Study Finds Homeschoolers Less Likely to Leave Faith Than Public, Private Schooled Students

Study Finds Homeschoolers Less Likely to Leave Faith Than Public, Private Schooled Students | Christian News Network


Christian parents have an obligation to provide their children with a God-based, Christ infused education.

As I said yesterday on Facebook, I have known this for years. This is not the first study to show that homeschooled kids stay in church after they become adults while others don't.


But I want to clarify the "why" a bit.


First of all, when someone talks to me about homeschooling there are two subjects that always come up:


1) "I can't afford it." (Never mind EVERY person that has said this to me made more money than we do. This is not what I really want to talk about today, though. Let's just leave it as "You live in the richest, free-est culture the planet has ever known. If public school was outlawed as unconstitutional [as it should be] you would find a way to educate your kids. If you could then, you can now. Figure it out.")


2) "Well, I think socialization is important, so we are traditional schooling."


First of all, if I have to choose between socialization and salvation I am taking salvation any day. But this is actually a false dilemma.


Unless you are using the definition of "socialize= To put under government control" it is not possible to NOT socialize your child (short of locking them in the basement without any electronics and feeding them through a chute in the floor). Your child is being socialized when they are with you, with their grandparents, with the store clerks, with any human being (this includes, by the way, TV, movies, youtube, etc).


The real question is "How do you want your child socialized" not "if."


Public and Private schools both segregate children according to age. They lump them together in one group under the authority of one, non-related teacher. (Yes, age segregation has been around, off and on, since the Beginning. So has murder. That doesn't mean it is the right choice for our kids)

30-35 hours a week with only those of your own age and socioeconomic level (same income, same neighborhood, same school).

And the best hours of the day, too.

Herd mentality.

Peer pressure.

Submission to random "experts." (teachers)

Loyalty to the school instead of the family.


Homeschools segregate children according to God-assigned families (through birth or adoption). A parent (or better yet, both parents) and children of several ages living life together, working together towards the family goals.

Self-worth determined by the opinion of the family instead of little kids in the class.

Parents living the scriptures with their children and teaching them every waking moment.


It is my belief that even more than the atheist slant of our textbooks, the declaration of schools as God-free zones, and the blatant propaganda taught in the PS classroom, this issue of HOW children are socialized is what makes the difference between salvation and eternal condemnation for our kids.


When we do things God's way we get godly results.

When we do things the world's way, even when we "baptize" it with a Bible study as in private school, we get worldly results.

It really is that simple.

“Teach My Words …diligently unto your children speaking of them when
though liest down and when though risest up, when though walkest in the
way and when though sittest in thine house (every waking minute.)”
Deuteronomy 6:7

“Fathers provoke (frustrate) not your children to wrath
(anger) but bring them up in the nurture (culture) and admonition
(education) of the Lord.”

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
(65-85% of children from christian homes leaves the church when they reach adulthood. 
80% of children from christian homes are public schooled. 
Only about 4% of homeschooled children backslide.)

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you”
2 Corinthians 6:17 We are supposed to be different than the world, and not just in how we spend our Sunday mornings.

“Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself,
lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart
from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your
children and your grandchildren,” Deuteronomy 4:9

“You shall teach them (God's Words) to your children, speaking of them
when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down,
and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 11:19

“And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD did for me.” Exodus 8: 8

“Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;…” Jeremiah 10:2 Don't have the same training/education as they do. Don't use the same techniques. Don't even find out how they do what they do.

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates DAY AND NIGHT.” Psalm 1: 2

This includes school and work hours

“Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts
itself against the knowledge of God, bringing EVERY THOUGHT into
captivity to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5
Even math, spelling, history and science thoughts.

“That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth;
that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the
similitude of a palace:” Psalms 144:12

“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” Luke 17:33 Homeschooling takes sacrifice of our own life, often our standard of living and everything we use to give us a feeling of self worth (cars, houses, clothes, vacations). We must often loose these things in order to gain our children's Everlasting Life. In the process, we find a new life for ourselves that is far better than the one we sacrificed.

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem other (including our children) better than themselves. Look not
every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who…made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant…” Philippians 2:3-11  
This is most certainly NOT the philosophy taught in public school and even private schools that try to teach this run into the problem that the socialization that occurs in large groups of kids the same age forces them to seek their own good at the expense of others for mere survival. On the other hand, a parent who sacrifices to teach their own exemplifies this very principle.

“Whatsoever you do unto the least of these, my brethren, ye do it unto Me.”

“Love thy neighbor as thyself.” The child sleeping in the next bedroom is you neighbor.

Disagree? Give me scripture and verse.

(And I don’t buy the “Send them to public school to be light and salt.” Most “Christian” children start school long before they have made a confession of faith. So most parents send little sinners to
witness to other little sinners all under the authority of a heathen system. And even those who have made a confession of faith are being thrust into a situation that is far more fraught with spiritual danger than most seasoned adults will ever face. It is no wonder that we are loosing our children at a rate of between 65 and 85%!

All that aside, there is a clear mandate in the Bible to give our children a godly education. That cannot be accomplished in a godless school. Disobedience will not yield godly
results.)

Can everyone just drop everything and become a homeschooler today? Of course not. Many Christian couples have followed the world’s advice and chosen their home based on two incomes. It will take
time for them to work things out to move to lesser housing, or sell their new cars and buy ones with no payments, or pay off all those college debts and credit cards.

But we have an obligation to God to make that effort.


Disagree? Again, send me the scripture and verse to support
your opinion. I will accept nothing less than Bible as the authority.


(Note: There are times that private school is necessary. I have known families where this was obviously God's will for them. If you find yourself in this place, the smaller the school the better. One with several grades in one class is best as it more closely mimics the God-designed family unit- socialization.)