So how do we set goals that are actually workable for our children's schooling?

 

And why?

 

First the why.  Look, if you have something to work toward, you have someplace to go.  If you aren't working toward something, you usually end up just hanging out, or doing the start-go-stop-stumble-go-stop thing, or just kind of flounder around trying to get your footing.

 

If you have a place to go, a goal to work toward, you have a standard you can check yourself against. 

 

Take this little job we do every day: washing dishes.

 

What is your standard for getting the kitchen clean?  For me, it's having the dishes washed and dried, the dishwasher going, the stove and microwave and fridge washed down, the counters completely clear and wiped down, noticeable drips washed off cupboards, and the floor swept and mopped.

 

That's my goal. 

 

Then I take my goal and break it down. I actually time myself so that I have a secondary goal to work with...the amount of time each job should take and the completion of each job.

 

Then I work in small bites. First put a load of dishes into the sink to soak. Spend two minutes on counters. Wash or load the dishes. Put more dishes in the sink. Two minutes on counter. Wash or load the dishes. Put more dishes in the sink. Two minutes on counters. Wash or load the dishes.Put more dishes in the sink.  Finish up counters. Wash or load the dishes, put more dishes in the sink. Scrub the stove and wipe down microwave. Finish the dishes completely. Wipe down counters and fridge. Clean out sink and behind sink. Sweep the floor. Mop or wipe the floor.

 

Done.

 

I have a goal. I know about how long it should take me.  I know about how many steps it should take.  If I get called away in the middle of the job, it will be easy to get back on track because I know what my final goal is, I know the bits of the job that still need to be finished, and I know that it won't take forever because I've timed myself in the past and know each job actually only takes a few minutes.

 

Now do the same with school.  First break up the school years into five year portions...ages 5-10, ages 11-15, and ages 15-20. 

 

Now all you have to do is determine what needs to be accomplished and finished during each of those stages.  If you want to break it down year by year you can, but for me, leaving it in 5 year goals works better.  I prefer to decide what they need to do during that 5 years, and breaking up the subjects into "first this, then that" because my children span a wide range of academic abilities.

 

I gave a simple list in one of my earlier entries of the things that our kids will need to know by the time they hit the middle school years.  That list should help you get started.  If your kids can learn that in 5 years, you've got it made.  And let me tell you, they can learn all that easily in just a few years.  I do have a son that will probably take 10 years to learn the first 5 year things, but no sweat. This is where working backwards helps me to keep my focus on what each child needs.

 

So...working backwards.  Take each of your children and consider their academic abilities. You've got the gifted and extremely bright, the bright but not motivated, the average both motivated and not, and the below average and/or learning disabled.

 

Consider what they might be doing at the end of their homeschool years.  Going to college? Vocational school? Getting a job? Staying at home (a lot of parents are encouraging their daughters to stay at home until they get married these days)?

 

I'll choose two of my sons to illustrate.

 

Jacob is very bright. Like ghosting Autism bright.  Teaching him is like running a hot knife thru butter...effortless.  All he needs is someone to show him the basics and he's off and running. He loves studying and learning new things and is completely self-motivated.  The perfect academic student.

 

So...we are looking at the possibility that he would want to enter college as soon as he is able. We are leaving ourselves open to the fact that he might be finished or close to finishing school when he is 16 and able to attend community college for some classes.  So we plan accordingly.

 

He's on our fast track.  Finish up all the grade school basics by 10 years old.  Start on pre-Algebra and general science, then step thru all the maths and sciences in order, till he ends up with calculus and physics.  Two years of a foreign language, his choice. Basic writing skills needed, so we chose Writing Strands thru 8th grade, then onto mother's eagle eye and strong arm and EBWhite's handbook, Strunk and White, along with a year of intensive technical writing.  Four classics a year and a free reading list, meaning he read 4 books I require and as many on his own as he desires, and we discuss them all.  No nonsense Bible study with Mom and another study with Dad.

 

He can do this. No sweat. He'll be ready for college and we know where we are going with him.  We started by looking at what he would probably end up doing, then working backward to see where he needed to be each year. We know the requirements for freshman year in college, and we are going to help him be prepared for that, and maybe even have some classes he can test out of.

 

Solomon.  Well, Sol didn't have the same advantages as Jacob.  Sol was raised for the first 7 years in a third world country.  He suffered from malnutrition and lack of medical care, not to mention no academic stimulation in his early years.  On top of that, he spent the first nine years of his life virtually blind.  And lastly, when he was about 5 years old, he was hit by a vehicle and thrown against a boulder which cracked his head open. No medical care was available, so a woman in the village cleaned the wound and sewed it up the best she could.  There could very well have been some brain damage as far as written symbols go, because Solomon is very mature and smart in all things...except symbols.

 

So Sol is 11 years old.  He's reading on maybe a first grade level and knows only the very basics of math. He is learning to tell time right now, cannot carry or borrow, and hasn't even begun to do multiplication.  He shows no interest in academics except to please me. Nothing in the sciences, arts, or literature world excites him.

 

He loves wars tho. He watches movies and looks at books and discusses with us the whys and wherefores of wars in history. He loves Diana Waring's history tapes, and has thrown himself into some of the civil war books my friend Emily (nsremom) sent to him.

 

So what to do with this boy?  Aside from a miracle, Sol will not be attending college.  Perhaps vocational school, but even that looks to be a bit beyond his abilities. What he wants to be...and has never changed his mind...is a soldier.

 

So that's what we are training him for.

 

Working backward, we know he needs to know enough to read orders and complete paperwork. We need to work hard to get up to a 5th grade reading level. He'll also need to know the basics of math leading up to Algebra so he can do more than peel potatoes in the kitchen.  Since he loves wars, we are using wars to stir up his love of history. He doesn't appreciate literature, so I will be reading literature aloud to him...maybe till he's 18.

 

So we've got two boys on two very different tracks. And then a number of kids falling somewhere between these two.

 

We know where we are going with each child. We've set up goals according to their abilities and their interests and what they hope to be doing (generally) when they grow up.

 

You should spend the first five years of your child's life loving him into trusting you and teaching him the basics of living and loving.

 

The next five years are for teaching him the basics of academics and watching him and getting to know what kind of person he is.

 

Then you figure out your goals, and spend the next five years keeping your child on track toward those academic and personal goals.

 

The last five years you begin to hand over the managing of those goals to your child, tweaking them as necessary, supporting him while he carries out the last of his education and starts off in the world.

 

It really is that easy.