Train Up A Child
Jul. 26, 2006 at 9:27 AM
Homeschooling
Yesterday, while I was out pulling weeds, Elaina (2) was riding her little bike. As she was pedaling down the sidewalk she hollered back, "Mom, I need a break, I'm going to Starbucks. I'll be back in a little while."
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." ~ Proverbs 22-6
So in an effort to obey the Scripture, train my daughter, and reinforce the good things she has already learned - I need a break. I'm going to Starbucks. I'll be back in a little while.
In the meantime, the Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Melissa's. There are loads of good posts from many excellent bloggers.
I do have a question as well, if you care to answer. A friend is just beginning to homeschool her oldest child. She's a little nervous. I asked why? She said, "I don't want to fail at this. I want to do it right."
I've been thinking about her answer. Fear of failure keeps many good people from attempting great things, but can a conscientious parent fail at homeschooling? And if so, what does failure look like? Or if you prefer to look at it from the optimists point of view, what does "doing it right" look like?
I hope to add my own thoughts on this later, after the caffeine kicks in.
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." ~ Proverbs 22-6
So in an effort to obey the Scripture, train my daughter, and reinforce the good things she has already learned - I need a break. I'm going to Starbucks. I'll be back in a little while.
In the meantime, the Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Melissa's. There are loads of good posts from many excellent bloggers.
I do have a question as well, if you care to answer. A friend is just beginning to homeschool her oldest child. She's a little nervous. I asked why? She said, "I don't want to fail at this. I want to do it right."
I've been thinking about her answer. Fear of failure keeps many good people from attempting great things, but can a conscientious parent fail at homeschooling? And if so, what does failure look like? Or if you prefer to look at it from the optimists point of view, what does "doing it right" look like?
I hope to add my own thoughts on this later, after the caffeine kicks in.
9 Comments and Trackbacks
posted by Boltbabe on Jul. 26, 2006 at 10:15 AM
As you may remember, we have had a very strange and stress filled year. Packing boxes to sell and move. Unpacking and not moving. Mother in law very ill. I got to a point where I felt I had really let the littles go by the wayside. One day I said, that's it, I am spending time teaching the 4 yo. To my surprise, when we sat down to work on words, he started reading! While I felt a failure for spending so little time with him, the Lord had him observing what I was doing with the olders, without my knowldege. So we WERE teaching him. Not sure if I am going to word this right...feeling cloudy...but a successful homeschooling situation is one where the parents put their faith in God to guide them in teaching, rolling with the hills and valleys of life, and faith that God is caring for their education. No one can fail when their faith is in God.
posted by AcceptanceWithJoy on Jul. 26, 2006 at 10:15 AM
Marissa and I enjoy a cup of coffee while doing our Bible reading every morning. It is one of my favorite times of the day. Enjoy your Starbucks! I haven't had one of those since I left Washington. :o(
posted by eclecticchaos on Jul. 26, 2006 at 10:35 AM
I've never been afraid of failing at this. Even though I'm just starting out, I have no fear at all. I am so confident that God has called us to this, that I know I can do a good job. And that He will enable me and my husband to do a good job. And I know that however 'bad' we do, we are still going to do a way better job than the public school system. I think to me, that would be failing....if at the end of this, my kids are just as apathetic and uninterested in learning, and don't know much, and don't know how to think logically and think for themselves - just like the majority of PS kids do. If my kids end up like that, then I will consider myself a failure at this. But I don't think that will happen at all. I have no fear of that happening at all. I know that God is in this and if God is for me, how can I fail??
Sally
posted by Stacey on Jul. 26, 2006 at 10:54 AM
I think this question could be answered in so many different ways, and each would most likely be as unique as each homeschooler out there. I remember wondering if I would fail when I was younger, and I must admit the question tickles my brain every once in a while still. For me that means that my kids are missing something major. And usually it is when I am looking at the forest and wondering how I am going to plant all those trees. But then I realize that there will be gaps, because learning gaps happen, and I am not responsible for planting all the trees. Any gaps can be filled when that information is needed, and if they have the want to learn, then they will fill the gaps on their own. If I have helped them learn to love learning then they will want to fill the gaps and plant more trees. My best advice is what I tell myself all the time. Focus on now, get the basics, and enjoy the process.
posted by on Jul. 26, 2006 at 5:45 PM
Hi there... I've really been enjoying your blog. (I also TOTALLY understand the joy of a Starbucks break!)
