Think back with me to the very first steps of your homeschooling journey. What were those BIG dreams you had for your children? I remember saying, “I want my children to love learning and to know and love God.” But, along this 20+ year journey, I’ve discovered I have repeatedly made choices that have actually been the exact opposite of that deep desire I had. I’ve missed some precious opportunities to show my children WHO God is and help them fall in love with Him, and I’ve actually been guilty of boring them to tears instead of helping them be lifelong lovers of learning. So where did I take some wrong turns? I’ve pondered this on more than one occasion– and I’ve come to some conclusions. I hope some of this helps you too. The Same Old Approach I’ve bored my kids with continuing to fall back on the same old approach…trying to find the “perfect curriculum” over and over and over. Yet I kept repeating the same pattern, hoping the result would somehow change. I’ve gotten distracted from my goals for my children by some very dull, predictable, and ineffective approaches. One of the biggest distractions came from those big—but often empty—textbooks. This default approach of relying on textbooks to teach, especially for our high schoolers, is that they simply cannot deliver on their promises. Those hefty-sized books are limited to only telling students (usually in black and white text) and never can really show them the wonder of God in living color! Those endless pages of seemingly important information are actually filled with boring minutia that we all know we don’t really need to learn! Furthermore, we further demean their love of learning by reducing the learning process to one of looking for a “right answer” and taking a test to prove that we learned the lesson over thrilling and amazing them with who God is and what He does and what that means for their lives. Wonder-less Information Think about the information we were forced to memorize that never captured our imagination or changed the way we saw the world. I have a long list… I have never once used an upper-level math equation in my real grown-up life, nor have I ever diagrammed another sentence or found the knowledge of things like prokaryotic vs. eukaryotic cells to be a valuable, life-changing pieces of information that I’m glad I stored up. The truth is, we are boring them to tears while heaping a heavy burden and load of meaningless school work for them to simply endure. And, along this path we destroy their wonder, curiosity, and admiration for their Creator. We miss the golden opportunity to be their “tour guides” and really show (not just tell) them the reality of who God is! Long Dull Lessons Another way I was boring my students was with long, dull lessons. Why is it that someone decided that the best way to learn something is to spend endless hours listening to someone else’s opinion on a subject? When do we really practice that in our daily lives? And when, is only ONE writer’s opinion the only correct one? For instance, a textbook curriculum writer becomes the definitive expert on a subject just because they wrote it– and we accept their information as rock-solid truth in a subject area. When do we make adult decisions that way? We don’t. We seek out a variety of counselors for a subject of importance; we research, we interview, and we analyze. I realized I was giving my children a very limited viewpoint by utilizing a single source for curriculum. I realized I was boring them, dulling their discernment, and working against my goals for them to be lifelong learners with sharp, questioning minds. Avoiding “One Size Fits All” There are much better tools and resources to learn from than the same old approach, and we get to choose for ourselves which is most appealing and useful. What a blessing to be freed from the “one-size-fits-all” approach and to pursue a path laid out for us by a good God who loves us! I have learned to stop looking for the “perfect curriculum” and to listen to the Lord for the perfect plan He has for each child. Segregating the Family From Itself Along the way, I also discovered that as my children have gotten older and more capable of learning on their own that I’ve disengaged sometimes from the learning process. I’ve realized this is a huge mistake many of us make! Our homeschool endeavor begins at home…together, and it should continue that way all the way through high school. We have been given a gift—and a responsibility—to participate in the work God is doing to shape our children into the people He designed them to become. As my children grew older, we also increasingly encountered philosophies that attempted to segregate our children into age or grade compartments. This may actually be a not-so-subtle attack by the enemy to weaken the family structure that Satan hates so much. We began joyfully, all around the kitchen table together– learning together, but by high school– everyone was beginning to be banished to their own age-leveled corner to continue on solo or, maybe worse, with only same-age peers. Does it have to be this way? NO! I have discovered that you can completely disregard age/grade levels and teach your family together (with a minimal division for age-appropriate skills), even in those daunting subjects like science! Our children need to be inspired by God’s greater vision for them, not just separated to “figure it out” alone. By staying engaged, we can inoculate them from becoming “a companion of fools.” Getting Back on God’s Course I want to encourage you: The face-to-face, daily interactions you are having with your children are working toward your educational goals for them faster and more effectively than you realize. You are the ONE that the Lord has chosen, in advance, to be your child’s teacher. You have everything you need when you keep your focus on His direction for your family and your unique children. Don’t let fear or comparison take that away from you. And don’t reduce your efforts to small achievements like getting them to college (with bonus points for scholarships). Keep building precious shared memories together, stay engaged in the process, and enjoy the journey together! And eventually I had to ask myself a hard question. The greatest obstacle to my children's love of learning wasn't the curriculum. It was my fear. Fear of doing it wrong.
Fear of them falling behind.
Fear of not measuring up. But when I began trusting the Lord to guide our path, something beautiful happened. Learning came alive again — for all of us. In trying to awaken their curiosity, He was awakening mine. And the beautiful truth is this: it’s never too late for a course correction. The Lord is always ready to guide us back to the path He has for our families.
Blessings, Renita | 
