Teaching Generosity in our Homeschool
Homeschool With Purpose with Generous Students
As homeschoolers, we can be extra intentional in how we parent. We understand that the values we instill in our kids today will shape their character and guide their decisions in the future. We want to teach them the significance of generosity and giving back to others, because I feel that our end goal as parents is to raise our children to become amazing adults who we still want to spend time and enjoy being around.
This year we are using the Generous Students Homeschool Curriculum Kit from Generous Family to dive into what generosity looks like beyond just finances. We have added it to our family morning time when we learn and grow together before we all split up for our independent school work. We are confident that as our kids navigate through life, their faith will provide them with resilience, hope, and purpose, and their generosity will positively impact the world around them.
Building Generous Hearts
One of the first lessons we learned from the Generous Students Curriculum was that generosity, to us, is far more than simply giving money; it’s about cultivating a genuine spirit of compassion and selflessness in our children.
As we were defining what it means to be generous, we quickly hit a speedbump, and we had to have a discussion about the difference between sacrificial giving and being generous. Being generous doesn’t mean doing without in order to give to others. Sacrificial giving is good but there are plenty of chances in our daily life to be generous without it being a sacrifice.
One project we started right away is having a “generosity jar”, or in our case a bucket! This jar serves as a tangible reminder to keep track of all the generous moments we witness or experience. The Generous Students Curriculum includes online pages to print out and record the generous actions we see or do. We can add to our jar all week long and read all the notes at the end of the week. I can’t wait to see how full our bucket is at the end of the year. Looking for moments we can write down keeps generosity on our mind when we aren’t doing our daily activities.
Generosity is really about seeing the people around you and how you can serve them in little ways, Whether it’s sharing games with a sibling, offering a helping hand to a friend, or showing kindness to a stranger by holding a door. Our Generosity Jar reminds us it doesn’t take a lot of effort to be kind.
What is included in the Homeschool Kit for Families?
I love how open and go the Generous Students Homeschool Curriculum Kit is. Everything you need is in the box and we could get started right away. The Instructor’s Guide is easy to follow and full of helpful hints. There are QR codes when the online resources are suggested. The student Journals are fun and my kids kept working ahead. For my teen there wasn’t enough room to write all they wanted to as they were reflecting, so they are using another notebook as well but for my struggling writers I loved the larger lines for them and for younger students.
Also included in the kit are a Generosity Heroes book and stickers for your kids to use. There is an online Instructor Portal with audio versions of the Heroes Stories and other videos and resources for each lesson as well.
Each week the same activities loop so it was easy to get in a rhythm and add it to our routine.
- Day 1 introduces the theme with a lesson, journal activity and Bible Reflection
- Day 2 is a family devotional on the theme and a hands on activity
- Day 3 we read about a Generosity Hero and another Bible Reflection.
- Day 4 & 5 includes video, games and books to add to the week and personalize the activities to fit your family.
I really enjoyed the Generosity Heroes. Each week there is a reading about a person, past, present or from the Bible, and their example of generosity. I love sharing examples of real people with my kids. The Bible Reflections and Devotionals have sparked some really good discussions as a family. The kids finished reading through the whole Bible recently in their morning devotions with dad so this study helps us think about applying our faith to our everyday life.
Build a Generosity-Focused Family
I am excited to explore generosity this year as a family after reading the whole Bible together. My kids have seen God working throughout Scripture. Now we will spend the year discussing how we can be generous like God is to humanity. The Bible Rest Stops provide enough structure and guidance that with my older students I can use it as a tool to encourage their own independent Bible Study.
Generous Students Homeschool Curriculum is designed for the whole family including kids 5-18. While my kids are teens and pre-teens, I can see how it would definitely work for families with younger students as well. Much of the learning happens in discussion which is always easy to adapt to your students’ level.
Generosity will be a core part of our morning time this year, will you join us in expanding how we think about giving this year?
