Thursday, January 22, 2009

Island of Learning

©Millie McNabb

When we started homeschooling, I often felt inadequate. I was always reviewing resources, to see what might be the best fit for our situation. I asked the school district for a list of what they expected at each grade level. (Amazingly, they could not provide such a thing, so I started with the Typical Course of Study that I found from World Book.)

One day my husband said, “So, if we were on a desert island with only a Bible, could you teach the children everything they needed to know?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Well, there you go.”

We weren’t on a desert island, and we did use other resources in addition to the Bible. I still browsed the resources, but I stopped being a resource junkie. I put together our own curriculum, picking and choosing from cast-off textbooks and making great use of the local library.

The best ‘curriculum’ of our homeschool was the fact that we were together and our children were a part of our everyday life and experiences. It was the Deuteronomy 6:7 situation of teaching and talking while we went about the business of each day.

I’d love to hear your stories of looking for that ‘perfect’ teaching resource, or the teaching opportunities that come up because you're home together.

God bless…

Millie McNabb, founder of Christian Values Legacy, offers parenting seminars that focus on passing on your Christian values. Request your free report “Considerations for Intentionally Raising Children to Become Christian Adults” today at http://www.christianvalueslegacy.com./

2 comments:

The Idaho Neumanns said...

That is a great point about using the bible on a desert island. I never thought of that before. That will take some pressure off for me to find resources for my kids! Thanks!

Millie McNabb, BA, BMus said...

You're welcome. I thought about chosing to homeschool and then realized I was mistakenly imitating the public school. There are great resources all around us.