I am a mom to a first grader

Nolan finished up his first year of school this week. He is officially a first grader!

It was my first year homeschooling and it went really well. There is always room for improvement, but now I know how to make things work a little better. In September, I'll begin with both Nolan and Gideon, and I have a feeling that I will have to make myself that much more organized.

The main thing that I have learned this year is how selfish I can be. It is my innate selfishness that has prevented me from having school on certain days. I either just didn't feel like it, or there was something else that I would have rather been doing instead.

I don't think that I quite understood how much work goes into teaching your child. It would be so much easier to just drop my child off at a school and give the responsibility of teaching and raising him to a complete stranger. Thankfully, we made the decision long ago that we just couldn't do that.

We were convicted several years ago that it is part of parenting to homeschool our children. I would side with those that say it is a Biblical mandate that we teach our children. How can I throw my five year old to the wolves? As I see him play with his brothers, I see how naive and immature he is in his knowledge of God. If he is in school 8 hours a day, how can I compete with that? How can I prevent the world from having more influence on him than me?

The way I can do that is through him attending school within our home. I have full control on what he learns, who he spends his days with and how to discipline him when he needs to be set on the right path.

As a young mom, it is a huge decision to be made for your family. I really recommend listening to Voddie Baucham and his sermons on his book, Family Driven Faith. Most of all, read how God commands us to raise our families. Homeschooling is not easy by any means. When you have more than one child, it is even more trying...but it can be done. I urge you to really think and pray before you enroll your child into the public school system.