I Wanted to Be Laura Ingalls. God Had Other Plans.

A Christian Homeschool Mom's Guide to Using AI Well

Using Technology, Including AI, as a Christian Homeschool Mother

If I had my way, I would live like Little House on the Prairie. No phones, computers, or tech to clog up daily life. I've long romanticized the notion of "the olden days."

However, the reality is I find myself smack dab in the technology generation — particularly the part where everyone is still trying to figure out how to use this stuff well, find the balance, and not be consumed by helpful tools.

I still bake bread from scratch — although admittedly with the help of modern conveniences like a gas oven, and most recently a KitchenAid. I resisted that (the KitchenAid) technology for about the first 13 years of my married life. I guess baby number four wore me down! I still read Little House on the Prairie to our kids from a real, paper book. I haven't gone all in all things techy. I see the value is preserving some simple areas of life.

Yet, so much of what we've done with Lamp and Light Living and That It May Go Well Christian Homeschool Curriculum wouldn't have been possible without the technological advances that have become widely available in the last few years. I genuinely feel like God paused us at times to allow the technology we would need to produce TMGW to catch up.

As a mother of four, using technology to produce the homeschool curriculum God inspired us to make has been a lifesaver. When I wrote Cycle 2, I had a newborn as I wrote units 2–6. I used voice-to-text features heavily — and just a little while back they hadn't been nearly so advanced.

AI became a very helpful and useful tool for me as we created the Rainbow Homeschool Program. We are still the creators behind everything Lamp & Light and TMGW. All of the ideas are ours, yet so much of the heavy lifting is done with tech help these days. It has allowed us to create a God-honoring program that gets families into the Word of God through Promises- A family Bible Plan, supplies a much-needed, graceful, and easy-to-use curriculum for large families, and has met our personal needs — all while preserving our sanity and our family!

I'll date myself. I remember the first time I used the internet. It was in 5th grade for a research project. My younger sisters? They don't remember the first time they used the internet. By the time they came along, a computer sat in our living room.

My dad was way ahead of his time on technology. He had a computer since the time I was born, and back then that was before most! I recall my parents' first block cell phones — the flip phone type that certainly wasn't "cool." The antenna pulled out of the top of the phone and the battery was larger than the phone itself.

My point is, and perhaps you can relate, I've grown up in the age where everyone is testing these things out. Sometimes we ask ourselves questions about their impact, and other times we just start using them without thinking twice.

The Bible talks about God placing us in the specific time and place in which we live. God's call on each of our lives looks a little different. I feel like I spent years arguing with God that He probably should have placed me 100 years before He did. But He didn't.

He placed me right here. To live through the changing of a millennium, to watch iPhones become glued to half of the population's face, to see the rise of AI, and to try to raise godly kids in an ungodly world.

I'm not the only one. You're here too. And I'm willing to guess that if you're reading this, you probably care. You want to do this — whatever this is — well.

I wanted the "bury my head in the sand, pretend I live in the past" mindset to be the answer. Yet God hasn't let me run from the calling on our lives.

My husband is naturally more techy than I am. He's good with all of it. Thankfully. The house God amazingly provided us is smart — or at least that's what they call it. Ha! I'll say this, you better be smart to deal with it! Thankfully, Chad is.

I could give you the full play-by-play of God shifting me from "nope, I'll use only what I must" concerning technology, to using it well and for His glory. But you might get bored. So, know that's it in a nutshell. For what personal testimony is worth — consider me Jonah. I was running from it, God wasn't letting me, so here we are writing a blog about our family, and I spend more hours a day using a laptop than often feels "healthy" to me.

I know we're right within the call of God on our lives, and it is abundantly more screen time than feels "holy."

You can debate me on that — you must wrestle it out with God on your own. The answer for you may well be different than it is for us. Also — SEASONS. Let God shift you as the season of your life shifts.

So How Do We Use Technology Safely While We Homeschool?

This is a fantastic question! I'm glad you asked!

Before we dive straight into the practical, I want to address the spiritual and responsibility elements first.

Technology can lead to all kinds of sin and temptation. The internet, AI, etc.

So can fruit.

The very first sin ever committed was taking fruit that God said not to.

Satan loves to turn everything toward bad. God uses anything we give Him and obey Him on for good. God gave Adam and Eve a beautiful garden to live in. Nearly everything in the garden was a YES! There was one no. And what did Satan go for when tempting them? The one no.

I'm not saying the internet or AI is the Garden of Eden. Far from it. We live in a very fallen and painful world.

My point is simply this: Satan knows how to take a perfect place, people who hadn't yet sinned, and turn it into the worst disaster.

Anything can be bad if you aren't obeying God. Food can be bad — overeat and you're a glutton. Talking can be bad — overspeak and you're a gossip. Sex can be bad when it's outside of marriage and abused by the world. Obedience to God through every avenue is essential.

God creates many beautiful, good things that we have to learn to use for His glory. Wrong engagement in nearly anything can lead to sin. Eating nourishing food leads to life, using our mouths to glorify God and build one another up is essential, and sex within a God-honoring marriage is fruitful and wonderful!

I believe it's imperative for believers to use technology within the confines of obedience to God. We squander an incredible opportunity to further the kingdom of God if we're like the man who, out of fear, took the talent he had been given and hid it in the ground instead of multiplying it.

Thankfully, I'm far from the first Christian to believe this way! I just want to help YOU leverage technology to help you homeschool in a way that honors and glorifies God — and lightens your load.

