by Dena Bless
Have you ever heard stories of when homeschooling first started its resurgence in the ‘80s and parents couldn’t find curriculum to use? There weren’t any classes or other activities to include as part of your child’s studies. How things have changed! Now it’s not a matter of having enough options, but too many.
Have you started your year and already feel it may be too much? Both you and the kids are overwhelmed? How do you figure out how to design (or redesign!) a schedule to allow your children to explore their giftings and interests but still have sanity for the family?
Let’s start with the analogy of the walnuts and the rice. Have you seen this one? You take a mason jar, fill it most of the way with rice, and then try to add in a handful of walnuts in the shell. It doesn’t work. There isn’t enough room for all the walnuts. However, if you reverse the process and put the walnuts in first and then add the rice, it all fits. This little demonstration exemplifies how there are many good things in life, but if you don’t plan and strategize and make the best ones a priority, you can end up doing a lot but missing some of the key and most important ones.
Know Your Why
Why did you choose home education for your family? The answer to this question is the number one guiding principle to help you sort through all those options out there. Latin, piano lessons, and gymnastics are all fabulous additions to a home education curriculum, but if they don’t support your master plan and reason for homeschooling, they will end up distracting and overwhelming you and your children. Pray, with your spouse if you’re married, and put your overall goal in writing and choose activities, classes, and curriculum that support that goal.
Know How and When to Say No
We want to give our children the best education possible, but you cannot do everything. As I look back on homeschooling my two daughters, I can now clearly see times when I did not do this well and the unnecessary stress it created on all of us. I can see where I should have said no to a certain subject, class, or activity. I can see when I should have made sure it fit our “why” instead of being swayed because others were doing it or it seemed like a good idea. I should have created space for us to just “be” as a family; to enjoy more time together and have time to breathe between our studies and supporting activities.
Know Your Family’s Limits
There are times when even a great activity or class requires too much of your family as a whole. We didn’t do a lot of organized sports because we weren’t willing to commit to several days a week, and particularly Sundays, to practices and games for months at a time. We found other ways for our girls, who were never going to be Olympic athletes, to get physical exercise and have fun with other kids.
We also participated in our community theater, for both fine arts and PE/dance. It was several nights a week and three weekends (but didn’t interfere with church) for only eight weeks. We decided as a family that it was worth it for a few seasons. I’m not saying this is the right decision for everyone, but carefully weigh the pros and cons of activities, especially if they require a high level of commitment for an extended period of time.
Know Your Child’s Strengths
When it comes to academics, your children do not need to attain high level mastery in all subjects. There are some subjects that simply an awareness or basic competency is enough. If it’s not a subject that is important to the field your child may be pursuing for his future, having a basic grasp of the concepts and how to apply them is enough. Choose to challenge them to more advanced levels of understanding in subjects that fit their giftings, interests, and future pursuits, rather than every subject you cover.
You can use some of these considerations to sort through your many options of curriculum and supporting activities to create the home education program that is best for your family.
About Dena
Having a heart for families and being sold out to the benefits of private, Christian home education, Dena Bless is excited to support and mentor others in any way possible. She is currently CHEA’s Events Manager, and, along with her husband, Ed, serve as the Bay Area & Northern California Regional Advisory Board members. Dena is also the leader of the PSP she belonged to when homeschooling her two daughters, both of whom have now graduated from college.