Teaching What Is Important

As a new homeschooler, it took me roughly two years to decide what was important in educating my children and what was nonsense. I decided some things rightly and on other things I learned the hard way with trial and error. I imagine that for every family "What is Important," will be different and may be an evolutionary process. But knowing what is important has helped me to make wiser choices about outside activities, methodology and curriculum.

My family has learned that God wants us to learn:

1. Jesus - The Lord impressed it upon my heart several years ago that the single most important subject to cover on a daily basis was Bible. But it was more than just reading the Word, it was that we should talk about it. How does the Word apply to our lives? What am I believing? What do I not believe, and why? Getting to the heart of my children has been high on my agenda for a long time. So before we do anything, we pray, seek God in the Word together, and talk about what we're learning.

2. Our own identity - Children must understand who they are Biblically. They are sinners, in need of a Savior. But they are also an incredible, dynamic person that God wants to use to His own glory. God wants them to discover how He has made them. How are they built? What sparks their interest? What gifts and talents have they been given? How might God want to use them? How might I encourage them to go in the way God designed them to go? I encourage interest led, mother directed learning. I allow my children to experiment, learning by trial and error what works, what doesn't and what may be a possibility in the future.

3. History - History contains an account of God's hand and man's fallen nature. There are lessons to be learned and applied into life as we know it now. We can learn from both the triumphs and the failures of past generations.

4. How to learn - Yep, if a child knows how to learn, then a child can learn anything at anytime. When a child is young, they are learning all of the time. Their hot little brains are firing off synapsis at an incredible rate. So for young ones, I offer variety in our lessons with a heavy emphasis on doing and experience and an even heavier emphasis on thinking skills. We read books, we watch videos, we discuss, we craft, we write (a little), but most of all we have fun all along the way!

In the 3rd grade I begin to teach dictionary skills. But I keep it light. No need to make nine year old children look up twenty-five words a week! We look up three to five words a week when we're first learning and after that we simply use the dictionary as needed. Dictionary skills are not rocket science.

In the 4th and 5th grade, I teach children to order books from the library online, the basics of the Dewey Decimal System and how to find a shelved book at the library. In the 6th grade, we begin to learn research and reference skills.

By the 8th grade and up we are well on our way to learning study skills such as:

Identifying key words in a written paragraph
How to take notes from a book (highlighting, underlining, keyword outlines)
How to take notes from a news show
How to takes notes from a lecture

5. How to communicate with others, both spoken and written, in a gracious and upright way. We focus on manners and basic skills. How do you write a good sentence or a decent paragraph? What does a professional business look like? How might I write one? What is proper email etiquette? How do I write five paragraphs in 25 minutes for an SAT essay? How do I avoid becoming overwhelmed by a research paper? What tools do I need?

6. How to use math - I want my children to have solid math skills as high as they are capable of going and tailored to meet the needs of their future. Not every student will need Trig, but some do! Most of all I do not want my children to think they are "math dumb." I thought that about myself for years, and by homeschooling, I've learned that I am not math dumb at all. I simply wasn't taught properly as a child. No student needs to think ill of himself if math doesn't come easily. Simply encourage progress and work to God's glory. God will be faithful to open your child's mind to math as He sees fit.

7. Basic science - I believe that all children should have a firm foundation in creation science. How did God make this happen? What are the laws and principles? How does that work? Beyond that I believe children should learn science to the degree needed to support a child's interests and future career path. Like math, I would like my children to go as high as they believe God is leading them to go.

In our family, we learn Jesus first and then our own identity in Him, and all along the way we lay a firm foundation in the basics.

Grateful for His grace,

©2008 Y.M.F.