Posts Tagged classical home school
Supervised Independent Study: Your Personal Fitness Program
Posted by Diane in Post-Trivium Homeschool | High School on July 9th, 2008
Progressive responsibility and appropriate consequences are two characteristics of self-discipline in a classical home school. But those are not the only attributes. Supervised independent study, a superior alternative to a canned homeschool curriculum, is the pinnacle of self-discipline to which all parents using this classical homeschooling method should aspire. When your children have substantially mastered language, thought, and speech, pay attention. You will probably notice that your preteen or teen is also regularly teaching himself the material instead of relying on you to relay knowledge.
* * * * *
David and I belong to a local health club. During the first few months of our membership, we hired a personal trainer to (1) perform some tests, and (2) show us how to use the equipment correctly. We had to fast from food and drink (no coffee…oh the headache!) the night before the first test, and when we arrived that morning, we had to wear this strange mask that measured our resting heart rates over a 20 minute interval. Next we both got on a treadmill and, still wearing the masks, ran a difficult course of increasing elevation to determine our body’s minimum and maximum metabolism. We were told to do as many push ups as we could (I hate pushups), and timed abdominal crunches. Finally, we were weighed (gasp…did I really weigh that?) and the dreaded pincher tool grabbed our thighs, waists, and arms to measure body fat percentage.
After all the results were entered into the computer program, a concise report was generated which gave us our personal baselines for improving our health IF we ate a healthy diet, exercised aerobically, and lifted weights. Personal goals for weight loss, strength, and body fat reduction were established. We then began a 12 week program with a personal trainer who used our personal plans to teach us how to use each piece of equipment without injury. Each week we saw improvement in strength, endurance, and weight loss as she challenged us to work at our maximum abilities.
When we began the program, we had high hopes that we would see results immediately (after all, we had doubled our exercise time!), but each week, we only saw little gains. However, now that the entire regimen with the personal trainer is over, we clearly see a difference in the way we look and feel; the physical results are measurable and positive. Neither one of us met the computer’s prediction by the end of the 12 weeks, but we are both still faithfully working towards those goals and know that, with time and practice, we will arrive at our destination even if it takes longer than expected.
Although we greatly enjoyed our personal trainer, we no longer need her help. She gave us all the guidance and even shared copies of her twelve plans with us so that when we were ready, we could launch out on our own fitness adventure. If we need any help, we can find her quickly and resolve any concerns or questions that we have.
Supervised Independent Study is like a Personal Training Program
Coaching your maturing child to the point of supervised independent study is like starting a homeschool sports fitness program. Imagine that you are the personal trainer, and he is the trainee. After all those years under your careful guidance, he has learned how to use the language to express his thoughts in writing and in speech. In essence, you have taught him how to learn!
As he gains confidence and age, he begins to take ownership of his own learning as he acquires more knowledge and interprets the meaning of what he’s learning. Not only have you taught him how to learn academics, but you have taught him administrative skills, too. Over the years, you have given him more and more responsibility. You’ve shown him how to regulate his own schedule. Perhaps you even have him check and correct his own work now.
Once you determine that he is ready to begin the systematic study of disciplines like economics, history, and philosophy, your role as personal trainer changes. Just like our personal trainer showed us the ropes then released us to implement the regime on our own, so, too, you need to release your child to supervised independent study when it is time. In this regard, the homeschool curriculum can be uniquely tailored to his interests, abilities, and goals.
If there is knowledge that you or your husband are especially qualified or eager to teach him, then by all means, continue teaching that information! My husband, David, is an American Civil War buff, so there is no better mentor in that area of U. S. history for our kids. I love to write, so I take responsibility for supervising their increasing competence in composing speeches and essays. However, we employ the expertise of outside personal trainers in some areas: Meredith takes voice and piano lessons from a university professor, and we use video, audio, and live instruction from other experts as necessary. I regularly download the mp3 lessons from The Teaching Company, and I’ve spent too much money taking the kids to debate camps and Andrew Pudewa workshops!
Most of all, I’m delighted that both kids are able to let the text teach them! The homeschooling tools that we have given them (like annotation and abstracts) enable them to have a “conversation” with the author of the text that really helps them to get to the bottom of the author’s intent and take ownership of what they discover. Later in this series, I’ll outline the scholar’s tools.
