Before you become a Homeschooling Torah member, it’s good to know what you’re getting into. Here are 20 of the most common reasons why Homeschooling Torah hasn’t met the needs of some families and why parents opted against Homeschooling Torah altogether. Do you see yourself in any of these?
1. Your kids don’t like reading.
Homeschooling Torah’s programs are centered on books and reading—especially reading aloud from the Bible. You’ll read aloud over 20 books a year in our history programs, all students read from their Bibles each day (sometimes many chapters!), and high school students read several chapters from other books each day. If you or your children don’t like reading, Homeschooling Torah probably isn’t going to be a good fit for your family.
But even if your children don’t like listening to you read aloud or enjoy reading on their own, be encouraged: for many families, the wonderful books included in Homeschooling Torah transform their reluctant readers into book lovers. (We’ve watched the Bible alone do that!) Both children and adults have become enthusiastic readers while using Homeschooling Torah.
2. Your kids don’t like Bible discussions.
Homeschooling Torah schedules discussions throughout our entire curriculum. We base this “homeschooling method” on Deuteronomy 6:7, which says, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
In the Bible, we read and discuss what the passages mean. In history, we encourage parents to have their children retell what they have learned and discuss the consequences of people’s choices throughout time, comparing them to what the Bible says. In science, we start each week discussing vocabulary words from science, looking them up in our dictionary, and then opening our Bibles to see what God says about things. This continues throughout the day, in math, writing, grammar, and so much more.
Discussions can take time, and we understand how busy life can get. Some parents prefer to check their children’s comprehension with worksheets, tests, and quizzes. While Homeschooling Torah uses these occasionally, most of the time we check how well our children are learning by simply talking to them. If they can explain it, they know it.
However, if you feel uncomfortable with these forms of teaching and testing, or if you know you simply won’t have time for it, Homeschooling Torah might not be a great fit for you.
3. You prefer the idea of a computer-based program.
Overall, Homeschooling Torah’s programs do require daily parental involvement. During the elementary and middle school years, parents are typically involved in almost all aspects of their children’s schooling. There is just so much invaluable discussion that we believe shouldn’t be missed by leaving the teaching to an online program or instructor. With Homeschooling Torah, we encourage you to implement Deuteronomy 6:6-9 every single day.
Your Teacher’s Guides have done as much of the preparatory work for you as possible, so almost every minute of your time is spent in direct, face-to-face interaction with your children. Even so, Homeschooling Torah curriculum requires two to three hours a day of a parent’s time, with less in the very early elementary years, a bit more in the middle elementary years, and then fewer hours again later on. High school students have the option of working independently, with only small amounts of purposeful discussion, although if you can incorporate more time with your high school students, we strongly encourage it. It’s up to you.
You can reduce the total time required for each level by skipping assignments. To educate your children the Homeschooling Torah way, you will need to invest time interacting with your children. But we like to think that’s a blessing, not a burden.
4. You prefer to focus more on academics than Bible study and character development.
At Homeschooling Torah, we believe that parents have a responsibility before YHWH to help their children acquire wisdom and be prepared to do Kingdom work someday. We believe the Bible provides everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) and that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” so that our children will become adults who are “complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Because of this, we incorporate a LOT of Bible into Homeschooling Torah. Your children will read the Bible, listen to you read the Bible, discuss the Bible, write the Bible, memorize the Bible, study the Bible, learn Hebrew so they can read the Bible in its original manuscripts, and copy large portions of the Bible by hand.
But Homeschooling Torah is also highly academic. A well-rounded education in elementary, middle, and high school is valuable preparation for almost any post-high school pursuit. We value teaching our children to think logically, read widely, and communicate effectively. Graduates can choose a specialty in college, trade school, the military, or the workforce, or they can choose to go into full-time ministry! We value strong families, so we work hard to equip young adults to have strong marriages and know how to be wise fathers and mothers themselves.
We have seen the Bible transform students, even those with special needs. Parents are often astonished by how much their children are learning. We know it’s not really because of Homeschooling Torah but because “the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).
Homeschooling Torah is an excellent option, whether you choose it because of the amount of Bible you’ll be incorporating, because of the academics, because of the lifestyle of discussion, because of the character instruction, or because you, yourself, simply love to learn. You will be with your children every day! There’s plenty of opportunity for you all to grow deeper into His Word.
5. You like creating your own homeschool program.
Many mothers truly enjoy creating their own homeschool program.
