by Vicki Stormoen
Dec. 2, 2025
In J. Oswald Sanders’s book on leadership, he asks a thought-provoking question: “Do you direct people or develop people?” I have been pondering this question in my own sphere of homeschooling influence and am realizing that the former is easier than the latter. However, leadership is rarely about what is easier. As the private, Christian homeschooling movement faces new challenges each year, it is today’s homeschool leaders who are poised to shape how the future of private homeschooling looks. With some prayer and intentionality, leaders can use their sphere of influence to directly impact the next generation of homeschooling. As leaders of your homeschool group, take some time to think through how you can grow in your leadership skills in terms of heart, inspiration, and purpose. Leading through challenging times (or with challenging people) can often cause leaders to shift from leading with heart to leading with grit. While both things are often needed, depending on the situation, leading with intentional heart and love for your community does not need to be sacrificed even when working through challenging situations. Sometimes, circumstances, drama, or people can cause us to forget why we initially pursued this leadership role. We can forget that we actually love the vision and purpose that our families are seeking to employ through homeschooling their children. Homeschooling is hard enough without extra challenges thrown into the mix. Make sure your families know you care about them, are praying for them, are available to meet with them, and support them even when you may be feeling overwhelmed or frustrated by challenges within your group. Navigating challenges with love and grace will likely bless and minister to those who are simply watching how you lead. While sometimes terrifying to admit, your members are watching you and are either being inspired or discouraged to stay the course. How you live out the homeschooling life is manifested both verbally and in practice. We can say all the right (and true) things about the blessings of homeschooling, but we need to then go about the homeschooling of our own children in such a way that mirrors what we are saying. That doesn’t mean we ignore the challenges or fake it til we make it. But how we go through typical homeschooling difficulties (either with our kids’ academic challenges, attitudes, conflicts, etc.) should match up with the blessing we are declaring homeschooling to be. Inspiring your families to see challenges as sanctifying moments or opportunities to further invest in their kids in a way that would be impossible to do in a traditional school setting is an exciting aspect of being a homeschool leader. Model for them how to turn sibling spats into discipleship moments about repentance and forgiveness. Show them how to slow down and prioritize family time and make memories to avoid homeschool burnout. Encourage them to balance extracurriculars, family, church, and academics by how you balance those things. Give them a real snapshot of how this all looks (the good and the ugly), all while persevering and being faithful to the call as homeschooling parents. Many families are ready to call it quits at some point during any given school year. Let them be able to look to you to see that it can, in fact, be done and done well, even through trials and challenges. Inspire them to stay the course by how you are staying the course (or how you stayed the course). In the midst of the busyness of leading your organization, try not to lose sight of the purposeful development of your families. While much of our job as homeschool leaders is to provide events, services, classes, and/or resources to our families, being a leader places you in a position to do much more than that. Intentionally have a plan in place to help your families see the bigger picture behind the nuts and bolts of homeschooling. Give them practical ideas on how to incorporate a biblical worldview into their everyday subjects and activities. Train them to see homeschooling and parenting obstacles as occasions to grow their children’s relationship with God. Teach them to see those challenges as opportunities that they should embrace rather than run from. Make sure your families leave your organization having grown in their understanding and implementation of the generational legacy of being a homeschooling parent. Leadership is not always easy, but, done well, it is always rewarding. The impact you are having on other families is commendable. Lovingly strive for unity and heart in how you interact with your group. Inspire those God has placed under you to pursue their calling as homeschooling parents with intentionality, perseverance, and vision. Help your families grow in their understanding of the larger vision behind the ins and outs of homeschooling. The temptation to lead on cruise control is great. God has placed you in a position that can accomplish so much more than utilizing your effective organizational skills. Use that position to love, impact, and develop the families He has placed in your group. God bless you for your sacrificial investment in furthering the private, Christian homeschooling movement! _________________________________ Vicki has been privately homeschooling since 1994. She and her husband have 9 kids and 8 grandkids. She will be graduating her final student this year, thus ending her 32-year homeschool journey. She currently serves as the Principal for Heritage Christian School, a large PSP located in San Diego. She is passionate about the vision of private homeschooling as a means to raising a godly generation of students for the glory of Jesus Christ.
