Apr. 29, 2009 - Can you have Lesson Plans for Conversations?

Trusting conversation (see my previous post) doesn't mean I stop being intentional and directional in the education and training of our children.  It does mean that I consider carefully the hours I put into lesson plans and preparation.  it means that I need to have the Word of God in my heart so I can talk about God to my children as a natural part of my day.  It means that I have to be prepared and know the purpose of each time we sit down to learn together but also be flexible so I can go with their questions.  It does mean that I have to give my heart and time to my children.

As I have thought about this I have been reminded of a minister, a pastor or priest – he stands up to preach every Sunday and yet if he doesn’t know the hearts of his flock it will be simply a dry sermon that doesn’t touch their hearts.    This is what many of my lesson plans had become in our household.   They covered the things that the book said to cover, they didn’t come from my heart, they didn’t touch my children’s hearts, they didn’t grow our family.

I am going to spend my homeschool prep time (which is limited) on the lessons that count – the ones that are the most important to me and Peter – the ones that affect our children’s hearts.  And yet, I want to give time in my day that if we go off on a rabbit trail that my heart is at ease with that, that I am not stressing about getting it all done in a particular time frame. 

At this stage I have two lesson plans on the go:                                          

1.        1.  Bible Study.  We are studying the 10 Commandments.  My lesson plan simply consists of an outline of principles I want my children to understand, and thoughts I want to ensure I share with them as we talk about each commandment.

2.     2.    Character Study.  Next week we start looking at the character trait of Creativity.  Once again my lesson plan is simply an outline of key ideas I want to discuss with my children – we will see where it goes from there!

Then there will be those books that we read that won’t fall into these two categories.  The one I have earmarked to start shortly is “The Man who made Time Travel”.  It covers subjects such as longitude/latitude as well as keeping time.  I am sure we will have plenty to talk about and that the kids will ask plenty of questions giving us opportunity to think and research.  This is the limit of my lesson planning and preparation.  This book may develop into a “unit study” or it may simply be a day or two reading and enjoying it together.  We will see but most importantly the kids and I will spend some non-pressured time together.