My Homeschooling Essentials

Lessons plans are prepared, books have arrived, the kids have had their last summer pool parties, and it’s time to begin the school year! As for me, excitement and dread mingle as I face a new year with challenges that I can’t anticipate, the ever-present insecurities related to giving my two bright sons a good education, and second-guessing myself almost every step along the way. (For starters this year, it took me three tries before I actually purchased the right compass for Matthew’s geometry class....)

So every year at this time, I forcefully focus myself on these three homeschooling essentials, which shine like beacons across the ominous stacks of books and papers on my schoolroom floor. They remind me of what really matters:

1) Every summer, God gives me a passage for our school year to focus on in parenting and teaching my sons. It is of great comfort to me, reminding me that He’s the one who holds their destiny in His hands, even as I am the one teaching and role modeling and parenting. We memorize this passage the first week of school. This year, it’s Psalm 25:4-5:

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are my God and my Savior;
my hope is in you all day long.
2) Time spent with God is the ultimate necessity for me. No matter how long the previous day has been, I have to roll out of bed early and get face-to-face with the Lord! I will never persevere in doing this overwhelming job without continually centering myself on Jesus, listening to His wisdom and direction through His Word, telling Him the thoughts and questions on my heart, soaking His life into my soul every morning. This is top priority, a nonnegotiable for every day, whether it’s a school day or not!

3) And, getting to the heart of the matter, I need to remember why I am homeschooling in the first place. This list (below) goes near the front of my school notebook, so I can find it quickly when I start to wonder why we’re doing this. For those days when the algebra equations look like they are written in Sanskrit instead of English. Those times when a son’s sullen expression makes me want to throw the history book on the floor. For those moments when I see spindly, misshapen trees, and not the beauty of the big-picture forest that is our family. Why am I homeschooling? These eight reasons top my list:

Why I am Homeschooling Middle School & High School Sons
1 • I want to know & understand & enjoy my children to the fullest as they grow & mature into the men they will be. (This means also dealing with their moods, attitudes, arguments & angst!)

2 • I want to invest all that I have in the training of the sons God has entrusted to me, for these relatively few years that I have with them.

3 • I want to make the most of every opportunity in teaching them & learning from them, exploring Truth & God’s world together.

4 • I want to teach & demonstrate God’s goodness & faithfulness & extravagant love toward my sons. (Who better than a mom to do this?!)

5 • I want them to experience and understand the priority of family as the primary relationships through which God encourages us, teaches us, grows us in Christ-likeness and develops deep, lasting relationships.

6 • I want to take my sons, their dreams & goals & thoughts, SERIOUSLY — not condescending to them simply because they are not yet adults.

7 • I want to give them time & opportunity & encouragement to explore their interests & gifts, regardless of whether they falter or excel.

8 • But even as I want to do my best for them for God’s sake and for our family’s sake, I want to trust God with developing their hearts & minds. I am not the one in charge of their lives & their days. He alone knows the plans He has for them, and those plans are for their good & His glory!

What essentials help YOU persevere on your journey (homeschooling or otherwise)?