However, some moms have observed that it takes hours to collect ideas and organize materials. Sometimes the projects flop, or the ideas don’t work as planned—which can feel like a lot of wasted time and effort.
On the other hand, you might hesitate to use a “boxed curriculum” because you fear it might force your children into a box, limiting what they can learn and accomplish, by including too much busywork. The last thing you want is to create school at home. You really want to customize your children’s education!
Many parents have found, however, that the reality with Homeschooling Torah is the exact opposite.
Having resources ready at hand can mean that you’re always able to read interesting books and do hands-on projects, with everything already planned for you. There is always more material to cover and more ideas to discover, but not having to organize your entire day from scratch means that you’re more available to your children and actually have more time, not less, to help them explore their unique and individual interests.
Reading aloud to your children and having in-depth Bible discussions can lead your children to ask more questions and become more invested in their learning. They often want to know more about the topics you’re covering and care about the people and events in the books they are reading because they realize the importance the Bible places on these things.
If you delight in researching and augmenting your children’s homeschool, you can have the best of all possible worlds when you use Homeschooling Torah as a foundation and add to it. Having a ready-to-go plan for each subject truly makes things easier, can provide increased freedom, and improves the amount and quality of time you spend with your children. You can create a homeschool program tailored to your family’s needs.
6. You’re hesitant to make such a large commitment without seeing the curriculum firsthand.
If you can attend a Torah Sisters Retreat or a Sukkot near where Homeschooling Torah is located in Michigan, we would love to show you our curriculum materials and answer your questions about the program in person.
But if you’re unable to travel (and most can’t!), you can download the first three weeks of the curriculum for every subject from our website to get a general idea of what your lesson plans will look like. Click here to view all our samples.
And please remember that Homeschooling Torah backs your purchase with our 100% guarantee. If you’re not satisfied with Homeschooling Torah, simply email us within your first 30 days. We’ll refund your fee and cancel your membership—with no hassle to you whatsoever.
And if you prefer to talk to someone, like you could in a bookstore or at a convention, use our Pick-Our-Brains feature for a one-on-one conversation!
7. You want a Teacher’s Guide to tell you exactly what to do, rather than give you ideas and options you much choose from.
Your Homeschooling Torah teacher’s guides are merely a schedule, not a standard to hold yourself to, because the Homeschooling Torah teacher’s guides are just that…a guide, not a taskmaster. Here are some examples of how families may elect to use Homeschooling Torah:
- Most parents pick and choose from the suggested assignments. Even if they read most of the books, they might ignore some comprehension questions or skip some writing assignments.
- Some families skip the timeline figures during the school year and instead elect to spend a few hours at the end of the school year assembling their timeline all at once as a year-end review.
- Some parents skip the “recommended books” and only use the “necessary books,” spending more time in discussion or researching the topics on their own instead.
- Some choose to read some books at night, as bedtime stories. Or they might save some of the read-aloud books for the summer when their children are more likely to be bored.
- Some families combine Days 4 and 5 of each week so that they have more time for Sabbath prep, for extra co-op classes, or for extracurricular activities.
And the beauty is… ALL the families described above are giving their children a terrific education.
8. You want your children to follow the same sequence as your local school district.
We believe that God’s Word, the Bible (all 66 books), is the only educational standard that matters. If the states pass a standard that happens to match up with Scripture, we’re in agreement with those parts only. Of course, we’re fully aware that many parts of local and state standards do not match Scripture. We want nothing to do with those.
Do we believe there are certain things that all people should be taught? Yes. We believe that reading and writing are necessary, because “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” We believe that math and science are essential, as long as they are taught from a young-earth, literal, six 24-hour day viewpoint. We believe that history is revealed in the Bible, and that all time is known by God before it happens (and so we want our children to know that). And so on…..
We’d like to add that Homeschooling Torah is committed to excellence in education. The people King David chose to serve in the Temple, for instance, were remarkably well-educated. And then there was Daniel and the young men taken captive from Israel to Babylon, who were “without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace” (Daniel 1:4).
We remain committed to the belief that the Bible should be the primary textbook for both homeschooling and life. However, we feel believers in Yeshua should be characterized by excellence. There IS a specific body of information that children need to learn. “Flying by the seat of our pants” doesn’t seem biblical. “Natural” methods that let life happen as it comes are not found in Scripture. Yes, the discussions “just happen,” but the specific body of information to be learned is “set down in stone” ahead of time. Just as Moses wrote YHWH’s instructions down so that he could communicate them to Israel, a plan also helps us be intentional in how we teach our students.
