When we started our homeschool adventure, I was all caught up in choosing the right curriculum and making the perfect school. I made up lesson plans, lined out every part of our day, had to-do lists, field trips planned, everything. And you know what? The Lord smacked me down within three days. That's right: He gave me a Divine Smackdown. Not a literal lightening bolt, but everything just went to pieces. In three days. It is quite possibly the quickest failure I've ever experienced (and I've experienced just a few!).
I stepped back and took a hard look at my motives, and I found that I was really motivated by the idea of what I could teach her, not what she needed to learn. Put another way: I wanted to show off. I took the weekend to reflect, pray, and form a new plan. And now, rather than a laundry list of subjects I hope Darling will master this year, here are my goals for what I hope to teach her. Some of the goals are much too large and complex to be completed in one year, and I realize that. But it starts now. So here we go.
Goals for Our Homeschool:
To instill a sense of wonder and to nurture a love of learning.
To form good habits and a routine of doing schoolwork every day.
To begin to learn how to take a large task, break it down into small parts, and complete it systematically instead of becoming overwhelmed.
To learn to ask questions, and then learn how to find the answers.
To lay a strong foundation for reading and writing.
If my children learn only one lesson that sticks with them for the rest of their lives, then I hope it will be that learning is a lifelong process. Learning leads to a deeper understanding and greater meaning in life. It is also not restricted to academic subjects, but with an ounce of integrity, will permeate every facet of you life and relationships. In my own experience I have found that if you can read and write and you love to seek out information, there is no limit to what you can learn or accomplish, no matter your academic background.
