Blog: Home School Curriculum Advice

I have written before about the importance of homeschool parents helping their children through their career choices. That was made all the more clear to me just recently, when my husband and I attended our quarterly West Point Parent Club meeting. The point was made how we as parents had made purposeful choices to give our children the best education possible and it was evident that each of us had played an important role in helping our cadets to reach their current goal of attending the United States Military Academy at West Point. I do need to clarify that not all the families homeschooled their cadets, some sent their children to private school, some public schools, and a few of us homeschooled, but we were all involved in the process of getting our cadets to USMA. It makes such a difference in a student's life when they have the support and involvement of their parents as they make these important decisions that will affect the rest of their life. Homeschooling is not just getting children through the academics of K-12, it goes much farther. The last half of a homeschooler's grade school years should include research into the opportunities, and resources of their career choices. I can not emphasize enough how important this is. We can not expect our children to magically make these decisions on their own and find out what it would take to reach their goals, if they have one. It takes a highly motivated child to be able to do that on their own. Most children lack the knowledge and know-how to find the resources available to them. That is why our role as parents in helping them to take the proper steps in their college and career choices is so important. Since 3 of my 4 children are now grown, I have come to realize that many of our skeptical friends and relatives, were watching to see how our homeschool children turned out. In my experience, they were not so concerned with how they did on their spelling test this week, or if they have learned their multiplication tables, but as to how successful they will be when they are grown. As you and I both know, our kids need to do well in their schoolwork because it is vital to their success in reaching their career choices. We also know that across the board, homeschoolers test better than their public school peers, because we give our children the individual attention they need. There are a few observers that do give us encouragement to keep on going and to win this race. I am thankful for that. As I watch my older children, now that they have grown up, I feel really blessed to have had an active part in their decisions in such a big way. If one plays an active role in your student's interests, what their passions are, and also what they would like to do when they grow up, this will go a long way in helping them to reach their goals. So take the steps to lead your children to help them reach those goals, whether it is having them cover the kind of subjects needed, or researching possible colleges, etc. which pertain to their carreer choice. Incorporating these things into their homeschool day, elevates their interest in their studies. This is so important! Our second grader says she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. We take her seriously on this and use this desire to encourage her to study diligently. This really is a great motivator for her. Our oldest son wanted to be an engineer when he was very young. Now he works in the engineering department of a public utilities in a major city. Try it on your kids using their interests. I think you will be very pleased with the results; more than pleased, very proud of what your children accomplishes!

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