Every summer, before I pull out curriculum or print lesson plans, I find myself dreaming about the kind of homeschool year I want us to have. Of course I want my girls to grow as readers, writers, and thinkers, but I’m working hard to make sure that our homeschool is more than that. I’m praying over the habits we’ll build, the conversations we’ll have around the table, the books we’ll read curled up on the couch, and the people my girls are slowly becoming.
This year, another mom in the Made2Homeschool community shared the idea of choosing a theme for the school year. It was one of those moments where I immediately thought, How have I never done this before? I spend so much time thinking intentionally about curriculum, read-alouds, and traditions, but I hadn’t ever though, “I should pick a theme!?” If you’ve been around at all, you know I LOVE a theme.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that’s exactly what I wanted. Something we’d come back to when school felt hard, when attitudes needed adjusting, or when we simply needed to remember what all of this was really about.
So this year, our family theme is “Let Your Light Shine.”
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16
If you know my girls, you’ll understand why this theme feels so fitting. They are happiest outside collecting flowers, chasing butterflies, catching lightning bugs, painting, baking, and exploring whatever catches their attention that day. They are full of wonder, creativity, and joy, so naturally our homeschool is taking on a sweet little firefly theme. We literally call Eleanor, our summer baby, “sunshine.”
There’s something beautiful about a firefly. It doesn’t illuminate the whole forest. It simply shines where God placed it. It doesn’t compare its light to the firefly beside it or wonder if it’s making enough of a difference. It just glows.
Honestly, I think there’s something for all of us to learn from that.
As I started planning our school room, I ordered a pack of little lightning bug cutouts from Amazon. They’re just simple paper bugs, but they’ve quickly become one of my favorite parts of our theme. Throughout the year, I plan to leave little notes for the girls on them—slipping them into library books, tucking them into their morning baskets, or leaving one on the table before breakfast.
Some will celebrate things I notice: kindness toward a sister, perseverance through a difficult lesson, courage to try something new, or simply the joy they bring into our home. Others will be reminders of God’s truth when they’re discouraged. My hope is that months from now, they’ll open a book or find one tucked into a notebook and be reminded that they are seen, loved, and encouraged—not because they earned it, but because that’s the kind of home I want to build.
On our first day of school, after our always-first morning routine, we sat down together and each chose a few of those little fireflies for ourselves. On them, we wrote ways we hope to let our light shine this year. We didn’t talk about reading levels or math goals. Instead, we talked about kindness. About serving others. About using encouraging words. About choosing joy. About being brave enough to try hard things even when we don’t get them right the first time.
I loved watching the conversation unfold because it reminded me that character isn’t just something we teach during Bible time and then move on from. It’s woven into every part of homeschooling. It shows up when math is frustrating, when siblings disagree, when someone needs help cleaning up after baking cookies, or when we stop during a nature walk to admire something God created instead of rushing to the next thing.
Yes, I want my girls to read great books, write well, think critically, and understand the world around them. Those things matter. But if they leave our homeschool knowing all the right answers while missing the opportunity to become kind, compassionate, faithful women, then we’ve missed the greater purpose.
That’s what I hope this little theme reminds us of all year long.
Not to shine in big, impressive ways that earn applause, but in the ordinary moments that make up our days. In showing kindness when no one notices. In serving one another around the house. In creating beautiful things because God is creative. In learning with curiosity because His world is worth exploring. In loving people well because that’s what Christ first did for us.
Maybe that’s the real gift of choosing a homeschool theme. It gives your family something to return to over and over again. A shared language. A simple reminder of who you want to become together.
I’m already hoping this becomes one of our favorite traditions.
Because years from now, I doubt my girls will remember every worksheet they completed or every chapter they read. But I pray they’ll remember that home was a place where they were encouraged to love God deeply, love people well, and let their little lights shine wherever He called them.
The Nurtured Bee 