Looking Back
1:58 AM Posted In goals , homeschooling Edit This
Okay, so maybe it's a little too early to be looking back, but time seems to be speeding ahead and I guess I wanted to pause and take stock. I started our homeschooling journey when Connor was 5. He had missed the kindergarten cut-off, so I figured I would give homeschooling a year and if I messed up really big, he could just start kindergarten the next year with no harm done. I've been homeschooling ever since.
Some wise person (can't remember who anymore) told me to begin at the end. That is, to envision the person you want your child to be when (s)he leaves the house and teach with that end goal in mind. The idea seemed to make a lot of sense to me, so I put pen to paper and came up with a list of skills, knowledge, and character traits that would put Gandhi to the test. I don't regret the exercise, even though no human could finish the list in a lifetime. It set my course.
Because I wrote on that list I want my children to have a love of music, both Connor and Mary have been in church choir every year since kindergarten. Connor opted out this year, but Mary continues. Katie was in church choir most years and plays the flute. When Connor quit choir, we gave him a choice of instrument to learn. He chose the guitar and so he is studying that now. Mary is taking piano and is enjoying it very much. Because of that one written goal, I believe my kids will always enjoy singing and playing quality music through their lives.
I wanted my kids to be able to function well in social situations -to have common skills when they socialize. To that end, Connor joined upwards basketball, Mary, cheerleading so they could "talk sports" intelligently (well, at least one sport). I made sure they could both swim and bike. They attend youth group and Bible studies to socialize with kids their age. I do worry about Connor as he is painfully shy around adult strangers. Not sure what to do about that one; I'll have to think about it. Another thing I have not accomplished in this area is teaching them the skill of dancing. I have a few years left, so I'll have to see about getting them into classes. I want them to be able to hold their own on a dance floor. The area of manners, and especially table manners, is an ongoing concern. I never dreamed that this would be such a tough area for me to teach my kids, but life is full of surprises, I guess. I continue to struggle.
Self-sufficiency was a very important goal to me. I love knowing that my kids know how to do every chore that needs doing in and around the house proficiently. If something were to happen to Jeff and I, I feel sure that the house would keep running without us (not that family wouldn't be here for them as quickly as possible, but it's still nice to know). They can cook simple things and follow recipes, and they can do their own laundry, including the ironing. I am looking at teaching Mary to sew and knit and Connor auto mechanics (well, Jeff will teach this) to further their domestic skills. They would probably be lost on a farm, but for our average living situation, I think we're doing pretty well.
All three of my kids are really passionate about reading. This thrills me. It was a biggie for me. I started homeschooling reading aloud every day for an hour. When the kids were old enough, we had reading hour together where they read to themselves plus a family reading time when Jeff would read aloud to the family. Our shared love of books will continue to last a lifetime, I'm sure.
There are areas where I have failed completely. None of my kids can speak a foreign language yet. We're at a crossroads here as Mary wants to learn Spanish, Connor is not interested in learning a new language at all, and the only resources we have are for learning to speak French. Also, Mary, in particular, doesn't seem to enjoy learning for learning's sake. She's smart, but she does her work with the goal of completion in mind. It's a huge failure on my part that she does not enjoy the process and has little interest in much of the material we use. I can't seem to impart on her the joy of learning. Connor does seem to enjoy learning most of his subjects, and I'm glad. But I wanted so badly to get my kids to the place where they would hunger for more knowledge and skills -to the place where they would actively seek out new things to learn and then educate themselves in that area.
Many goals have not been reached and I will have to focus on the most important in the next few years. My kids may not be published by the time they leave the house or learn to fly a small plane, but if they can leave home with us all still liking each other, with a solid base of living skills, and a love for learning, I will consider our homeschooling journey a success.
Some wise person (can't remember who anymore) told me to begin at the end. That is, to envision the person you want your child to be when (s)he leaves the house and teach with that end goal in mind. The idea seemed to make a lot of sense to me, so I put pen to paper and came up with a list of skills, knowledge, and character traits that would put Gandhi to the test. I don't regret the exercise, even though no human could finish the list in a lifetime. It set my course.
Because I wrote on that list I want my children to have a love of music, both Connor and Mary have been in church choir every year since kindergarten. Connor opted out this year, but Mary continues. Katie was in church choir most years and plays the flute. When Connor quit choir, we gave him a choice of instrument to learn. He chose the guitar and so he is studying that now. Mary is taking piano and is enjoying it very much. Because of that one written goal, I believe my kids will always enjoy singing and playing quality music through their lives.
I wanted my kids to be able to function well in social situations -to have common skills when they socialize. To that end, Connor joined upwards basketball, Mary, cheerleading so they could "talk sports" intelligently (well, at least one sport). I made sure they could both swim and bike. They attend youth group and Bible studies to socialize with kids their age. I do worry about Connor as he is painfully shy around adult strangers. Not sure what to do about that one; I'll have to think about it. Another thing I have not accomplished in this area is teaching them the skill of dancing. I have a few years left, so I'll have to see about getting them into classes. I want them to be able to hold their own on a dance floor. The area of manners, and especially table manners, is an ongoing concern. I never dreamed that this would be such a tough area for me to teach my kids, but life is full of surprises, I guess. I continue to struggle.
Self-sufficiency was a very important goal to me. I love knowing that my kids know how to do every chore that needs doing in and around the house proficiently. If something were to happen to Jeff and I, I feel sure that the house would keep running without us (not that family wouldn't be here for them as quickly as possible, but it's still nice to know). They can cook simple things and follow recipes, and they can do their own laundry, including the ironing. I am looking at teaching Mary to sew and knit and Connor auto mechanics (well, Jeff will teach this) to further their domestic skills. They would probably be lost on a farm, but for our average living situation, I think we're doing pretty well.
All three of my kids are really passionate about reading. This thrills me. It was a biggie for me. I started homeschooling reading aloud every day for an hour. When the kids were old enough, we had reading hour together where they read to themselves plus a family reading time when Jeff would read aloud to the family. Our shared love of books will continue to last a lifetime, I'm sure.
There are areas where I have failed completely. None of my kids can speak a foreign language yet. We're at a crossroads here as Mary wants to learn Spanish, Connor is not interested in learning a new language at all, and the only resources we have are for learning to speak French. Also, Mary, in particular, doesn't seem to enjoy learning for learning's sake. She's smart, but she does her work with the goal of completion in mind. It's a huge failure on my part that she does not enjoy the process and has little interest in much of the material we use. I can't seem to impart on her the joy of learning. Connor does seem to enjoy learning most of his subjects, and I'm glad. But I wanted so badly to get my kids to the place where they would hunger for more knowledge and skills -to the place where they would actively seek out new things to learn and then educate themselves in that area.
Many goals have not been reached and I will have to focus on the most important in the next few years. My kids may not be published by the time they leave the house or learn to fly a small plane, but if they can leave home with us all still liking each other, with a solid base of living skills, and a love for learning, I will consider our homeschooling journey a success.
