Family Mission Statement: Establish Your Mission and Stay the Course!
Do your kids know why you homeschool?
At some point, every family who homeschools makes a methodical decision to pursue this route. Homeschooling is not something one switches to overnight or on a whim. For each one of us, we have a reason or purpose for taking this path. Putting these reasons or purposes on paper in a Family Mission Statement can help get (and keep) your family to stay the course.
Not only discussing these reasons as a family, but taking the time to create a family mission statement can be a unifying and enlightening as everyone brings their thoughts to the discussion.
And when things get hard, as they sometimes do, a family mission statement reminds everyone why they are doing what they are doing and helps them stay on course.
What are your reasons?
Before getting the children involved, it’s best to spend sometime with your spouse pinpointing why you want to homeschool. Sometimes, like in our case, it takes a while to get one parent on-board, but having a clear idea of what you want to do and why you want to do it is essential before crafting a family mission statement.
Each one of us has chosen homeschooling for one or many reasons. We’ve stepped up and said, I can and will do school differently.
Your “reason” for homeschooling is essentially your mission.
Related post: How do YOU measure homeschool success?
Creating a Family Mission Statement
Creating a mission statement gives you purpose, meaning, and a goal.
Stephen Covey states:
“A family mission statement is a combined, unified expression from all family members of what your family is all about — what it is you really want to do and be — and the principles you choose to govern your family life.”
Success does not just happen, it requires intentionality. So, how do we go about this whole mission statement? Simple steps:
Let your family mission statement help you stay the course
Last, but not least, refer to your mission statement on a regular basis. You may have to make changes down the road as your family matures or enters a new phase of life, but having a written mission statement will help your family to live with purpose and intention!
It will also give you a written standard to fall back on when things become difficult, and help everyone “realign themselves” to what you as a family have agreed upon.
What a tremendous idea! I like to be careful about too many rules and legalism, but this could really help families stay focused without getting distracted by a rule for every situation.
Thanks, Beth! I agree about the legalism. Often when the bigger issues are pinned down, there’s not as much need for a “rule” for every situation. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!