“Indeed, some of the teachers there are genuinely competent and interested in the advancement of their students. It is just that virtually all the incentives are wrong…The very environment of a public school brings with it severe consequences — some unintended, others intended perhaps in part — that turn it into the virtual antithesis of true education.”

Even mentioning public schooling in a negative light evokes deep emotion in many, reinforcing the ingrained loyalty placed in us by the system itself.

This article actually discusses several angles you may have not even considered before (what is “school spirit” really about anyway?) and the author (though not a Christian that I can tell) does a superb job of candidly exposing some of the downfalls of public education.

His conclusion?  Deep budget cuts to the educational system could be the best thing to ever happen in our country to the real pursuit of education.

Worth the read!  I’d love to hear your thoughts when you’re done.

The Anti-Educational Effects of Public Schools

Today she is launching a huge week-long sale–the “Back to School Bash”and you will want to check out the great tools she has to help you teach your little ones, especially since many of the great products are 50% TODAY ONLY! Even after after that, the sale continues!

If you’re looking for practical, organized help teaching  the basics of phonics while teaching the basics of the Christian faith at the same time, Sonbeams is the right place.

To check out all the great deals, go to Sonbeams for Him!

“If your children know Saxon Math better than the Proverbs, they are not being properly educated.”

And right about here we say, “Yeah, I know…Proverbs….teach them the Bible.  OK so we read the Proverbs but that isn’t going to make them smart or “successful” in the world.”

And we all admit that as Christian homeschoolers, though we understand the theory of a solid, biblical education, we want them to be competitive in the work force, academically savvy, and often we just don’t know what to do or what to teach.

Swanson recounts his wife calling him from home one day.

“I can’t do this (homeschool) anymore.”

“What?!  You can’t just quit!  I’m the executive director of the Home Educators of Colorado!”

“Then YOU come home and do it.”

She relayed her frustrations about coming home from a homeschool vendor exhibit where 300 curriculum vendors claimed to be “the best”.

“If only God could have written a curriculum”. she said.

Kevin answered, “He did.  (And it’s not A Beka ) It’s the Proverbs.”

I don’t believe Swanson is saying that the book of Proverbs is the only curriculum we should use.  I believe he is suggesting that the principles from Proverbs, when studied, learned, internalized and put to practice, will give our children tremendous advantage as students as well as in their life endeavors.  Like sharpening a saw before cutting a tree, the life-principles will put them ahead in all they do.

Some of the wealthiest men in the country were asked the “secret” to their success.  I looked up a few myself.  Answers included:

• Strong men don’t compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised.
• Work hard–don’t be lazy.
• Be honest.
• Don’t borrow money.
• Find a good wife.
• Be diligent in your work….pursue excellence.
• Plan well.
• Be teachable.

Every answer is straight from Proverbs.

Academics are important only to the extent that we equip them with the character behind it to use their knowledge for the glory of God.  Our homeschool will be more heavily focused on studying Proverbs this year.

How to teach the Proverbs

How do we teach the Proverbs?  Reading them is good, memorizing them is better, but studying them and applying the principles to daily situations is where life-habits are internalized.  This is where  our “motherhood-rubber meets the road”.  Study the traits, study the meaning of the words, give examples to illustrate the principles, then be ready, in every situation at home, to apply them personally.

Are your children speaking unkindly?  It’s not enough to say “Stop that!“  Give them a reference from Proverbs (e.g. “pleasant words are like a honeycomb“).  All motivation for behavior should ultimately come from “Thus says the Lord”.

His ways ARE right and those who follow them will be blessed!  Let’s believe that!

I hope to hereby designate Fridays for sharing my favorite products with you, but as you can see, I’ve already fouled up my very first one.  We returned from Texas Wednesday morning at 4 am, and I haven’t been the same since.  I must have skipped a day somewhere in all that traveling

But without further ado, let me tell you about some books I am crazy about!  Many of you enjoy the books at Beautiful Feet Books, But if you haven’t checked them out, you must!

The brainchild of Russell and Rea Berg, Beautiful Feet Books “is committed to integrating the best works of children’s literature into all aspects of the educational curriculum by publishing noted authors and study guides that enable parents and teachers to incorporate those works easily into a comprehensive study”.

Inspired by Susan Schaffer Macaulay, Rea began to pursue “living books” to incorporate into her homeschooling but found that many of the great historical works had fallen out of print.  She and her husband have resurrected some of these wonderful books and have created study guides to assist parents who wish to implement a literature-based education.

