Don't Forget Your Purpose

Today we didn't even begin school until 4 (in the afternoon!). We were busy today with appointments and music lessons and just simply didn't get to it until then. I sat down to do English with my daughter. I looked over my spreadsheet and thought about how we had x amount of lessons to do in y amount of time, and the numbers just didn't add up. We were...BEHIND. I began paging through the upcoming lessons and in doing so realized my daughter already knew this information. That's the great thing about being a teacher (whether in the home, or a traditional one)...you know where your kids are. So, I pulled out the last unit test and had her do it. She aced it. I closed the book and gave her a high five and said, "You're done with English kiddo. Go play".

I began thinking about my reasoning for teaching her and chosing this particular curriculum. Wasn't the purpose for her to learn the information? She learned it. So why did I feel the need to ensure we went through every single lesson on every single page just to say that we completed it? I know better. But, in the trenches of homeschooling I forgot my own purpose. My purpose is not to check off every lesson just to say we did. Your purpose may be different than mine. In fact, I have a different purpose for most everything I do. However, I know for sure my purpose is not to check off boxes. Don't forget your purpose.