So while we might not teach academics in the same order or with the same methods as your local public school, rest assured that Homeschooling Torah believes in excellence in education.
9. You don’t want to teach all your children the same materials, no matter their ages.
At Homeschooling Torah, we love the way one-room schoolhouses used to be set up, where teachers started with discussion aimed at their oldest students, while the younger ones listened in and learned from those who were more experienced. Hearing the same materials repeated a few times over their school years helped with retention. Of course, in subjects such as reading and arithmetic, those old-time teachers also made sure to work with the younger students individually.
At home, kindergarten and first-grade students might not grasp all the content being discussed with their fifth and sixth-grade siblings, let alone high-school students, but Homeschooling Torah is set up to repeat topics 2-3 times over the years, so that the younger children can revisit conversations with a new maturity.
And some older topics are saved for when the younger children are playing or taking a nap.
Homeschooling Torah offers age-appropriate assignments for younger children learning to read, middle-aged students eager to learn, and teenagers ready for more responsibility. This allows you to move everyone forward at their appropriate levels.
10. You want your children to lead their own course of study.
Homeschooling Torah is structured. However, just because the Teacher Guides plan out a course of study for you, you don’t have to do precisely what it says. Our lesson plans are designed so you can easily modify the program. In fact, some unschoolers have appreciated having the foundational structure Homeschooling Torah offers: it gave them more confidence to launch out on their own beyond what the lesson plans suggested. They have woven their free-form program around the ideas Homeschooling Torah provides.
We have often said Homeschooling Torah is a bit like a restaurant buffet. There are many things to choose from, but you certainly don’t need to do them all. If you love the idea of lots of Bible and enjoy modifying things to meet your needs, you should do just fine with Homeschooling Torah.
11. You want history that focuses on every culture around the world, rather than primarily the cultures mentioned in the Bible.
There are many good history curricula available to homeschoolers today. Why write another one? One reason is that we want to use the Bible as our primary textbook when homeschooling our children. We believe that the Bible is 100% accurate and was written by our Creator; therefore, it contains the most important information our Creator wants us to know.
History is no exception. While the Bible’s account of history varies substantially from secular accounts, we believe that only the Bible’s record is accurate and true.
- We believe that history is simply the unfolding of “His Story.” History (as well as the future) is all in God’s view, and everything that has happened and will happen is for His glory.
- We believe that from Genesis to Revelation, God tells us about His Kingdom, why He created us, why sin is so destructive, and His amazing plan of redemption.
- We believe that all of history (past, present and future) has been revealed in His Word. When we study prophecy in Scripture with our children, and as we see how God is always faithful to His Word, our faith and trust in Him is confirmed (Isaiah 40:8). This is a great reason to study history!
One very nice feature of using Scripture to tell history is that, especially when Scripture is committed to memory, our children are provided with a mental timeline. As they grow into adulthood and discover the history of other cultures, they will be able to put all other historical and current events into their proper perspective, always seen from God’s viewpoint.
Our prayer is that, by telling the story of all history (from creation to modern times) from God’s perspective, as written in the Bible, we will cover the most important details —the things that God most wants our children to know and understand. We think you’ll enjoy the journey!
12. You would prefer science that teaches both evolution and creation.
Homeschooling Torah has a staunch belief that YHWH spoke the world into existence in six literal, twenty-four-hour periods. We are creationists, and we emphasize it throughout our curriculum without apology. While some of the websites and videos linked in our Science program assume an evolutionary/old-earth perspective, we will give you a heads-up and help you explain the Bible’s perspective in each case.
You may have been told that it’s important to “open the minds” of your children by exposing them to a variety of viewpoints, allowing them to make their own logical decisions from evidence that all sides bring to a discussion. You may wonder, Is there such a thing as “truth”? Or is everything relative? Even if truth exists, is it possible for us to know it?
It is significant that Scripture opens with the words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). These words form the most basic premise of everything else in the Bible. In other words, all other things presented in the Bible will be filtered through the lens of how we interpret the first verse. If we believe that God “created” the world, but we mean it only in a mystical, figurative sense, then we will interpret the rest of Scripture with a mystical, figurative sense as well. Commands and promises become bendable to our circumstances, molding to our own opinions.
