When I first started homeschooling about six years ago, I didn’t really know what I was doing. Like many of you, I researched all I could about homeschooling and I learned a lot. I learned about learning styles, homeschool methods, choosing curriculums, and the laws in my state. The list can go on and on.
What I didn’t find were many articles about the importance on building relationships in your homeschool. I happened to discovered that on my own.
Working on my relationships helped me in my homeschool journey. I realized that building my relationships was more than just physically being there but to REALLY be present.
You see, in order for you to really get to know someone, you have to spend time with them. It is important not to rush through life and forget about those that are on the homeschool journey with us.
Building Relationships With Our Children
As I became more present, I was able to recognize my son’s hands-on learning style, his passions for animals and Legos plus his desire to learn everything he could on a particular topic.
In just learning these few things about my son, it helped us to save a lot of money. How? We didn’t waste money purchasing curriculums that would not be a good fit for him or signed him up for activities that he really would not enjoy. Picking curriculum and activities that were geared to his passions helped us have a productive and fun school year. It wasn’t all peaches and cream, but it was close to it!
In having such a productive year, we noticed how we got close as a family. We spent a lot of time reading together and doing activities as a family. I am not talking about activities that are part of a lesson, but just activities that we did together.
For example, like going to the zoo or taking a trip to a local farm. We learned how to work together to accomplish our goals, pray together as a family, and bless others by meeting their needs. It was a time of building trust for one another and getting to know each other, quirks and all. We learned how to deal and survive each other’s different personalities-a great life skill to learn!
Building Relationships With Each Other
As we developed a closer bond with our boys, they developed their own special bond with each other. It is amazing to see their special bond grow even though there is a big gap between their ages. Seeing their brotherly love for one another warms my heart.
It is not always peaceful around here. They do have their disagreements but they are learning so much. They are learning to be patient, respectful, forgiving and loving towards one another. They are learning how to work together, solve problems between themselves and so much more!
Building our relationships with each of our children and seeing them develop their own relationships with each other are big pay days in our homeschooling journey.
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Remember even though the academic part is important, we should not forget about building our relationships with our family. It is vital that we take the time to get to know each other. We sometimes focus so much on getting the academic part right that we fail to remember who we are preparing the lessons for.
As homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to invest in our family-to really get to know each one of them. Let’s strive in building relationships in our homeschool. It will make a huge difference in all of our lives!
What do you do to build relationships in your homeschool?
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