Why homeschool? Margot McNutt has spent her whole life answering that question, first as a homeschooled daughter and now as a Classical Conversations Tutor, watching the next generation of families ask the same thing. Margot is a recent graduate of the Classical Conversations Challenge program, the second oldest of five kids, and a lifelong homeschool student who now Tutors the Essentials class in the local CC community. Alongside tutoring, she is pursuing her own passions in worship leading, songwriting, coaching, choreography, and piano.
In the reflection below, drawn from her own experience with classical education, she shares why her parents’ choice fourteen years ago became the foundation for her own conviction: homeschooling should be a family’s first option, not a fallback.
Why Homeschooling Should Be Every Family’s First Option
Where do I even begin? As I sit here brainstorming and trying to figure out how to say all the things on my heart and fit it all into one blog, I can’t help but just be grateful. I am incredibly thankful for the choice my parents made when they decided to homeschool. It was not an easy yes for them to choose to pursue homeschooling, but it was so worth it. I graduated from high school last spring, and even though I am not married and I am yet to have children, I have such a burden to encourage families to make the same choice my parents made fourteen years ago. I absolutely loved being raised in a homeschool family, and I look forward to sharing my experiences with others.
What People Say When They Hear I Was Homeschooled
Typically, when I share that I was homeschooled, I get the response of, “Wow I could never be homeschooled,” or “I don’t know how your mom did that with five kids,” and many other remarkable comments on how impossible and chaotic homeschooling must be. However, when I get those responses, it does not make me angry, jealous or envious of others, but instead it grieves my heart to know what others are missing out on when they decide not to homeschool.
When you say yes to homeschooling, it is not just saying yes to teaching your children how to solve equations, how to read, how to diagram a sentence, but it is saying yes to a life of sacrifice, a life of prioritizing family over career success, a life full of adventures and unknowns, a life of constant growing, a life that is lived very different from the rest of the world and a life of lasting relationships and friendships with the people who you will always love and cherish.
My Heart Behind This Story
My heart for this blog is not to shame or condemn parents who have chosen to send their kids to public or private school, but instead to encourage and challenge parents to spend time thinking, praying, and discussing what their desires are for their children and future generations. Through my own personal experience and study, I truly believe that homeschooling should be a family’s first option, rather than their last resort. In the following paragraphs, I will share my experiences with homeschooling and Classical Conversations, while outlining three key reasons why I believe homeschooling should be parents’ first option for education.
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Training Up a Family: What Proverbs 22:6 Looks Like in Practice
In Proverbs chapter twenty-two verse six it is written “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This scripture is often brought up when talking about education, but what does it really look like to train up your children? I once heard it said that “if you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” God has gifted each of us with the opportunity to be a part of not only the family of believers throughout the entire world, but we are each a part of our own unique family in which we all share the same genes and DNA.
Now, many people often say their own family sometimes feels like their enemy because of all the chaos that can ensue in their household. Maybe your sister always gets on your nerves, or your mother in-law never stops bothering you. However, God creates and works with intentionality, and I do not think He made a mistake in giving you the family you are a part of and the children He has placed in your care.
Time Together: What Our Homeschool Days Looked Like
When I reflect on my childhood, one of the things that I remember most is all the time spent with my parents and siblings. Since I was educated at home, my mom, my siblings and I were always together. Even though my older sister and I were not in the same grade, we would sit next to one another and converse, while also trying to complete all our multiplication facts and long division equations. Surprisingly, our family was able to go on vacation in the middle of the year. Yes, you heard me right, and take our school with us wherever we adventured to. Sometimes that looked like the beach in Destin, Florida or even the Opryland hotel in Nashville.
My parents were always there to lead, guide and instruct me, and their relationship with me is one I never want to see extinguish. I value their wisdom and insight, and I look forward to the impact they will have on my own children one day. Homeschooling has allowed my family to work as a team and has enabled us to identify each other’s gifting and encourage us to walk forward in the identity God has uniquely placed on our hearts. I never regret the time I spent with my beautiful family, as we homeschooled.
Read How to Plan a Homeschool Schedule
Our Story: Growing Up in Classical Conversations
In Proverbs 27:27 it states, “iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.” All throughout my experience with being homeschooled, my family joined a few different homeschool communities or co-ops, and the one that we fell in love with was Classical Conversations, which can also be abbreviated as CC. I began attending CC in 4th grade and continued all the way through until I graduated high school. Classical Conversations was unique compared to other co-ops we tried because of the way they emphasize the importance of classical education.
The emphasis on the Classical style of learning is a very foreign concept in our modern world today, but it truly is a beautiful way of learning. Within our CC community, we had a diverse group of families. Some had been homeschooling their whole lives, others were just getting started, some had over nine children, and others just had two. I am so thankful for all the families I was able to get connected with through my family’s choice in pursuing Classical Conversations.
