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Confessions of a Homeschooling Dad 
I was against it. I didn't want to school our kids at home. I was looking forward to sending them to school. The preschool years are tough on a mother, and I wanted my wife to have a break.
And, I had been anticipating the social networking opportunities that come through the public schools. We could meet some new people, invite them to our church, and expand our ministry. It was all about Jesus, of course.
When my wife seriously mentioned homeschooling, I pushed back. I wondered why she would pass up the freedom of a quiet home during the school day. She could catch her breath and regain her sanity. Keeping the kids at home did not make sense.
In spite of my reservations and concern for all those un-networked families in the community, we began homeschooling our young children. The co-ops we investigated didn't fit our goals. The groups were disorganized and most families were not committed to the effort. There was no real educational direction, just a patchwork of classes representing the interests of a few parents.
Then we heard about Classical Conversations. It was expensive for a homeschooling group, I thought. When my wife delved into it, she learned that this group had a real philosophy of education. After one conference, she came home excited about math. That got my attention. For years she had vowed that she could never really understand mathematics. I had always been the resident math person. But after hearing Leigh Bortins speak, my wife enthusiastically drew me pictures of math concepts and described qualities of God as reflected in mathematics. This group was no co-op. These were serious educators.
My wife plugged in as a Challenge tutor and tapped into her passion for learning and teaching. Gradually I have come along, too. I am learning that the education of my children is not just my wife's responsibility - it's mine, too. In fact, it's mine primarily. God gives dads the role of spiritual leadership. He commands us to teach our children. That's a key concept of Deuteronomy 6 and in many other places through the Scriptures.
Looking back, I wish that I had taken time to learn along with my children during the elementary years. I could have been with them in their Foundations classes occasionally, but I just stayed on the sidelines.
Now I relish every opportunity to engage my children in their studies. Okay, not every opportunity, but I'm trying to tune in a lot more. I'm finding that their education can also be my education. I'm reading some classic literature for the first time. I'm trying to grasp logic. I'm even making some sense of Latin.
I'm seeking to lead my family, and I'm seeing the glory of God in this world of learning. Maybe homeschooling was not a bad idea after all.
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