Four Mental Attitudes
Self-discipline is often about pushing yourself to accomplish tasks or adopt behaviors even though you’d really rather be doing something else. Every time that I had to do those push ups, I inwardly dreaded them but willed myself to move forward. Obstacles to progress, temptations to slothfulness, and hardships along the way will inevitably arise. You need to train your kids in rejecting immediate satisfaction for the greater good. Here are four lessons that David and I learned in the gym.
1. Identify your goal.
Before you can make progress, you need to first establish the baseline from which you are starting. Ask yourself, “where am I in terms of…?” Accurate assessments, no matter how embarrassing or painful, will help you realistically set achievable goals. Decide what steps you need to take to get there. Which steps are easy, and which steps are challenging? Be realistic as you establish the goals of the homeschool curriculum for your high school student.
2. Take the plunge.
As the Nike ads say, “just do it.” Once you have decided on a course of action, it’s time to move forward. Train yourself in tackling the project sooner rather than later. Don’t procrastinate. Attack the steps identified in reaching your goal systematically and strategically. It helps to break the goal up into to baby steps, plus you’ll get more endorphin rushes when you check off more to-dos! Don’t try to write a homeschool curriculum for the entire four years of high school. Take a semester at a time and adjust accordingly.
3. Work hard.
Achieving your goals is hard work, but you need to work hard to achieve them. The challenges will be great, but so will the reward. Learn to use your time efficiently so that you are productive and effective. The pain may seem unbearable, but you will get through it. As mentor to your homeschool high school teen, you and your spouse initially work hard to cast the vision of the homeschool curriculum and sketch out a plan of attack.
4. Keep moving.
Don’t give up. There is such a joy to pushing through the pain even if you think you cannot take another step. The sense of achievement is worth the difficulties that preceded the goal. Move on even if you don’t feel like it. As creator of the customized homeschool curriculum, you have a responsibility to make sure that your homeschooler is on track periodically. Keep your eyes on that vision that you established earlier and imagine what can be. Persist. Persevere. Supervised independent study is the very best kind of homeschool curriculum!
* * * * *
Ready to homeschool high school? Get ready now by gradually weaning your homeschool child from too much dependence upon you.
Three Ways to Prepare your Child for Logical Thinking
Posted by Diane in How to Teach Homeschool Skill 2: THINKING on March 16th, 2008
Is logic a part of your homeschool curriculum? You’ve probably heard the Greek word “logos” used in a Christian sermon when the pastor, preaching from the Gospel of John, referred to Jesus as the “logos” or “Word” of the Father. According to a Greek Lexicon, the noun “logos” means “a word or discourse which embodies a conception or thought.” The English word “logic” for which the second skill of the classical trivium is named derives from the Greek “logos” and is most commonly defined as the “study of formal reasoning.” Therefore, the one who studies logic as part of the homeschool curriculum is presumably capable of intelligent, reasoned speech.
The Ancient Greeks understood the logic of the trivium as both (1) informal logic like the reasoned, methodical conversations between Plato’s Socrates and his disciples and (2) formal logic as in the systematic principles of the syllogism (argument) of Aristotle. Socrates’ leading questions helped his students understand why they believed what they believed, but he never told them what to think. Aristotle devised a deductive method for determining whether the premises and conclusion of arguments were sound or unsound.
The motivation for learning logic in ancient, medieval, and colonial times was simple: to distinguish between good and bad arguments so that thinking and the resulting oratory were more effective. Contemporary classical home school parents incorporate the study of logic in the homeschool curriculum for the same reasons:
to teach their home school children to become critical thinkers who use language and reason to effectively communicate.
But the study of logic is not the starting point for teaching thinking. That comes much later when the child is ready to handle abstract thought.
So when do you start teaching your home school children to think?
As soon as possible! Recent research points to the discovery that the brain’s capacity for rational thinking and problem-solving is established by the age of one! Home school children whose parents who have been actively speaking with them from birth have more complex networks of neurons which means they are predisposed to intelligence, creativity, and adaptability throughout life. In fact, John Chaffee, Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of critical thinking, states that “the number of words that an infant hears each day is the most important predictor of later intelligence, academic success, and social competence.” Talk to your babies!
Children are full of energy, curiosity, and imagination which are all essential ingredients to critical thinking. Any parent knows that one of the favorite questions of children and teens is “Why?” Children explore. Children wonder. Children imagine. Here are three tips for nurturing your home school child’s natural curiosity and expanding their minds:
Take their questions seriously.
