Accounting
No, I am not going to talk about accounting. I took it in college, and made an 'A' but, really, it holds no interest for me. And if you want to teach your kids accounting, more power to you! The accounting I want to explore is the concept of being accountable to someone else, especially in the area of homeschooling.
So many moms say they need accountability, so they join a co-op or some other accountability group. They say it's the only way they will stay on track. They say they just don't trust themselves to do a good enough job, or do it right, or do it at all.
But I propose another way of looking at this issue. Instead of looking to other homeschoolers to hold you accountable, I suggest looking elsewhere.
For me, I know that first and foremost, I am accountable to God. He is watching over me, and looking into my heart. He knows my motivations and my sin. I pledged to educate my children before Him, and I know He will hold me accountable someday for the job I did. That's a very heavy burden, and It does make me pretty serious about the task before me.
But a close second is that I am accountable to my husband. I pledged to him that I would do this, and he has been a stalwart supporter all the way through. But the bulk of the job is on my shoulders, and I do not want to displease my husband. And that's another strong motivator.
I also feel I am accountable to myself. I know if I am not doing my best, or the most I can do. I know if I am not pushing the kids to do their best. I can be hard enough on myself, and that motivates me to keep on task.
Last, but not at all least, I am accountable to my kids. If I neglect their education, they will be the ones to suffer the consequences. And I don't want to do that to them. Of course, there will be gaps and areas where we could have done more. But they will make up for that on their own, because I have taught them how to work hard and set goals and do their best.
So, basically, I have a crowd holding me accountable and have no need or desire to seek any more. And I'm not sure if it's the responsibility of other Christians to do so. It's nice to pray for one another, and get together to have fun or to bounce ideas around, but I would pause if a fellow homeschooler asked me to hold her accountable, and I would likely share the above list. I would pray for my sister and check in on her to see how she is doing, but I would remind her that she is already accountable to people with much higher authority in her life.
So many moms say they need accountability, so they join a co-op or some other accountability group. They say it's the only way they will stay on track. They say they just don't trust themselves to do a good enough job, or do it right, or do it at all.
But I propose another way of looking at this issue. Instead of looking to other homeschoolers to hold you accountable, I suggest looking elsewhere.
For me, I know that first and foremost, I am accountable to God. He is watching over me, and looking into my heart. He knows my motivations and my sin. I pledged to educate my children before Him, and I know He will hold me accountable someday for the job I did. That's a very heavy burden, and It does make me pretty serious about the task before me.
But a close second is that I am accountable to my husband. I pledged to him that I would do this, and he has been a stalwart supporter all the way through. But the bulk of the job is on my shoulders, and I do not want to displease my husband. And that's another strong motivator.
I also feel I am accountable to myself. I know if I am not doing my best, or the most I can do. I know if I am not pushing the kids to do their best. I can be hard enough on myself, and that motivates me to keep on task.
Last, but not at all least, I am accountable to my kids. If I neglect their education, they will be the ones to suffer the consequences. And I don't want to do that to them. Of course, there will be gaps and areas where we could have done more. But they will make up for that on their own, because I have taught them how to work hard and set goals and do their best.
So, basically, I have a crowd holding me accountable and have no need or desire to seek any more. And I'm not sure if it's the responsibility of other Christians to do so. It's nice to pray for one another, and get together to have fun or to bounce ideas around, but I would pause if a fellow homeschooler asked me to hold her accountable, and I would likely share the above list. I would pray for my sister and check in on her to see how she is doing, but I would remind her that she is already accountable to people with much higher authority in her life.
Comments
Post a Comment