Homeschool High School: Planning for the Future

Homeschool High School: Planning for the Future

As loving parents, we all want to see things go well in life for our children. We want them to learn, grow spiritually and personally, to serve, and have healthy relationships. Since we’ve put so much care into their lives, we want to help them have a target to aim for. Likely, you hope that your children won’t wander aimlessly throughout life. How can we homeschool high school, planning for the future so that this doesn’t happen to them? After all, we’re raising arrows and we need to help them learn where to aim.

You Have to Be There

This may seem obvious. But not every parent is “there” like they may think they are.  It takes more than just being a presence in the household. It’s not okay to just be around and be “checked out” or self-absorbed.  And it’s more than just telling your young adult under your roof to do their chores, feeding them, and sheltering them.

We don’t have “quivers” of arrows for novelty’s sake. And they’re not alive to make the archer look good. Rather, the archer needs to carefully craft the arrows so that they may fly and hit the target.

So, naturally this takes emotional presence and involvement by the parents. We need to be intentional about building genuine, healthy relationships with our children from the time they’re young into their adulthood. Really, this should be a natural extension of our relationships with them when they were children.

A carefully cultivated, healthy relationship will keep doors open by the time they reach high school. To be clear, it’s not about our parenting egos as to whether or not they follow our counsel. Rather, it’s about having the ability to speak life to them and give them counsel to consider.

You’re Not the Only Voice and That’s Okay

I once knew a young lady who had a parent who became offended if she didn’t always follow her parent’s counsel. She went through a lot with that parent. For example, there would be frequent periods of time when that parent wouldn’t speak to her. By the way, we’re talking about her early adult years in this instance.

But she knew that from God’s Word that: “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14 KJV.

A multitude of counselors. Not one.

She would consider the counsel of the many wise people whom she sought counsel from. And she’d pray. Often times, the counsel she’d take wasn’t the advice of the one parent. Even though she knew the strain she’d go through in the relationship. To be sure, it hurt her deeply. But she was thankful for following the Lord’s leading in any case.

Parents, we’re not the only voice in our young adults’ lives. And that’s okay. We should be encouraging our young adults to seek wise counsel. Additionally, we should be praying with them for the Lord to direct their paths. The focus always and forever should be for our Heavenly Father to guide them. It should never be on our egos or if we’re “right”.

Finding Mentors for Your Young Adults

Hopefully, each set of parents has mentors. And it’s important for our young adults to as well. Godly mentors for our young adults can help with giving perspective and sharing about their personal experiences. I’m personally thankful for so many brothers and sisters in Christ to journey with through life.

I hope for our young adults to feel the same way. And I hope that they’ll be Godly mentors to others throughout their lives.

Where to Find Mentors

Depending on your personal dynamics:

• Immediate family in the Lord.
• Church family in the Lord.
• Trusted friends.
• Books by Godly men and women.
• Or even on-line courses by Godly men and women.

Planning Forward

As I reflect on life, I’m so thankful for the various mentors that my Heavenly Father has placed in my life. And sometimes, I didn’t even realize that mentoring was taking place. But my Heavenly Father knew. And He provided them. In some instances, it was for but a moment. While in other instances, it was for seasons of different lengths.

Because of the importance of mentors, and with prayer, we decided to provide a Life Planning course for our high school students. In part, we’re all learning from life mentors Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy. And we’re very pleased with this decision. As our high school students branch out on their own, we all want to live forward together.

About Living Forward

Living Forward happens to be the name of the book authored by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy that we’re using for some of our curriculum.

Both Michael and Daniel share about how they began to realize that they were drifting… floating through a part of their lives. With transparency, they help us to think cause-to-effect. In other words, “if this, then that” about allowing ourselves to drift.

While we can’t control certain outcomes in life, there’s a Biblical principle that tells us: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 16:3 KJV

It’s not about success in the worldly sense or materialistic sense. Rather, living forward is about life planning. If you consider life a target and your life is the arrow, what are you aiming for? In effect, what kind of a legacy do you want to leave?

How to Plan Living Forward

Both Michael and Daniel give much counsel to consider. And once you acknowledge that drift can and sometimes does happen, you’re ready for the next steps. To begin with, you’re ready to understand the mission of living forward and about appreciating the benefits.

Then you move on to creating your plan. This involves step-by-step processes in these areas:

• Designing your legacy. We’re talking about your legacy in these areas: spiritual, intellectual, relational, vocational, and social capital you pass on. “It’s the sum total of the beliefs you embrace, the values you live by, the love you express, and the service you render to others.” Living Forward ©2016 by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy p. 61.
• Determining your priorities. Have you sat down to consider your “life accounts”? In other words, have you considered how to live intentionally in different categories of life: finances, family, etc? Well, the authors give counsel in these areas and steps to take.
• Charting your course. Counsel is given on writing down where and how you plan on being intentional to specific commitments.
• Implementing your plan. This entails considering how much margin you have, triaging your calendar, scheduling priorities, your annual time block, and learning how to say no with grace.
• Keeping it alive. It’s important to review your plan daily in the first 90 days. After that, review it once weekly. Additionally, you’ll review it annually and revise it as needed.

How We’re Using it as a High School Curriculum

As mentioned earlier, we’re going through Living Forward with our homeschool high school students. We read the chapters together. In some cases, we discuss and go through some of the exercises together. But in other instances, we branch off on our own to do some of the exercises. Then we come back together again to discuss our thoughts. And we pray together about matters.

If we’re not sure about some areas like what we may consider doing, we each know to seek wise counsel from a multitude. And to be prayed with.

We highly recommend Living Forward whether or not your family uses it as a part of your homeschool high school curriculum.

In any case, may the Lord bless you on your journey as a family.