From Cindy's Heart

Toward Your Own Lifestyle of Learning! By Cindy Rushton

Toward Your Own Lifestyle of Learning!
By Cindy Rushton

Special Note…I thought that this part of a chapter in our new book Homeschooling…Digging Into ALL of the Options might be a big help for some of you as you begin organizing your homes for another big Homeschool Year. My challenge is for you to really think out your own approach JUST for your family. This will make planning easier…day-by-day implementation easier…and continuing the journey for the “long-haul” much, much easier. Hope you enjoy!

• Go to God… God really cares about what we do in our homeschools. No matter where we are…what our needs may be…or where we are in the journey, we can listen to hear the Lord gently beckoning to us, “Come to ME, all you who labor and are heavy laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take MY YOKE upon you and learn OF ME, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief, ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For MY YOKE is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and MY BURDEN is light and easy to be borne.” (Matthew 11: 28-30 (Amplified) The first thing is our foundation. All begins by going to God, seeking Him and His way. When things get to going awry, the first thing I do is compare all to this passage. This simplifies what I am doing. If what I am doing becomes a labor, heavy, or overburdening, it must go! If the yoke I am carrying begins to feel harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, I immediately begin to re-evaluate. It may be that what I am doing is ok, only going at an unreasonable pace (slow OR fast). It may be that what I am doing is not ok…it must be sacrificed so we can have the best that God has to offer. The only way I can know which way to go is to come to the Lord and let Him give me His perfect plan! This has been key in finding just the right way for me and my children.

• Make homeschooling a lifestyle! As I have come home--all the way home--to teach my children, I have found that God has riches in store for the family teaching their children as a lifestyle. Those riches can be missed if we do not take the time to be a family. Oh, there are the sweetest memories that directly result from learning together as a lifestyle. It is so much more than just the lessons. The sweetest memories are built around the relationships, with one another and our studies. However, this doesn’t just happen. It takes time for relationships to be built. This time is only available as we set up learning as a lifestyle not a block of “school.” But, this can only happen when we begin to view education as a lifestyle of discipleship…all of the time, with all of life. A legacy. How? Seize every moment. Teach your children along the way. Develop a lifestyle that passes down to your children a deep love of learning and most of all, a deep love of family.

• Take the best of ALL the approaches to weave together a FULL education! One thing that I loved about homeschooling was that I could weave together the best of all that is available. I loved the thought of using the best books. I have found some of the greatest treasures through recommendations found throughout all of the different approaches. This really helped me since I had no idea what I should read to my children when we first began homeschooling. I loved the thought of using original source documents. I love how they are right at your finger-tips courtesy of some of the different writers for homeschooling! I loved the easy tips for teaching children. As a Mommy who had NO idea where to begin as I began this journey of homeschooling, I have treasured the writers who have walked me through each step of how to teach language… math… history… geography… nature studies… art… music… so on! It has been priceless help so that I could get on to enjoying my little ones! These are only a few of the ideas that we have taken into our homeschool, but I recommend this to you as wll. You don't have to do it all today. Just take a look at where your greatest need is and hunt down that help that will breathe life into your Homeschool.

• Develop YOUR Philosophy of Education! This was one of the things that has been most beneficial in setting me free to enjoy the journey of homeschooling. It was not until I could see God’s ways, God’s will, and God’s plan for education that I was completely free to enjoy the little things along the way. Until then, I felt guilty when we got lost in a great book. I would feel so defeated if we took longer on a lesson than I was expecting…forget how FUN it was! As I drew closer to the Lord, I found that all began to fall into place. I began to devour studies that I only dreamed of pursuing. Did you notice that “I” devoured studies? As I continued my learning, my children caught the passion! It was contagious! Not to mention as I dug into studies, I began to find easier ways to learn topics. I found neat ideas just from the way that I learn (Notebooking, research techniques, writing techniques…) that helped my children to find practical ways to learn their lessons. This was what brought an ease and relief to the pursuit of education in our family.

