Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and writer at Steady Mom
Homeschooling feels awfully complicated at times, wouldn’t you agree? There are multiple subjects, multiple children (usually!), and multiple household tasks to juggle.
All these categories place demands on our time, and in one way or another we need to devote energy to them. But sometimes we lose focus and our lives become a blur of reading lessons, math problems, and test-taking strategies. Not too fun for anyone.
We measure our kids–and our success as homeschooling parents–by these external benchmarks, but what is actually most important in the long run?
What if our children could only learn one lesson–in life or school? What would we decide to teach?
When I think about this question, I immediately know the answer for our family–I want my children to know and love God, and to believe that He has a unique and important mission and plan for their lives.
When I acknowledge the importance of this lesson for our family, I then need to back it up with our life experience. Am I structuring our homeschool days with this end in mind? Is our life arranged in a way that supports this core priority?
Let’s simplify and eliminate outside distractions and work on building the foundation to this vital lesson–so that our kids can pass life’s real tests when they emerge from our homes.
What about you: What if your child could only learn one lesson? What is the first thing that comes to mind? Is there anything you need to change in your life to provide more attention to the teaching of this lesson?
Kindness.
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I told my oldest son today that if he only ever remembers one thing, let it be that his parents and God will always love him, no matter what.
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This was not the point of your posts, but I am really drooling over your Ostheimer collection!
such a reassuring post! yes, to know HOW LOVED THEY ARE, by God & us.
just in the last few days we’ve rearranged our homeschool to include more OUTSIDE, & immediately i felt an internal pushback to be more “schooly”. but “schooly” isn’t us.
thank you for the reminder to check in with our own vision & core values for our families from time to time.
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It’s so hard, with all the “input” of blogs, curriculum companies, and relatives (!) to keep things in perspective. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂 Oh – and I just bought Leadership Education per your suggestion and I’m hanging on every word. Thank you for taking the time to guide people like me who are coming along behind you in the homeschool life.
Warmly,
Jeni
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Thank you for being so open about your faith and sharing the importance of God in your family! I am so grateful for sisters in Christ and their impact on our world by using their voice and influence. You’re doing a great thing by writing posts like this! Praise God for his grace and wisdom! I was recently reflecting on this very thing of what’s the most important thing that my kids get while I homeschool them so we implemented a Bible study time in the morning in addition to our bedtime reading including Bible hero flashcards, prayer sticks and story time out of our “The Action Bible God’s redemptive story” by David C Cook which I highly recommend my boys love it!
Love the nativity set! Any chance it is yours and you know the source?
To love God, and love others. Sometimes I fear that we can love one and not the other, and vise-versa.
I totally LOVE this post! 🙂 It helps bring us back to the “why” of homeschooling, and of parenting in general! 🙂 Sharing it right now! 😀 God bless! Love from the Philippines!
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The lesson I hope to teach is love and acceptance – for everyone (self included) and every living thing.
Love this post! What a great reminder for why we home school! I want my girls to know that they are loved by God and their parents and to show that love to others through their lives.
We just read ‘Three Questions’ last night. It was so beautiful and reminded me to stay in the moment:) It’s a good lesson for everyone
I want my children to always have a love of learning and to be inquisitive and highly engaged in learning. I also want them to be kind, confident, yet humble – love the Lord, discover and live out their purposes God has planned for them! Finally, I want my children to feel peace.
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Thank you for this thoughtful reminder…
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A great reminder to keep perspective about what really matters. I would choose for my kids to learn Open Hearts and Minds if they could only learn one thing. 🙂
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