Prioritize for Peace of Mind

Making the most of life's possibilities involves clear daily priorities with realistic agility to maneuver through circumstances and seize opportunities. Many worthy pursuits require significant time, committed effort and a degree of order to progress, because really, we are building ourselves as we achieve those goals. Prioritizing simplifies the complicated and brings peace of mind to homeschool plans and overall experience.

Possibility becomes practical when big picture concepts are broken down into manageable tasks. Any massive structure or great enterprise is built bit by bit with clear priority placed on foundational and supporting elements.  The daily and weekly objectives are what keep a vision and purpose on track amid all the distractions and difficulties that pop up.  When schedules cannot be kept and to-do lists cannot be completed, priorities refocus our minds and efforts back onto what is most important, allowing us to succeed regardless of circumstance. 

“The principle of ‘first thing’s first’ only works if you have the right list in the right order.”   - Craig D Lounsbrough

Four factors affect where I place an academic task in a daily, weekly or seasonal priority list.

Foundational Weight:  In academics, prioritizing foundational skills and concepts allows for the quicker absorption or manipulation of some or all other subject matter.  For instance, reading, writing and arithmetic are essential to history and science.  Therefore, the more adept a student becomes in reading, writing and arithmetic, the easier history and science become.  For a clean layout of what skills and knowledge I classify as top priorities and why, read Foundational Skills and Knowledge.  Many other skills and subjects are not as extensive or foundational, yet still important. They can be rotated in and out seasonally.

Level of Difficulty:  Areas that a student struggles in, should be given a higher priority.  As a teacher, it should also become a higher priority to find or create new ways to present and interact with that subject matter until it becomes less of a struggle for the student.

Time Intensive or Frequency Sensitive:  Some studies require a significant block of time, others just need brief yet frequent repetition…preferably dynamic repetition.   Working through a concept and practicing a little is rarely enough to stick in a student’s mind long term unless it is in  an area of great interest or a highly intuitive concept.   Some time intensive lessons are easily reinforced later with a quick refresher Q & A. Determining how much or how often a skill or subject is worked on should align with its strategic value and the most effective practices for long term retention.  

Inspired Studies:   When there is a passion, feed it.   Prioritize it.  Master it.   In the pursuit of mastery, there will be many opportunities to build foundational skills and plenty of curious and useful tangents to explore that can lead to greater general knowledge.

Interestingly, homeschooling frees us to set life lessons and triumphs as a higher priority than that day’s academics, however academics are often the very medium to those life lessons and triumphs. 

"A great building must begin with the immeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end, must be unmeasured."   -Louis Kahn

Just as the constructing of great edifices have many phases, the seasons and phases of a child’s development will change the immediate priorities, but keeping them clear along the way will simplify the complicated. In the daily grind, amid shifting attitudes and pressing circumstances, defined priorities ground our decisions with confident commitment.

At the end of the day, wipe the sweat away and give a pat on the back, recounting the day’s achievements and debacles with camaraderie and a healthy shot of gratitude and good humor. Remember, life is not a to-do list, but the right to-do list can make life and homeschooling all the richer.

-S. E. Bocker

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