The Importance of Teaching Life-Sustaining Skills

I grew up with my grandparents and parents doing (or talking about how they used to do) things like gardening, canning/preserving food, sewing, and milking a cow. But my childhood was the age of technology – the internet was up and coming – so, those old-fashioned skills were quickly going out of style. (I am thankful for the bits of old-fashioned life my parents were able to hang on to, because I know that hearing their warm stories and learning alongside them has inspired me to learn old-fashioned skills.)

After just a few generations of parents sending their children off to public school every day and bringing screens into their homes, we nearly lost the tradition of parents passing down life-sustaining skills to their children. I do not believe it was intentional, but that’s the problem – intentional parenting was set aside for convenience. (Even in the ’80s, parents were waking up and homeschooling their children. My parents eventually home-educated their children, too.)

With the convenience of sending children to public schools to be educated or watching screens to keep them occupied came a lack of opportunities for parents to teach their children through living life together. Our parents and grandparents didn’t realize what was happening, but their children were no longer receiving the skills needed to lead self-sufficient lives. (Of course, there are always exceptions, but I am generally speaking.)

For many, family meals were all but forgotten after the Industrial Revolution as each member of the family rushed through mornings to get out the door, and then was too exhausted by the end of the day for meaningful interaction. Add in the T.V. and Internet to help us “unwind,” and the desire to pursue hands-on experiences was pushed aside. (I’m thankful that we still shared a homemade meal as a family almost every night throughout my childhood!)

Beautiful Girlhood Boyhood and Beyond: Practical Wisdom for Becoming a Man Mother Culture ®: For a Happy Homeschool The Encyclopedia of Country Living: An Old Fashioned Recipe Book

My Experience

Even though I was taught basic life skills – cooking, cleaning, and managing money – the more old-fashioned skills were pushed aside due to a lack of time. My mom did attempt to spend time with me outside of my public/private school hours, but I put up enough resistance to discourage her. Then I was pulled from public/private school to be educated at home for middle/high school, and things changed a lot after that! (My mom didn’t think she was smart enough to homeschool, but thanks to her friend/neighbor, she dared to try, and I am SO thankful for that.)

My experience in public/private school versus being homeschooled was eye-opening. The extreme contrast between the quality of education I received was enough to know that homeschooling was the best choice for us. The years I spent at home with my mom as a teen, working alongside her in the home and garden, grocery shopping, and meal planning (but doing very few textbooks) were invaluable to me as I entered adulthood and got married. I look back and thank God for those years when academics were not the main point of life, but were simply a means to an end – the “end” being a resourceful adult!

Time To Be Intentional

While choosing to homeschool is the first big step in taking back parental responsibility in teaching our children how to be independent, even homeschool moms need to be encouraged to fully embrace intentional parenting. Academics are not the most important part of our day – they are a small part of the larger picture.

The time spent together, experiencing life as it happens, allows us to model biblical character to our children, including how to learn and work hard. Homeschooling allows us to work as a family team to care for our homes, farms, businesses, neighbors, and each other without depending on the “powers that be” to manage us. Homeschooling gives us the power to embrace a sustainable life, passing on the skills our children need to be truly independent adults.

2nd-Generation Homeschooler

It also stretches and grows us as parents. I know that homeschooling has taught me so much as I embarked on a journey of educating myself. I have purposefully learned old-fashioned skills that my parents and grandparents knew but didn’t get to pass on to me due to a lack of time together.

Is it more work than sending my children to public school? In some ways, “yes” – but, in other ways, “no” because I have the freedom to create our own schedule.

Is it more work than homeschooling with a public school mentality? In some ways, “yes” – but, in other ways, “no” because a lifestyle of learning together becomes a beautiful rhythm.

Is it hard some days? Yes, but every lifestyle choice has hard days.

Is it worth it? Yes! Yes! Yes!

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

I want to encourage you to set aside outside distractions and expectations for your family’s homeschooling (life) to make time to embrace old-fashioned ways. Learning and teaching life-sustaining skills to your children will require you to slow down, become a student alongside your children, and go against the mainstream standards, but it will bless your children and future generations.

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24