Creating Opportunities

Part of the process of training our children to be lifelong learners is showing them how to take advantage of educational opportunities that can be found all around them. But sometimes, homeschool mothers must go one step further and actually help to CREATE these opportunities. For instance, my oldest son has recently decided that he does in fact want to go to college (!). His reasons being:

1. to learn how to type
2. to learn all he can about fixing and operating computers
3. photography

Now, you can see from this list that college is not an absolute necessity in order for him to reach his goals. However, learning opportunities are certainly required. And I, as his teacher, have the responsibility to create those opportunities for him.

Of course, it might be easier for me to ignore his goals and stick to my OWN plan for his education. And I might succeed in giving him an education which is excellent by many standards. But, in reality, I will have crippled him and left him unprepared to follow the path God is directing him to follow.

This isn't to say that education should always be left to the whims of the child. I am not advocating unschooling or child-led education, but we do need to take into consideration the goals and interests of our children, especially as they grow older. And we ought to do all we can to help them to reach those goals. So, with that in mind, I'm off to create some opportunities!

What learning opportunities have you created lately?