The Homeschool Minute ~ What Electives are Essential?

What are the best electives? It depends. When our family chooses electives for our kids, we look at their gifts and interests. What will they need to know for a planned career? Do they have hobbies or interests they would like to pursue? Do they want to go to a foreign country and need to know a foreign language?

Here’s some advice from one of our magazine writers:

“Choosing the Best Electives” – Jan Burt

And Mama, here’s something to remember if you’re struggling with electives, homeschooling, or just life …
How come you keep muttering under your breath again? What’s “Epic Mama Fail” you have been whispering? Perish the thought. Get rid of it.

Yeah, we all blow it. There are days we act really dumb, and times we wish we could rewind the clock backwards (20 years?). Kicking ourselves when we’re already down isn’t the answer, though.

Do you kick your two-year-old when he falls down? Do you hammer down your eight-year-old when she makes a mistake? Do you hate your teen when he blows it?

How come you treat your own failures worse than you would a dog?

Daughter of the King: Stop forgetting who you are in Christ. No, you are not perfect. No, you don’t cross every T or meticulously dot every I. But you are His. And He has called you to this great task of loving and caring for your beautiful family. So take joy in that, Mama.

Your kids are watching, btw. Surely you want them to carry on happily when they mess up as grown ups, right? Or should we teach them by example that really they should kick themselves at every small failure? They should tear themselves up and mutter, “Epic Mama fail” every day.

No. We would never hope for such a thing. We would hope they could go a little easier on themselves than that.

You too, Beautiful Mama. You have value, too.

~ gena

Dear Friends,

To talk about electives, considering what is and what isn’t essential, I’d like to start with a story.

The same thing is true of learning. What one student finds absolutely riveting, another student may find boring. When one person loves mountain bike maintenance, another may delight in oil painting, while yet another loves to craft historic costumes–all in the same family!  So which of these is “essential”?  Obviously, the answer depends on the individual.

When my kids were little, we decided that they each needed to have piano lessons. My husband had been a music teacher, I was a folk singer/songwriter, and music was an integral part of our everyday life. So, what could be more natural, more valuable, than piano lessons? And, for two of my children, it was a match made in heaven. For the third, however, it was a time of increasing frustration and struggle. This extremely kinesthetic kid was not enjoying either lessons or practice, regardless of how much I tried to make it palatable. So, we finally asked him what instrument he would like to play (which would have been a good idea in the first place!). His answer? Bass guitar.

Oh. I wish I had known that.

Now, if I were to open the lens of the camera a bit wider, you would notice something interesting. This bass guitar playing kid, who had not thrived with piano lessons, turned out to be an extraordinary ballet dancer (!), an incredible oil painter, and a blow-your-socks-off chef. He held his own in four-part harmony a cappella singing, loved to play basketball, and had a blistering recall of obscure geographical locations.

Remember, stay relational!

Diana

dianawaringpresents@gmail.com

P.S. Check out my new Teaching Tips series: Teaching Tip #1: You are ALL Smart! and Teaching Tip #2: The Introduction.