AND SO IT BEGINS...

As I thought and prayed about what the Lord would have me share with you this month I found myself thinking about what our responsibility is as a homeschool mom. What kinds of things should we be teaching? Does it matter what curriculum we use or if we choose to use one at all? Should we have a traditional classroom or spread out on the dining room table or the living room floor? Should we lecture or send them off on their own? Should we use thematic studies where we teach basically the same thing but on whatever different grade levels we need? Or does any of this really matter?
Homeschool families are each different and unique. That's the way God made us. That is also part of the reason that we each homeschool. We want our unique children to have the opportunity to learn the way God created them to learn best. We want learning to be fun and exciting for them. We want them to know that God cares about what they learn and how they learn it. We feel that it is our responsibility, given to us by God, to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and so we teach them. We know that in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 we are told that our God is the ONLY God and that we must love Him with everything we are. We are also told that we must teach this to our children through repetition (vs.7a "Repeat them again and again to your children."), through discussion (vs. 7b "Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up."), through reminders ("vs 8 "Tie them to your hands and wear them on your foreheads as reminders") and through writing them. (vs.9 "Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.") These are teaching tools God has laid out for us. In the same chapter of Deuteronomy and verses 20-25 the Israelites were told that their children would ask what God's commandments meant and they needed to tell them what God had done for them and that by obeying and fearing the Lord they could continue to receive God's blessings and He would protect them. When your children ask about God be ready with your answers. Not only share what God has done in the life of you and your family members but also teach them our Christian heritage here in this country and what God has brought us through. Encourage them to continue on in the favor of God. Proverbs 4:5-7 Tells us to get wisdom and develop good judgement. Now we know that wisdom and knowledge aren't the same thing. We know that wisdom is learning to apply our knowledge and good judgement is learning to apply our discernment. As parents we want our children to be wise and to make good choices and who is going to know better when they are ready to take on more responsiblity in those areas than the parent? It is important that we nurture these areas in our kids and teach them how to be wise and discerning. Prov 10:1 says "A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother." We also know that Jesus taught by parable, through stories. Encourage your kids to read, read, read, but be diligent about what they are reading. That's another reason we homeschool...to protect our kids from all the garbage and lies that are out there. We know that ultimately our greatest charge in the scriptures is to "Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing." Eccl. 12:13-14 And so no matter what method, or room, or curriculum you use it all boils down to doing what God asked us to do when He shared our children with us. His Word gives us a mandate to teach our children all about God. Help them get to know Him and as you do your relationship with both the child and the Lord will grow.
So...once again it is time to start a new school year. As many mothers look forward to sending their kids off to school, we homeschool moms look forward to another year of working to not only give our kids knowledge that they will need to make it in this life, but more importantly to continue to instill in them the knowledge of Christ and encourage their relationship with Him. We have the unique opportunity to help our children understand how Jesus has been and continues to be a part of everything we learn about the world around us. Whether it is science or history or even math, Jesus is the Lord, Creator and Sustainer of it all.