As parents of several young children (four from age seven down to age one and we are pregnant with twins) our family participates just like everyone else in the field trips, classes, nursing home ministry, meetings, etc. of Considering Homeschooling of Orange County, CA (the original Considering Homeschooling that we founded in 2001). The local outreach has grown from a few families and now reaches hundreds. We thank Jesus for all the talented leaders who help out with this ministry.

The outreach not only blesses our family, by bringing us in contact with so many wonderful like-minded Christian families who are exploring homeschooling or just starting, but it gives us a real "finger on the pulse" view of what is happening with the new generation of homeschoolers.

We think that if all homeschool leaders had a frontline view, they would see the tremendous advantage of introducing homeschooling to Christian families as early as possible (even when a mother is pregnant with her first child or a couple enters pre-marital counseling). Also, they would understand why we are so urgent about the new pitfalls facing those starting to homeschool.

For example, believers who type in "homeschooling" in their search engine often find secular homeschool groups which put them in contact with the unsaved as mentors. This is not the kind of Titus 2 guidance that young Christian families, who may be only lightly discipled by the church, need.

Then, perhaps the biggest threat to the movement of biblical homeschooling in this country, charter schools and other government homeschooling programs lure believers in with free materials. But, these programs usurp the father's headship, putting a corrupt system of public school bureaucrats in charge of a family's homeschooling.

Also, there are the distorted attitudes most of us start out with. New generation homeschoolers, for example, often believe the driving focus of homeschooling is academics.

Add to this the tsunami of materialism that has hit the homeschool movement in the past few years. A lack of confidence and a credit card culture lead many to over buy, burn out and want to quit. The other day a mom, who is about to begin homeschooling, lamented to us that she spent hundreds of dollars at one homeschool seminar, and was sure she would spend a lot more if she attended another.

While we rejoice to see all the wonderful materials that have been developed for home educators, families need to learn that homeschooling can be done for practically free, especially with the internet. They need to know that the veterans who went before them often succeeded with very little.

Our point is this - when you engage in homeschool outreach, it is important to go beyond just introducing Christian parents to the idea of homeschooling. They need not just "you can do this" but "here is how." On this journey ourselves, we see how we needed to be shown a type of homeschooling that causes us to seek Jesus with all our heart, soul and mind as we go through the Refiner's fire of staying home with and discipling our children. The kind of homeschooling that brings us in contact with those veteran homeschoolers and Christian books that convict us -- about how wives should submit in a godly way to their husbands, about how husbands need to realize their God-given headship, about how children need to learn to love and obey their parents, etc.

Really it comes down to the integrity of the Christian homeschooling movement, about getting back to biblical roots. And, you as an individual or through an outreach can have a tremendous impact on the believers in Jesus around you as you help others consider homeschooling. May God bless the work of your hand.