It’s the New Year. Are you feeling great about your homeschooling, or are you feeling defeated? Either way, I think it’s time for everyone to do a little homeschool pump it up!
We are the homeschoolers. We are making the hard decisions and difficult sacrifices necessary to influence entire generations for the better. By educating (above and beyond) conventional schooling, we are leading the way for the rest of the population. Our willingness to move out of our comfort zone is forging a path for the rest of our culture to rediscover the lost art of learning.
So….
STOP
…comparing homeschooling to public schooling (which is like comparing a fresh, sweet apple to a rotting orange).
STOP
…trying to eat the entire elephant in one gulp.
STOP
…compartmentalizing.
And how do we begin?
ANALYZE AND BE HONEST.
It’s like the KonMari method. Make a list of everything you are doing as a homeschooling family. Divide this list into two categories:
- What sparks joy.
- What brings dread.
In the dread pile, what is ABSOLUTELY necessary? –keep that. What have you been forcing yourself to do that ISN’T necessary?–throw all of that out! (Really, it’s OK, I give you permission).
Next,
ASPIRE TO HIGHER GOALS.
Public schooling is about producing worker and planner bees for the hive. Let your homeschooling be about higher things.
- Spiritual understanding.
- Emotional maturity.
- A taste for the finder things.
- Striving for personal excellence in all areas.
- Skill building and honing.
- Academic content that helps both in function and in the ability to analyze and see the bigger picture (this last part is what puts fear into the hearts of the bureaucratic education system).
Remember, it’s
ONE BITE AT A TIME.
The little things, done daily, will add up.
Think about the stalagmites and stalactites. They grow to humongous size just one drop at a time. In the end, it’s about consistency and perseverance.
Also:
STICK TO THE BASICS.
If your child can read, write, and cipher well, the rest will tend to fill itself in. It used to be understood that this was “schooling.” Now it includes psychoanalysis and cultural conditioning, along with some medical re-engineering.
No need to concern ourselves with what a failing, rotting system is doing. We are better than that.
And…
EVERYTHING IS HOMESCHOOLING.
- Playing in the park.
- Taking care of animals.
- Learning a new song together.
- Baking cookies.
- Cleaning out (and investigating) the vacuum cleaner.
- Talking to the washing machine repairman.
- Watching the laying of a foundation for a new building.
- Playing board games.
- Going to the bank.
- Capturing snow flakes and taking pictures with the micro on your cell phone.
- Growing flowers.
- Catching lizards and toads.
- Telling how things were when you were a kid.
- Teaching things like, “Don’t run with scissors,” and, “Never go to bed with gum in your mouth.”
- Watching historical and other quality films together.
- Reading aloud from dusk until lights out.
- Spontaneous visits with friends.
Here are some things that can help:
First, this free scripture sheet that you can print out and place where you will see it often, like, next to the coffee machine:
Next, be sure and Listen to my podcast where you will learn even more:
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