Our family just unpacked 6 great books from BFB:

1. Augustus Caesar’s World--Genevieve Foster
2. George Washington’s World–Genevieve Foster
   
3. Buffalo Bill–D’Aulaire
4. Abraham Lincoln–D’Aulaire
5. George Washington–D’Aulaire
6. Benjamin Franklin–D’Aulaire

My children are so attentive as we read through the living histories of these men, full of colorful illustrations and engaging narrative.   Once we got a taste of reading living books for school, it was difficult, at best, to stomach a history text book.

And if you’re like me, fully knowing the benefits of “living books” but struggling to know which ones to choose, the Bergs have made that easy.  I highly recommend you peruse Beautiful Feet Books and invest in your family library!

Researchers tell us that the ideal teaching situation is one teacher for one or a few students; so by default, the one teacher per classroom full of students is NOT the ideal, it’s just the reality, and the classroom methods used are the best way to handle that reality.

Your reality looks different.  Shouldn’t you consider, maybe even delight in using different methods?

I suggest that you have, at your disposal, a huge advantage that you should fully realize:  the advantage of real-life learning.

I remember the first year we homeschooled.  I had a second-grader and a two-year-old.  Teaching a 7-year-old at home after standing in front of a classroom teaching high school students–this should be interesting.

“Um, I think we should do lots of work sheets or something.  Oh, and a bulletin board.  I know we have to have one of those.”

That was about the sum total of what I felt like was my second-grade teaching expertise.

But soon, I learned one of the most profound things through homeschooling:

It wasn’t about teaching second grade.  It wasn’t about worksheets or classrooms or lesson plans.  It wasn’t even about “school”. All of those words had been created so we could better communicate, but the only real word I needed to understand was “education”.

It was about helping my children learn what they needed to learn.  And that changed a lot about how we looked at education, and about the words we had believed were synonymous with education.

I had my seven year old in a classroom at home doing “school”.  But I had a two-year old learning every bit as much during the day from me, his teacher.

One difference: he was more intrigued and curious about the world around him than she was.

We had taught her a whole language without even trying.  Without a workbook, without a grade, without a desk.  How?  The answer to that question unravels a lot of secrets about educating children.

I remember flipping through her second grade workbook.  She did the work, but she looked bored and neither of us was very excited about homeschooling.  I looked at the pages of clocks with the hands drawn in and questioned, for the first time, if it was all necessary.

“It must be necessary, the “professionals” do it.“  There I went again.  Think about what it would look like if a teacher tried to teach her class room full of 7-year olds all their math concepts through casual dialogue.  I know from being in the classroom, order is paramount.  Quietness, stillness and uniformity.  That was the main objective behind the methods.

Which is fine, if that’s your reality.

The next day, we skipped the clock section.  But during the day I tried to pay attention to questions about time.  This was important–teaching a concept in the context of “need-to-know”.

“Mommy, can we eat, I’m  hungry.”

“We will eat at 12:00.  Do you know when that is?”

“No ma’am.”

“Look at the clock.  The small hand tells the hour, and the big hand tells how many minutes have passed in that hour.”

“Is it 12:00 yet?”

“Well, you tell me…where is the small hand?”

You get the picture.  She learned to tell time without another worksheet.

Since then, none of my children have ever filled out a time worksheet.  Or worksheets about money, or counting, or opposites, or colors, etc.

We have multiplied that concept to many other areas and have found that a whole lot of learning happens in real life.  This life-learning relieves pressure, is usually faster because a concept learned within a logical framework often “clicks” better than learning apart from context, and works well because of short attention spans.

Am I saying we never use worksheets or text books?  Of course not.  Nor am I’m opposed to having children sit down at a desk–my children do it every day.  But understanding the special advantage we have to teach through dialogue during the day relieves us of a lot of unnecessary “school”–to know that text books and desks and schedules can be our servants, not our masters.

Life is a classroom.

For more practical thoughts on relaxed homeschooling, check out Think Outside the Classroom.

By Rea Berg

Literature

“Looking at literature first, let’s examine how it works to this end. The primary work of literature to which we owe the greatest attention is the Scriptures. No other book has the power to transform our minds, renew our spirits, comfort our emotional pains, or correct our flawed ways. When we give it primacy, no matter what life throws at us we will be firmly established on the Rock.

But how does a young mother carve out time for the Scriptures when nursing babies and nocturnal feedings have left her too sleep deprived to even consider early morning devotions? Or care for an elderly parent has left us fatigued and spent? As a young mother with four little ones under the age of 6, I struggled painfully to try to set aside those morning times, with little success. I wish someone had given me the wise advice that Susan Schaeffer Macaulay incorporated into her life! It would have saved me years of guilt.