• Keep discipleship for the call as the primary focus! It is so easy to turn our hearts away from the MAIN thing. I believe that it is easy to lose our first love. For this reason, we constantly evaluate our focus to make sure that our heart is turned toward God and our home. This comes by staying in the Word, letting it constantly renew our minds, purify our hearts, and renew our vision for discipling our children. How do we disciple? It first begins with being COMPLETE in our call. There is a battle waging for the heart of our home. So much hits us, tempting us to go after the allure of the world or condemning us for the commitment to our family…but we must be strong. We must know that there is NO greater call! Our children do not need the best education affordable…nor do they need all of the possessions that we can provide for them…nor do they need all of the opportunities for lessons and socialization that we can uncover. Our children need to know and love God. He has the only answers to their deepest questions. He has all that they need to meet ay need of their lives. AND He cares about any and every thing in their life. Our children need to know WHO we are and WHAT we know. In other words, they need to know US! God made no mistakes placing our children in our home. He wants for us to pass on WHO we are! Our children need for us to focus more on ministering to THEM than teaching them. They need those disciplines that will bring them to true greatness. They need for us to get back to the simple call of discipling them along the way!

• Center ALL around the family. This is one of the first things I noticed about our family as we began to homeschool. I remember one day as I sat at the park watching Matthew and Elisabeth play. He was 5 and she was 2. I watched them giggle….I watched her follow each and every one of his steps…I watched him gently help her up the slide…I watched them plan every move--together. As I sat there in that park, I began to well up in tears. I had a dream life. They loved each other so deeply. At that age, if Matthew had been in school, he would have been TOO cool for a little sister to follow along. She, and He, would have missed a relationship that God intended for them to have for life. Homeschooling affords the opportunity for all to center around the family. Our focus has been to learn as a family…all ages together…learning together…having fun…having adventures…building memories. My belief has been that if something is drudgery for my children, then I must evaluate why I am doing it. If we don’t enjoy it as a family, it goes! This has developed a deep love for learning, but even greater a deep love for family. Not to mention, we build relationships with one another that are priceless. We will always have sweet memories of great books that we have read together…those great discussions that we have shared together as we have digested great ideas through literature, art, music, and poetry…those fun family days on the boat, at the creek, at the beach, at the museums, or just in the woods in our own backyard…those late night giggle sessions over those family stories that we tell over and over and over again! When we come to the end of this homeschooling journey, I am in prayer that we will have a storehouse full of great memories that can only be afforded as we say “NO!” to all of the temptations to divide up our family and our family time.

• Develop skills to learn and allow the process of learning to take place rather than focusing on subjects and certain studies. If there is one thing that has helped us the most, it has been the season that I spent re-educating myself about what education really is. During that time, I finally learned what education really is. Things have never been the same. I never understood that education is a process in every area that we want to learn about. The main thing is not the “subjects” that are studied. It is teaching the skills of how to learn for oneself and giving a love for learning. If our children are equipped with the skills to learn, then they can learn any and all subjects. If they develop the idea that learning is delightful, then they will never stop learning because they will become hooked on mind-food! Then, all we have to do is slow down for the process of learning to take place. Slow down so they can soak in all that is before them.

• Encourage delight-directed studies. Coming from the idea that parents really needed to have a direct influence on training up their children, you can imagine how I struggled with the idea of letting my children go on their own. I prayed and prayed to seek out God’s view of education and how He would have me to teach my children. He took me back to my life…and those of many of His greatest servants. I began to see that it was not until a person develops a passion for one topic that learning takes off. We can pour into our children for years and years, but until they begin to LOVE a topic and make it their own, they will not choose to learn for life. I also began to see that a deep passion for one topic ALWAYS leads to another…and another…and another. But, there is ONE difference. If one has studied one particular topic in depth, they will not be able to let another topic just breeze through their life…they will want to devour it with the same passion. This is so key to becoming that person God wants for each of us to be AND for beginning a lifestyle of real education. The neatest thing is that somewhere in all of those studies the Holy Spirit take over and gives us the preparation that is needed for our call. Encourage your children to take the time to learn o deeply that they LOVE learning. Let them have enough free time that they can freely dig into a study deep enough to become intimate with people throughout History, beauty in God’s world, and ideas that have shaped the world!

