Monday’s typically are the hardest day of the week for us in our homeschool. They are especially hard if the children have a quiz or a test that day. My children know when these things are coming. One thing I enjoy about the Master Books curriculum is there’s no excuse to knowing when something is due. The schedule is pre-planned in a calendar type form. Because of holiday’s and field trips, I did spend some time altering the schedule, however, it’s still very clear what is due and when. My children seem to think that learning and studying only is supposed to happen Monday – Friday from the hours of 8am – 2pm, despite me telling them otherwise. So they are usually unprepared for a Monday quiz or test which just so happens to come occasionally. Quizzing them and testing them, usually by means of the curriculum, is the hardest part really of our homeschool and that is because of their refusal to review the work “outside the school day”.

I think because my children attended structured public school for so long they have trouble getting over the idea of a school day starts and ends at the same time every day. They think they need to stick to a strict time schedule. Last year we sorta loosely worked off of a time schedule while we transitioned from public to homeschool. This year I’ve tried a different approach. They know about how long each of their subjects should take or at least how much material they need to cover in one day in order to get through as much as possible by years end. I am not, however, using a time schedule. They do like routines and patterns so they do the same subjects in the same order each day but they really don’t need too. I still try to be pretty flexible to allow social trips and educational trips. I’ve explained to them some days our day might end at 1, some days it could be 2 or even 3. Some days our workload is heavier than others. This is all okay. The goal is to get through as much of the material as we can by the end of the year.

Last year we didn’t even come close to completing their math curriculums, for example. This year we went with a different publisher and it’s going so much better that I feel we have a better chance. Other subjects we did complete and some we nearly did. The public schools also don’t always get through all the course material so don’t feel like you have to push harder or work longer to get it done. If you feel like what you didn’t complete will hold them back, you could implement a summer school where they would work on some of it a little each week. Summer work for us last year and before the start of our first year of homeschool was reading books and preparing a book report or summary.

As I strive for my children to learn independence and also to be responsible and take responsibility for the choices they make, I do not nag them about studying when they know already they need to be. I will remind them and encourage them to review their material and I’ve even given them a study help guide to know how to better prepare. This is a skill they will surely need when it comes to furthering their education if that is the path they choose or what God has in store for them. As of today my son’s future goals are going towards learning how to code as he wants to create video games. My daughter is only 11 and right now her thoughts are to be a mom who homeschools her children.

I don’t pressure my kids to get straight A’s and I don’t pressure them that in order to succeed in life they need to go into massive amounts of debt and go to college. I don’t believe a degree or 4 or more additional years of education while acquiring debt is going to secure their future or measure how successful they are. If my children grow in our Lord and become stronger, more rooted in God’s word and more faithful servants they will have succeeded. They need not impress anyone but God. I don’t want them placing their treasures here on Earth. You can’t take those with you and they are meaningless for our eternal life. That doesn’t mean I don’t want my children to work hard. The Lord doesn’t tell us to sit around and be lazy and just simply wait for his return and do nothing while we are here. They need to listen to the Spirit and go where they need. That may be college, trade school, a “blue-collar job”, missionary work or it may be a stay-at-home mom. Whatever they do I just want them to remember to put God first and give him the praise that He deserves.

God provides for our needs so no matter how much education they might go for or what high paying job they might secure they need to remain humble and thank God for what they’ve accomplished because He should receive the glory. This is what I, as their mom and their teacher, am trying to instill in them.