Father’s Equipping Children

As a home school father, I have an essential job of being the principal of the school as my wife teaches our children daily. As the principal, I often will check in with my children to see what they have learned in their curriculum as well as ensure that the kids are showing their mother (teacher) respect by being the primary disciplinarian. I also make it a point to make sure to keep things fun with the kids by getting in a good share of playtime each day with them. In addition to these actions, the principal needs to make sure that our school’s primary objective is being met, which is to train our children up in the ways of the Lord to know Him and serve Him

Christian fathers cannot be ignorant of the wiles of the devil, the lusts of the flesh and the draw of the world that our children will encounter. If we are to take our task seriously in equipping our children, we must first equip ourselves for battle. Make no mistake gentlemen, we are in fact in a battle. In order to disciple our children so they can stand against these adversaries, we must ourselves first be a disciple of Christ.

We must be in our bible daily feeding off the word of God. If you are not already doing so, make it a point to meet with the Lord daily to read your Bible. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2 Be faithful in this and see how the Lord will bless you and renew your mind. Second, be in prayer for your wife and your children. A healthy prayer life between you and the Lord will provide direction, focus, and you will experience the presence of the Lord. Prayer shows us how dependent we are on God and allows us to build trust in the Lord. Third, be accountable by attending church weekly, getting involved in serving in your church, and plugging into small groups. A men’s bible study is a good place to start. Lastly, I strongly recommend praying with your wife and reading the bible together. God created us to be the leader of our homes and we need His strength to fulfill this role His way. The more we try in our own strength, the more we fail and mess things up. Instead, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

As you begin to fill up with God’s word the results that follow will be knowledge of the scriptures and godly wisdom. Focus on equipping your wife with biblical counsel and insight from what you learn each day from reading scripture. By equipping your wife, you will help her to raise up the children with proper instruction. Second, teach your children God’s word. I recommend going through the Bible with your children once a year. When your children are taught the bible by their father, God’s word becomes that much more real and tangible to them. If your children are younger like mine (4 & 6), utilize visual aids to demonstrate the Bible subject you are discussing. I personally like to illustrate our Bible study time using a dry erase board. Do what works best for you and your kids, but the key is to be a doer in teaching your children.

I love getting organized for school, so this summer, we created a designated workspace for our two kids who are in Kindergarten and first grade. It was a fun project my husband and I did together. We designed it to fit in the corner of our living room since our house is on the smaller side, and we needed to maximize space. Seriously, it was easy and fun to build.

We bought crates from Michaels which we used as the desk legs and they also nicely doubled to provide shelf storage. Then we found 2ft x 6ft tabletop boards at Home Depot, that we used as the desktops and we fastened them on to the crates using metal brackets. Finally, we added a coat of paint, and some then applied some waterproofing coating to the desk surface for durability. Check out Pinterest lots of ideas for DIY desks. We are not professional woodworkers, and this desk isn’t perfect by any means, but it is ideal for what we use it for.

Our kids (ages 6 & 4) enjoy helping around the house, and each child has their own set of chores. Some days the kids get them done and then excitedly come running to tell me that they accomplished with a massive smile because of their achievement. It warms my heart when this happens. Then there are other days when I must tell them to do their chores multiple times, which leads to me being the nagging mom and sometimes a not so pleasant conversation. Recently, my son mentioned he felt defeated when I asked him to do his chores because he had failed not to remember to do them on his own.  He took the initiative to suggest that I make him a reminder list and I thought that was a great idea, so that is precisely what we did.

I sat down with the kids, and we talked about the different things that need to be done around the house daily/weekly.  The kids were excited to help mom come up with our new chore charts.   We made two different charts a daily chart and a weekly chart.  I laminated the charts so that we can use dry erase markers on them.  (FREE Downloads of these charts available)

I made picture icons for the different chores, laminated them, and cut them out. Then I put Velcro adhesives (available at the dollar store, or tape works great also) on the back of each chore icon, and placed Velcro adhesive on the chart in the chore boxes so that we can change out chores as needed. For the weekly chart, I highlighted in yellow the days that each core needs to be completed.

Each day, I am overjoyed to be able to homeschool my children and my life has become richly blessed by educating my children in a home environment. Not only has God given me the opportunity to homeschool, but he has provided all the resources we need to both spiritually and materially accomplish our mission to educate our children. Yet, our experience in teaching our children through homeschooling would be incomplete without a community to share all our experiences, trials, lessons, joys, pictures, and lots of fun. Although the homeschool experience takes place at home, with most of the time being amongst siblings, the aspect of community fellowship is essential for a robust and healthy homeschool family life for your children, and yes, you too!

I can remember looking back almost four years ago when I first decided I was going to homeschool my children.  I had experienced a very powerful sense of fear. This felt much like dread and anxiousness of impending failure. I know now after speaking with many parents who have raised home school children, that this is an all too common emotion that all parents feel as they begin this journey. Even now in my encounters with brand new homeschool moms that are just entering the battlefield, deciding to homeschool their children. I want to encourage each one of you that knowing God’s Word will help you to overcome this fear.