Faith-Based Homeschool Highs & Lows Series Part 5: Building Family Culture
Welcome to my article series on faith-based homeschooling! I am so glad you're here! Let's jump right in!
One of the most rewarding parts of homeschooling is the family culture you create among the members of your home. A great family culture, or lifestyle, doesn’t just happen by chance. It takes intentional thought to create special traditions, routines, and a family culture that is life-giving to everyone in the house. These traditions and routines reflect your family's goals and priorities. Take some time to sit down and think about your family's common goals. Maybe you want to have more family fun time together, and then you can create traditions based on those goals that might look like family game nights, weekly ice cream dates, or daily walks in the park. Do you want your family to spend more time connecting, reading the Bible together, working together, or serving together? How do you want your family to operate each week? What are your goals for building a close-knit family? These questions will help you build a life-giving family culture.
One special tradition we have instituted is Thursday night family sleepovers, where our kids bring their mattresses into our room and have a big family sleepover. We typically watch a movie before bed and often have snacks; it is a weekly favorite that we all look forward to. Also, every week we try to play card games after dinner, take daily walks, and eat dinner together at the table. During the holidays, we typically decorate, learn about the holiday at hand, and have fun making special crafts and treats. The birthday celebrations include balloons in the dining room, a special birthday trip, and a day spent doing all of their favorite things. We read our Bibles every day, pray, and learn new skills and concepts as we homeschool.
Family culture is also about how we operate and live our lives as a family, both together and separately. I often remind my kids that in our family, we are respectful, kind, helpful, and above all, seek to glorify God in all we do. Our family also prioritizes working hard, striving for excellence, learning something new every day, being a team, resting well, and having fun together as we do life together. When you consistently speak these words to your children and live them out in front of them, you build a strong family bond and culture.
Second, the routines and rhythms we create help us all function well together. A good routine keeps everyone on the same page when you live together under the same roof. Daily routines, such as morning and bedtime routines, help your kids learn responsibility and know what to expect every day. You can put up a list of daily chores and tasks they are expected to do, such as brushing their teeth, making their bed, and other responsibilities you assign them, and then place the list where they can see it. These routines also help with the busyness of life, keeping everyone on track and out the door when necessary for whatever commitments you might have. When they know that teeth brushing follows breakfast, and they are expected to be at the table for school at a certain time, they know what the day looks like, and it takes out a lot of unnecessary stress.
In the same vein as routines, we also have rhythms, and I really love seasonal rhythms. In the wintertime, we focus on cozier activities such as card games by the fire, hot chocolate with breakfast, and lots of time indoors reading, coloring, and playing. During the warmer months, or when the weather is mild, especially in the springtime, we finish our school day and then spend the majority of our time outside enjoying the warmth and sunshine either at home or at parks, the pool, or fun local outdoor spots like the zoo.
Spend some time thinking about how you can build a strong and fun family culture in your home this week!
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