Rather than lamenting the loss of an early morning quiet time, Susan profited from following in the footsteps of her mentor, Charlotte Mason, who planned her days so that the best time of each day was set aside to spend in leisure with God—right after her afternoon walk outside. For her, teatime was the time for personal leisure, a time when she felt “quite fresh.” Having worked hard all day and soon to start again, she’d look forward to this hour when she could give full attention to God and “feed on His promises with thanksgiving.”³ How wonderfully liberating this pursuit then becomes! We are not constrained to a forced duty but are refreshed by a special time set aside to bask and enjoy our Lord in prayer and in his Word.

Other literature choices then round out our day as we study history through biography, historical novels, and Shakespeare, and for little ones, historical picture books, poetry, limericks, folk tales, and fairy tales. These choices then build upon and enhance our knowledge of life and human nature while giving wisdom and building character. Even on a day when the children are all sick and sleep has been lost due to coughs and upset tummies, joy and dignity can be found through curling up together before a fire, getting out a much-loved family read-aloud, brewing a comforting cup of tea, and momentarily escaping the present through the wonder of words.”

Copyright 2009, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

I plan to post most of the article here in three or four parts.

“It is wholly impossible to live according to Divine order, and to make a proper application of heavenly principles, as long as the necessary duties which each day brings seem only like a burden grievous to be borne. Not till we are ready to throw our very life’s love into the troublesome little things can we be really faithful in that which is least and faithful also in much. Every day that dawns brings something to do, which can never be done as well again. We should, therefore, try to do it ungrudgingly and cheerfully. It is the Lord’s own work, which He has given us as surely as He gives us daily bread. We should thank Him for it with all our hearts, as much as for any other gift. It was designed to be our life, our happiness. Instead of shirking it or hurrying over it, we should put our whole heart and soul into it.” —James Reed

“Mr. Reed’s advice captures the essence of what is the Christian’s greatest struggle and triumph. I think it also echoes Charlotte Mason’s philosophy in her appeal to women to make our homes and the education of our children a labor of joy, cheer, kindness, and love. In the everyday humdrum of life and its oft-tedious monotonous toils, it is only a divine joy that can sustain us and enable us to continue faithful to the end. Does this mean a sort of head-into-the-wind mindless determination to be joyful when we feel no joy whatsoever springing up in our hearts? Does this mean a stern will to be happy? I don’t think so, and I don’t think either Charlotte Mason or James Reed would have said so. It is our perspective that needs continual refreshing.

“…but we must sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food.”

It is an inescapable truth that dirty diapers, full trash cans, and piles of soiled laundry are not likely to inspire any of us with a sense of divine joy. But fellow pilgrim, as we shoulder on together we ought not to despair, as we are given some wonderful tools to bring dignity, light, and interest to the most mundane of days.

In the quotidian round of duties and schedules, we often miss the riches we’ve been given as Christians that allow us to live life with meaning, purpose, and vision. Charlotte Mason understood the importance of ideas and what powerful tools they are for nurturing life. She noted:

“Education is a life. That life is sustained on ideas. Ideas are of spiritual origin, and God has made us so that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another, whether by word of mouth, written page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food.”

Charlotte Mason understood that even the mediocrity of everyday routines can be shot through with meaning and import when we are mindful of encouraging ourselves and our children with ideas that transport us out of the every day. Looking at literature, liturgy, language, and leisure as keys in this pursuit may be helpful. If we consider natural ways to incorporate these four gifts into our everyday worlds, we can tap into what countless others have discovered as rich treasuries of inspiration, wisdom, vision, and hope.”

Copyright 2009, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

The problem always comes when I try to share my “running over” on the blog without, well, running over.  I’m renewed, re-charged, and I want to use this little platform God has given me to share that recharging with you as well.

Bullet points?  Maybe.  Here goes…(random nuggets I gleaned this weekend):

• Encouragement for homeschoolers: Homeschooling is NOT in danger of being outlawed.  Why?  Because we are actually on the cutting edge of technology and are already beginning to witness the vanishing teacher/classroom model.  Already schools are realizing that with the wealth of information available at our fingertips, it doesn’t make sense to spend the money and man power on the classic model anymore.  Virtual classrooms are replacing traditional ones, and the age of the Internet makes it impossible for homeschool families to be told “you’re not qualified”.

