Before you actually begin homeschooling your children, you need to establish some goals. These will be long range goals. I like to save short term goals until after I have a better idea of my child's interests. What do you want your children's lives to be like. The most obvious goal will be academic. As a parent, however, you should also set goals concerning their relationships and their life skills.
Academic long term goals should concern skills. Of course reading, writing, and arithmetic are core skills to be mastered, but please do not forget learning how to learn, critical thinking, analysis, reasoning, and forensics (the art or study of argumentation and debate). Unless a student in public school is taking advanced placement classes, he is not even being exposed to these concepts, let alone receiving instruction in them. Teach your children to read between the lines and ask questions like the following:
Goals for relationships are varied and can encompass spirituality, intra-personal, inter-personal, and the environment. I'm sure you can probably think of others, or you may want to skip some of these. For spirituality, you will want them to know your beliefs and why you believe what you do. Ultimately, they will choose as they please, but you will have done your part to give them a good foundation. Intra-personal refers to how they feel about themselves. Are they at peace within their own minds? Inter-personal is how well they relate to others. Are they able to show respect for the people around them without allowing themselves to be walked on? Are they helpful and courteous? Do they display good manners? As for their environmental relationship, are they good stewards of our natural resources. Can they appreciate the beauty of the world around them?
We cannot omit life skills. It seems that I meet young adults on a daily basis who do not know how to cook, sew on a button, or balance their checkbooks. How can one manage a budget if he can't balance his checking account? Everyone should be proficient in these skills. They should also understand good grooming, housekeeping, and car care. It is not a bad idea for you to include some type of lifesaving training in your children's skill sets.
I hope you can see the value of setting these goals. You will have your own ideas, I'm sure. My purpose here is to make you aware of the process. You might even want to have your children help with the goal setting. They could surprise you.
Academic long term goals should concern skills. Of course reading, writing, and arithmetic are core skills to be mastered, but please do not forget learning how to learn, critical thinking, analysis, reasoning, and forensics (the art or study of argumentation and debate). Unless a student in public school is taking advanced placement classes, he is not even being exposed to these concepts, let alone receiving instruction in them. Teach your children to read between the lines and ask questions like the following:
- What is the author's background?
- Where did he get his information?
- Who funded that research?
- Why is this information important?
- For whom was this written?
Goals for relationships are varied and can encompass spirituality, intra-personal, inter-personal, and the environment. I'm sure you can probably think of others, or you may want to skip some of these. For spirituality, you will want them to know your beliefs and why you believe what you do. Ultimately, they will choose as they please, but you will have done your part to give them a good foundation. Intra-personal refers to how they feel about themselves. Are they at peace within their own minds? Inter-personal is how well they relate to others. Are they able to show respect for the people around them without allowing themselves to be walked on? Are they helpful and courteous? Do they display good manners? As for their environmental relationship, are they good stewards of our natural resources. Can they appreciate the beauty of the world around them?
We cannot omit life skills. It seems that I meet young adults on a daily basis who do not know how to cook, sew on a button, or balance their checkbooks. How can one manage a budget if he can't balance his checking account? Everyone should be proficient in these skills. They should also understand good grooming, housekeeping, and car care. It is not a bad idea for you to include some type of lifesaving training in your children's skill sets.
I hope you can see the value of setting these goals. You will have your own ideas, I'm sure. My purpose here is to make you aware of the process. You might even want to have your children help with the goal setting. They could surprise you.
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