His Favorite Daughter

Schools will be opening their doors for students next week here where I live. And I guess that means that I need to start thinking a little more about what we’re going to do, too.

I really love the freedom of homeschooling, but I have to admit, the responsibility is sometimes a little daunting. What happens if I don’t teach the right things? Will I be the cause of future problems if they don’t learn what year the Magna Carta was written? Does it really matter that they don’t know the difference between “phylum” and “order”? Will they be scarred for life for not knowing those, and myriads of other facts, or will they be okay?

When I start thinking about the magnitude of my teaching my children at home, those really ARE things I stress out about. But then I realize that even if they DO learn those things, and more, unless I can make them meaningful to them, they’ll likely just forget them. I need to remember that, while knowledge is important, the more important thing is that they be loving, kind, well-rounded boys who can communicate with others. Of course, it would be helpful if they’d learn to communicate QUIETLY between themselves instead of yelling and using their fists to get their point across. Thankfully they aren’t that physical with others!!
I guess I really need to buckle down and make a plan, then stick to it, when it comes to homeschooling this year. Maybe I won’t force them to do school work for hours and hours upon end, like they do in public schools. But I will do my best to help them to learn the things that I feel they need to know - honesty, integrity, putting others before themselves, and so on. Oh, we’ll do the math, science, language arts, etc., but to me their learning to be better human beings is just as important as the academics, if not moreso.