The Need for Strategic Planning in Your Homeschool

Vivian Doublestein, M.Mus.

(In this article, Mrs. Doublestein graciously shares some of what she has learned about the importance of strategic planning from her many years of experience. See her bio below. Enjoy!)

I've always threatened to send my homeschooling schedule in to one of the homeschool magazines, just for shock value. Yes, I do get up between 4 and 5 (yes, that IS A.M.!) but I don't mild the goats or bake bread by 7:30. And my kids? Well, since they were up studying until 2 a.m. they won't be up until noon! How can I let them get away with that, you ask? Because we have a strategic plan in mind and I don’t really care WHEN they get their work done, just THAT they get their work done, enjoy learning, and become productive, godly citizens who fulfill their God-given destinies.

I've learned after 13 years of homeschooling that there is not a need to hurry and get through all of the grammar books and history books so that I can say we did school. My true need is to seek God's plan for our family and then stick to that plan regardless of what good ideas or products may come along. I don't bake bread and mild goats because it's a bad thing to do, but rather because it's not in God's strategic plan for our family. It would hinder us from doing what we're specifically called to do, which is a ministry of restoration. We need to spend out time on other things if we are to accomplish what God has planned for us to do since before the foundations of the earth.

The goal of strategic planning is to get a global picture of where you are heading with your children, their education and your family life, and then plan accordingly. Homeschoolers do a great disservice to themselves by not taking the time to plan appropriately. Oh, we plan school...maybe a week or two in advance, but when was the last time you took the time to REALLY thing about what it is you are doing? When was the last time you REALLY prayed about God's direction for your family and their education? When was the last time you and your spouse sat down and REALLY talked through your family goals for impacting society, making a difference in your church and community and making your family life a little bit stronger? When was the last time you REALLY thought about the curriculum you use and why?

When we don't take these things into consideration, we are allowing life to just happen to us, instead of controlling it and bringing it under our subjection and authority as God commanded us to do in Genesis. It is a stewardship issue and when we say we don't have time to plan we are lying to ourselves. The truth is we don't have time NOT to plan! We waste so much precious time going in circles because we have failed to make a plan and follow God's design for our family.

It would make much more sense to sit down and see what God's priorities are for your life, the life of your family, and the lives of each of your children and then make a plan. Once you know the end goal, everything that doesn't fit that goal just seems to fall by the wayside. This prevents over-commitment and not keeping our word because we are just too busy to fulfill the things we agreed to do. Homeschooling is one long balancing act. You can't balance the pieces if you don't know what the pieces are or where they fit into the plan.

First, you will need to spend a prolonged period of time in prayer both as an individual and with your spouse to get an idea of the strategic plan God has in mind for your family...and He DOES have a plan! We only need to ask.

After prayer, you will need to take into consideration all of the things in your life that are permanent and take time...work, housework, household maintenance, cooking, changing diapers, shopping, planning school, doing school, grading papers, keeping records, paying bills, attending church, personal Bible study and prayer, etc. Be realistic! Cooking takes more than 15 minutes and day, yet that's all of the time we allot for it and then we get fearful and stressed because we are trying to do too much. Make sure that all of the "activities" are a necessary part of the family goals and directions you have gained from your prayer time. Some of the "permanent" things might just have to be removed from your list!

Once you have your global picture and your repeating schedule in place, then you can choose activities that will meet your family goals. Do you have a plan to work in missions as a family? Then add that into the remainder of the time. Do you have a ministry to the elderly? Where does that fit into the schedule and how does it work with school? Where do family vacations fit into the picture? If you vacation just a way to forget your real life, or is it a meaningful time of refreshment for your family that can be used educationally and help to fulfill your family goals for the year?

NOW, you can "plan school"! Take into consideration how many children you have, what kind of learning styles they have, what special needs some of them may have, how much preparation time you have, what kind of curriculum you need to use to meet your family goals. Don't forget to add in time for outside programs and field trips you want to participate in. Plan your whole year at once so that you can keep all of these thoughts in mind. Now you’re free to live your life calmly, without distraction, all the while heading towards the goal that God has planned for you to achieve. You have also freed yourself from the frenzied activity of attending every homeschool group meeting, going on every field trip and taking every outside class available because you know your goals and you only choose to attend the things that will help you to reach them in the long-run.

Taking time to plan and adding boundaries to your time "budget" is not restricting, but freeing, because now you have a way to make choices based on goals you know God has planned for you. And the good news is...it just might keep you from having to milk those goats everyday!

Vivian Doublestein is the founder and Executive Director of The Master's Academy of Fine Arts, a fine arts program developed especially for homeschooled students.

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