How To Shape Your Thinking About Your Homeschool

Do you remember reading about Molly and how she struggled during the school year? What happened next with Molly after she developed a vision for her homeschool? Molly felt positive and a sense of accomplishment after going through simple steps to create a vision for her homeschool. However, she discovered that she still needed to shape her thinking about the future of her homeschool. Feeling that she was now on a solid path to help her keep her focus and to have a productive homeschool, she got to it.

So, how did Molly shape her thinking?

How To Shape Your Thinking About Your Homeschool

Molly was beginning to see herself as a leader within her family and homeschool culture. As such, she did the following to help her grow more into this important role by shaping her thinking and you can to!

Let’s define the word shape to help give us picture words:

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
shape, n.

3. To mold; to cast; to regulate; to adjust; to adapt to a purpose. He shapes his plans or designs to the temper of the times.

4. To direct; as, to shape a course.

5. To image; to conceive.

Step 1. Bye-Bye To Small Thinking

She acknowledged that she didn’t have to remain a small thinker. She has the freedom and flexibility to have her lessons geared to the individuality of her family vs. a confining model of someone else’s concept. She acknowledged and embraced that she could accomplish more than she gave herself credit for. Once she could answer why she was being held back, she was able to pour her all into her homeschool as a mentor to her children and have faith that the Lord would be at work in her and her children’s lives. She was going to allow Him to work through and in her for His glory. Allowing herself to accomplish more within her gifts and talents and interests allows her to contribute more.

Once she walked away from the prison of small thinking, she was set free to imagine the possibilities and move forward to the next step.

Step 2. What Are the Possibilities?

After dreaming up possibilities, she wrote them down. In doing so, she acknowledged and chose to embrace the individuality that Yahweh gave her: gifts, talents, and interests. She would no longer diminish this truth. As a leader in her homeshchool, she would make a positive impact on her children and help them to do the same with the gifts, talents, and interests that Yahweh gave them as individuals. Now, it was beginning to give her more clarity and bring life to her goals.

Step 3. What’s At Stake?

She asked herself what was a stake if she did do these things. She answered this question positively and negatively by using a T-Chart. She chose to set aside comparisons between herself and others. Rather, she’d focus on the direction that the Lord was giving her for herself and her family by directing her focus to what was at stake. She thought about the positive example she’d model for her children and loved the idea of how this would bless them. Plus, it would help her remember what the stakes are when she was facing feelings of discouragement or challenges.

Step 4. Make an Outline or Mind Map

Using a mind map form, she mapped out what she had and what she may need to help see these things through. This whole-part-whole approach helped her to break down the goals into quarterly possibilities during the year. What has to be true… what steps need to be taken and prayed about?

Step 5. What Can You Do To Effect the Outcome?

Molly knew that she could do many things, but not everything. She wrote down what she could do, listed people in her life that could possibly contribute with their time, gifts, talents, and interests. She jotted down homeschool co-ops, homeschool classes (both local and on-line), and asked in homeschool support groups to see where possible gaps could be filled. Her focus was on what she did have control over and decided to pray for the Lord to provide where needed.

If you have already created your vision for your homeschool and would like to use the Thinking Big forms to help get you on your way, you’ll find them in the free Caterpillar Member’s Area. Not a Caterpillar Member? Join Here!

Do you have other ways that have helped you to shape your thinking about your homeschool? Please share them with the Principle Approach® community by leaving a comment below.

Blessings!