5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials.

Sure, we need to plan.

We need to know ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses.

We need to know our enemy.

We need supplies. But more than paper and pencils, books and crayons.

And sometimes we need to know when to let go.

Planning. I am SO great at planning. Not so much at implementing.

In a way, I’m an unschooler at heart. I love the idea of schedules, but I really like to just gather lots of papers and books and resources along a theme – weekly, monthly, semesterly (Is that a word? Well, it is now!).

But for all homeschoolers – beginners and veterans and everyone in between – we need planning and evaluation at the start, midpoint, and end of each year.

In addition to all the homeschool planning we do (and that’s the easy part, I think), we need to plan out our spiritual goals for our children. It’s much simpler to plan out curriculum, complete with projects and field trips, than it is to plan out heart training.

Do you know when there will be a snow day or sick day or day-where-the-hot-water-heater-bursts-and-leaks-all-over-the-cellar? Do you know when you will have to stray from the lesson plan to teach about bullies because a child at church made fun of her or begin preliminaries for The Talk because your child heard something disturbing on Christian radio news?

Of course we can’t plan for those events. But we can be prepared.

Mamas, we need to be proactive and plan ahead for surprises and the inevitable. Our babies are growing up, underneath our very noses, despite our efforts to shelter.

They are not our own. We cannot control them. Give them to God and pray.

What is the purpose for your homeschool? What do you purpose to accomplish in your children before they reach adulthood?

Set goals with your endpoint in mind. Math and reading and this science experiment and that art project are all secondary to heart training.

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ~Mark 8:36

Almost all curriculum comes with a schedule and a plan and now common-core alignment. God has a plan for each of His children. Does your homeschool align with Him?

Plan for their character development. In which direction do you want your children guided? What regrets do you want your kids not to have?

I recently conversed with some moms about how our parents taught (or didn’t teach) about sex and the lack of biblical education in this area was saddening to me.

I know I want my kids to be the ones who step up proudly to say that they were taught well from Scripture and biblical principles. I want to protect their worldview and show them Jesus in all we learn in our homeschool.

It’s all about planning. What’s your scope and sequence?

Tweetables:

• Forget common-core. God has a plan for His children. Does your homeschool align with Him? 
• What regrets do you want your kids not to have? Which direction do you want your children guided?