You took on a daunting task: home educating. No matter the reason you are teaching at home, you undoubtedly want to do so wisely. You want the best for your children. But sometimes that “best” gets lost in the day-to-day tasks and the busyness of life. As a former home school mom who sometimes failed and sometimes, by God’s grace, succeeded, I want to give you the gift of W.I.S.D.O.M as you head into this coming year. My prayer is that this acronym will help guide you as you aim for the best in your home school.
W=Worship
Foundational to life, let’s start with worship. Webster’s defines the verb as “to adore, pay honor to.” The choices I make and the actions I take testify to what I really adore–but the object of my affection is often not right. When my kids were young, I instituted a nap/quiet time right after lunch. Great idea! Quiet and peace for everyone—truth be told—especially for me. But there were times when I worked so hard just to preserve that peace for myself that I made wrong choices to get it. So, in those moments, I was worshipping that above all else. Misdirected worship always comes at a cost and sometimes my kids paid the price. It is vital to pay attention to what we’re honoring and redirect when necessary. To help identify your worship focus, look for extreme responses (i.e. what makes you intensely happy, angry, or sad) in a given situation. Perhaps it’s fun, lack of conflict, convenience, comfort, free time, __________ (fill in the blank). The focus may change periodically or be a habitual issue. We want to do our best, however, not to make concessions in our education for our object of worship.
I=Intentional
Life itself can become an overwhelming force. Its surge can easily sweep you away with the power of a raging, mountain stream. Place your weight on sturdy rocks instead. Life is a unique balance of spontaneity and planning. In my home school journey, so many times the urgent took the place of the necessary, and before I knew it, I’d lost all direction and was functioning in survivor mode: always responding rather than choosing. As a family, determine your values and set your priorities. Make some purposeful choices; set goals. Make time to consider choices with your spouse. Recalibrate as necessary. Remember that certain choices affect others. Does this intentionality sound overwhelming in of itself? Simply put: do the next right thing.
S=Steadfast
When your goals are set and your choices made, stay the course. You and your children are on a challenging path. Learning is fraught with complications, side steps and setbacks. In our homeschool year, momentum would hold for a while, but then, inevitably, around month 6 or so, I would deal with the temptation to just toss a subject aside and give up. Of course, use discernment to know when a methodology or curriculum change is really needed. But, overall, what you practice is what you become. What you continue transforms you. My lack of steadfastness is why I’m boringly mediocre at piano, Spanish (and too many other things that I’m ashamed to admit). In your learning endeavors, encourage your students and yourself to make specific goals and work toward meeting them.
D=Dependent
By its very nature, homeschooling can easily tilt the scale toward an unhealthy amount of independence. You have been given strengths and gifts. Highlight those and use them. Yes, you are the predominant guide of your children. On the other hand, you aren’t meant to trek homeschooling alone. Doing so is a formula for failure. Be aware of your weaknesses. Recognize when you need assistance. Familiarize yourself with the resources available to you (experts, library resources, tutorials, experienced homeschool parents, and the like). Make sure you have support through a local church, a homeschool network, friends and family. Get counsel from your spouse. Recognize when you need accountability, assistance and even additional training.
O=Observant
Be attentive. This requires time to be still, to notice, and assess. Watch out for changes (or a lack of change where one should occur) and how these are affecting individual family members. Adding long-distance caregiving to our normal routine affected every aspect of our home life, but I had to step aside from my chaotic schedule periodically to recognize the positive and negative results.
Become a student of your student. Notice whether your curriculum choice is really meeting your student’s needs. Watch your children’s response to curricula (when and how) and specific subject matter. Your children are multi-faceted and require a level of observation equal to an artist examining fine art. What are their strengths? In what areas are they improving? What is their learning style? Awareness of these details will cause you to respond to and teach your children more effectively.
M=Momentary
Enjoy the moment. Be sensitive to learning moments. When a child is enthralled with a topic, you might need to take advantage of that learning opportunity rather than moving on just because the schedule says so. Being “in the moment” requires spontaneity and flexibility, taking advantage of questions kids might pose or exploring a subject longer when there’s interest.
Living in the moment also keeps us focused, engaged in the task at hand. Eliminate excess distractions that compete for your focus. Set your phone on airplane mode; plan a different time for household chores. Be present with your children and they’ll learn that trait from you.
Finally, a momentary lifestyle helps us enjoy the time we have with our children. I was told this as a young mom and know it all the more now that all my children are out of the house: this time will pass quickly and you will miss it. Savor each moment. Even those frustrating, pull-your-hair-out moments are actually character development opportunities in disguise. These, too, are treasures.
My temptation as a teacher was to focus on the what: Do I have enough school supplies? Do I have the right curriculum? Do I have my schedule made? Like packing for a trip, I emphasized all the “stuff in my suitcase.” But guess what? If you’ve forgotten your perfect toothbrush, you can always pick up another one that will do the job. WISDOM teaches us to shift our focus from the what we’re doing to the how and where we are traveling. Enjoy the journey!
~ Ruth
