“Watch to see where God is working and join Him.” – Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God
Author Eric Davies described his passion to become a Navy Seal as “having the song in you.”
He said it was something that never left him. At times, during the hard days of training, it burned low, almost like a pilot light on a stove, barely detectable. But that desire never left him and was always ready like a fire to be stoked. He said it was a constant song in his heart.
In many ways, I believe the homeschooling journey is truly about discovering your student’s “song” as a family. One of the greatest gifts of our homeschooling walk is to design an environment that allows your student to find that song. Whether it’s through great books, academics, mentors, field trips, clubs or hobbies, we, as homeschoolers can customize our learning ecosystem however we like.
For me, my heartsong is writing. It is the thing that makes me feel like me. I become more of who God intended me to be when I am spending time in my journal, writing meditations from Scripture, capturing stories. Even as a kid, that song was there. I would spend hours creating little books out of paper. I have dozens of scrapbooks, journals, and written adventures that I have saved since about age ten. Writing was always my heartsong.
Yet I didn’t know it. Even though now it is truly obvious, I don’t think I knew it without a doubt until I was well into my thirties. How fortunate that we, as parents, can help take the time to point out our children’s gifts. What a blessing for our students to start off their launch into life knowing how God has gifted them.
Truly, not every homeschooling student knows with clarity how God calls them. The beauty of homeschooling is that, in theory, we have time to explore with our kids what they might love. However, if your home school is so busy with activity that your student doesn’t have the time, my encouragement is to find some way to carve out space for your student to do so. Right now. Or as soon as possible.
Ultimately, helping your student find their heartsong is about discovering what is already there. It is about seeing with new eyes what is at work in your home school and what your student is already passionate about.
If you are looking to help your student find their heartsong, try being a bit of a detective. Here are some good questions to ask together:
- What sort of activities cause my student to lose all track of time or become completely get lost in?
- What sorts of things are they reading, watching, doing, or creating without me, the parent, telling them to do so?
- What do they love?
- What could they do with their time for long periods just for the joy of it?
- What types of things are they good at?
- Where do you see God at work in their life?
It might be ridiculously obvious, like my writing, or you might have to dig a bit deeper. These questions make for great conversations during car rides across town or while waiting for your table at a restaurant. It can be as easy as looking at what they love, right now, together.
Discovering your student’s heartsong doesn’t have to be found in box-checking-style personality assessments (although those are really nice too) or evaluated according to the world’s standards. As parents, we get to serve as a loving, enlightened guide for pointing them in the direction of how God may be calling them. Make your homeschooling days sing to the tune of your child’s heartsong. You will never regret spending time with the people you love, helping them find what they love.
