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View Full Version : Do you have a list of goals for your child(ren)?


AttachedMamma
05-03-2005, 07:06 AM
One day, more than a yr ago, when DH and I were discussing HS, I began listing all the things I would like our DD to learn over the next 18 yrs. In addition to learning to read (having a love for reading), write and do math, I listed things such as--

1) Manage money, budget, invest.
2) Self defense
3) Basic understanding of automotive maintenance (drive manual trans, change a tire, emerg. procedures)
4) First aid, survival techniques, tying knots, etc.
5) Gardening, respecting God's gift of nature, recycling, etc.
6) Good nutrition and health
7) Understand the real estate system
8) Understand our political and legal system
9) Learn to cook, clean, laundry, iron, etc.
10) And certainly a love for the Lord and his word
...and others

Perhaps these things are understood for many parents, but it seems there are a lot of people out there--male and female--who can't cook. Certainly some may have a love/desire for it more than others, but I'm talking about people who simply cannot put a home-cooked meal together. Ok, I don't want to get off track and make this post about cooking.

I guess I see my primary role as instilling practical skills and knowledge into my child...reading, writing and math are included in those basic skills. It really scares me when a teenage cashier is totally dumbfounded when I give them the odd change to round out. Sometimes I get arguments from them insisting I'm doing something wrong. How can a student get that far in the system and not know basic math? :hissyfit When I see stuff like that, I think: "Surely, I can at least teach my DD math, reading and writing." :O

Anyway (sorry if my post is all over the place), do you have a general outline of goals you would like your child(ren) to meet by the time they are finished w/their HS experience? Of course, this can change as time goes by.

cindi

GrowingInGrace
05-03-2005, 04:12 PM
Without reading I was going to say no, but when you put it that way, yes, I do hope to help them learn all those things. Especially #10!

What I don't have however is any feeling of being pressed to see those things ticking off as if on a list. I'm an unschooler to the core (which was very hard to be in school!) and know that as we live that way and they live beside us helping us with those things they will learn.

They have an insatiable thirst for knowledge and will soak every bit we have to offer (which can be sheerly exhausting at times!).

If I had to summarize my hopes for their learning journey I'd say it would be like this (not in any particular order, aside from #1):

1. Learn about God and develop an intimate relationship with Him. Develop a passion for studying the Word and the skills to do so effectively.
2. Be able to function in society but also able to resist societal mores. Learn how society works (politics, culture, etc).
3. Know how to live without the aid of technology (garden, cook, store food, build, etc).
4. Know how to use technology effectively without it taking one's life over(we aren't technophobes, just realists!).
5. Learn how to think critically and be logical. Use wisdom in making all choices and decisions.
6. Learn about the world around them, how it works, what harms it, what they can do to care for it. Be good stewards of the earth and of resources.
7. Learn the little things in life that everyone needs to know (car maintenance, home care, family medical care).
8. Maintain their thirst for knowledge. Keep a love of reading.
9. Develop the strength of character to stand for what is right and true no matter the external pressure.
10. Create the passion for personal witnessing. Learn that THEY are who are personally called to "feed My sheep". Learn that the best witness they can give is that of their life and the eternal import of living under the control of Christ.

reading, writing, and arithmatic (and all the rest) will happen as they learn all of the above. We don't stress about that. :)

Sara
05-03-2005, 08:13 PM
Those are some really great goals! I don't have a list written out like that, but I can certainly glean some ideas from the two of you. :) Thanks for posting this!