by Connie Burroughs
Celebrating the New Year has left some of you with a sense of excitement … a fresh new start! On the other hand, some of you feel overwhelmed trying to get back in the swing of things after the busy Christmas season. The inspiring book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, focuses on how living a life of thankfulness leads us to life full of joy in Christ. The author, a homeschool mom of six, says, “But when Christ is at the center, when dishes, laundry, work, is my song of thanks to Him, joy rains. Passionately serving Christ alone makes us the loving servant to all … The work becomes worship, a liturgy of thankfulness.”
As you continue to worship through serving your family, remember that if you follow a traditional school calendar, then February is an important month for you. It’s the halfway mark! I always took time in February to look at where we were in meeting our goals for the year. This allowed me to be realistic about what we were actually going to accomplish in the school year, so we could finish strong. If we were on schedule, then we continued at our current pace, but more times than not, we had not accomplished all that I had planned for the first half of the year. This meant that I needed to adjust my plans.
If I had planned to read ten novels, and we’d only read two, then I needed to decide which books I’d be deleting from my list. That way when we completed four books (instead of ten), we were still finishing strong. One year I’d planned to complete an extensive American history study. It turns out that Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a long book, so we ended up spending almost the entire year studying the Civil War. I usually had to adjust our math schedule. I learned that most math books are not designed to be finished. The last chapters are supplemental and not necessary for success in the next book. So if there were 130 lessons, maybe my goal was to complete 100. If we were not on lesson 50 by February, then I looked to see what lessons could be combined, which practice problems could be skipped, or whatever we needed to do to get “caught up.” Not giving my children extra work, just figuring out ways to move through the lessons more quickly. I didn’t like doing math through the summer, and it was hard to start the next school year in the middle of a book. I always had to remind myself that our school year was not about checking things off a list. It was about enjoying learning. So if we enjoyed studying four books instead of plodding through ten, then the year was a success.
To celebrate our successes, we had an end-of-school-year celebration. I stacked up all of the books the children read, displayed one of their early math lessons with one from the end of the book, chose some favorite writing samples for them to read aloud, and displayed our Bible studies. I would have them play a song they’d learned on an instrument, and have them present an oral history or science report–whatever I could think of to help them recognize their accomplishments. We had no family nearby, so it was usually just a celebration with Dad. A few times we were able to schedule our celebration when grandparents could participate, and no celebration would be complete without a special meal or dessert!
I have known homeschool families who probably accomplished more academically than we did in the school year, but instead of celebrating, they managed to feel defeated. The moms made incredible plans for their children. They started out strong, but as the year rolled along, they realized there was no way they could complete these great plans. Instead of altering their plans, they lost their enthusiasm. Sometimes even making their children feel bad about not completing all of the work. Each year these dedicated moms ended their school years by just fizzling out, feeling like they and their children had failed. In the end both the moms and the children missed out on what could have been a great school year had the moms been realistic about their goals.
I once heard a Bible study leader say, “Don’t get through somehow. Get through triumphantly!” I have taken this to heart. I have made the decision to never wish away years, months, days, or hours. You only get one chance for this school year, so plan to finish strong … TRIUMPHANTLY!
Happy New Year! “Let joy rain!”
Connie Burroughs was privileged to homeschool her two daughters and two sons through their high school graduations. Three of her children completed college masters degrees and her youngest a Juris Doctor. But Connie’s greatest joy is that her children are following Christ and raising their children to do the same. Connie is blessed to spend time each week with her 14 grandchildren and their moms.