Don’t Forget These 3 Components If You Want to Raise Leaders
Our nation and the entire world are crying out for good leaders. We desperately need men and women of integrity and wisdom to rise up and take their place.
You are the answer, homeschool Momma.
You can raise influencers who impact their world for the glory of God. Your children can rise up and make godly decisions that improve the lives of people and communities.
Here are three basics to get you started on your adventure to raise leaders.
Leaders Are Lifetime Learners
Leaders are lifetime learners who pursue knowledge and wisdom. They want to learn and grow, especially in their chosen fields of interest and work.
Homeschool influencers learn more about homeschooling every year and share their acquired wisdom with other homeschooling families.
Those in the medical field often follow health studies and research to keep current on new discoveries to help them give better patient care.
Homeschooling parents can cultivate the natural curiosity and wonder in young children. Answer their questions and then explore even further with books, experiments, and hands-on learning activities. Teach older children how to find the answers they are looking for in books.
Snuggling up and reading books together helped my children love to read. We would snuggle up on the couch and take turns reading living books or classic literature. To this day, all my children count reading as a hobby. That’s a perfect start to lifetime learning.
For more on reading and lifetime learning, read my blog post Leaders are Readers.
Leaders Are Virtuous
“What?” you ask. I see a lot of leaders that are not good people. Okay, okay. Leaders should be virtuous.
One of my favorite examples is George Washington because he loved the Lord so much and he strove to live an honorable life. Shy by nature, he kept a book of maxims to live by. He purposed to show kindness, walk in integrity, make others feel loved by using good manners, and was diligent to study the Scriptures and pray each day.
As a result, President Washington was able to lead people who disagreed with him politically but respected him anyway. He was trusted by his soldiers in the Revolutionary War and his cabinet as their President.
Beyond integrity and virtue, President Washington genuinely cared about people’s welfare. He made decisions based on what was best for others not himself. People who followed him could trust him.
Virtue may be old-fashioned, but even today people prefer a virtuous leader.
Make God’s rules clear to your kids. “We do this because God says so. Everyone is under His authority, even Mom and Dad.” In our home, we serve the Lord.
Read the Bible together every day in your homeschool. Memorize Scripture by playing games and giving rewards every time your children memorize a new verse. Make Bible study practical by applying to their daily lives so they see how the Bible is a source of wisdom.
Leaders Can Think Critically & Make Wise Decisions
Leaders need to make decisions all the time and often these decisions impact others in a fundamental way.
My personal belief is that every leader, including parents who lead their homes, should take a year of formal logic. Many people today make emotional decisions that have disastrous consequences. Often leaders forget to include long-range consequences when they choose a path to follow. Logic and critical thinking are skills that result in better judgments.
My kids all take a year of formal logic in middle school even though we are not a classical homeschooling family. It really impacts the way they think and causes them to recognize fallacies.
For example, leaders in a nation want to help their people so they pass a huge spending bill that puts them into debt. Then they have to inflate the money supply to pay the debt’s interest. This causes prices of necessities like food, gas, and housing to climb higher and higher. Something they thought would help ends up hurting the very people they want to help. Thinking logically and critically could have prevented this mistake—looking at the future impact instead of making an emotional decision.
Let your children make decisions. That may start with helping decide where you will go on vacation.
For example, the family could decide together which to purchase first: a new sofa or a new dining room table. Everyone could weigh the pros and cons.
Children can plan the weekly menu and shop with the family’s grocery money (under mom’s supervision, of course).
Children can help plan a unit study with you. Picking out books, crafts, and activities will be fun but will also help them grow in decision making skills.
Teens might choose what science course to take or what literature to read for the upcoming school year. Teens can learn to manage their time and make their own school schedules.
Why Should Homeschooling Parents Care about Raising Leaders?
Your home is the best place to raise future leaders. You don’t have to be a perfect parent. You don’t have to have perfect children. You only need to see the need for influencers and commit to doing something about that!
For more on raising leaders at home, read my blog post 7 Reasons Home is the Perfect Place to Raise Leaders.
Sometimes we need to expand our vision for raising leaders.
In my quiet time the other day, I came across this verse:
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (II Corinthians 5:20 NASB).
I love the word ambassador!
That’s an important and prestigious position. An ambassador represents their country while living and working in another country.
If you are a Christian, you are an ambassador. You represent Christ and His Kingdom. I guess that makes all Christians influencers. So, let’s raise ambassadors.
An ambassador for Christ has to know about the heavenly kingdom but also about the world we live in so we can communicate effectively and build relationships with people.
As you focus on educating your children, don’t forget to inspire them to be lifetime learners. Give them tools to grow in virtue and logic—these things take years to grow into. It’s worth the effort! One day, you will watch your adult children influence people and communities for eternity. That’s exciting!
Until next time, Happy Homeschooling!
Warmly,
Meredith Curtis
Bio
Meredith Curtis, homeschooling mom, writer, speaker, and publisher, loves to encourage families in their homeschooling adventure. She is the author of Travel God’s World Geography, Travel God’s World Cookbook, and HIS Story of the 20th Century. You can check out her books, curricula, unit studies, and Bible studies at PowerlineProd.com. Read her blogs at PowerlineProd.com and listen to her at Finish Well Podcast.
