When it comes to homeschooling, one of the most common questions I get from others is, “How do you know what to teach?”. I’ve always stumbled over my response to this query.
I’ll first acknowledge the intelligence of the question itself. Yes, I suppose it would seem rather daunting to the average parent knowing what their children should learn and when. There are school boards that do that with varying differences on curriculum choices from district to district, state to state, province to province. The individuals making these important curriculum decisions will be influenced by what the children will need to know for the standardized tests, what the political agenda of the day is (ie. citizenship, recycling - I’m being serious here, not sarcastic on this one), what their worldview is (ie. how did the world get here? what is the meaning of life? what is truth? - I could go on and on) and money - what’s available, affordable or on contract, etc. Parents trust this often unknown group to make these decisions on behalf of us as parents for our children. We trust that they know what they are doing and that they have our children’s best intentions at heart. The individual teachers then have the challenging task of implementing the chosen curriculum. God bless ‘em.
So you see, it’s a fair question to ask a parent who’s chosen not to delegate the responsibility of teaching her children to someone else and now has to decide for herself/himself not just how or by what methods she teach each of her children but what she’ll teach her children.
Keep in mind I can’t answer for anyone else but my family. As you can see from school board to school board, there is variety. The same is true in homeschool families. The idea that gaps in a curriculum can be avoided is a myth. There is no way to fill in the gaps. There are not enough hours in a day to learn everything there is to learn. The best thing that I can do as a parent teacher is to try to instill a love of learning, encourage the natural desire to learn found in a child and instruct my children how to learn. This way, they can learn anything at anytime and have been equipped to do so!
As I carefully pick out from year to year what we will be learning, how I will teach it, what resources I will use and how much time and energy will be spent on each particular endeavor, I too will be influenced.
- We’ve chosen (at this point) not to have our kids take standardized tests. It’s not required in our province first of all. We’re not breaking any laws not having them take it. I’m not concerned about where they fall in regards to what other kids know at any one particular time. I do believe there’s a time and place for tests however. I came across a book titled “The myth of standardized tests: why they don’t tell you what you think they do” and found it a very interesting read. Not only that, but I’m going to put out there something shocking. I don’t think it’s every child’s “right” to receive the same education as the next kid. Every child isn’t like every child. They are unique individuals with talents and gifts that make up who they are and no one else. Standardize that! Why on earth do we expect them to learn the same stuff at the same time with the same expectations?!!! I myself have often fallen prey to this misled expectation.
- We think it’s important to be good citizens! Our kids watch us vote in elections, keep up to date on what’s going on in the country and be good neighbours. Our city is big on recycling and we have a black bin for paper, a blue bin for glass and plastics and a green bin for food scraps, yard waste, etc. Our kids watch and participate in recycling efforts. I don’t need to have a special class on this.
- Our worldview plays a huge role in what we chose to have our children learn! From the beginning, we’ve started our day with Bible lessons and theology. This will not be found on a standardized test. Not any one that I took, anyway!
- I don’t have a contract with any curriculum provider so I’m free to shop around. It’s not like money is no object though so I still have a budget to stick to. Lots of things can be found for free on the internet now. There are a million homeschool catalogs out there to peruse, homeschool stores to spend hours going through and curriculum fairs to attend. Personally, I can’t get enough of it. At some point, I have to cut myself off. Like I mentioned before, there are not enough hours in a day to learn everything. I would LOVE to have us all learn French and Latin. It would be awesome to have my 10 year old diagram sentences like nobody’s business. It would be great to have time to go through “The Odyssey” before high school starts. But like anything else, I have to prioritize and make some hard decisions. Sometimes I make the wrong decision and we have to tweak things a bit. Sometimes a child will start to really get into something with passion and we can take a bit of a detour to encourage it. Sometimes what curriculum worked for one child doesn’t work for the other. But I have the freedom! I must admit, I love it! However, I have to also admit that it’s not the catalogs, stores or fairs that ultimately guide our choices.
As Christians, we go right to the Source. We want to know what the Maker of heaven and earth has to say about parenting, education and knowledge. If He has a suggestion somewhere in the Bible that says something about Saxon being the best for math, I’m going to take it! If the Author and Perfecter of the very lives I’m teaching instructs me to make sure my kids have prepositional phrases memorized and gives me a clue as to which phonics program to use, I better listen up! I gotta tell ya, I’ve been forward and backward in that big book of God’s Word and I can’t find any mention anywhere of math, phonics, prepositional phrases or any other “subject”. I’ve even looked in the index. And while all of those subjects are certainly important to know and study for most people, it leads me to believe that the omission of their mention may mean there are other things of more importance. What could be more important than the 3 R’s?
Before I start picking out a plan of action, I look for what God does say and take note of what he doesn’t say. Although not an exhaustive list, he does say:
- “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” Proverbs 1:7a
- “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5,6
- “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21
- “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” Proverbs 24:3,4
- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deut. 6:5-7
- “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19, 20
It is reading passages like these that influence our definition of education. We believe that education is the preparation of a child intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and physically for life and for eternity.
Our mission statement : to prepare faithful disciples to witness to the gospel in all of life.
Having that roadmap in front of me, I can then make some priorities.
Foundation: Devotions, Bible History, Memory Work, Family Worship and Corporate Worship, Confirmation
3 R’s : Reading, Writing and Math
Communication : Spelling, Writing, Narrate/Speech, Critical Thinking
Once I’ve done that, I can start picking out the curriculum and method.
If I say the things above are really important but we get to the end of our day with nary a Word from God, I have not put down a solid foundation. If I say and agree with “in all your ways acknowledge him” but I failed to praise him and give him glory while studying birds or the periodic table, it’s just lip service. If I’m focused solely on making sure my students can perform well in a spelling bee but forgot they were my children somewhere along the way, I need to stop and refocus. If I’m making sure my children are good public speakers but aren’t grounded in the truths of scripture, how are they to speak the truth in love? And if my mission statement is claiming to prepare faithful disciples to witness to the gospel but they aren’t aware of the souls that are out there in this big world that God created and formed himself because we just stick to “our own little world”? Then I have failed the mission.
So, yeah, back to the question of “how do you know what to teach?” - it’s a fair question. And my short answer? Through the grace of God. No matter how focused I may think I start the year out, I fail within minutes. The Lord gives me strength in my weaknesses and grants me wisdom through his Word. He offers me free, no strings attached forgiveness for my many failings - even when I start to panic that my son will never be a spelling bee champion or my daughter may be crippled with fear in front of a crowd - instead of embracing them for who they are, helping them be the best they can be, accepting how God made them, and thanking and praising him for allowing me to parent and love them. I have the privilege of sitting by their side as together we learn about cultures in far away countries, pray for lost souls misled by false beliefs, study their customs and food:) and consider if God may someday use this knowledge to help lead someone to him! I am humbled when I consider earth science and the universe and everyday miracles we get so used to seeing that we may forget to stop what we’re doing and give all praise to him! I trust that God will use each of my children for his purposes and he knows the plans he has for them, regardless of my failings and inadequacies. I’m comforted by his love for me and his plan of salvation. And I try to keep the awareness of despite having “the best laid plans”, God may have other plans. What do I teach?
I teach Jesus. Because you see him in Math, Science, History, Language - everywhere! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
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| Ryan Gosling - he gets it |
Still waiting to hear my husband whisper these sweet nothings in my ear. But he's very supportive and encouraging in his own way:)