The rest of this blog will be dedicated mostly to practical ideas. 🙃

Ways I Use AI in Our Homeschool Day

1. Writing feedback. I take a photo of our son's paper and put it into Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude. I preface it with something like this: "Please give me helpful and constructive feedback for my 6th grader's writing assignment. I would like a list of all spelling errors, grammar errors, and some helpful and encouraging writing tips." Both my son and I love this! I can give him much of this feedback myself, and I still do. But it does take some off my plate for the simple errors to be found and listed in an organized fashion. Most of all, it allows him to receive constructive ideas that don't come directly from me. I know we could pay someone for this. I know I could enroll him in a writing class — online or otherwise. But guess what? I don't have to. I have a free, very easy-to-use tool at my fingertips.

2. Grading math. This is probably my favorite on this list! Same idea — snap a quick picture of a math page and ask an AI tool to grade it. I've found that on nearly all basic math pages, AI does a stellar job!

3. Editing my own writing. This one probably isn't as widely applicable to all moms. But I use AI to edit for myself. I still have the most important things we create looked at by our editor, Sara. She catches things AI doesn't, to be sure! But for a blog like this, you can be sure I just run it through AI quickly to find all the places I spelled recommend wrong or put a t instead of a y. I don't like to have AI totally write content for me very often. AI didn't write this, and when I do use it I give it strict guidelines that it's fairly good at adhering to. Don't be afraid to be bossy. I'll say something like: "I want my voice entirely preserved in what I wrote. I do not want you to alter my examples or meaning. Please ONLY correct my grammar, spelling, and any mistakes." Double check the results. Once, I just said "refine" and AI decided my pencil-chewing example wasn't good enough to make the cut. But that's real life — please tell me my kids aren't the only ones who chew pencils and erasers! So be bossy again. I quickly let AI know that nope, that example was intentional and real moms get it. Don't take things out of my writing like that.

4. Have genuine conversations with your kids about what AI is — and isn't. We've already started this. It feels like important training for our kids. AI sounds like a friend. It isn't. It's a friendly tool, but there is no person on the other side of that screen. When I text my friend, communicate with our editor, or email with you, there's a person with feelings who cares. AI is not that. I don't know how to navigate this for our kids other than to say it regularly. I personally communicate with AI in my own voice — I am me, and it's a tool that can be trained. But I also say things to it I wouldn't say to a friend in such a direct way. For example, I'll say nope. Not at all what I asked you to do, try this instead. When I use it to help with homeschool science curriculum content, I say: "Do not EVER give me anything that pertains to evolution. I create only science lessons from a purely Biblical, creation perspective and I do not want you to EVER include anything that references millions of years or has evolutionary strings in it." And guess what? It honors that. But guess what? There is no person I've persuaded to think or believe like I do. Often the only way I know how to raise our kids is through honesty and bringing them along for the journey. I reiterate often to them that this tool will likely be a very regular part of their lives as they grow older, and it must be used with the constant knowledge that it isn't an all-wise person who cares for you. It isn't God, and it absolutely can make mistakes.

5. Generate quick educational help. You don't have to comb through blogs or videos. Need help explaining prepositions to a 5th grader? Ask. You'll get a quick, easy-to-use lesson and likely an offer of examples and practice problems to follow. This works for nearly any homeschool subject — grammar, history, science, you name it. Need a quick lunch recipe for a busy homeschool day? Ask.

6. The Holy Spirit is still your guide. Obey. When God speaks to you through His Spirit, listen! He knows everything we don't. He knows abundantly more than AI ever will. If He cautions you away from AI use, run the other way! If He instructs you to use it wisely, do it! If He guides you on how, listen.

7. Set healthy limits — for both yourself and your children. Computer time in our home happens in the main part of the house for our kids. They don't have free rein of technology, and when they're given more responsibility with it, it will be slowly and with guardrails. We don't send our kids out to drive on the freeway. When it's time to give our kids more freedom with technology, we want it to be like a driver's permit. Additionally, the best thing we can remember — for ourselves and our children — is this: ultimately, we all answer to God. The internet, AI, and most tech can get us in trouble. It can consume us, lead us into really sinful places and addictions, and it's not a joke. I'll answer to God, you'll answer to God, and so will both of our kids. Please don't hand your child a phone with unrestricted access any more than you would hand them your keys to drive six hours away on their very first time behind the wheel. Start now by setting a good example yourself. Somehow our kids know and repeat our bad behaviors even when we think they don't. Let truth, self-control, and purity start with you!

One More Word of Caution from a Fellow Homeschool Mom

Guard your time. Massive amounts of content are being pumped out by AI in nearly every corner of the internet. Just keep that in mind as you read blogs and articles. Don't endlessly consume everything out there. Your goal should be to use AI as a tool that helps you save time so you can be more present with your family — not as something that wastes your precious time. Learn. Save time on grading. Don't consume yourself.

As a society, we have to help put guardrails up. If you have an opportunity to constructively join this conversation, do it! I view this blog as my way of joining the conversation. Sometimes our impact is small, but healthy dialogue around a controversial topic is needed.

Like Timothy, no matter our age, let's set an example by the way we live!

As you navigate the years ahead, remember that God never abandons His people. When He sent them to Babylon, He was still with them. When He sent them to speak into sinful societies, He wasn't just with them — He called them there! Take heart and place your faith in God. He knew all of this was coming. He allowed you to be born in this time, in this place. Your boundaries are here and now. Don't bury what God has given you in the ground. Multiply. Give back to God what is rightfully His. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to us as disciples of Jesus! Go and make disciples — and if using AI will help you do that in your own home and beyond, use every tool, all to the glory of God!

Meghann and her family live in Alaska and homeschool their own children using That It May Go Well Christian Homeschool Curriculum (completely free to download!) They have deveoped an easy to use Online Program to bring ease of using technology into your homeschool day in a family-style way. Read more about them here.