Skills vs. Content Areas

A few days ago I posted about how I plan for each school year. One of the things that I take into consideration is which subjects are skill areas and which are content areas. Here is a quick overview of which homeschool subjects are more of a skill and which are content-type subjects. Some subjects could fit into both categories.


SKILL
reading
math
writing (handwriting and composition)
typing
foreign language learning
life skills
map skills
learning to play an instrument
creating works of art
Bible verse memorization/finding verses


CONTENT
history
science
geography
music appreciation
art appreciation
learning about other cultures
Bible knowledge/stories

For us, the content areas are what have always motivated my kids. They love learning about history and delving into science, but in order to get the most out of those subjects they have to have certain skills (like being able to read, write and do math). I always make sure we have enough in the content areas to motivate my kids to learn the skills they need. For example, my oldest is not fond of doing his math, but he realizes that math will be an asset for him in science (he adores science). So he keeps plugging along with the math knowing that it will help him go farther in science. Knowing how to read and write well has furthered my boys' studies in history. So as you can see the skill areas are needed to learn more in the content areas.