Today, I was asked how we approach our homeschooling. This is such huge question and today it was a most welcomed one. My response was that we are eclectic in our approach. On thinking later about what I had said there was so much more I could have added! Hmmm, and what does being eclectic mean anyway?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines 'eclectic' as: selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles

Uhhhhh yes, but how does that definition relate to how we as a family homeschool?? Ideally what Marcel and I have attempted to do with the education of our children is look at our children, the people that God has given us for a short time, as individuals. Then discovering and finding those methods of parenting and styles of learning that best suit the individual and use what works.

Below is what we have come up with so far as ‘the best’ for our family.

We try to put the Bible first in all that we do. Marcel once said to me that “the Bible is the glue that holds our homeschooling together”. So even though we fail as imperfect parents to do this many times, that is what we aim for in our journey with the children. They see our warts and all. Maybe through our failures, changes and wins they will get a fuller picture of their perfect Father in heaven who is graceful, forgiving and merciful.

Relationship is important to us! Do to others as you would have them do to you is a high ideal that God wants from His people. And all those other ‘one another’ (love one another) scriptures that are mentioned in the Bible too. Time is an important ingredient when is comes to learning about and practicing our relationships. First and foremost, there is our relationship with God. Then there are the relationships within the family and those outside the family.

Living and learning with the end in mind. This principle has moved up the ladder recently for us with its importance! We have been asking ourselves the question of what sort of adults do we want our children to be. Until recently our answers have been fairy-floss answers without much substance but there has been an ongoing discussion between the two of us about where we are headed in our parenting and how are we going to get there. Both of us are realizing that in order for us to go the distance we need to be clear and concise about the end result.  This will keep us focused on the task of raising children to their Godly potential.

Our children are individuals. Well yeah, that’s pretty obvious you might be thinking! And yet we as parents generally stray back to what suits us or what we’ve always known or what we feel more comfortable with. My journey is to know and relate to my children as best as I can so that I can better know their strengths and weaknesses. Only then am I in the best position to encourage them in their strengths and help them with their weaknesses. As many of you already know how much of a challenge this can be because it is very much intertwined with the ‘know thyself’ idea. When we bring our children’s strengths and weaknesses to the table we are also bringing our own to the table too!

Marcel and I are keen to teach our children life skills. Again this is our long-term aim that our children will participate in life fully and completely in ways that glorify God. Our hope is that one day they will take on this goal too, a personal commitment of their own making. Our definition of life skills covers these general areas: spiritual, academics, finances, health & hygiene, communication, service to others, love of learning and discovery etc (a TBC list!).

If you made it this far I’m impressed!! For those of you who know me well you will probably understand that this post is a result of a recent down-time with homeschooling. Coming out the other end with newer understanding is certainly a peaceful place to be!

Ahhhh, and all because of a timely question!