Skip to main content

ABC's of Homeschooling - A for . . .

ABCs of Homeschooling

Dawn over at 5 Kids and a Dog is staring a weekly ABC's of Homeschooling. The idea is to come up with a word about homeschooling using the letter of the alphabet for that week, and write a post about it.

For the first week of course, we are staring with the letter A. It took me awhile to come up with mine and then this word came to mind:  ATTENTION or ATTENTIVENESS.

Attentiveness is knowing what is going on instead of not going what is going on. It is also Listening with the Ears, Eyes, and Heart.

In homeschooling this is a very important trait to have and cultivate, both in the parents and in the children. How many times have I heard myself say  "I guess I was not paying attention.", or said to the kids  "You were not paying attention.",  "What did I say?"  or "Focus!" etc . . .

We all need to learn to be attentive:

  • I need to know and pay attention to my boys. I need to know where they are at both physically and spiritually. I need to be aware of their needs,as well as their thoughts and feelings towards things. I need to give them undivided attention so that they can know that I care and love them. It can be difficult as there are so many things that need to be done, but it is necessary. One blessing of homeschooling is the privilege and responsibility to attend to our kids' need as they show up, as I like to call it "in the moment". However, if I am not attentive I will miss golden opportunities to teach the valuable lessons about God's love, and about wisdom and right choices.



  • As for the kids they need to know and pay attention to what mom and dad say. They need to put their minds in whatever subject we are studying. Multitasking can be good but it can also be bad as it can foster inattentiveness (that is being oblivious to others' needs, and doing our jobs sloppily). The kids need to learn to focus on what they are doing so as to learn better and work well. Attentiveness and closely related to diligence. They go hand in hand.  Keeping kids' attention is one of the hardest things to do, especially mine, as their minds tend to wonder so quickly to something they love better, but I must teach them, as I must learn myself. We all need to learn to be deliberate about things, and that demands focus and attention.


Above all we all must learn to be attentive and heed to God's Word and voice. The book of Proverbs is full with verses about the need to listen to God's Words and the voice of Wisdom. May the LORD help us to be attentive and deliberately live life for His glory.

My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;


Proverbs 4:20-21


 




 
Labels:

Comments

Mary said…
I love that verse from Proverbs. Thanks for such an inspiring post. Stopping by from HHH!
April 12, 2011 at 11:43 AM
Dawn @ 5 Kids and a Dog said…
Attention is SO important, not only for our kids but for us too! I can't count how many times I have gone into autopilot mode when one of my kids is telling me something, and my uh-huh or yes/no answers end up being totally OFF topic or give away the fact that I'm not really listening. We just can't get away with it, and we have to teach our kids how important it is too.
Thanks for linking up today! :)
April 12, 2011 at 7:50 PM
Becky said…
I agree! Paying attention to God, to others, and to school work is so difficult to cultivate. I'm with Dawn... I find myself spacing off when things start to get monotonous. It is such a hard thing to instill in ourselves and our kids.
April 12, 2011 at 9:21 PM
Amber @ClassicHousewife said…
Well said! I'm guilty of often asking my children to repeat themselves because I wasn't paying attention. (To be fair, I'm trying to teach them to GET my attention before they start talking. I don't always know they're talking to ME until I hear "Mom -- MOM -- did you hear what I said?") =p
April 13, 2011 at 4:20 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Current Homeschool Routine - Virtual Homeschool Fair - Week 2

For week 2 of the Virtual Homeschool Fair, which is hosted by Homeschooling Hearts and Minds , we are talking method of homeschooling. When it comes to the how of homeschooling, and the method that we all follow, with the 20 plus blogger participating I can guarantee you, no method will be the same. Homeschooling is a lifestyle and a path unto a goal or toward a direction that each family sets for itself. For us, this encompasses academic rigor, as well as Christian values and depth of understanding of how to live in this world as Christians. To that end, earlier on we had settled on a classical education. 10 years into it, I cannot say we have been very good classical homeshooler. We did not follow the method and philosophy to a T but instead adapted it to our family's routine and rhythm. We became more relaxed classical homeschooler. I had good intentions with the Latin and Greek, but not enough discipline and it did not appeal to the boys; my oldest son did two years, the...
5 comments
Read more

2019-2020 Curriculum Line Up- Grade 11 and Grade 9

Happy New Year to all! After a two year hiatus, I am resurrecting this blog. Life has been such that keeping up with this blog had become a really low priority, but I kind of miss it, so here I am giving it a try again. First I realized I never posted about my kids' curriculum line up for this school year. So, though late, here it is. This year I am homeschooling two high-schoolers. Time has gone so fast. With a 14 year old (9th grade) and a 16 year old (11th grade) I really feel like time is sleeping away; but that is the reality of life. We are but a vapor... So here we are: Humanities: Tapestry of Grace Year 2 - Middle Ages:   History, Literature, Writing, Church History, (hoping: Philosophy) Math: Alpha and Omega  Chemistry: Mr.Q. Science - Advanced Chemistry Electives:  Health - Zach - Alpha & Omega (1st semester), Speech - 7 Sisters Homeschool (2nd semester.) Violin - Zach Piano - Johann French: Duolingo, Breaking the Barrier...
Post a Comment
Read more

Homeschooling - A Glimpse into How We Do it

2016 was a pretty skimpy blogging year for me. Ask me why, I am not sure I have an answer for you beside life happening and writing inspiration fading. With a new year upon us I will try to get back on the blogging scene and what best topic to start the year with than giving you a glimpse into what homeschooling looks like in our home with now two teenagers. In the past 4 years I have enjoyed participating in the Virtual Curriculum Fair hosted by Homechooling Hearts and Minds , so I am happy to start my year participating once more. For those who are not familiar with the Virtual Curiculum Fair, it is a month long series of posts, where over 20 homeschoolers share about their homeschool curriculum and how they homeschool. The weeks will go as follow: Week 1: See How We Learn/Welcome to the VCF Week 2: Playing with Words Week 3: Discovering Patterns Week 4: Exploring Our World Week 5: Seeking Beauty So how do we learn here? this is the topic of this ...
9 comments
Read more