True science is based upon observation of the physical world. In order to believe in evolution, we have to suppress our God-given senses of the physical world. We must disregard physical evidence and substitute it with a lie. Here is a key point: When we choose science over Scripture, we “exchange the truth about God for a lie, and worship and serve created things rather than the Creator” (from Romans 1:25).
At Homeschooling Torah, creationism is not just a topic for science or ancient history. Creationism is not just a debate for biblical scholars and scientists. Creationism affects you, and it affects your children. We encourage you to be proactive and clearly teach the biblical account of creation to your children—starting young, teaching often, and discussing long.
13. You want a flat-Earth cosmology.
At Homeschooling Torah, we do not teach that the Earth is flat. We spend a lot of time teaching our children how to observe the world around us in a logical way, and we expect the physical world to match what the Bible says.
However, the modern flat-Earth movement is based on ancient Greek cosmologies. Bible skeptics from the 19th century introduced the idea that the Earth is flat in an attempt to discredit Christians who believed the Bible to be true. Evidence presented for a flat Earth has been repeatedly shown as being false when examined by multiple witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15).
At Homeschooling Torah, we spend more time teaching students how to use sound methods to interpret the Bible. We believe that Truth can be verified and also tested, and we show our students how to do that. We encourage critical thinking and the ability to understand difficult topics, including math and physics. Rather than promoting mysticism or secret knowledge (gnosticism), we teach evidence-based truth firmly grounded in the entire Bible’s message, rather than individual verses taken out of context.
If this is a deal-breaker for you and you would prefer not to study some of these topics with your children from a round-Earth perspective, Homeschooling Torah might not be a good fit for you. Learn more about how we approach the topic of flat Earth.
14. You don’t want to use any Internet websites or YouTube videos in your children’s education.
HomeschoolingTorah has a goal of offering curriculum that is affordable for families but also filled with delightful lessons for our children.
We are living in an amazing period in history, for just as the printing press revolutionized our world by giving us books, the Internet is doing it again! As we see it, the primary way that the gospel has been spread has been (1) by word of mouth, (2) by printed books, and (3) by the Internet. Without the Internet, we would have never questioned things such as Sabbath, unclean foods, holidays, and more. The growth of the Torah Movement over the past two decades has been exponential, to put it mildly.
Most homeschoolers understand the importance of talking to their students each day. Many value the importance of wonderful books, especially the Bible. But how many value the Internet in their efforts?
The Internet is constantly being updated with the newest research and ideas. The Internet allows us to access experts in their fields and talented individuals who present information in a way that is easy for us to learn. The Internet can be interactive, and videos and websites can make subjects “come alive” even more than living books can!
Books are great, and the Internet can be, too, as long as we see each of these things as tools that our Father gives us to help us equip and train our children.
However, if accessing websites under your supervision or watching YouTube videos together as a family is something you’d rather not do at all, Homeschooling Torah might not work well for you.
15. You want Torah studies that are focused on Jewish tradition and culture, but you don’t necessarily think Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah.
We deeply respect your commitment to raising your children with a strong foundation in Torah, Jewish tradition, and culture. Our program is designed to provide a rich, faith-based education that honors the beauty and depth of the teachings of the Tanakh, and we’re excited to share this journey with you.
However, at the heart of our curriculum is a belief in Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah, which shapes our approach to Torah study and biblical interpretation. We also value the New Testament as inspired Scripture.
We integrate this perspective thoughtfully, emphasizing love for the Torah, the Jewish people, and the rich heritage of Jewish tradition. However, we understand that not all families share this belief, and we want to be upfront about our framework to ensure a good fit. If your family is seeking a Torah-focused education rooted exclusively in traditional Jewish teachings without reference to Yeshua, Homeschooling Torah will not fully align with your goals.
16. You are a Christian who does not think the Torah needs to be obeyed today, so you would prefer not to teach that to your children.
If your goal is to use the Bible as your primary textbook, we think you would love Homeschooling Torah. We use Scriptures in every subject. Old Testament, New Testament, all of it.
We go verse by verse. That’s really what we mean by “Torah Observant” anyway. Our goal is to do Bible things in Bible ways.
The word Torah is a Hebrew word meaning “instruction.” It carries the idea of an archer trying to shoot an arrow that hits its mark. In English, it is usually translated law, which doesn’t even begin to convey the beauty of the Hebrew word. Specifically, the Torah is another name for the Pentateuch, or the first 5 books of the Bible.
