I don’t know about you, but there have been many times that I started our home school day with a bad attitude, and really needed to have a better spirit before starting the day with my kids.
Sometimes I’ve been tired, or irritable, and just not all that excited about another day of teaching and training kids. Then I got discouraged when my kids began to show a bad attitude, not realizing it was often a reflection of my own spirit.
The importance of having the RIGHT spirit is one of the KEY things in being successful in our homeschooling. As moms, WE must have the right attitude, if we want our kids to have the right attitude.
HOW DO WE KEEP OUR ATTITUDE AND SPIRIT RIGHT?
1. We need HIS spirit to fill us and empower us.
We can’t do this on our own! We have to draw our strength and wisdom from God, and His Holy Spirit’s power. Yet how often do we try to get through our days in our own strength? As a result, our spirit isn’t right. We lose our joy; we get impatient.
No matter how good my curriculum is, it cannot be taught when my attitude is wrong! I need God to fill me with HIS spirit daily.
2. Spend a few minutes alone in God’s Word and prayer before the kids are up and about.
If you are at that really busy stage with little ones, this may be a real challenge. If nothing else, write down a verse at bedtime, and carry that verse with you through out the day. Keep it where you will see it, and have your mind renewed.
Say a quick prayer asking God for strength and wisdom before you hop out of bed.
3. Start the day with the kids by singing Scripture, reading a few verses or a chapter of the Bible together, and asking God’s blessing on the day.
It’s hard to keep a wrong spirit when you are singing Scripture, or when you are asking God to bless your day.
One particular day I was feeling rather grumbly and crabby, and one of my kids asked if we could sing the Scripture song “In Everything Give Thanks, For This is The Will of God.” By the time we had finished singing the chorus a couple of times, my spirit had improved.
4. Remind yourself of the importance of what you are doing!
We don’t always feel like getting up and doing the whole parenting, teaching, training, correcting, and homeschooling thing all over again. Sometimes it seems so mundane, and we wonder if we are making a difference. Are the kids even listening? Are they growing in character at ALL?!
We must always remember how important our job as parents is! We are raising a generation of kids for the Lord. Every “little” thing we do daily for our kids is an act of service to God. If we will remember that we are stewards, and it is our job to disciple our children, it will help us to have a better attitude throughout the day.
Remember too, not to focus on the immediate results (which you may not see!), but rather focus on being obedient in teaching and training your kids like God has called you to do.
5. When things start to unravel, and you find your spirit isn’t right, steal away for a minute. Ask God to show you what you can do to get things back on track, and to renew your spirit.
Sometimes for me that meant changing things up a bit; maybe skip the math function the child just couldn’t get, and go to a different one; or stop the academics with every one for a while, and do something fun. A quick break for every one often resets attitudes, and refreshes every one for the next task at hand.
What do you do to renew your spirit, and keep your attitude right?
I enjoyed reading this, thank you so much for sharing! One of the things I am going to try is singing out the bible scriptures, I thing it is a great idea. Pinning!
Glad you enjoyed it. You will find that singing Scripture is a great way to memorize Bible verses. That was one of my favorite things about singing it – I STILL remember Scripture songs, but have forgotten many of the verses I once memorized. The songs just stick.
lots of wisdom and encouragement, love your insight. Learning a lot for the next school year.
God bless you
Thanks Nema — glad it’s been encouraging for you. Hope you have a great school year!