Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
Vicki, sometimes it’s hard to keep our eyes on the long-term goal of homeschooling—it’s so easy to get bogged down in daily life! How can we start the year with an eye to enduring and finishing well?

Vicki Bentley:
Well, Mike, sometimes the road block is that we don’t have a finish line for the day, or for the year. So set attainable, and most importantly, measurable goals. Break those long-term goals into smaller chunks that you can actually check off your to-do list. For example, a long term goal such as “Teach Suzy to read” can be broken down into baby steps, such as: add 20 minutes of read-aloud time to each day.

One of our Early Years newsletters recently included a Lessons Learned worksheet for parents to determine very specifically how the year had gone, to help determine what to do the same and what to adjust for next year.

The definition of “finishing well” will certainly vary by household. For us, finishing well means we’ve not only made academic progress, but more importantly, spiritual progress and character development. I’ve heard it said, “What good does it do for our children to make it into Harvard but not into Heaven?” Finally, Mike, we need to ask God to continually renew in us His vision for our families. Working in my own power is so overwhelming, but I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Mike:
Vicki, it’s been great to have you with us this week and profit from what you’ve learned as a homeschooling mom over the years. Until next time, I’m Mike Smith.