There are so many great things about homeschooling. One of the biggest advantages is the freedom to tailor it to your own family. Every family is unique and has their own areas of focus. Here are ours and how we are developing them!
God & faith
As Christian parents, one of our biggest priorities is to make our home an environment where our kids can build a relationship with God and Jesus Christ. We hope by helping them know God and Jesus Christ, their faith will be a guide to them throughout their lives. We want them to be familiar with the scriptures and receive comfort and peace from them.
We do this by going to church each Sunday, reading the scriptures as a family, and setting time aside each day to do an activity related to the scriptures (we call it Time with Jesus.) We also strive to make the gospel a regular topic/conversation in our home. We are constantly talking about the blessings we receive from God and incorporating Him into our schooling. We love to talk about how God created the beautiful butterflies we are learning about or how our bodies are a gift from Him.
Nature
I have read many books and articles about the importance of kids being in nature. (Here are two of my favorites: The Call of the Wild and Free and Balanced and Barefoot.) There are so many benefits physically, mentally, and emotionally. Because we homeschool, we have the TIME to be outside as a family. We love allowing our kids to explore and discover God's world around them.
Core curriculum
We want to give our kids a strong education in the core subjects like math, reading, and writing. We want them to be strong academically and to have the skills they need to be successful. We introduce our kids to books very early in life and read to them every day to create that love for and ability to read. We use The Good and the Beautiful curriculum to give them a solid foundation. See my post about why we love using them!
Child-led interests
We are strong believers that kids learn best and retain the most when they are learning something that they are personally interested in. A large part of our homeschool is using unit studies based around what our kids tell us they want to learn. We try to foster their curiosity and love for learning this way.
Life skills
It is very important to us that our children grow up to be confident, capable adults. We want them to be independent and self-sufficient. We are constantly allowing them to help us with things like prepping meals, doing laundry, and cleaning up messes. They have daily tasks and household chores that they are in charge of doing. This gives them both responsibility and autonomy. Kids LOVE feeling like they are a part of the family and feeling helpful.
These are our focuses in our homeschool. No matter where you are in your homeschool journey, knowing your focuses can help direct how you allot your time and energy. Happy homeschooling!
Comments