As a homeschool Mom I am learning that educating my children can be very stressful and very exhilarating all at the same time. The key is to make sure you focus is where it needs to be. A about a week or so ago I attended the Teach Them Diligently Conference in Nashville. I was really looking forward to it and I love that it did not disappoint. I knew that by attending I would receive encouragement and some new ideas but I did not expect to be challenged as much as I was. I attended two workshops that really pushed the way I think and look at our homeschool family.
The first workshop was on instilling independence in your children. I thought my girls were independent but as I really began to think about our school time I realized quickly that they are not overly independent. They like me to be sitting with them when they do their work and as I listened to this speaker I realized that they need to learn to motivate and monitor their schedule on their own. I loved at how this speaker talked about gradually teaching them to structure their day, work through their tasks and take pride in their work. I loved how she not only talked about school work but about instilling this in their daily chores, their quiet time, and in taking care of their own breakfast and lunches every day. The speaker to this workshop was Kim Sorgius who writes a blog called Not Consumed. Kim really challenged me to think about am I really equipping my girls to be independent and to really take pride in what they do. This really caused me to think about the curriculum we are using and it in is structured to encourage independence or if it is written for me to be involved through the whole process. I was amazed at how I came away from the Curriculum Expo having made some curriculum changes and I am really excited for all next year has to bring.
The second conference I attended talked about our children's personality profiles and how that impacts their learning. This was the most fascinating workshop for me because I not only learned about the different personality types but the speaker really helped us picture how to use this information to improve our learning methods. I was so excited leaving the session that I bought her book "A Parent's Playbook for Learning" by Jen Lilienstein. I also loved that they have a wonderful website where you can test to figure out what your child's personality type is to help you as you work with and structure your home. Her website is www.kidzmet.com. As Jen would describe different personality types I could picture my girls and how completely different they are yet our curriculum and schedule assume they are the same. I left this workshop really wanting to learn about my girls so that I can better structure our house/schedules to meet their needs and set them up for success.
I have written all of this to let you know that if you are a homeschool parent here are two wonderful resources that I think you will find tools and encouragement to benefit your lifestyle. If you are not a homeschool family I know that both of these sites/ resources still have tools that I know would still benefit your family.
If we are not careful life today can feel like a freight train running full speed down the track and we are just trying to keep up. However, this conference reminded me as a Mom to pause and not let the busyness of life get in the way of molding my girls into strong, thinking, self assured women who reflect the Lord in all they say and do. As I parent I have the biggest influence on my girls and I want to make sure I am bringing glory to God and doing my best in the role he has given me. I am excited for this upcoming school year because I know that God has a lot in store as he not only grows my girls but he grows me as their Mom.
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