Reading, writing, and math, right? Uh, no.
Reading, writing, and math are vital skills. We want our kids to be literate, to be able to express important thoughts, and to be able to keep track of their finances. When it comes to prioritizing my homeschool day, however, those subjects sometimes get shoved to the side so that the boys and I can work on three subjects that trump all academic subjects.
The Most Important Homeschool Subjects
I’m not sure I’ve ever really addressed why we homeschool here on Thinking Kids. I suppose there are lots of reasons not to choose other schooling options, and I suppose that’s how families sometimes end up homeschooling.
However, we chose to homeschool for one primary reason: discipleship. We wanted the time and space to disciple our children for Christ.
I often wish we’d chosen homeschooling for our older kids, and I sometimes wish we’d chosen homeschooling for our younger kids sooner (we started in 1st and 2nd grade), but I’m ultimately grateful for the time we’ve had to intentionally disciple our youngest two boys (who are now in middle school).
1) Scripture
We live in a Scripturally-illiterate culture, even among those in the church. Ed and I want our kids to know Scripture. We want them to understand what it actually says, and we want them to read through the Bible several times before ever leaving home.
As Christians, we know the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. I can’t think of anything more important to teach my kids than God’s revealed will, and His plan for salvation. Can you?
It’s a three-year Bible survey curriculum for preschool to high school with notebooking journals, crafts, Bible memory verses and copywork, and a geography aspect as kids pray for and learn about individual countries.
Grab a three-week sample pack and take an in-depth look at Bible Road Trip™!
If your 8-12 year olds love puzzles, they’ll be excited about Bible Investigators: Creation, a 272-page puzzle-based Bible study!
Be sure to grab a copy of Help Your Bible Learn and Love the Bible, too. It’s a crash course in everything you need to know to teach the Bible to your kids!
2) Relationship
I know, I know. Relationship isn’t really a “subject”, right? Hear me out.
Your children need to know you love and value them. The fact that they feel loved allows them to hear you when you pour into their lives. If our kids leave home with only memories of battles over math and clean rooms, I think we’ve failed. In fact, I truly regret not spending more time making sure my older kids truly felt loved.
I’m not saying we should toss aside standards and expectations in order to coddle our kids. Part of the parent-child relationship includes respect, submission, and authority. What I teach my kids about authority in my home becomes the standard in their adult lives. What I teach the boys about authority (because, like it or not, I am an authority in their lives) becomes the standard for how they view professors, police, employers, and even God.
Homeschooling gives you ample opportunity to love your kids and to build your relationship with them. Relationship building in your homeschool can look like a heart-felt hug, a serious conversation in the middle of history “class”, playing a game, going to the park at lunch, or just taking time to express honest appreciation for a sincere effort.
3) Character
Your child’s character will be either a hindrance or an asset in their adult lives. For Ed and I, teaching character is more important than any subject our kids study in school. We talk to our children so often about character that they’re probably sick of hearing about it. We use Scripture, media, Christian history, and Christian biographies to examine the character of others and to look at how that character affects others.
Children whose hearts are not regenerate–who are not saved to new life in Jesus Christ–are, of course, going to have deeper struggles with their character. We human beings have deceitful hearts (Jeremiah 17:9) and until God replaces a heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), there is little reason for a sinner to even desire change. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t teach our kids about work ethic, and about the fruit of the Spirit.
Check out the Who What Why series… it’s a great way to teach your 8-11 year olds about theology and the heroes of the faith!
Subjects Worth Teaching
I’m not perfect at teaching Scripture, working on relationship, or talking about and displaying godly character. I am being progressively sanctified, and I have a long way to go. When push comes to shove, though, I feel strongly that Scripture, relationship, and character are the top three most important subjects I can teach my kids, and I think they’re the top three most important subjects for your homeschool as well.
Grab the Spiritual Disciplines Calendar to go with your Daily Devotions for Kids Calendar!
Your kids will develop a habit of daily Bible reading, Scripture memorization, and prayer in a fun, hands–on way!
Books Make Great Gifts!
Teach Your Kids the Bible with Bible Road Trip™
Bible Road Trip™ is a three-year Bible survey curriculum. Take your family through the Bible five times from preschool to high school.
To help you get the most out of your studies, Bible Road Trip™ has an array of coordinating weekly activities:
- Researching the section of the Bible you’re studying
- Reading and discussing the Bible
- Memorizing Scripture
- Notebooking about your studies
- Praying for the nations
- Suggestions for further study
- Crafting about what you’ve learned
- For your older students: A project to share what they’ve learned
- Bible Road Trip™ also has some great tools you can use along with it, such as:
- Notebooking Journals for grades 1-9. Want a structured notebooking journal for high school? Don’t hesitate to use the Dialectic journal (grades 7-9).
- Bible Memory Card Sets for all five levels of study, preschool to high school. These are available in both ESV and KJV.
Grab your Bible Road Trip™ Year One Sample Pack. You’ll get:
- The Bible Road Trip™ Parent / Teacher Guide.
- The first three weeks of the curriculum for all five learning levels. Week Three is where we really dive into the Bible and begin to our systematic study. Week Three will give you a good feel for the rest of the curriculum.
- The first three weeks of the Bible Memory Card sets for all five levels, in ESV and KJV.
- The first three weeks of each of the three leveled Notebooking Journals.
Grab the Sample Pack for FREE:
Disciple your kids by taking your family through the Bible together in a meaningful way!
The 2024 Practical Homeschooling® Reader Awards™ were announced in the Fall 2024 issue of Practical Homeschooling® magazine.
The Reader Awards have been a regular feature in the magazine since 1998.
Thousands of homeschoolers rank the curriculum they have used, and the products with the highest satisfaction ratings win.
Bible Road Trip™ Curriculum
Take a look inside the Bible Road Trip™ curriculum! Let me show you around:
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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