The Importance of Planning

March 29, 2010 by admin.

It’s been said that if you fail to plan, plan to fail. This is so true. I also heard someone say recently, ‘Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency for me.’. This happened to be in a work-place environment, but I think it could be said for any situation. When we are in a place of leadership, we must be absolutely sure that whatever we expect out of our ‘subordinates’ we expect of ourselves. If you expect your child to be able to get out of bed, make it up, get dressed, wash his face and brush his teeth and hair, then you should be able to be ready for breakfast, devotions and school on top of your other daily morning routine. You are the superior. Where much is given, much is required.

Wow, I seem to be a cliché machine today! But I guess that’s okay, since they happen to be true. J

So how can you plan for a good school day?

Number one: Take time to pray. You are not the all-in-all, Jesus is. It’s His plan you are following, and not your own. A day without prayer is a failure from the beginning- every time.

Number two: Take time to plan. Forget thinking about what you want your child to learn through the whole year. That is not a day to day plan. That plan should have been done before the year started. No, this day to day plan should just be following this big plan. If you purchase a curriculum, this should not be a large problem. Most curriculums are pretty thorough with already set daily plans. Your job is to look at the plans before you start school! You could even take a few minutes before bed to look over the next day’s work and pray about it.

Number three: Don’t forget things like appointments or meetings that happen to interrupt your school week. When you fail to plan in things like that, you set yourself up for aggravation which filters down to your children. Make a list or keep a calendar. If your child has a quiz or test scheduled for the day you must be out, plan to give it before you leave or after you get home. You may even have to wait until the next day. By all means, do not expect too much out of your child in this area. They are just there to follow orders at this point. When they get older, in 8^th or 9^th grade, you may incorporate their thoughts into your plans, and even give them experience in planning the week.

To sum it all up, don’t fail to plan and your plans won’t fail to bring peace to your home schooling experience. Be flexible, but not malleable. Be structured, but not rigid. You shall succeed! J

One more thing, don’t limit planning to just school.  Plan for the future of your children in prayer and supplication to God to lead in every avenue of thier lives.  You’ll be glad you did! 

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