Growing Through the Challenge Program’s Conversations
I specifically remember my junior and senior years of high school being the years that brought some of the most growth and maturity in my life. I attribute most of it to the conversations had during my time in the CC Challenge program. My classmates and I would read, study, and write throughout each week on different topics such as Shakespeare, Philosophy, American History, Latin and much more.
After completing our week’s work, we would come together and converse on what we learned and studied. We would discuss and debate current issues in society and government, we would ask hard questions such as, “What does it mean to be a hero?” “What does it mean to love God? and “What is God’s purpose for your life?”
Boldly, my classmates and I would also share what the Lord was doing in each of our hearts, and we would pray for one another in whatever seasons we were walking through at that time. Homeschooling allowed me to experience iron sharpening iron, and I was able to be challenged not only by my parents, but those who were in our Classical Conversations and homeschool community.
Discover the Top 3 Tips for Starting Challenge with Classical Conversations
What the Challenge Program Taught My Family About Excellence
Colossians 3:23 tells us, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Learning the difference between excellence and perfection is one that can completely change how and why you do things. In high school, I so often would strive to get assignments “perfect,” or make sure I received a “perfect” grade on my science homework.
However, through my parents’ instruction and my experience with Classical Conversations, the Lord slowly revealed to me that He is not looking for perfection, but instead He just desires our excellence. Since God in His fullness of grace gave each of us incredible gifts and desires, it is only right that we should work at things and attempt to reach our fullest potential in all that we set out to do.
Choosing Excellence Over Perfection in the Challenge Classroom
Many of the assignments I completed during my time in the CC program consisted of reading large quantities of books, studying Latin verb endings, diagramming sentences, memorizing sections of Shakespeare’s plays, and debating whether the death penalty should be abolished. These were not easy tasks to tackle, I remember there were many moments when I didn’t want to wake-up early and begin my schoolwork, or stay up late and finish my flashcards, however through each experience, God taught me what it looks like to persevere and work with excellence. I was challenged to do hard things and understand concepts that seemed at first to go way over my head.
Now that I have graduated and am continuing to pursue the passions God has given me, I am able to strive for excellence and choose perseverance in each season. Being surrounded by my family members, classmates, and other homeschool parents, who also had a desire for excellence, helped me to learn what it means to run the race marked out for us with endurance, as it talks about in Hebrews chapter 12.
Learn about Tailoring the Right Fit: Academic Integrity in Homeschooling
Encouragement for Families Considering Homeschooling as Their First Option
Through it all, homeschooling has taught me to love and know the first and greatest commandment, which says in Matthew 22:37 is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” With the help of my loving parents to challenge me and walk with me through all of life’s up and down, through the discussing of difficult conversations and questions in the CC classrooms, and lastly through practicing and studying hard and deep concepts throughout my education, I have learned what it looks like to Love God with ALL of my heart, ALL of my soul, and ALL of my mind. I know that giving God my yes is something I will never regret, and choosing to persevere through life with Him leading me is the greatest joy.
I will say that homeschooling is not easy. It will not look the same for every family. It will require sacrifice. However, if you choose to make it your first option, and the way you train up your children, you will not want to turn back. I challenge you to ask the Lord what does it look like for you to love Him well and steward the family He has given you? Who knows, maybe it will include saying yes to homeschooling!
Frequently Asked Questions About Homeschooling
Why do some families choose homeschooling as their first option instead of a fallback?
For many families, the decision comes down to protecting time together, building faith into everyday learning, and shaping family identity around shared values rather than convenience. Margot’s story reflects this: her parents chose homeschooling as an intentional first step toward discipleship and family closeness, not as a response to a negative experience elsewhere.
What is the Challenge program in Classical Conversations?
The Challenge program is CC’s middle and high school homeschool program for students ages 12 and up. It is built around community seminar discussion, research, and student-led learning across subjects like Latin, literature, history, and philosophy, the same conversations Margot credits with shaping her junior and senior years.
What does a typical homeschool family’s day look like in Classical Conversations?
As Margot describes it, homeschool days often mean siblings working side by side on different lessons, parents leading instruction directly, and flexibility to take school on the road during family trips. The rhythm centers on relationship and conversation as much as coursework.
If you’d like to learn more about leading your family in lifelong learning, check out these resources
- Homeschooling High School: Why You Can Do It and How Classical Conversations Helps: Another recent CC graduate shares her journey from Foundations through Challenge and why she encourages families to homeschool through high school.
- How the Challenge Program Challenged Me: A fellow graduate reflects on how the Challenge program’s pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness shaped her.
- Everyday Educator: Cultivating a Legacy: Second-generation homeschoolers discuss the lasting family culture homeschooling builds across generations.
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