The desire of my heart is to encourage families with grace and love. I do pray and hope that the attached article will bring encouragement to you and other home schooling families.
Building strong families together in Christ,
Karen Dargatz
(780) 962-3727
The Value of An Educational Road Map® - The Journey is More Fun if We Know Where We’re Going! By Karen Dargatz
When taking a long trip by car, you need to know where you’re going. If you don’t, you will spend a lot of time driving around but never getting very far. Let’s say for example, that you decide to drive to Colorado from Spruce Grove. If you have never taken that trip before, you wouldn’t hop in the car and say, “I know that Colorado is south of Spruce Grove, so I’ll take the first road I can find that goes south and start driving.” Considering the price of fuel, why waste money driving the longest route or driving far but never arriving at your destination? Driving around not knowing where you’re going is most frustrating and not fun at all. You need to have a road map. Road mapping the journey requires you to think ahead, search out a map, consider the routes, and decide on the best one. The same principle is true when educating your children. The roads you take will depend on your family, your needs, your educational philosophy, where it is you are going, and your preferences for breaks – sight seeing stops along the way. With a Road map, the journey will be more enjoyable with less stress and will allow you to arrive successfully at your destination. Road mapping ahead will give you confidence in knowing that you’re taking the best possible route for your family. I once heard it said that, “No one ever accomplishes anything of consequence without a destination (goal) in mind.” A destination, or goal, is the outcome that we desire at the end of school year. The objectives are the stepping-stones that we step on to help get us to our destination. I love what Katherine Logan has to say about destinations (goals). “A goal foretells what may be ours. It is an invitation to do something. With a great mental picture in mind we go from one accomplishment to another, using the materials about us only as stepping-stones to that which is higher and better and more satisfying. We thus become possessors of the unseen values which are eternal.” No one accomplishes much without a destination in mind. Having a destination (goal) helps to initiate motivation and to build momentum. Just like a train, it has a track to run on, and it knows where it’s going. It starts out slowly, but it picks up enough momentum to ride out the trip, and keep going during the toughest part of the journey.
The link between goals and motivation is huge. A sport’s illustration creates for us a clear image of the HUGE link between goals and motivation. “In basketball, without a hoop to shoot for why would anyone desire to dribble the ball?” The same is true in home schooling our children. Without a road map, how do we know what to aim for and how do we maximize our family’s potential? Which direction do we steer the car? It is rather dangerous to have a train with no tracks or a family without a road map.
It is very relevant to articulate your purposes, that which you desire for your children to achieve educationally in order to maximize their potential. This includes faith, character, values, and morals first, and then the academics along-side. After articulating your desires, then you’re ready to establish your goals. Your goals become your points of reference on your road map. These points of references will help to determine your objectives, the activities or accomplishments you plan to complete in order to fulfill your goals. We pray and fast, that our purposes for our family align with God’s design for our children in order to achieve and develop our family’s maximum potential. Destinations (goals) must be written, personal, specific, achievable, measurable, and time sensitive. My husband Gerry, has often said, “A goal properly set is halfway reached, and a goal written is set.” The process of writing down goals helps you to clarify what you intend to do, to understand the importance of your goals, and to commit yourself to making them happen. Writing goals helps us to stay on track, being accountable as good stewards with the resources God has so graciously given to us.
You can’t achieve something you can’t specifically express in written form.
People often make the common mistake of identifying a goal that is outside of their control. A worthwhile goal must be within your ability to achieve. The key to making a goal attainable is to make it specific. If you were to go into a restaurant and tell your waiter, “I’d like food please.” when he took your order, there is no telling what you would get. The same principle is true when setting goals. You have to describe what you intend to do. If the goal is a big one, then break it down into bite size pieces (objectives) as then these tasks will be more manageable. Set goals that are achievable and motivating, not intimidating. You’ll be discouraged by setting a goal that you can’t accomplish. Goals have value only if they help you improve and develop your family’s potential. That’s why they must be measurable. State your goals as objectively as possible so that you will be able to answer with a simple yes or no when you ask yourselves the question, “Have we achieved this goal?” A goal has been called a dream with a deadline. Without some kind of deadline, most goals are never achieved. A German poet and novelist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts in action is the most difficult thing in the world.” Maybe that’s why so few people follow through and act on their goals. The thing about acting on your goals is getting started. President Franklin D. Roosevelt remarked, “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” That is good advice. The Lord does not require perfectionism, only progress. Or as the Chinese proverb asserts, “Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still.” So set the course for your journey, steer your vehicle in that direction, and don’t worry if you occasionally experience a road-closure detour along the way. As you act on your goals, you will need to continually review them and your progress in order to make adjustments. Some goals won’t really contribute to your purpose and will need to be deleted. Others will need to be modified. And in some cases, you’ll fail in fulfilling one or a few of your goals. But as President Abraham Lincoln said, “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” Acting on your written goals, and reviewing them from time-to-time is progress.
Taken from The Value of an Educational Road Map® - The Journey is More Fun if You Know Where You’re Going! Pp.3-5 ©2005, Karen Dargatz, Educational Adventure Publications. Road Mapping Workshops will be offered in August & September 2006, for more information please contact Karen, 780-962-3727 after 2 PM or by E-Mail: kdargatz@telusplanet.net