Mrs. Kochenderfer is the founder of Homeschool.com and has recently published the book Homeschooling and Loving It. This was her first time speaking at a conference.
All I can say is WOW. If anyone reading this was in attendance at her lectures, you know what I mean. She blew me away. Seriously, this would have been the most important lecture for my husband to attend with me. You should have seen the faces of the people leaving her talk. I think we were all about to jump up from our squished in spaces (yes, there was not even standing room left by the time the lecture started), raise our hands in the air in victory, and shout, "Yes! We can do it!" This was certainly a time of inspired learning.
She started out asking what our number one goal is. What is my child's number one goal? She encouraged us to take our kids' goals seriously and to pay attention to what they are attracted to and excited about.
"With goals, it's not just about crossing the finish line, it's about who you
become while you're running the race."
Goal setting is interest-led learning. Then you don't have to worry about motivation.
"Motivation can come in many forms - you can coerce, you can force, or you can
bribe. But what we really want to do is inspire our children, and there's
only one way to do this, and that's by getting inside our kids and lighting a
fire." -- Amos
Goals are important because your dreams matter. Goals help you discover your special gifts and talents. Achieving goals builds your self-confidence and your self-trust.
Mama, you are the role model, even with goals! Mommy's and Daddy's dreams matter. An individual's goal can become a family goal as you help one another along. Achieving a goal like this becomes a family celebration.
Mrs. Kochenderfer has developed a failure-proof system for acheiving your goals:
1. Start with a small, do-able goal. (But little kids can start with big goals!)
2. Be careful who you tell your goals to. Beware of dream killers.
3. Write your toals down in positive, motivating words. Go into future mode and write it today as if it has already happened.
4. Visualize yourself completing your goal.
5. Take action every day towards your goal. that way you're not having to start fresh every time. There's no "where was I?" time waster.
She also gave us a list of things to do to become more goal minded. Write a huge list of everything you want to do in your life. Write down five things that you're really good at. Go to that "five things" list and apply it all the time. Celebrate completed goals! Don't say, "I can't!" Say, "How can I?" It opens up your eyes for opportunities.
To win in homeschooling remember this:
W = What is your child's #1 goal?
I = Identify their learning style.
N = Never forget to include their favorites
As you wrap up the school year, set small goals and finish with a bang!
Mrs. Kochenderfer mentioned some great resources:
learningsuccessinstitute.com for personality types and learning styles quiz
homeschool.com for interviews on podcast
Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow by Marsha Sinetar
I'm excited to hear what Mrs. Kochenderfer has to say over the next couple years because she's wanting to closely watch the trend of alternatives to college. I got through college, but life is what has made me love learning. I know there are much more effective ways to learn than college, so I hope this trend really develops in the next ten years!
Everyone attending her lectures received a free copy of her book, and you can get a free copy too! There are forms in the back of the book that walk you through the goal setting process. I can't wait to read this one! (I'm going to be saying that about lots of books over the next few days.)
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