Chapter 1: Preparation

“Preparing a place for our children obviously involves preparing a physical place, a home, but that is only the beginning. We are to work diligently to prepare a place in this world for our children by carefully cultivating their God-given gifts and personalities. Our Mission is to prepare them to fulfill the God-ordained places in this world – their occupational calling, their calling as future spouses and parents, their calling as citizens, and their callings as Christians.” -pg. 20

I love that paragraph. Wanting to look for my boys' strengths and help them develop those strengths in service to God were some of the tops reasons that I decided to leave my job and be home with my boys.

I was what some in the educational field called advanced in many academic areas as I went through school. By the time I reached high school though, I found that there were some subjects that were heavily weighted and required of me, but I had either hit a ceiling on my ability or had no interest. Math and science were the main two subjects that I grew to dislike. The pressure sucked the joy out of them.

That is what I didn't want my kids to get through. I don't ever want to see them hit a point where the joy is sucked out of learning. I don't want to waste ridiculous amounts of time raising weakness that are not necessary for them. I want to help them discover their strengths and how to use those to the glory of God. The tools that Zan will be sharing in this book will help you do just that.

Here's a little more from Zan on the topic of preparation. This audio in this video is from Zan's session at Apologia Live (now called Real Refreshment). I've added slides to help you points and scripture. Take a look:

Can't see the video in your email or RSS reader?How are you preparing for your kids? How are you pulling out the best in your kids? Tell us about it. Jump into the discussion in the comments and/or link up a post of your own on chapter 1.