a complete handle on life and have an easy road ahead of you. 

This is not automatically the case. The fact that you were homeschooled does not mean you know everything you will ever need to know as an adult. Just because you were homeschooled does not mean you have attained the utmost height of maturity. Just because you were homeschooled does not mean you will have preferential treatment in college, in the workforce, or in other areas of life. In other words, homeschooling gave you a great start towards adulthood, but you’re not there yet. Be humble and don’t rely solely on your past for your future.

Homeschoolers are not immune to the big fish/small pond syndrome. The homeschooling community is relatively small and very well-connected and it is easy to find a sense of identity based on who you know or what you (or your parents) have done within that community. However, as you move into the adult world, you’ll realize that most folks are probably not going to be impressed that you—yes you—did the puppet show every year for the children’s track at the state homeschool convention. People aren’t going to care what homeschool “big wigs” you rubbed shoulders with or that your mom founded your co-op or that your dad wrote a book about homeschooling that has sold a few thousand copies. 

Further, these are temporal and fleeting things. What really counts is who we are in Christ and what Christ has done for us, not what we have done for Him in our special circle of influence. The Apostle Paul listed off his credentials too—“[C]ircumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law a Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” (Phil. 3:5-6). But he abhorred the idea of finding his eternal identity in his earthly credentials.

By all means, enjoy being part of the homeschooling community and appreciate whatever special place you have had there. I’m not advising you to turn your back or sneer at this unique part of your life. I personally cherish my homeschooled background and still strongly identify with the homeschooling community. However, we should resist the temptation to rest on the laurels of our homeschooling credentials.

Dealing With A Bad Experience

What if you feel like your homeschooling experience had strong negative elements? Perhaps you feel like you were not pushed as hard academically as you should have been. Perhaps you think that your parents did you a disservice by forbidding you to participate in certain social or extra-curricular activities that you think would have benefited you. Maybe you believe that your parents taught you to be legalistic, self-righteous, fearful, or elitist. Maybe the tension between your views and your parents’ views on life and homeschooling has fostered a bad relationship between you. What then?

First, realize that these problems are not unique to you or to homeschooling. Similar complaints can be found by graduates of government or private schools as well. These kinds of problems happen because people are human. They make mistakes. They have their own handicaps. They are sinful, just like you and me. 

You weren’t a victim of homeschooling. You were a victim of people—flawed people, who nonetheless loved you and were trying to do the best they could with what they had. Refocus your frustration by being thankful for what you did learn from your homeschooling experience—which is probably a lot more than you might think. Above all, do not let bitterness begin to overtake you. Anger and bitterness will poison your future far worse than a few missed extra-curricular opportunities will.

Second, keep the past in perspective and move on. If you’ve just graduated from high school, you statistically have at least three-fourths of your life left in front of you. The world lies before you. Your life can be what you make of it. 

Do you feel like you have gaps in your education? Besides the fact that you’re not alone—every graduate from every school has some kind of educational gap—you’re not helpless to remedy the problem. The Internet and the library are free and at your disposal. Go study and learn! 

Do you feel like you were badly prepared for the work force? Nothing like on-the-job training! Get a job—any job!—and ask all the questions you can of everyone you can think of. 

Do you feel like your interpersonal skills are inadequate? Start going to social events and practice the skills you think you lack. 

Do you feel like you were held captive mentally by legalistic trappings? Rejoice that God has shown you the light now and study the Scripture with renewed zeal to keep yourself from falling prey again.  

In other words, refuse to hold the future captive to the past. Keep in mind, if you can so much as read, you’re already much better off than many people in the world! Don’t fall prey to a victim mentality. Others have started from far less and achieved outstanding greatness. You can too.

You can either value the past or put the past behind you, depending on your experiences. But just remember: the past is in the past. You are responsible for the future.

Written by Raquelle Sheen

Marxist Homeschooling?

For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.  Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.  (Romans 10:2-3)

Here’s a good stuffy, scholarly-sounding quote to throw around next time you get into a discussion about Karl Marx’s theory of economics: “The relative values of commodities are, therefore, determined by the respective quantities or amounts of labor, worked up, realized, fixed in them.”  When I first read that I thought, “What the clunge does that mean?”  Upon further study, I deduced that Karl Marx believed the value of a product is determined by the amount of labor involved in producing it.  If a wooden nickel took the carpenter ten hours to make and the going rate for carpentry is $10 an hour then the wooden nickel is “worth” $100, according to Marx—no more, no less. 

Of course, Marx reckoned without reality.  In the real world, if 25 people all want a wooden nickel, and there’s only one available, those people will be willing to pay a lot more than $100 to get it.  On the other hand, if there happen to be 40 wooden nickels available and only 2 people want to buy them, the nickels may end up being sold for a lot less than $100.  A stuffy, scholarly-sounding way of saying this would be, “Value is determined by market desire.”

“Okay, so Marx’s economic system is out of touch with the real world,” you’re probably thinking. “What the clunge does that have to do with homeschooling?”  Aha, my friends, that is the question I propose to answer.

It is just slightly possible that we use the same faulty, Marxist theory when we evaluate our homeschool progress.  We might say, for instance, “I’ve put hours and hours into lesson plans, fields trips, extra curricular activities, classroom time and grading papers.  Of course we’re doing a good job homeschooling!”  But perhaps, like Marx, we’re looking at the wrong end of the equation.  The amount of time and effort does not necessarily determine the value of the end product.  Remember, we said, “Value is determined by market desire.”  In other words, how badly does anyone want the end product?

Look at any overly busy homeschooling family and you will generally find this end product: the children are often tired and cranky, academics (good old reading, writing and ‘rythmetic) is done in a sloppy, undisciplined fashion, and the kids would rather be entertained by friends, activities and movies than enjoy a quiet day at home with their family.  Is this how we are laboring for our children to turn out?  Would God be pleased with these results?  Is there a “market desire” for this end product? 

As the Apostle Paul noted, zeal is fine but you have to know what you are zealous for—the righteousness of God.  When we calculate our homeschool’s progress solely on the amount of zeal we show, rather than on whether the end product meets God’s standards, we are substituting our own idea of righteousness instead of submitting to God. 

Rather than blindly putting more man-hours (or Mom-hours!) into homeschooling to make it “worth” more, we should instead strive to make our end product—the kids—meet the “market desire,” God’s standards.  This may mean more time and effort on your part, or it may mean a different kind of time and effort.  But the amount of effort is not the standard—God’s Word is.

So, the next time you feel that you should be “doing more,” ask yourself why you feel that way.  You may have succumbed to Marxist Homeschooling!