• Homeschooling focus:  It’s not hard (given the aforementioned tools at our disposal) to teach children academics.  A child who can read, think and is numerate is equipped to learn and pursue just about anything he wishes.  We spend way too much time fretting over academics and way too little time pouring into our children a biblical worldview. Dr. North puts it this way:  a super sharp saw blade does no good (and can even be very dangerous) if it is set at the wrong angle (i.e. “worldview”).

• Our worldview determines our life. The problem with culture is that people have no meaning, no purpose.  Most live for today, tomorrow at best.  At the root of it all is our worldview.  (Which should cause Christian parents to think VERY seriously about whether it makes sense, or whether it is even right, to let the government educate their children.)
  God created the universe with a design and purpose, and we are an integral part of it.  Someone imputes meaning.  If our meaning doesn’t come from Him, through His Word, man must impute it.   And because we all disagree on our purpose here, we become consumed with gaining power because he with the most power gets to impute meaning.  Ultimately, it’s anarchy and suicide, on any number of levels.   Therefore, what we teach our children, HOW we teach our children, by what means we teach our children is critical!

• I’m not afraid to say “Take Dominion”. God said it–no, commanded it, and so we must say it.  Taking dominion and subduing the earth  is our primary job here.  That’s what the Great Commission is all about and it has been our command since the beginning.  We take dominion by a.  raising up children for the glory of God–lots of them, if He so determines it (be fruitful and multiply).  b.  Living for the glory of God in our realm, where He places us, doing all in the name of the Father (subdue the earth).  If God is our sovereign authority, it will be lived out our fingertips–the transforming power of Christ changing us, our homes, our churches and our communities–that’s how we accomplish “Thy Kingdom come…on earth, as it is in heaven”.

Just a friendly reminder that we are bigger than ourselves…inhale…exhale.

“…we’re not as concerned as we ought to be about the millions of young men who are floundering or lost.

But they’re there: The young men who are working in the lowest-level (and most dangerous) jobs instead of going to college. Who are sitting in prison instead of going to college. [My note: I would also add "instead of becoming entrepreneurs", understanding the great opportunities that await and are not limited to those with college degrees.] Who are staying out of the long-term marriage pool because they have little to offer to young women. Who are remaining adolescents, wasting years of their lives playing video games for hours a day, until they’re in their thirties, by which time the world has passed many of them by.

Root Problem

Whether in the prison system, in my university classes or in the schools where I help train teachers, I have noticed a systemic problem with how we teach and mentor boys that I call “industrial schooling,” and that I believe is a primary root of our sons’ falling behind in school, and quite often in life.

Two hundred years ago, realizing the necessity of schooling millions of kids, we took them off the farms and out of the marketplace and put them in large industrial-size classrooms (one teacher, 25 to 30 kids). For many kids, this system worked — and still works. But from the beginning, there were some for whom it wasn’t working very well. Initially, it was girls. It took more than 150 years to get parity for them.

Problem With Industrialized Schooling

Now we’re seeing what’s wrong with the system for millions of boys…Beginning in very early grades, the sit-still, read-your-book, raise-your-hand-quietly, don’t-learn-by-doing-but-by-taking-notes classroom is a worse fit for more boys than it is for most girls. This was always the case, but we couldn’t see it 100 years ago. We didn’t have the comparative element of girls at par in classrooms. We taught a lot of our boys and girls separately. We educated children with greater emphasis on certain basic educational principles that kept a lot of boys “in line” — competitive learning was one. And our families were deeply involved in a child’s education.

Now, however, the boys who don’t fit the classrooms are glaringly clear. Many families are barely involved in their children’s education. Girls outperform boys in nearly every academic area. Many of the old principles of education are diminished. In a classroom of 30 kids, about five boys will begin to fail in the first few years of pre-school and elementary school. By fifth grade, they will be diagnosed as learning disabled, ADD/ADHD, behaviorally disordered or “unmotivated.” They will no longer do their homework (though they may say they are doing it), they will disrupt class or withdraw from it, they will find a few islands of competence (like video games or computers) and overemphasize those.

Boys and Girls are Different

Boys have a lot of Huck Finn in them — they don’t, on average, learn as well as girls by sitting still, concentrating, multitasking, listening to words. For 20 years, I have been taking brain research into homes and classrooms to show teachers, parents and others how differently boys and girls learn. Once a person sees a PET or SPECT scan of a boy’s brain and a girl’s brain, showing the different ways these brains learn, they understand. As one teacher put it to me, “Wow, no wonder we’re having so many problems with boys.”

By Michael Gurian Washington Post, Disappearing Act: Where Have the Men Gone