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Billy Graham once said, “Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children.” For the homeschooling mother (or father), the same can be said of molding a child’s education. And to that molding process, the homeschooling parent brings a distinct advantage: No one knows a child better.

As parents, we understand our child’s personality, moods, likes and dislikes like no one else. We often see ourselves—our reasoning, our personality traits, even our shortcomings—in them. We understand what makes them tick, and we know how to reach them.

The same can’t be said for teachers in an institutional setting. Each year teachers are confronted with 20-30 new faces. Instead of focusing on individuals—something time and logistics simply doesn’t permit—the teacher instead focuses on lesson plans, their own teaching style, classroom management and the score and sequence established by the state or institution.

A homeschooling parent, by contrast, can focus on the individual child. How can I best teach this information to my child? is a question they consider. And the answer to that question changes for each of their children.

A veteran homeschooling mother recently admitted to me that in her quest to teach phonics to her young son, she gathered his most treasured toys, his Star Wars action figures, adopted her best Anakin Skywalker voice and presented the information yet again. With rapt attention, her son, who had before struggled with the concepts, quickly joined the fun and answered all of Anakin’s questions. The mom smiled. “You do what you have to do,” she said simply.

No school, no matter how progressive, would have been able to teach her son in such a creative and fun way. No teacher would have known the key to opening her child’s mind to the information. Why? Because like most parents, she knows her child. Parents know when something isn’t working. They know when their child isn’t giving 100%. They know when their child has hit a wall with a new concept. They know when that child finally has a breakthrough. They know when their child is tired and in need of a break. Why? Because they are parents.

Taking on the education of your child may seem daunting, but the reward of watching her grow, persevere and understand is a treasure. No teacher will appreciate that quite like you because, after all, you are the parent and no one knows your child better.

Next time, I’ll share another reason for homeschooling’s success when I discuss the beauty of Individualized Pacing.