To those considering homeschooling or preparing to begin, you may wonder if you need to have a degree to educate your children at home. The short answer is no! You do not need a college degree to teach your children at home. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states and you can find your states guidelines for compliance here. Rest assured though; you do not need a degree to begin your journey.
In regard to our rights and responsibilities as parents educating our children, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states this: “Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children” (CCC#2223)
St. John Paul II wrote the following in his Letter to Families:
“Parents are the first and most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area: they are educators because they are parents….”
“What is involved in raising children? In answering this question two fundamental truths should be kept in mind: first, that man is called to live in truth and love; and second, that everyone finds fulfilment through the sincere gift of self. This is true both for the educator and for the one being educated. Education is thus a unique process for which the mutual communion of persons has immense importance. The educator is a person who "begets" in a spiritual sense. From this point of view, raising children can be considered a genuine apostolate. It is a living means of communication, which not only creates a profound relationship between the educator and the one being educated, but also makes them both sharers in truth and love, that final goal to which everyone is called by God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
“Certainly one area in which the family has an irreplaceable role is that of religious education, which enables the family to grow as a "domestic church". Religious education and the catechesis of children make the family a true subject of evangelization and the apostolate within the Church. We are speaking of a right intrinsically linked to the principle of religious liberty. Families, and more specifically parents, are free to choose for their children a particular kind of religious and moral education consonant with their own convictions…”
You can find his entire Letter to Families here.
A final word, 2 Corinthians 3:5 says “Our qualifications come from God alone.”
You’ve got this! Because He has you!
God bless you on your journey.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
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