Learn with Joy: Why We Do What We Do

"If there is one thing we can give you all, our children, that'll be education." Those were the words I heard from my parents when my siblings and I were just littles. We are not wealthy but our parents made it a point to send us to school, good schools for that matter. So, I grew up  valuing education and its benefits. I told myself at the time, "When I have my own kids, I'll make sure to send them to the best schools in the country." After completing one college degree, I even pursued a Certificate in Professional Education and took a licensure exam to become a licensed educator. Fast track to today, I am now married with a precocious daughter in tow. However, my idea about education has changed a lot. It is no longer about being accepted to big and "best" schools. It is more about the quality of education that we (my husband and I) would like our daughter to attain.

My husband and I decided to homeschool our only daughter (yeah, only daughter and to be homeschooled, quite a recipe for "socialisation problem" huh?) the moment we had her. We want to give her the best and like every first time parents we want to give her the "world". I started asking family friends about homeschooling and although not all the ones we asked are familiar (and agreeing) with homeschooling, there is a missionary couple who gave us an idea on how they did it. The more I seek, the more I got interested and the more I learned about it. Thankfully, a lot of parents nowadays are opting to homeschool their children. There are also hundreds of blogs about homeschooling that are indeed helpful and useful.

After much prayer and contemplation, "against all odds", we took the less traveled road. To be honest, it's not always a walk in the park. Just like what other homeschooling parents say, (hashtag) "the struggle is real". It really takes a lot of strength and grace from the One who made it clear to us that this is the path we're going to take; it takes commitment and dedication on our part. But why still do what we do?

We Acknowledge that we are God's stewards.

My husband and I have always said that "we are owners of nothing but stewards of everything", and that includes our daughter. Being entrusted with a precious gift, we must prove ourselves faithful to Him. As stewards, we want to make sure that we are giving our daughter what we ought to give her, not holding back what is due her. Homeschooling her is accepting that we have been given a responsibility and taking care of what the Lord has charged to our care.

We want to give the "Best" to our daughter.

Every set of parents will agree, I know, that our (yours and ours) offsprings deserve the very best. As I have mentioned above, as parents, it's like we want to give the "world" to our children. Not that I could literally give the world to my daughter but it's the desire for her to receive the good things in life. The best may not always be the most expensive. It could be something that comes from the heart knowing that it's "all of you" offering it and using it for the well-being of someone. Homeschooling my daughter is giving all of me to her. A lot of people have asked me why I opted to stay at home, breastfeed my daughter and homeschool her when in fact I could have chosen to pursue a career and live my dreams. And when I tell them, "This is my career. I am living one of my dreams by being with my daughter," most of them would shake their heads in disbelief. I know it sounds crazy to them but to me and my husband, specially to my daughter, it says, "We love you that's why we give you our very best."

We believe that Character formation and development begins at home.

It is my belief that the heart of education is the education of the heart. A person with a knowledge-filled brain may succeed at first but won't necessarily endure. However, an individual with the right character will definitely survive in this broken world. More than loading her brain with a plethora of information, we would like our daughter's heart to be filled with experiences that will shape her heart to live for God, that is, produce a character that is approved not only in the sight of man but most importantly in the eyes of God; a character that is strong enough to stand for what is right, true and moral; not influenced by peer pressure nor agitated by unfavourable circumstances. I am not saying my husband and I are perfect enough to be able to do this. No, in fact, we're just ordinary people with perfect imperfections. However, I know that by and with the grace of God in our lives, we will accomplish it.

We desire our daughter to be a Disciple of Jesus. 

As believers and followers of Jesus, we would like our daughter to have the same relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. I firmly believe that it's the best legacy we could leave her. When we homeschool, it's not just the facts that we share but the faith as well. The Bible says, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

We aspire to Excellence in education.

Every Filipino child deserves not just education but a quality education. That has been my "mantra" as an educator. As a homeschooling educator and parent, I know my husband and I will be able to give our daughter the quality of education we would like her to get. There will be no pressure to strive for perfection but encouragement to pursue excellence.

These are just some of the many reasons why we do what we do. If you noticed (I hope you did), I gave you our A to E reasons :). Hopefully, I'll be able to add some more sometime.

How about you? Are you a homeschooling mom/dad too? What are your motivations in doing so? I would love to hear from you! :)