Educational Goal

So what is our goal(s) for our children? It certainly isn't to get into MIT or Harvard. Or any other prestigious (or not) college.

Our goal is to raise up responsible adults who fear God and live by the Biblical principles, say, by 18. Looking back, I was nowhere prepared to live an adult life when I turned 18, let alone 23 (when I started working full-time).

Knowing the Bible, especially through memory verses, is important. So is the ability to read and comprehend what the Bible teaches. (We're going through the reading part. Comprehension is the next area to focus on...)

Learning to interact with all walks of life is valuable (not just with peers). As Asian-American, we do stand out in Central Texas where most of the population is white American. But we do have friendship with various races: hispanic, black (I hate the phrase "African American" since it can also mean white Europeans who've settled in Africa and then immigrated to the US -- I've heard of South African white immigrants checking off "African American" in Census -- as well as black Cuban immigrants who see themselves as Cuban American, not African American) and non-Japanese Asians (including a home educating Japanese Brazilian).

Handling money well is another important area: The Bible talks about money more than any other topic including faith. Crown ministries (I just started taking their study this month) has chockful of information on why money is such a big deal in the Bible and in our lives. No wonder a major cause of family stress and divorce is money! So we want our boys to be able to handle money well: don't get debt, plan ahead and invest wisely.

Getting ready for marriage is another: what love is, how to deal with one's spouse.

And esp. for boys: what does it mean to be a man. My oldest turned 12 and is about to become a teenager. He and two other friends (with their dads) are going through a rite of passage since July and hope to complete in June, before any of the boys turn 13.