Every homeschooling family has a different story to tell. Today, tune in to Home School Heartbeat as Mike Smith interviews one homeschool dad about why he teaches his three sons at home.
Mike Smith:
Bruce Shortt is an attorney and homeschooling dad from Texas. It’s great to have you on the show again, Bruce.
Bruce Shortt:
Thank you, Mike.
Mike:
Today I’d like to talk to you about your family’s decision to homeschool. What led you to teach your three sons at home, Bruce?
Bruce:
Well, not long after the birth of our first son, my youngest sister gave me a secular book on homeschooling (I don’t know why she did it—she isn’t a homeschooler). But in any event, as a result of reading the book, I began to notice the occasional story in the press about homeschooling. By the time our first son was 4, I decided to see what I could do to teach him to read. Probably like a lot of beginners, I figured that if I didn’t do it well, it wouldn’t do any permanent damage. So I bought a phonics curriculum and the 1836 edition of McGuffey’s Readers and got started. Once I did start, I was astonished to discover how easy it is to teach a child to read.
Now because my wife is Vietnamese and her first language isn’t English, I do almost all the teaching. I should also mention that in Vietnam there was a strong tradition of rigorous French-style schooling, so culturally, homeschooling, to say the least, initially struck both my wife and her family as a peculiar idea. Frankly, there were many factors that came into play in my decision to homeschool our sons, but in retrospect I believe I was led to homeschool by the Holy Spirit in connection with His drawing me to Christ.
Mike:
Bruce, I agree with that 100 percent. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.
