The Teacher: Lesson Two...Work with all your might
Next in my blog series on "The Teacher" is my post on WORKING. The teacher must teach herself to work. This concept of the teacher working ahead, alongside, and after her students is something I think a lot of homeschooling parents don't weigh fully before jumping in to this way of education. The scripture says, "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish." Luke 14:28-30
Ultimately, the teacher is the greater worker of the two-part teacher/student team. The teacher plans, chooses, sets goals and agendas, sets dates, acquires resources, makes copies, enforces schedule keeping (no matter how slack of a schedule it may be), corrects, praises, keeps records, teaches and re-teaches information, finds ways to explain difficult concepts (or find someone else who can), demonstrates the skill or idea she is teaching...and the list goes on. This is work, plain and simple. There is no way around it, over it, or under it. This work must be done to some degree.
Now, you can "plan" to not have to personally undertake as much by going with an online or virtual program or co-op. This can be costly in terms of finances, but can lesson the load of responsibility on the homeschooling parent's shoulders. All the questions like "What do I teach? When do I teach it? Is this enough to prepare them? Is this valid? Will they learn enough to be ready for college?" are more or less left to the teachers in the co-op, online or virtual program. The course of study has been set and planned for you. But the parent must still comply with all the requirements of enrollment, make sure the student is on task and completing assignments and exams, and fulfilling course work from all the angles.
If you decide not to go with a virtual school, which is more the bent of this blog post, the amount of work the parent must undertake can be quite overwhelming. Multiply that overwhelming work by the number of children you are schooling each year and you have a recipe for burn-out or total anxiety over the many years of homeschooling. But there is hope. You see, that word "work" which is integral to the lifestyle of a homeschooling parent is something God ordains and blesses. He tells us in Ecclesiastes 2:24, "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God." Just as if you were getting up and going to a job each day, clocking in your full day, working as best you can during those hours, and then faithfully going back the next day, you are working. Hard. Faithfully. Purposefully. And it is good.
Work is good. And working for God by serving our families offers the greatest of blessings. The teacher must teach herself to work.
Ultimately, the teacher is the greater worker of the two-part teacher/student team. The teacher plans, chooses, sets goals and agendas, sets dates, acquires resources, makes copies, enforces schedule keeping (no matter how slack of a schedule it may be), corrects, praises, keeps records, teaches and re-teaches information, finds ways to explain difficult concepts (or find someone else who can), demonstrates the skill or idea she is teaching...and the list goes on. This is work, plain and simple. There is no way around it, over it, or under it. This work must be done to some degree.
Now, you can "plan" to not have to personally undertake as much by going with an online or virtual program or co-op. This can be costly in terms of finances, but can lesson the load of responsibility on the homeschooling parent's shoulders. All the questions like "What do I teach? When do I teach it? Is this enough to prepare them? Is this valid? Will they learn enough to be ready for college?" are more or less left to the teachers in the co-op, online or virtual program. The course of study has been set and planned for you. But the parent must still comply with all the requirements of enrollment, make sure the student is on task and completing assignments and exams, and fulfilling course work from all the angles.
If you decide not to go with a virtual school, which is more the bent of this blog post, the amount of work the parent must undertake can be quite overwhelming. Multiply that overwhelming work by the number of children you are schooling each year and you have a recipe for burn-out or total anxiety over the many years of homeschooling. But there is hope. You see, that word "work" which is integral to the lifestyle of a homeschooling parent is something God ordains and blesses. He tells us in Ecclesiastes 2:24, "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God." Just as if you were getting up and going to a job each day, clocking in your full day, working as best you can during those hours, and then faithfully going back the next day, you are working. Hard. Faithfully. Purposefully. And it is good.
Colossians 3:23
"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."Ecclesiastes 9:10
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,[a] for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going."
Work is good. And working for God by serving our families offers the greatest of blessings. The teacher must teach herself to work.
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