In thinking through the previous posts on what to teach when and questioning where we will be going next year, I began to formulate this list of goals. Originally it started out just for my son, but I realized that we want these things for all our children. After typing these out, Ray read through them and placed his principal’s seal of approval on them, although he wondered why I was spending a Sunday afternoon doing such deep thinking! Now that I’ve got these down, I’m going to work on applying them to specific objectives for each child for the rest of this year so we can begin to accomplish these. I’ll post those when I get them done.
What are our goals for our children?
1. to develop the habit of daily Bible reading and prayer along with Bible study skills and apply them in order to “rightly divide the word of truth”
2. to memorize Scripture, poetry, vocabulary, historical events & dates, catechism, and geographical locations
3. to progress through a chronological study of history and see God’s providential hand in all
4. to recognize the diversity of land areas and people groups and understand the differences among them, also seeing their need for God’s grace to save them from judgment
5. to observe nature, both first hand and through the eyes of scientists, and see God’s design
6. to understand scientific and mathematical concepts in order to acknowledge God’s design in the laws of nature
7. to read quality works of literature, experiencing other events and places, beginning to look for the techniques and style that contribute to a great work of literature
8. to develop strong grammar skills and a rich vocabulary and apply them to written and spoken communication
9. to study the fine arts (music, art, and drama) and distinguish works of beauty
10. to learn an instrument and the basic skills of drawing and/or painting in order to express the God’s gift of creativity and be a blessing to others
11. to begin to apply a Biblical worldview to all subjects
a. science: Creation/Evolution
b. history: God’s providence vs. man’s sovereignty
c. literature: reflecting humanity’s need for redemption and God’s order
12. to become familiar with computer hardware and software in order to accomplish educational objectives, explore future careers, and create programs and media for personal and others’ enjoyment and edification
13. to use research skills to further delve into topics of interest in the above areas
14. to express understanding of the above items through
a. grammatically correct writing assignments containing accurate spelling, well-constructed, varied sentences, and clear organization within a variety of models: book critiques or story summaries, reports (1-3 ¶), essays, articles for Bible Study Times/ Herald/Weekly
b. short, clear presentations using a poster, handout, or power point presentation (given to family or friends)
c. art projects
