Homeschooling: Year 5 (31Days – 2014)

Yes, we are still a homeschooling family. It has never been an easy road for us. Each year we seem to face new obstacles or challenges, the biggest one is clearly my perfectionism.

Here we are in the fifth year of homeschooling and I’m determined to make this year different.

I love organization.

Well, I love the idea of organization. The execution of said organization is my great challenge.

We’ve had four  less than stellar years of home  education. I could probably make a list to justify each and every time we had a hiccup.

My justification of those shortcomings would not be glorifying to God.

This year I am purposing to have a different course of action. Instead of a theoretical plan, Vince and I have done the footwork for a physical and practical plan. Pages are printed, schedules made, lessons are planned.

We have room for life to happen, but we have a spine in place that sets a standard.

This will mean retraining the children… and for ME.

Accountability– I need to be willing to receive the challenge and make the changes needed. I need to learn how to be a good steward of time.

Moments pass quickly and bad habits are formed easier and more quickly than the good ones, much to my dismay.

Realistic goals– We are not a textbook family, but we are intelligent. Our challenge is to draw out their abilities in measurable ways. My oldest is only two years from high school and has the desire to attend college. As his parents we need to make sure we are giving him real opportunity and training to do so.

Transfer responsibility– As the children are getting older they need to be involved with the planning as well as giving some input in their scheduling.

But they cannot be expected to perform without the example being set by me.

Don’t quit– I can’t turn tail in the face of a challenge. We have always left room for reevaluation of our decisions. If there is valid reason to change our course, we trust that it will be as clear as it was to bring them home for educating. Making necessary change is not the same as quitting.

The children will learn more from the examples I set of perseverance through challenges, than they will from my words of instruction.

We have a number of resources that we’re using this year to accomplish our goals and I’ll share those throughout the school year.

Here’s to year five being a success, where we move from surviving to THRIVING!