Each homeschooling family looks different. What represents success for you may be different from the next family. What is your goal for your family as you homeschool? I love the cartoon that one of the speakers at the homeschool convention posted during his lecture.
Boastful Parents Homeschool Reunion
Man 1 - "My son graduated with honors and is now a doctor"
Man 2 - "My daughter graduated and is a successful high school teacher"
Man 3 - "My child loves the Lord!"
Whatever goals you have for your homeschooling years will reflect your curriculum choices, activities, etc. What does success look like to you? Is it graduating with good grades, entry into a prestigious university, a well paying job??? Is it a desire for your children to grow up grounded in the word of God, cultivating a servant's heart, growing in spiritual maturity? This is not to say that your children can not achieve academic excellence AND love the Lord, but as parents we need to decide what our primary focus for our children is going to be. When our focus is on their walk with God, academics will fall into place. We need to desire spiritual growth over academic achievement. When they stand before God, it is going to be their relationship with Him that matters, not if they have memorized all the States and capitals.
I love how Amanda Bennett brought to light what successful homeschooling was for her family. It was children firm in their faith, knowing right from wrong, respectful, curious/wanting to learn, helpful, using their gifts, go after their interests, self-motivated, likes to work together, self confident, and a desire to develop knowledge.
If you haven't done so, sit down and write out your goals for your children. Give them a vision for their future! Protect them from wrong influences and provide godly role models. Lay a solid foundation of scripture, give them training in godliness. Don't fall into the trap of following the world's ideals for education. Proverbs 1:8 lays it out for us as parents. Fathers, you are to instruct your children. That goes way beyond merely teaching them! Mothers, we are to teach our children. Teach them to acquire a taste for God's word from birth! What an awesome responsibility....to be bathed in prayer!!
I love that! I know that my husband and I did well in university blah blah blah (can't you tell from that GREAT grammatically correct moment there?), but we tell our kids it's more important that they know and love God and become what HE wants them to become... education is great, but following God is better. So when they say they want to be "X" when they grow up, I always let them know I want them to be what God wants them to be!
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