Last week’s step included clearing your plate of any preconceived notions regarding high school and not spending any time planning for next year, or reviewing curriculum, or reading articles or homeschooling books.  Instead, last week was the first step in our process and it was a week where each of us spent time being quiet and on our faces before God.   We were to ask Him to reveal to us the vision that HE has for each of our individual children.  We were to spend time in Scripture and pray for each child individually.  I encouraged you to pray about their strengths, their interests, their character, their spiritual lives, their activities and also pray about their weaknesses and shortcomings.  I hope that you were able to pray scripture and God’s promises for your children and that you asked HIM to reveal HIS plan for the coming year.  Throughout this past week, I hope you were able to find the time to journal your thoughts and any scripture that God impressed upon you and that you shared them with your spouse and together, prayed about your children.  I would love to hear from many of you what you felt like God began to show you over the past week and what you were able to journal regarding your insights.

                Now…..on to this week.  First, continue to do step one from last week.  Continue to pray, journal and discuss with your husband.  Continue to AVOID planning and AVOID curriculum reviews, articles and books and focus just on hearing God’s still small voice regarding your plans for homeschooling through high school.  This is a very important step to continue through the ENTIRE series that we are working through together.

                Secondly, I want you to do the following two part process. 

Part one:  Write down every class and extracurricular activity that your child was involved  with during the past school year.  Yes…..write down EVERY class and EVERY extracurricular activity.  This includes anything from youth group and mission trips, to Algebra and British Literature, to a choir or a theater production. 

Part two:  Spend some time this week observing and reflecting on your child as an individual.  Observe and reflect on your child and write down any insights and specifics that you notice or remember. For example, observe and reflect on what makes your child motivated; what makes your child excited; what special interests does your child have; what makes your child feel defeated and discouraged; what weaknesses do you notice in your child; what natural characteristics and gifts does your child exhibit; what bores your child; etc., etc.  Get the picture?  Write down and list     everything you know about your child.  Jot down what you observe currently and even note things from the past that you can reflect on and that will give you insight into your child. Try to spend this next week looking at your child as if you were first meeting him and getting to know him and write down everything. It is VERY important that you do the writing portions of these steps.  Without these things written down, some of the steps further into the process will be impossible for you to complete and I don’t want you to become frustrated later on.

                I know you are probably wondering where we are headed in this process….so, let’s just remind ourselves.  We want to come out at the end of this series with a clearer picture of what GOD has in mind for us and what He has in mind for each of our individual children as we homeschool through high  school. We want to begin high school (for you 1^st timers) and begin again EVERY year of high school (for us old fogies) with the end in mind.  Determining and focusing on what God wants for our child is our goal.  

                Remember, this will be a process and a journey and one on which I hope you will continue to join me. I hope that you will let me know some of what God may reveal to you over the next few weeks.  It would be a great encouragement to me to hear from you.  You can leave a comment here on the blog or you can email me directly at llane@theendinmind.net

Faith and Courage,

Lori Lane             

Lori is married to the love of her life John and together they have four sons ranging in age from 22 down to 10.  The two oldest boys have graduated from home school and successfully entered college and/or internship positions!  (YEAH!) She is the author of “Beginning With The End In Mind”, a frequent speaker on home education, family and the arts, as well as the founder and Executive Director of Artios Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts where she has worked with hundreds of homeschooled high school students.  You can see some of the pictures of their home in the central Colorado Rockies by visiting Lori’s website at www.theendinmind.net where you will receive encouragement for the journey.  You can also hear Lori on “The End In Mind” broadcast on www.blogtalkradio.com/theendinmind