Why You Need a Homeschool Vision Statement

Your Children Will Grow and Your Homeschool Will Change

And a homeschool vision statement helps you as you navigate those changes!

Big Bro will be a junior and Big Sis will be a freshman this fall. Clearly, we are in the home stretch of this homeschool life and they are getting closer and closer to launching.

As Christian unschoolers, we talk often and much about their personal missions and what they feel God is calling them to learn in order for them to be prepared for life beyond our home. In the last few weeks, we have been looking into what’s available for them locally in our small town to help support them and their goals.

Tomorrow, registration opens up for enrollment at the different school district options my kids have been considering for the upcoming school year.

There is an amazing tech center (an alternative path to traditional high school) that offers things like entrepreneurship, automotive tech, fire science, and more! You take classes for a selected track half the school week and homeschool the rest. Big Bro definitely wants to do something there, and Big Sis is currently considering the culinary arts program they offer.

As well, our traditional high schools have so many amazing class offerings that homeschooled kids can sign up for. Big Sis is looking into this because she wants to become fluent in French. She’s been using Outschool, Dualingo, and other resources but is missing the community aspect to practice speaking the language. There are even classes like Literature through Film, which is right up my girl’s alley.

No Matter Your Convictions for Your Homeschool, You Will Doubt

Most days I am 100% on board and excited for them and their unschooling, self-directed learning journey. Some days I consider that further loss of time at home (which has already been happening since they first became teenagers).

And while I may be selfish and want to physically be around my babies for as long as I can have them, I’m referring more to the idea of having less time at home for me to impart the stuff I want them to carry into adulthood. No longer does the end of the journey seem distant; it is literally right around the corner.

For me, the questions are:

• Did we cover enough history for them to understand the patterns of humanity/civilizations?
• Should we have covered more government/politics in our homeschool?
• Are their writing/communication skills solid enough to be able to convert their ideas clearly and succinctly?
• We haven’t yet been able to read all the classics I hoped we would cover together!
• Should I have done more science experiments or other hand-on projects with them?
• Do I try to keep with the one-room schoolhouse vibe that we’ve had all these years (even though the big kids have been shooting off in their own directions, we still have our Morning Collective time)? Or is it time to let that go and give them (at least Big Bro, anyway) more and more autonomy?

God spoke to me as I prayed for direction with how to help lead my kids in this season as Christian unschoolers. And He directed me back to the homeschool vision statement that I prayerfully created at the beginning of our homeschool journey (this has never changed; it’s the same exact one I made when Big Bro was still little!):

Back on Track

As I reviewed our homeschool vision statement, my initial and doubtful questions were replaced with these ones:

• Are my kids growing in a solid foundation of the Gospel of Grace, understanding what the gospel means to them personally, and how that should inform their daily living? Are they learning to live a life that embraces a habit of repentance, as well as a life of receiving and giving grace?
• Do they have a strong identity as children of the King, and are they growing love for God ans His word?
• Do they approach life knowing that they are part of – and have the privilege of being part of – a much bigger redemptive story?
• Are they aware that they not only have the privilege of being heirs/heiresses to God’s kingdom, but have the responsibility as ambassadors of Christ to bring the gospel into this broken world? Do they understand that they not live IN their blessing but live OUT their blessing among those who need Jesus?
• Do they possess the perspective that ALL people are made in the image of God? Do they have gospel ears, understanding that everyone has their own unique story within the One Big Story?
• Are they compassionate and sympathetic to the reality of life beyond their relatively privileged and safe bubble as American Christians? Do they strive to be intentional in living their life simply, so others may simply live?
• Are they growing in their security in who God uniquely created them to be and do they recognize that their personalities and gifts can be used to help and serve others?
• Do they prayerfully consider what God might be calling them to do in their adult lives to one day earn a living, and are they exercising the muscle of constantly seeking God’s will for each situation/season? Are they stewarding their body, spirit, and mind in way that prepares them for fulfilling whatever it is God would have them do?
• Have they grown up possessing a working, hand-on knowledge of a biblical home and family life, including biblical financial management and stewardship? Do they understand that we are just temporary sojourners on this earth and that all our “possessions” are really God’s? Are they growing in open-handedness with their life and all that is in it?
• Are they resourceful? Are they growing in their ability to efficiently process information, effectively solve problems, communicate and debate well, and make sound decisions?
• Have they received a basic foundation of knowledge about the world God created through the lenses of history, geography & cultures, nature, science, math, music, art, language, and other disciplines? Have I given them ample exposure to, and do we provide them the opportunity to expand in their knowledge about any of these disciplines? Do they possess the confidence, self-motivation, resourcefulness, and work ethic to further pursue specific disciplines, should they so choose?
• Do they not only respect, but appreciate and have comfort in, the natural world?
• Have we cultivated an appetite for Spirt-led life-long learning and growing?

The answer to all of the above? An emphatic YES.

They are 100% learning and growing as I feel God has laid on my heart for them to learn and grow, when we started this homeschool journey years ago.

Your “Why” and Homeschool Vision Statement Will Help You When You Do Doubt

Your homeschool “why” and your homeschool vision statement – especially if it was prayerfully and thoughtfully put together – will help you when you struggle with doubt along the way on this Christian unschooling journey. And it will either help to instill waning or even lost confidence, or it will help you realize if you need to course-correct and go back to prayer with God.

I review ours often enough, but there are times (like recently) when doubt has caused me to forget why we do what we do; caused me to wonder if what we are doing is going to be “enough” (whatever that really means).

These Homeschool Years are Actually Just a Blip in Time

Navigating this season of adolescents has been quite a ride. I’m not talking about hormones and teen attitudes. I’m talking about the stark realization that this chapter is coming to an end.

The urgency I have felt to ensure my big kids (especially Big Bro) “know all the things” has become more acute as we approach the finish line of homeschooling, even though I fully believe in natural, organic, interest-led, self-directed learning!

It’s one thing to fully embody that philosophy and paradigm when kids are young and the road seems endless. But that road is not, and before you know it, your kids are talking about their future spouses and families and how they want to curate their own family cultures and legacies.

And you simultaneously realize with bittersweet emotion that you didn’t have nearly as much time to do all the “curating” you envisioned to do in your own home. Not gonna lie – this has caused me to scramble a little and go, “I wonder how much I can fit in over the next couple-several years, before they graduate.”

But God’s Grace

Thankfully, as soon as those frantic thoughts attempt to take over, God reminds and convicts. He reminds me that I think I possess more control than I really do, and convicts me even more to trust HIM (who is my kids’ Greater Parent) and how He is leading them, especially since they themselves are in prayer to Him and seeking His will for their own lives. I hear Him say, “Hey, Pauline, it’s really me that does the ultimate work of helping them become the people I want them to be and I will lead them to know the things I want them to know.”

More importantly, He reminds me of the grace He has given over all those previous years; the grace to make all those objectives in our homeschool vision statement come to pass, and the grace He will continue to give – not just for our family’s homeschool journey, but for our whole life’s journey as well.

Besides, just because there are only a few pages left to this chapter of homeschooling life with my big kids, doesn’t mean I stop being their homeschool mom and mentor. I will soon no longer be studying history with them, but my hubs and I will always be there to guide them as they make their own history. And as long as they are seeking God’s will along the way, they will be well-equipped for the future that lays before them, hills and valleys and all. And whether or not we do end up getting to read the real Pilgrim’s Progress or full version of The Epic of Gilgamesh together.