Homeschooling, The First Year: Our Homeschool Charter

This is just a rough draft - and I haven't run it by DH yet - but this is my charter for our homeschool! One homeschooling book I read (no idea which) suggested having a written set of goals for our children, which I thought was an excellent suggestion - and so here is ours!!

You will note that this charter is a compilation of both strictly "educational" goals and "parenting" goals. Since education and parenting are both under the jurisdiction of the homeschool parent, the dividing line between the two is really grey - or not there at all. I haven't included a long list of parenting goals, like obedience, respect for parents, manners, etc. - though I probably should - but there is a lot of overlap. Maybe I'll make a more complete list at a later date.

* Note * - Since we have sorta-kinda-maybe-almost finished our first year of homeschooling, I thought I would write a short series of articles on what I have learned this year. The series will be published on a strict schedule of "whenever I manage to get around to it" and may or may not be a complete flop, or ever happen at all. You've been warned!

And now, for our charter:

I want my children to: 


 - Be raised in a home in which they consistently see God glorified, obeyed, and loved

 - Develop godly character resulting from a well-grounded biblical worldview

- Have a good working knowledge of the Bible and of Christian beliefs and theology

- Have an excellent work ethic

- Read and learn from a large variety and quantity of real books

- Develop excellent reading skills

- Develop excellent writing skills

- Develop excellent thinking and discernment skills

- Be able to discern, with our help, what their gifts and talents are calling them to as life-work, and to develop skills relevant to those gifts and talents

- Love to learn

- Learn how to work well with others, both academically and relationally

 - Develop good work habits

- Know how to work independently

- Develop a heart for service to others

- Have some exposure to the arts (music, theatre, dance, etc.)

- Have a well-rounded education that will enable them to live well, think well, attend college if they wish, or move in the direction of a chosen vocation

- Have basic homemaking skills: Laundry, cooking, cleaning, basic sewing, yard work

- Have basic home-repair skills

- Have exposure to a large amount of real-life experiences:

o Family activities (movie nights, game nights, BBQs, hosting other families, etc.)
o Camping trips
o Travel
o Day trips
o Cultural events (concerts, shows, plays, museums, etc.)

- Participate in a reasonable amount of extracurricular activities (music, sports, clubs, AWANA, Scouting, etc.)

- Have the opportunity to develop positive friendships with adults, peers, and youth of all ages

- Be able to deal with increasing amounts of responsibility as they move toward independence

- Possess a number of life skills, including but not limited to: Wilderness survival, First aid, Personal hygiene, Computer skills, Financial management, Personal safety (strangers, etc.), Child care, Gun safety, How to have quiet time with the Lord, How to turn off the gas, water, and electricity, Emergency skills (fire, flood, earthquake, 911), How to swim, etc.

What other things have you added to your lists, readers?

(Go to next article in this series...)