We ourselves were looking for a curriculum that was more than just fluff. We didn’t want to only copy verses that had the plan of salvation or good character qualities. We wanted to really dig in with our children and help them learn the whole Bible.
As Paul wrote to Timothy, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
There will be a few things that are specifically intended for Torah-observant families who are our main audience. The curriculum will use “YHWH” instead of “the LORD.” It’ll say Yeshua instead of Jesus. We will promote Sabbath and biblical holidays from Leviticus 23, and we include learning activities for those. The recipes and menus have only clean food (see Leviticus 11).
Those are the unique teachings you will find in Homeschooling Torah, but they will be presented straight from the Bible. If you value the Word of God, we think you’d feel very comfortable with Homeschooling Torah.
17. You prefer frequent, written tests and quizzes.
From its foundation, Homeschooling Torah was designed to be a rich curriculum where children were tutored by their own parents through instruction and discussion.
Because you’re in daily, personal, one-on-one contact with your students (unlike the relationship that exists between most classroom teachers and their students), you’ll be able to evaluate the progress of your students through means other than quizzes, tests, and gradable worksheets.
When you’re reading a book together, you’ll likely discuss it with your children: “Why do you think he wanted to do that?” “What does ____ mean?” In fact, we provide you with these discussion starters in your teacher guides. If your children are able to answer your questions, you will know exactly how much they have understood–or how much they have failed to understand. Your daily discussion should give you the feedback you need to be confident in your children’s day-to-day progress.
We also include “notebooking” assignments, where your children show through pictures and words exactly what they have learned in that day’s lesson. These assignments become a portfolio that you can save as a record of what has been learned, plus wonderful memories to treasure for years.
However, if you don’t think you’re likely to have daily discussions with your children or take the time to do notebooking assignments, you might not be a good fit for the methods we use at Homeschooling Torah.
18. You want hands-on activities every day.
Homeschooling Torah certainly includes hands-on activities, but hands-on has never been our emphasis. We believe that the educational value of many activities often aren’t worth the hours of preparation the parents must complete.
So, more often than not, we encourage you to allow your children to decide for themselves what activities they want to do as they read about new places and people. A box, after all, may become their diorama, cave, airplane, or house.
With Homeschooling Torah, you’ll find weekly suggestions for hands-on activities and experiments in Science. History occasionally includes crafts, and we have a fun and useful craft project for every single Torah portion. Arithmetic definitely incorporates hands-on manipulatives to help the children learn math concepts.
However, if you wish to do hands-on concepts in every subject, every day, Homeschooling Torah might not fulfill your desire.
19. You want to teach with worksheets.
Worksheets can be very appealing to homeschooling families, especially those who are very busy. However, a Homeschooling Torah education deals with real-life, practical things that take time and effort to think and talk through.
When, for example, you read the Torah with your children, they might hear some really unexpected things: slavery, ways to treat people fairly, and how to deal with corrupt governments. It will take time to work through what YHWH means.
It’s not as easy as answering a catechism question, like “Who was Jesus?” with “God the Son.” But it is meaningful.
Not easy, but worthwhile.
And for the worksheet-loving children, they can enjoy Homeschooling Torah’s Language Arts and Science worksheets, and additional worksheets for Math, Grammar, and History. Even with a Homeschooling Torah education, you can enjoy plenty of worksheets.
They just aren’t our focus where the depth and breadth of the information requires more discussion and thought.
20. You do not want to have to print out the teacher’s guides or student lessons.
At Homeschooling Torah, we provide you with printable PDF downloads with in-depth teacher guides, student worksheets, notebook pages, journals, charts, and more.
When you join Homeschooling Torah, you’ll access our easy eBook lessons, print them yourself, and save money in every subject. For only $479 a year, this is the most economical way you could ever access over $2000 worth of curriculum. No printing company can compete with this price, especially when you realize you can print and re-print as many times as you’d like, for as many members of your family as you’d like.
However, if you don’t like printing, you can choose to access the curriculum on your favorite device, or you can send the PDF files to your favorite print shop (such as Torah Family Living). We are gradually making our curriculum available as printed books through our store. Many of our books are already available, and we anticipate adding more each year.
Meanwhile, members of Homeschooling Torah always get access to our entire curriculum in eBook (PDF) form, for one low price each month. Hit print… punch holes… insert into budget-friendly binders… and open and go! It couldn’t be easier.
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