Homeschool Prayer Challenge Week 13: What Not to Leave Out When Choosing Homeschool Curriculum

Just so you know, this post contains affiliate links. That means if you use them to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. You can read my full affiliate disclosure HERE.

I’m so thankful you are joining me for my homeschool prayer series! You can learn more about the series here. We’ll pray about a new area of our homeschool journey each week and dig into God’s Word with daily devotional reflections. Find this week’s free printable at the end of this post.

When we decided we were going to homeschool our kids, the question (that often soon follows this decision) came: what am I going to teach them?

As a former public school teacher (high school math), I knew all about how to research state “standards” and what my kids “should” be taught. I thought it would be as easy as simply choosing curriculum that would help my kids meet those standards, so they could learn enough to eventually be able to get a job and be successful adults and citizens.

Of course, at the time I was growing in my new-found relationship with Christ, and knew that we definitely needed to include a Bible study component as well. I mean, the beauty of being able to homeschool was being able to incorporate teaching the Bible to my children, right?

I realize now, though, that at the time, I extremely oversimplified that thought. Because I’ve learned that “Bible” isn’t just a course that we get to check off our list each day.

It’s our worldview, the lens with which we view every single thing we learn about in our homeschool.

I’m realizing that the end goal of our homeschool journey isn’t just about graduating the kids and making sure they have a successful career someday in the corporate world. And that raising my kids in a Christian homeschool environment is not simply a prayer at the beginning of the day and some scripture copy-work sprinkled in (nothing wrong with that by the way!).

It’s about so. Much. More.

A Purpose for Education

I didn’t give much of a thought to worldviews before we began homeschooling. But especially within the past few years, how we view and respond to the world has become much more interesting to think about.

Whether we realize it or now, our worldview shapes everything we do, and it should shape the decisions we make in our homeschools from the curriculum we purchase to the activities we participate in.

For example, as a Bible-believing Christian, I view the world through the lens of the Bible, the infallible word of God. I believe that we were created by God for the purpose of fellowship with Him, for knowing Him, loving Him, and serving Him. This worldview is the foundation on which I can build our homeschooling goals, and better yet, explain to my children the purpose for their education.

When I think about the curriculum we use in our homeschool, I need to focus on more than just choosing materials that will help me teach the “right things”.

I should be asking myself if the learning materials I choose help point my children to Christ, and if they are helping me train and equip my children with a biblical worldview.

Why Do We Have to Learn MATH?

“Why do we have to learn this??” I can hear the question ringing in my ear from my 10th grade classroom students, as we studied Geometry proofs or Systems of Equations. Most of the time, I fumbled over the answer, telling them what I had been taught to say, but knowing deep down that perhaps they would not ever need to solve a quadratic equation in “real life”.

Now, it’s somewhat sad to me to view math in any other way than from a biblical perspective, because I think that’s where we find the true value and purpose of what (and why) we study what we do.

The answer I give my own kids today when these questions come up is much different. When we shift the purpose of our learning from achieving good grades and getting a job (although, yes, important) to knowing and glorifying God (more important), everything changes.

The question is no longer “why do we have to learn this” or “why do we have to do school today?”, but “how can what I am learning help me know and serve Christ?” Or, what can we learn about God and his nature from what we are studying?

Those are definitely more thought-provoking questions, and give us a greater purpose! In my years as a high school math teacher, I never looked at math in the way I do now. The truth is, God created math, and it can reveal to us His constant, unchanging nature. His faithfulness. The consistency in His creation and the relationships formed within it. It can be absolutely breathtaking to think about.

Glorifying God in ALL of Our Learning

So, fellow Christian homeschool mama, I encourage you to consider: how are you approaching the subjects you teach? What is the ultimate goal of your homeschooling, and does that shine through the curriculum you choose and the day-to-day activities?

You may already have a curriculum that is written from a biblical worldview – that was definitely important for me to seek and pray about. However, I didn’t realize at first that this was just a piece of the puzzle that is the mindset shift we need to make when teaching from a biblical perspective.

For an easy example of this, let’s say you are on a nature walk with your kids. Have you ever made a comment about how amazing God’s creation is and then felt pretty good because you “talked about God” with your kids during your walk (guilty)?

Nothing wrong at all with praising God for His creation! But how much more impactful would it be if you were to take it a step further?

What if you were to ask questions like – what does this experience reveal to us about the nature of God? What do we learn about His creation from what we see? What about His character? If we want our kids to start thinking biblically, we need to be modeling this type of thinking in our homeschooling and looking at the world from a Christian-point-of-view.

I encourage you to think about this throughout your homeschool day. It’s easy to leave this out and miss it altogether.

Be prayerful and ask your Heavenly Father to guide you in keeping the ultimate goal for your homeschool in mind. Pray for wisdom in choosing materials that will support your worldview, build that strong foundation, and help you train your kids to love God, know Him well, and do His will.

Prayer for This Week

Heavenly Father, you are sovereign over all of the pieces of our lives, including our homeschools. I praise you for holding us and guiding our family as we navigate each homeschool day.

Thank you for the beautiful children you have called me to homeschool. As I plan our curriculum and lessons, help me keep in mind that without you I can do nothing – but in Christ, I have strength! Reveal your vision for our homeschool to me. Give me wisdom and knowledge of your will for our homeschool so our choices honor and please you. Guide me in decisions that will build a firm foundation for raising powerful arrows that stand against the enemy and bring glory to you.

Above all, I desire for you to be first in my life. Help me to rest in your sovereignty, not putting my trust in my own efforts or in physical things, but in you alone. Let us see your eternal power and character clearly in everything we study and learn about this week – you are amazing, Lord!

In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen

Join the Challenge

Finally, if you want to join in on the challenge from the very beginning, make sure to sign up below, and you’ll receive a printable prayer and journal pages each week, right to your inbox. Join in any time, and you’ll start the following Monday with Week #1!

Simply click below, follow the instructions, and you’re in.

You’ll also be signed up for the Blessed Homeschool Newsletter and receive my FREE Scripture Memory Cards (designed to complement the prayer challenge) as a bonus.

Related Posts

• How to Teach History from a Biblical Worldview + 5 Top Curriculum Options
• Bible Learning Made Fun: The Ten Lepers and the Importance of Being Thankful
• The Word in Motion: 10 Reasons You’ll Love This Apologia Bible Curriculum

Blessed Homeschool is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You can read my full affiliate disclosure HERE.