Your ability to see your children clearly will impact them for many years to come.
Can you see clearly?
I struggle to see clearly.
“Hold on! I can’t see. I need my glasses,” I say fumbling in my purse for my reading glasses which turn out to be on my head. Sigh.
I’ve always been nearsighted, but since age 45, it’s hard to see up close, too. If I have my glasses on (correcting my nearsightedness), I have to use reading glasses, but if I don’t have my glasses on or contacts in, I can see if I hold things up close. You see, my corrective lens take away fuzziness by making everything a little smaller. My reading glasses make everything bigger.
When we look at the people in our life, we can magnify their flaws, making reality a little fuzzy. We need to minimize those things back to normal size so we can see clearly.
Other times, it’s so hard to see the growth and maturity happening in our children’s lives. We need mental “reading glasses” to see things from God’s perspective.
How does all that relate to homeschooling?
Our Need for Corrective Lens
Well, it’s hard to teach our children when we magnify the things that frustrate us about them. They pick up on our frustration and internalize it. It often makes them feel insecure or unmotivated.
In addition, it’s important to see our children’s successes so we can cheer them on. If they are small successes, we have to put on corrective lens so we can see them! If we don’t notice when our children succeed, they will think we see them as failures. Again, it will demotivate them in schoolwork.
So, where do we get corrective lens to help us see people clearly?
God gives us His Word and His Spirit.
I love Paul’s example in his letters to different churches. Though he often addresses problems and sin issues, he always starts out by admitting that he thanks God for them. What? Paul thanks God for people with problems and issues?
Yes. Because our problems and issues don’t define us.
God’s Spirit inside produces good fruit, including love and kindness. His Spirit can help us to be like Paul and be thankful for our children. That way we can cheer them on as they learn and grow, even if they have a few rough spots along the way.
Big Picture
The same is true for homeschooling.
What do you see when you look at your homeschooling? Can you see the big picture and the small details at the same time? If you are like most people, you tend to focus on the big picture or the small details, but not both.
The big picture includes where you are going. What will your child be like at high school graduation? What are you doing to get there?
The big picture is looking at the years you have to prepare your child for life and making a big-picture plan. This plan isn’t full of details, but rather goals, dreams, ideas, and purpose. It includes cultivating a lifetime friendship, making memories, reading books, living a lifestyle of learning, instilling a sense of wonder, and serving the Lord together.
The big picture involves creating a family culture that will give your children a sense of purpose and belonging. It is not finished in a day, but takes 18-25 years.
The big picture requires perseverance to a call even when things look dark. The big picture is why we do what we do. It is exciting and scary at the same time.
Then there are the details.
Details
The details matter, too. They include choosing curriculum, making schedules, completing school work together, making sure kids do their daily chores, grading papers, checking math problems, explaining things over and over, and giving consequences for breaking house rules.
The details require faithfulness and integrity to get up each day and do what needs to be done. These can be a little boring, but are essential for goals to be achieved.
If our eyes are only on the big picture, we can forget the details and find ourselves months behind or struggling with character issue.
If our eyes are only on the details, we can forget why we are doing what we do and lose heart. Or we can be so focused on completing tasks that we bull doze right over our children’s hearts.
Big Picture Vision For Your Home School
Stop a minute and think about
the big picture.
Why are you homeschooling? What are your long-term goals for your children and
their education?
Here are some of mine (your will be unique to you):
All of us to love Jesus and serve Him wholeheartedly for all of our days
Everyone in the family remain close friends when kids are grown and moved away
Give each child a well-rounded education that can be a springboard to anything in the world they want to pursue
Instill a sense of delight to learn in each of my children that lasts the rest of their life
Each family member will have a creative outlet that will honor God and bless others.
Once you can articulate your
big picture dreams and plans, ask yourself what you are doing over the years to
make that happen?
For example, here are some things I do:
I try to add fun to learning so that my children would think of learning as enjoyable
I create opportunities for my children to express love for one another
We make memories together
We pray together
Now that we have looked far into the distance, let’s focus on the close-up.
Detail Vision For Your Home School
Now that we have looked far into the distance, let’s focus on the close-up.
What does your homeschool day and week look like?
Is your schedule working for you or is it a burden?
Are you able to get schoolwork done in a peaceful environment?
Are your children kind to one
another?
Each day matters and how we experience our school day is as important as what
we complete.
Do you have hurdles you want to overcome in the day-to-day?
Charlotte Mason takes about building daily habits that help children learn more
effectively. So, don’t give up on those schedules, read aloud times, prayer
with the children, and child training. That faithfulness in the day-to-day
details of life makes all the difference.
However, as you work to grow
in the details and the big picture, keep your homeschooling vision in mind. We
want to minimize our frustration and magnify our blessings.
Sometimes we need corrective lens to see our family and home school as
they really are. God is always there with His Word and Spirit to help us see
clearly!
When distorted vision clears up, everything is possible!
God bless you and your family!
Warmly,
Meredith Curtis
Resource For Homeschooling
