Creating a Vision for Your Homeschool

Last year I overfilled our days because I didn’t take the time to create a vision for our homeschool. You can read about that experience and what I learned here.

I smack my head and roll my eyes when I think about how I planned my year around good, fun things, but missed the big picture. After all, I have a degree in education and one of the things that was stressed in my coursework and continued on in the classroom is that you always start with the end in mind! When creating a lesson plan you start with the objectives- not the cute ideas you found on Pinterest. Somehow this didn’t (immediately) translate over for me with planning a schedule for my homeschool.

So what are my objectives?

These are the questions I asked myself as I began to envision the next school year.

What do I value? What is most important to me?

What do I want my children to value?

What are my goals for each child?

• Spiritually?
• Behaviorally?
• Academically?

I chose these three types of goals because a life in Christ is unbalanced without these three areas: being, doing, and knowing or you can even think of it in terms of: soul, body, and mind

Do the learning experiences I’m providing reflect my values? Do they communicate those values to Josiah? Do they allow for our goals to be met? 

What does this look like for us?

I determined that what I value most is relationships: relationships with my family and a relationship with God the Father, Son, and Spirit. I also wanted my kids to come to value these things as well.

My goals for my 4-year-old this year are:

Spiritually:

to be aware of God’s presence and involvement, to see Him in all things

Behaviorally:

1. to help with family chores
2. to love God and to show his love by helping and loving others
3. to grow in the area of prayer

Academically:

1. to master letter-sound relationships
2. to count to 20, identify written numbers 1-10, compare numbers 1-10, begin to explore adding and subtracting concepts
3. to develop knowledge of the Bible by memorizing scripture and learning Bible stories

This is the lens I will view all future decisions through. When presented with an opportunity I will ask if it reflects my values and goals.

Rather than operating out of fear or fun, (more about that here) I will operate out of my core beliefs and values.

My vision for this year includes a slower pace and time at home to build relationships with my children by connecting through books, playing together, and spending time in nature.

Although we will attend story time at the library this year, I will prioritize the time we spend in non-structured environments to protect the space where validation, affirmation and connection can occur most easily.

I’m sure there will be other seasons in our homeschooling journey that will require us to be away from home more. I can foresee necessary reasons for doing so. But in this current season, home or in nature is best for us.

We are in a special season where we actually CAN be at home. I don’t want to miss this special chapter when I am able to connect with my babies.

What about you? What’s your vision for your home this year?