6 Steps We’re Taking to Achieve Our Goals for Our Daughters
“The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.”
Kevin and I have created some very specific goals for our daughters. These are skills and traits we want our daughters to attain before their 18th birthday. If you’d like to know more about that list, you can read about it here.
In this article, I’ll be discussing the steps we’re taking to make sure we help them achieve those goals. We decided that, for our family, homeschooling was the best way to manage their education while still allowing us the freedom to travel extensively.
Here’s how we do it:
Determine Our Homeschool Curriculum – For us, selecting a curriculum meant finding an internet based platform that had a strong basis in the core subjects of Math, Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies. We identified an online platform that the girls could access from their own devices, anytime and anywhere. This unlimited access gave us the flexibility we needed to travel and still make sure that they were achieving their education goals.
Fill in the Gaps – With the core curriculum covered, we looked for ways to meet our other goals for them. We found art classes that challenged Rachel and coding classes that kept Sophie fulfilled. We make sure that Sophie has plenty of time for crafting and that Rachel has “alone time” for music and creative expression. We schedule meetups with friends when we’re able, take walks, go to the library (or use our Libby app), and take field trips that are both educational and physically challenging.
Use Travel and Experiences to Teach and Reinforce – We are intentional about immersing ourselves in the local culture when we travel. This gives them the opportunity to use foreign language skills, make friends, and appreciate local foods, culture, art, and customs.
Celebrate Milestones – It’s important to celebrate wins. When one of them makes a breakthrough in their understanding, scores a high mark on a difficult test, or shows extra initiative, we give lots of positive feedback. Rewards are given for meeting goals at the end of a grading period. (Does anyone else out there love cheesecake as much as Rachel?)
Assess their Progress Regularly – In addition to their online curriculum, we schedule end-of-year testing with a nationally recognized scholastic achievement test to make sure they are learning at an appropriate rate and scoring well, as compared to their peers on a national level.
Maintain Open and Honest Communication – We want them to feel safe and secure coming to us with anything. This has led to some pretty interesting conversations, but they are essential to building a relationship of trust and ensuring that the girls feel that they have the ability to help navigate their own future.
We’ve always said that our role as parents is to prepare our children to be successful as adults. We believe that our home is a safe place for them to challenge themselves, to learn and grow from failure, and to build both confidence and humility. The best job we can do as parents is to give them a solid foundation and encourage them to fly!
We hope we’ve inspired you to sit down and create specific goals for your children and a strategy to accomplish those things before they turn 18! We’d love to learn how you’ve created goals and strategies for your kids and how they help you have your own Uncommon Family Adventures!
