ABC's of Homeschooling: Field Trips, Goals, & Habits

31 May 2011
ABCs of Homeschooling


*Please forgive me about having three posts in one...These last several weeks have been excruciatingly busy for us.



F is for Field Trips


Wow, what can I say...one of the benefits of living overseas is the field trips. With being in Europe, in particular Germany, we have seen Lugwig's castles, museums, concentration camps, Martin Luther's location for translating the Bible in Coburg, Hitler's Eagle Nest, Salt Mines, Zugspitze, the vast amount of History in one location is exciting to me.

We only have months left here and this will probably be our last tour overseas before my husband retires from the Army. I have a few places I would like to still see, but these field trips -I hope- reminds our children of our travels while being in the military as a positive experience. To understand that we are from the world, but not of this world. To be well-rounded and knowledgeable about different cultures, but overall stand strong in our strength and faith for Christ.

Here is our yearbook in photos. (It contains photos from some our field trips)


G is for Goal


I found "Goal" in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary, but I also found Purpose to be the definition closely related to Goals.

Goal: 3. The end or final purpose; the end to which a design tends, or which a person aims to reach or accomplish. Each individual seeks a several goal.


It's funny that we always (or at least I do) have a goals-orientated sheet; long-term and short-term, but in reality...sometimes we never do meet some of these goals (for whatever reason).

But if we have a purpose:

1. That which a person sets before himself as an object to be reached or accomplished; the end or aim to which the view is directed in any plan, measure or exertion. We believe the Supreme Being created intelligent beings for some benevolent and glorious purpose, and if so, how glorious and benevolent must be his purpose in the plan of redemption! The ambition of men is generally directed to one of two purposes, or to both; the acquisition of wealth or of power. We build houses for the purpose of shelter; we labor for the purpose of subsistence.


I find it extremely sad that most people do not know their purpose in life. So, by homeschooling, we are teaching them which GOALS and priorities are necessary to have a PURPOSE in their lives.

To bring honor and glory to God. Enough said. ;)


H is for Habits


Charlotte Mason was adamant on Habits; for it is one of the key ingredients of education.

Definition Webster Dictionary:

Habit: 4. A disposition or condition of the mind or body acquired by custom or a frequent repetition of the same act. Habit is that which is held or retained, the effect of custom or frequent repetition. Hence we speak of good habits and bad habits.


Quotes from A Charlotte Mason Education webpage:

The good habit of paying attention can be established by using short lessons. Short lessons consist of 15 to 20 minutes in length during elementary school. They increase to 30 minutes per subject in junior high and to 45 minutes in high school. Remember, the Charlotte Mason students were in school six days a week--you, as a home schooler, probably are not. You can and should adjust the daily minutes to suit yourself and your family. By the way, the idea of short lessons is often approached with skepticism. My quesiton to you is, do you have anything to lose by trying it? I cannot even count the parents who tried this and now swear by it.


Eventually your child will mature and as he does he has to make himself pay attention. Mason said, "He should be taught to feel a certain triumph in compelling himself to fix his thought." Your job, in the interim, is to make sure that your child never does a leeson into which he does not put his heart. This will build the habit of finishing, which brings me to my all-time favorite teaching of Charlotte Mason which is, "What is worth beginning is worth finishing, and what is worth doing is worth doing well."









ABC's of Homeschooling:

A for American History
B for Believe
C for Charlotte Mason
D for Dedication
E for Eternal

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4 comments:

Amber said...

Love this, love the quotes, I think I might print that last one and put it on the wall!!
How cool that you have all these wonderful field trip opportunities at your fingertips right now. You also gave me the idea of putting together a photo book or scrapbook of our school year. (Maybe I'll actually get around to doing something like that.) Thanks!
Here from Dawn's post, have a good week!

Dawn said...

That's a lot of topics for an ABC post! I have to tell you though, I have field trip envy. Like big time. ;) And Charlotte Mason was an amazing lady. Reading her books changed the way I view my kids and education!
Dawn @5kidsandadog.com

Naomi said...

I agree with the shorter lessons! When I first started homeschooling DS8, he would cry at just a few minutes of writing. I moved toward letting him write one line and then play. We repeated until the page was done. After a few days of this, we moved to 2 lines of writing and some play. He now is up to that 15-20 minutes. Short and then increasing works!

Unknown said...

Your kids are very lucky indeed to be able to visit all those different places. I really like what you've written, especially about short lessons. I practice that too. I find my kids are able to focus better and there's less whining.
BTW, I'm going to follow your blog.

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts!! Come back soon! Sincerely, Jessica

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