• Give direct contact and influence with great people! This has been a main-stay in our home. I am thankful that I was influenced early in our journey to treasure the great people in our lives, past and present. Real people influence our children. I have sought to provide my children with relationships with great people…through real life and real literature. Those people are part of shaping the lives of our children. We have taught our children to listen…really listen to others. To learn from their lives. To glean wisdom from their mistakes and successes. How have we done this? We love to have meals and fellowship with great people. Our children simply devour their time with missionaries, writers, great teachers, and even those quiet people who really shape the world! We also make it a priority to read each and every day. I remember listening to Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn as they shared the importance of having a family reading time for a minimum of 2 hours each day. I sat there thinking, “OH, Lord! I would LOVE that, but how??” God stepped right up to my aid. He showed me a time of the day that was perfect for our family to curl up, uninterrupted to devour books. For us, this was at the end of the day. We could curl up from 10 PM until we could not read any more! This was perfect for those books that we simply have to continue reading until we are done (in the wee hours of the night!). We did not have the rest of the day pounding on us beckoning us to move on to do more, we could relax and enjoy. This has been one of the greatest tools for discipleship and ministry to the heart of our children. I believe that the influence from great people will be an anchor in the lives of my children throughout whatever they may face in their lives!

• Use the VERY BEST resources in this short time! We all know how fast life passes us by. This week my son becomes a teenager, a young man (NOTE! He is now 18! . MY how time passes by!) As I look at this young man who is now taller than I am (did not take him long on that one!)…who will soon be shot forth into our culture to minister for the Lord, I am overwhelmed by how little our time to shape and disciple them really is! Because of this, I am highly convicted that ALL that we do each and every day must seize each and every moment. We weigh out all that we do by this. The great thing is that we usually make well-thought out, wise decisions. The sad thing is that sometimes we don’t! When I think that in the 8-12 hours of reading a book, I am either influencing my children to greatness and encouraging them onward toward their call…OR I am tearing down my own home and my own teachings, I am completely humbled. I begin to step slowly and listen intently to the Holy Spirit’s leading! This simplifies my focus…my choices…and the options for our time!

• Develop family ministry. God kinda had us in the middle of ministry before I realized how much He could use it for educating our children. I had no idea that all of those sweet character lessons I would teach my children were really better taught by my example as I ministered to my family and others that God brought into my circle of influence…right before the eyes of my children. I had no idea that I was blowing it on those days when I was rushed, too rushed to take time to minister a sweet encouragement or smile or simply listen to others along the way. I had no idea they were watching. But they are. We, nor our children, need to go away to a foreign mission field to be in ministry for the Lord. We, nor our children, need to have a “public ministry” on the streets passing out tracks or behind a pulpit teaching our hearts out. In fact, if we really want to maximize our influence, we must minister in the little things. Little things all along the way! This influence will be contagious to our children. It will help them to begin to minister from their toddler years. It will become one of their greatest treasures of life as they continue the legacy!

• Relax and enjoy the journey! So often, we get to thinking that WE have to make this education happen. God has a better way! He wants for us to walk with Him in faith, letting Him directly lead and teach our little ones. If we can just realize how much more HE can do as the Teacher of our children, we could relax more. We could see that He really is the only One Who knows exactly what our children need…who they will become…and what they need to minister for Him with their life. We can trust Him to direct us, for one thing because He WILL and for another because He loves our children EVEN more than we do! Trust Him. Give Him a chance. Let Him direct all in your homeschool. Then, you will find that the burden will be light and easy…and you will have rest, blessed rest for your journey! You will have fun. You will enjoy the journey!

“Come to ME, all you who labor and are heavy laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take MY YOKE upon you and learn OF ME, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief, ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For MY YOKE is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and MY BURDEN is light and easy to be borne.”

Matthew 11: 28-30 Amplified Bible

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