Finding Meaning

I always hope that everything I teach my children has meaning for them. I'm sure all homeschoolers feel that way. We believe it is important for them, or we really enjoyed learning it, and so we teach it. It's like trying to create or pick out meaningful gifts for family. Sometimes they look at it quickly and set it aside for the next thing (hopefully with a thank you). Sometimes we miss seeing them pick it up later, in a quiet moment, and it becomes one of their favorite presents. Sometimes you hit on just the right thing and the recipient stops to admire it and show it to others.

Mini boxes I decorated with photos of my grandparents for my parents.

Meaningful learning is tricky. Children are not always ready for what we want to teach them. While a subject might be dear to our hearts, our children may face it like an ugly monster that they must either cower before or conquer so that they may do something they find more rewarding. I love writing, but none of my children have shown interest in it. I would love it if they all had journals or blogs that they wrote in regularly, but they don't. And that's OK. I didn't care for math or history until I taught it to my oldest. Some things take time to appreciate. One of the things I have learned over the years is that all of those things we thought were important will only stay with our children if they find the topics meaningful. Presentation helps, but each child will take only what touches them personally. That's why they don't all turn out exactly the same.

Meaning comes from really looking at the child and learning what he or she finds important.  Expand on the child's interests and offer--don't force--topics that build on those interests. It means you might have to be creative and step out of your comfort zone, but that's good. You are modeling the behavior you want them to learn.