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ABC's of Homeschooling - O and P


ABCs of Homeschooling

It' s another week of ABC's of Homeschooling, and time to join Dawn @ 5 Kids and a Dog. I am still catching up.

O for Options

By now you will have realized that this is really what I love about homeschooling: the ability and freedom to choose your own method, your own curriculum, your style, your schedule etc...

In our day and age the options are limitless and this has its good and bad sides. Sometimes having too many options can be a challenge and a danger, especially if you are like me and always have a hard time deciding and always second guessing yourself, however, I still love that I do not have to follow someone else's plans and ideas, especially if it does not work for my kinds. I am learning to know what it is that I want to accomplish and make decisions accordingly. I am learning to make informed decisions, to be discriminative, and to learn to live with my decisions.

P is for Planning and Prayer

I am pretty sure many homeschoolers would agree with me on this one. I think lots of us love the planning part of it and some don't. No matter your feeling towards it I think it is a must in any homeschool. Whether you do lots of planning or very little, you do have to plan something. Weather it is from what curriculum you will use, to how many days of school you will be doing, or to what places you will visit there is planning involved.

Someone said: "if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time." I strongly believe that if you want to accomplish something you got to plan for it. A lot can be accomplished on the spur of the moment and in spontaneous events, but lots more get accomplished with a plan. I am not a great planner, but through my 3 years of homeschooling I really have come to love the planning stage. Right now I am in the middle of it and even though I find it frustrating at times I actually find myself enjoying it. There is a strange feeling associated with knowing what it is you are trying to do and aiming at. I still need to learn to set goals, but I am sure that will come.

 

 

I have to add that P is for prayer as well because  homeschooling is not easy, it is not for the lazy, it is not for those who give up easily, we need God's grace and help. I am one of those people, and the only way I can keep going is through prayer. I need to constantly ask God for his help.

Another reason why P is for prayer is that no matter what I do, God's plan will prevail. He knows the end from the beginning. I need to commit my children and myself into His hands that I might be an instrument in his hands for whatever he has in store for them, and for them to be modeled according to his plan. I am not the one in control and the only way I can do what he wants me to do is by communing with him on a consistent basis.

For more on the ABC's of Homeschooling:

A is for Attentiveness

B is for Balance

C is for Creativity

D is for Dilligence, Discipline and Disciple and also Discovery

E is for Energy

F is for Faithful

G is for Grace

H is for Heart

I is for Idea

J is for Jesus

K is for Kindness

L is for Love of Learning

M is Money

N is for Norm

 
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Comments

Naomi said…
I certainly agree that there are many options with homeschooling! Also, planning does not work without prayer. Prayer is what makes it work!
July 26, 2011 at 7:57 PM
Dawn @ 5 Kids and a Dog said…
Yes and yes! Planning and prayer, those are the keys for successful homeschoolers.
July 27, 2011 at 9:05 PM
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