Why Bother? What’s the point of a great education if your children can’t seem to remember most of it?

Why Bother Homeschooling

Tell me I’m not the only one…

You spend hours crafting the Ultimate Book List…

You incorporate hands-on-projects…

You basically make learning awesome and fun…

And a few years (or maybe even months or – worse – weeks) later, your children don’t seem to remember any of it.

It’s tempting to get a little grumpy about the perceived waste of time and effort.

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I’ve been thinking about this phenomenon a lot recently while I begin planning book lists and course goals for my high school student.

You may remember that I was also homeschooled, and I think this second-generation perspective gives me unique insight.  You see, my parents gave me an amazing education.  It was rich in language and great books and original sources and philosophy and discussion and hands-on practicality and fun and adventures… and did I mention the hundreds of books?  But there are so many details I can’t remember (what exactly was Adam Smith’s main point in Wealth of Nations? and which constitutional amendment says what?)!

So was all that education a waste if I can’t remember the details?  Was all that reading a waste if I can’t even remember all the main points, let alone the details?  If education is merely the accumulation of knowledge, does my forgetfulness over the course of decades mean my education has failed?

What is the point of providing a true, good, and beautiful education if our children may not even be able to remember most of it?

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I can’t remember now where I first heard this, but I remember someone asking a similar question about sermons.  How many of us can remember details (or even the key points) of sermons from 6 months or 5 years ago?  Does it then follow that they are a waste of our time?  No!  For the grace of God is at work transforming our hearts through those simple words each week.  We may not be able to list out or measure what we’ve heard in the past, but we see the results in who we are today.

Thus it is with the education we receive and give.

Why Bother Homeschooling, Point of Education

These days, I may not be able to debate with you the finer points of Augustine’s City of God, Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, or Schaeffer’s The God Who is There, but those works and others were part of the incredible process God graciously used to form the human I am today.

I don’t know now (and certainly didn’t fully recognize even in the past) each stroke of the chisel, each swipe of the sandpaper over my character.  But those millions of words shaped and nourished the way I think and what I love.  The experience of being challenged by the things I learned gave me a passion for continuing to learn and question and grow that remains today.

This gives me great hope and renewed enthusiasm as I direct my own children’s education.  My goal is not for them to indefinitely remember lists of facts.  It’s not for them to pass reading comprehension tests.  I don’t have to despair if my kids don’t remember the cool projects we did during history lessons 5 years ago.

I can trust the process.  I can trust that God is at work.  I can trust that the “little drops of water, little grains of sand” are forming who they are.  They’re learning not what to think, but how to think.

Education is repentance.  Education, pursued well, leads to humility and doxology.  Education must not ever be reduced to merely filling our minds with information.

So, I’ll keep crafting epic book lists for our read-alouds and read-alones.  I’ll keep having deep conversations in addition to random discussions about the little things that make up daily life.  I’ll keep reading the Bible and memorizing beautiful words and worshiping God and praying alongside my family.

And I’ll stand still and watch the beautiful work God continues to do in all of us, for His glory and our good.

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9 thoughts on “Why Bother? What’s the point of a great education if your children can’t seem to remember most of it?”

  1. Pingback: World War 2 Booklist for Middle School and High School – Humility and Doxology

    1. Julie, I am so thankful to hear this was an encouragement to you today! God is often faithful to remind us of truth at just the right moments. ❤ Standfast! ❤

      1. Amy, thank you so much for this great perspective. I just discovered your blog and love it! Your content is so rich and meaningful!

  2. “Education is repentance. Education, pursued well, leads to humility and doxology. Education must not ever be reduced to merely filling our minds with information.”

    This is really beautiful.

    As one of mine has graduated, and the next isn’t far behind, I am beginning to see the benefits of homeschooling — and I can’t quite articulate them or put my finger on them, but they are there! Things of the heart – compassion, perseverance, gentleness, a good work ethic – these are what I’m seeing.

    When I was in the trenches with my kids during their younger year I would stress about the small stuff – about them not remembering things, etc… Now I see that I was always working towards a Greater Good – and that is never time wasted!

    1. Oh thank you, Mary, for sharing your long-term perspective! You’re so right. We can easily get lost and stressed in the little details, those things that seem oh-so-important as we’re in the trenches. It’s encouraging to hear from Mamas who are nearing the other side of the adventure… that it’s really all going to be ok. 🙂 God is faithful!

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