I've graduated one homeschooled student (19) and have one to go (11). When I started homeschooling my commitment was to allow my children to observe my daily walk with the Lord in the conviction that God would use it to bring them to real faith in Him. I knew that by spending their days with me that over time they would observe and internalize the truth of my walk with Jesus... they wouldn't have to read about it in a book about giants of the faith or whatever, they could observe a faith walk in their very ordinary mom. (We also read about giants of the faith... but I think observing an ordinary person daily walking with our stupendous and awesome, definitely not ordinary God is more effective in the long run.)
God has been a very present member of our homeschooling adventure and I know He will continue to be. He's blessed us in that both of my children really, deeply love the Lord. My oldest considers her many options (her test scores have been so high that she;s been wooed by MANY big league universities and colleges) and her first consideration is "how can she serve God if she chooses this career or that, this summer camp or that, etc. She really amazes me... I often say that when I grow up I want to be like dd1. :) Dd2 also amazes me(and when she's grown I'll probably want to grow up to be like her too :):) with her insight and integrity and pure love of God. Somehow God is taking the little seed of faith that I've planted in my homeschool and making my children better than me, stronger than me, more capable and loving, funnier, etc... and that makes me VERY happy!
The other benefit that I've found in homeschooling my childen with the purpose of disipling them for Jesus is that our family has grown very close... we sit for hours at times talking and laughing about anything and everything. We laugh ALOT... dd2 especially can look at life with such a humorous slant that she keeps us rolling with laughter. I don't know if this would be true if our first purpose wasn't to honor God, I suspect it would be less true.
Anyway, all of the above comments seem to be a glowing endorsement of homeschooling but honestly I don't think homeschooling is "the answer"... I think it gives a parent precious time to spend with their children so that they can be pointed to "the answer"... Jesus. The value of homeschooling is the time it gives a parent to walk out their faith while little ones observe and internalize truth that very often isn't even spoken.
Edited by ihopeyoudance on Jul. 26, 2006 at 2:51 PM
posted by ihopeyoudance on Jul. 26, 2006 at 10:22 PM
Hmmm... after posting my last comment I read it again. I'm relatively new to blogging and am learning the hard way that I shouldn't just post, bebop to the next blog and post again without giving much thought to what I've written... I often realize later that I communicate things unintentionally that are nevertheless "there". In this post I realized belatedly I probably sound really proud and braggardly about my wonderful, precious kids. I really am very proud of them, but know that ALL of us are... so, here's what I meant to say:
I've felt led to put discipling my children first in our homeschooling adventure. As I've done that, in my stumbling way... trying to walk out my faith in Jesus in front of my kids, I've found that He's met me there and given my kids a beautiful faith in Him, excellent academic success, and also blessed our family with closeness, laughter, and a happiness that comes from spending lots of time together.
(Spunky, you can feel free to delete my first comment... I didn't mean to brag so much:(::( )
Ruth
posted by spunkyhomeschool on Jul. 26, 2006 at 11:13 PM
No deletion necessary. I thought your comments were wonderful. You sound like a mother who loves her children and thinks they are wonderful. I didn't detect pride just a lot of joy. If it's okay with you I'm leaving it just the way it is.
posted by spunkyhomeschool on Jul. 26, 2006 at 11:15 PM
No deletion necessary. I thought your comments were wonderful. You sound like a mother who loves her children and thinks they are wonderful. I didn't detect pride just a lot of joy. If it's okay with you I'm leaving it just the way it is.
posted by spunkyhomeschool on Jul. 26, 2006 at 11:15 PM
No deletion necessary. I thought your comments were wonderful. You sound like a mother who loves her children and thinks they are wonderful. I didn't detect pride just a lot of joy. If it's okay with you I'm leaving it just the way it is.