Living Above the Noise

In A World That Gets Louder Every Day

  • About
  • Faith
  • Family
    • Marriage
    • Parenting
    • Home Schooling
    • Health
    • Raising An Entrepreneur
  • House & Home
    • Home Organization
      • Homemaking Hacks
      • Thrifty Tips
    • Planning & Planners
      • Why You Need A Plan
      • Creating Your Plan
      • Planners
    • Meal Planning
    • Favorite Recipes
    • Celebrations & Holidays
  • Personal Growth
    • The Learning Curve
    • Blogging
    • Encouragement For The Entrepreneur
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Family / How “Not” To Home School

How “Not” To Home School

By livingabovethenoise

School

There are countless methods, styles, and curricula for successfully teaching our children at home.  I could share the differing views, along with the benefits of various approaches, but as I am prone to do, you might begin to question your own program or feel compelled to try a new one before you’re ready. 

So…..I decided to choose the reverse angle.  Rather than share the “how-to’s” on home education, I’ll share some “how not to’s” from my 29 years of homeschooling my kids.  Use them to re-evaluate what you’re doing before you change course.

What Not To Do In Your Home School

–  Don’t treat your children like students (remember, you’re their momma first!) but do teach them how to love being a student in God’s classroom.  Teach them to love learning — and that begins when they’re small learning all they can about God’s creation and His world.

–  Don’t turn your home into a school — just learn at home!  Your children don’t have to have their own desk and be seated properly, with all their subjects and classes strictly laid out in perfect order.  If that’s your style, great.  But feel free to order your day by what works for you.  Be creative, and enjoy learning with your kids!

–  Don’t make your school day so relaxed and flexible that you never really get to the good stuff.  Find a balance between structure and freedom that allows plenty of time to learn, along with generous amounts of time to experience and grow your children’s interests or “bents”.

definition of bent

–  Don’t teach your children that straight A’s are the goal.  Teach your children to see their individual talents as gifts from God, using them wisely and creatively.  Make trusting in and knowing Jesus as Lord the goal.

–  Don’t try too hard – you’ll make everyone, especially yourself, miserable.  Take a step back and relax a bit.  Look for the joy in it all.  Learning can be quite fun — if you let it!

–  Learn from your mistakes and move on.  Learn to laugh at failures.  You’ll never be perfect, so teach your children how to enjoy the ride.  Now that’s one I need to memorize!

–  Don’t believe the lie that just because you use this curriculum, or teach that subject, or have a perfectly ordered day, you’ll turn out a perfect child.  Nothing but God can do that!  We need to remember, “There’s no patent on perfect!” Pray, ponder your ways, and ask God to show you what each child needs to conform to God’s will (no, not your will!). 😉

–  Don’t pattern your ideas of education and success after the world.  Seek Scripture to find what God sees as important in the development of a person.  Trust your own gut sense. Let each child develop and grow in their individual bent, their personal talents, and interests.  Sure, they need to learn the stuff they don’t love — we all do. But leaning into what interests them gives them something to look forward to after the more difficult lessons.  You’ll be amazed at how quickly they succeed in activities geared towards their interests.  Don’t forget, those inclinations were given by God!

–  Don’t believe the only avenue to career or financial success is through one mode of education. This goes for all ages, but I’m speaking here about needing a college degree.  Believe it or not, only one of our ten children has gone to college, and yet, our adult children are each educated and qualified in the particular field they’re working, and they make good incomes.  Of course, if their field of interest required a college education (law, medicine, etc.) we certainly wouldn’t oppose it.  The experience and education gained from internships (learning from a master in the field) is similar to the historical style of apprenticeship. It’s less time consuming than college and more specific to the needed knowledge and skills in a field of interest. Many world-changers throughout history were taught using apprenticeship or personal intense study.

I hope these ideas for “how not to homeschool” will help you decide which work for your family. Can you find a few which might hurt the goals you have for your kids? God made an opportunity-rich environment in our amazingly vast world. Use it for all you can — and your kids will be the better for it!

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8

photo by:
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Family, Homeschooling, Parenting Tagged With: Education, Family, Homeschooling, How To....., Mothering, Parenting, Planning, Priorities, Scheduling

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Discover God’s Value – Free Devotional

7 Day Devotional sign up form

Hi, I’m Terry!

Hi, I’m Terry!

I'm here to help you live above the noise in your life! You know that clamor of life and family and self.

I believe when you realize your unique value before God, you unleash the confidence to live above that noise!

You’ll gain the confidence to:
- think for yourself
- sort through the conflicting options out there
- find the freedom to bring love, joy, and order to your home and family.

Looking for something?

Make a plan to take back your year with this planner!!

Make a plan to take back your year with this planner!!

Start now with one of my favorite planners — The Living Well Planner. Learn how to make your planner work for you in my Planners/Planning section (under the House & Home tab).

My “other” Job…Creekside Candles & Scents!

My “other” Job…Creekside Candles & Scents!

If you love beautifully scented candles and wax melts for your warmer, check out my candle store!

On a Budget? ~ Try the Homemaker’s Friend Daily Planner.

On a Budget?  ~  Try the Homemaker’s Friend Daily Planner.

It's a flexible planner with lots of options to keep you on track!

What is Hope*Writers?
~ A place where writers (who want to share HOPE through writing) learn the art and skills they need.
~ A community of great people learning and growing together.
~ Teachers (lots of them!) who share about every aspect of writing — who challenge members to be their very best.

Featured Posts:

Lessons from the Garden Can Make You A Better Parent

Like plants, strong, capable kids don’t just “happen” without a healthy pot of rich soil. Where roots grow long and healthy. Parents need to give kids a safe place to grow and learn and broaden their ever-expanding minds.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

My Struggle to Find Focus — Biblical Truth for a Blogger

I’ll be honest with you — I’ve been struggling with my blog focus lately.  I’ve wondered if my content is relevant to your needs.  Am I only adding to all the noise on this crazy internet!  Should I write more? Less. Should I quit?! Times Change –  A lot has changed since I began blogging […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Finding Love in a Storm

As I sit here, watching the storm blow in, I can’t help but remember my childhood at the lake.  Sitting on the huge, padded porch swing tucked under the upper level of my grandparents’ cottage, my cousins and I would swing and talk and plan our next excursion for our summer vacation.   We’d gather there […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Fear Of Planning — It’s A Real Thing!

Guess what?!  There really is such a thing as the fear of planning!  You know that feeling — you want to fill out the next week in your planner but you’re gripped with panic from not knowing what to put on your to-do list.  You feel the apprehension of putting something on a wrong day and risking […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share With Others!

LivingAboveTheNoise.com
<a href="https://livingabovethenoise.com" target="_blank"><img src="https://livingabovethenoise.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/blog_button.jpg" alt="LivingAboveTheNoise.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

When you desire to bring order to your life….

Living Well, Spending Less Affiliate

* I will receive, at no additional charge to you, compensation for any sale you make via this link for LWSL planners.  Thanks!

Copyright © 2021 · Living Above the Noise | Contact Me | About Me