Gearing Up For Battle!

All right, ladies, it’s time to gear up! Lace on your combat boots, sharpen your swords, shine up your helmets, and make sure your shield is strong and in order. It’s almost time for battle!!

Really? Not really. But it’s time to begin the preparations for the next year of home school. I know, it’s only July, but many of us will begin sometime in August, some of us in early August. So it’s time to prepare for the next year now.

Sometimes home education feels like a battlefield. And I’m not even talking about the kids’ attitudes. I’ve been home schooling for nineteen years now, and sometimes I think I’d rather do something else with my time, and so I shrink from even thinking of school. But, I’ve had all of May, June and now July off, and it’s time to get back to business.

How I Prepare for the School Year

I start my preparations with prayer, asking God to give me wisdom on the best way to tackle the next year. Because every year brings its new challenges, each year is different and may need to be changed around a bit. This year I will again have four students, rather than the three I’ve had for the past two years, so there’s going to need to be some changes in how I operate this year. But no changes should be made without first asking the Lord for wisdom and guidance.

Secondly, I ask my husband to pray for me and with me. This is a joint effort, though much of the intricate daily workings fall on my shoulders, and I simply could not do much without his help and support. By communicating to him my burdens and our needs, he can pray for the family and give guidance where needed.

For me, my schedule is going to be the most difficult thing by far. With travelling like we do, and four children in school, it’s going to be tough to make it work. My husband and I have been praying about it, and I know it can be done.

After I’ve been praying about the coming school year for a few weeks, I dug out all last years’ school books and reviewed where every child is in each subject. I used this information to determine where to begin when we start back to school in August. Also, I find out if we need any additional curriculum or supplies before then. I placed several orders last week, and they should be arriving soon at the place we will be parked next week. And, of course, there’s Walmart’s school supplies sale! Notebooks for five cents?? Oh, yeah!

So I’m laying in my supplies, so to speak, preparing for the next year. But how do I prepare the kids for the next year? Well, it helps that they know what day we are starting. It is set in stone at August 10. Now, what happens on the 11th, who knows, but we are starting school on the 10th! I’ve been talking more about school, and about the different subjects they will be doing. Some of them, especially the youngest, are pretty excited about starting. Jason is looking forward to learning how to read this year, and he’s been begging for school for months. If some of the others catch his enthusiasm, it will be good.

Ladies, schooltime is going to come anyway. Don’t you think we ought to get our battle gear on and prepare for it? The Lord will strengthen us as we seek His Face for our children.