July 09, 2009
Welcome to the next issue of Keep on Track
Our Focus in this e-zine is defining and evaluating Successful Homeschooling.
Each Keep on Track Issue endeavours to provide the reader with practical advice and food for thought.
The layout of the E-zine is as follows:
Greetings from Marianne
Welcome to all the new subscribers to "Keep On Track."For some of you, it is the end of another year of schooling and you are looking forward to the summer holidays. For others, it is winter, you're bundled up indoors and coming to the half-way mark as far as the school year is concerned.
For other readers who may continue homeschooling all year round it just doesn't matter and lastly, there may be some new readers who are just about to begin homeschooling for the first time when the new school year or term begins.
Welcome to you all!
In this ezine I would like to discuss the idea of successful homeschooling. What does this really mean?
News - Monthly Giveaway!
What's new?
I have just completed some pages on
Homeschool Organization - the details - which is Step Six of my website.
Here you will find pages on the Organization Sitemap.
You can add your own homeschool schedule idea here.
I have also written an article on HighSchool Homeschooling which you can read here.
Also, I thank those who added their Memory Aids for the Giveaway for June.
Without a doubt, Pauline from Queensland added her memory aid and received a huge amount of comments and an excellent rating. Good on you, Pauline! Thanks for the reminder to go "over and over again" to help our children remember all sorts of rules, tricks, tables, verses etc.
Congratualtions Pauline for winning the gift voucher from the bookshop of your choosing!
Next Giveaway: A Science E-book from Currclick.com up to the value of $12.95US!
How? Add your own easy science experiments here. Once again, you will be judged by the comments and ratings from other readers. Let us know what your favourite easy science experiments are, how you did it, a photo of the experiment or project. Then, ask your friends to comment and vote... and the winner will receive a free science e-book of their choosing from Currclick.com up to the value of $12.95US.
Read more at the Homeschool Freebie page.
Successful Homeschooling
First let us define successful homeschooling. When we talk about being successful at homeschooling or being successful as a parent or raising children successfully, what does it really mean?Success is about reaching the goals we set. When I research the word, "success" on Google, I get over 350 million pages on how to achieve success. What would most pages be about? Making money! Riches! Financial freedom!
However, how do I view that question from a Christian point of view? What should my goals be? I was reminded on Sunday about a quote from John Calvin, "Man's mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain."
We are always tempted to place our focus on something other than God. It may be our family, our happiness, our wealth, our gifts and abilities, our ministry, our children, and even our children's education.
In Matthew 5 we read, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." and also, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength..."
So, that leads us to what goals we set in home education.
Often success is defined by scores. Schools are worried about having their results printed in the newspaper as can be used as a determining factor in its own success. Students are ranked by their SAT scores or other similar university entrance test results. Are we homeschooling successfully if our children rank well, or win a competition, receive a scholarship or are held in high regard by others?
It was pointed out to me in a sermon that Philip, the disciple of Jesus, when Jesus confronted him with the problem of feeding the five thousand (as a test), looked for a worldly solution to a problem far out of his reach. He excluded God from his calculations. Isn't that so easy to do? Rather than recognizing God, looking for the higher calling, the deeper goal, the ultimate life goal - we settle for a mediocre goal of worldly achievement which takes all our efforts and removes our focus off the REAL goal of following Christ.
Leo Tolstoy said, " The man whose only goal is his own happiness is bad; he whose goal is the good opinion of others is weak; he whose goal is the happiness of others is good; he whose goal is God is great."
If we pursue God, He may choose to give us honour, happiness, a full education and commendation as a by-product. But what are we striving for - the world’s praise—or even our homeschool support group’s admiration— if God is not smiling over our success? Hasn't God given our children their character as well as their educational ability to be used for His glory? What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? Having gained high scores and worldy praise without pleasing God leaves us with hollow and empty achievements. May God in His grace enable us to make pleasing and glorifying God our definition of true homeschooling success.
Application
How can we aim to be "successful" in our homeschooling?In this article the author lists 10 steps to successful homeschooling each beginning with S :
This is a good place to begin. After re-examining our goals, we need to keep an eye on our own focus and how we are driving the focus in our homes. Is it obvious that we are pursuing obedience and character development above the goal of being "educated." Do our children see that "glorifying God" is our goal in our actions, words, praise, commitment and time?
Organizational Tips
You need to know where you are headed in order to be organized in your homeschooling and to be able to write out your homeschool goals.Firstly, make a list of the Relational, Practical and Academic goals you have for your family as discussed on the page about Setting Educational Goals.
The next step when doing homeschool planning is to outline the details of a homeschool curriculum which you decide for your family. As I have mentioned on the Homeschool Curriculum page, (Step Two) I am not referring specifically as to "what" to use, but rather the variety of subject areas which you determine to be important to achieve the big picture goals. You will now need to write goals for each specific subject. Read more about Homeschool Planning and the details - writing goals, skill charts etc here.
How the homeschooling approach affects how you homeschool.
All about homeschooling supplies and organizing the homeschool environment.
How to set up a Homeschool Schedule.
Coming soon...
Don't forget, read more about the July- August Contest at the Monthly Giveaways Page.
Until next time, Enjoy your holiday break.... and Keep-On-Track.....
May God bless your journey in home education!
...See you next time....
Marianne