“Mom, why do lightening bugs glow? Dad, why does an onion make me cry? Mom, why do bubbles disappear when I touch them?” Questions, questions, questions. Living with children brings never-ending questions, or so it seems. My 15 year old popped a doozy of a question on me about race and economics today after we volunteered in a downtown mission! Sometimes, you might be tempted to dismiss the constant questions because you are too busy or just too tired, but resist the easy way out. When you take your children’s questions seriously, you are showing respect and validating their worth. Trust is built, and they feel secure in asking more questions without the fear of condemnation for being “silly” or “childish.” Additionally, we all want to protect our kids from the harsh realities of life, but don’t avoid life’s most difficult questions if you sense that they are mature enough to handle the answers or even find that you don’t have the answers.
Expose them to other perspectives.
When we look at issues from another person’s perspective, we broaden our own understanding, recognize our bias’, and gain insights that we wouldn’t have otherwise had. This week the kids and I joined another home schooling family for some community service; our kids spent a couple of hours teaching hands-on science at a Christian mission in a very depressed area of town. After the workshop was over, I asked the neighborhood kids if they needed any help on their homework, and they excitedly pulled their assignments out. Each home school teen sat down with a child who was living in a different culture: different race, different economy, different family life. But the Lord gives us the power to cross cultural barriers, and our kids connected with these children on a heart level. The little girl that Meredith was helping asked her to sit with her during the meal that followed. Now volunteering at the mission wasn’t the typical homeschool curriuculm, but the kids were learning very valuable lessons.
As we drove home that evening, Meredith reflected on the disparity between the material poverty of this neighborhood and the extravagant wealth of the suburbs. Seeing life from that little girl’s perspective had opened Meredith’s eyes to a new reality. We’ve been serving as a family in inner-city missions for years, but for some reason, this was the day that my daughter really began to empathize on a deep level. Introduce other perspectives early and regularly because you never know when the light bulb will go off, and a new understanding begin to take shape.
Talk about right and wrong.
I know I’m preaching to the choir on this one, but use every opportunity to train your home school children in righteousness. One of the key factors in critical thinking is knowing what you believe and why you believe it so that you can listen to others with different opinions and evaluate alternatives intelligently. Some of their most difficult questions will be those involving morals. For instance, in Treasure Island, Long John Silver is morally ambiguous. He is an unrepentant murderer and thief, yet he cares for Jim Hawkins and protects him from danger. How can someone who is bad do good things? Use literature and movies as opportunities to discuss good and bad, right and wrong.
Teach them why you believe what you believe. Explore Scripture for answers to their questions. Here’s an example of a moral question that you might run across when you’re reading Scripture. In Exodus, the midwives lie to Pharoah’s servants about the Israelite infants that they failed to kill. Are there certain situations when the Lord allows deceit? Scripture is full of moral issues that you need to explore as a family so that the kids are ready to take a stand when analyzing other positions. Also make sure that you are ‘walking the walk’ and ‘talking the talk,’ too!
* * * * *
Questions are really just opportunities for stimulating discussion. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to answer all their questions. If you tell them what to think, you deprive them of the privilege of further thinking and likely end the conversation. Many of life’s most difficult questions don’t have easy answers, so don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” or to show your child how to discover the answer. Ask them questions! If you’d like to know more about how to use the Socratic method, read my article entitled “Ask. Don’t Tell.” Now is the time to prepare for introducing formal logic into the high school homeschool curriculum by asking taking their questions seriously, exposing them to other perspectives, and talking about right and wrong.
Oliver Van DeMille And Leadership Home Education
Posted by Diane in Various Essays for Homeschool Parents on February 14th, 2008
The home education philosophy of Oliver Van DeMille is fascinating and provides the impetus for George Wythe College (of which he is President and founder) and his book, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century, which espouses one variation on classical home education called “leadership education.”
Prior to the completion of his undergraduate degree, DeMille acutely felt the gap between his expectations and the reality of his textbook education. He greatly desired a deep and broad education which would prepare him to positively impact society. DeMille had read with admiration about the mentor/protégé relationship between George Wythe (signer of the Declaration of Independence) and Thomas Jefferson. He decided to take responsibility for this ‘conveyor-belt’ deficit; he asked an elder scholar to mentor him just as Wythe mentored Jefferson. It was during this unusual course of study that DeMille’s concept of leadership education was born. Later, he incorporated leadership education in his own home.
According to DeMille, teachers do not educate…they inspire students to educate themselves. Teachers teach; students educate. He argues that education occurs when students get excited about learning. Great teaching leads to excited students. His home education philosophy applies in both the collegiate environment and in a classical home school.
Using the leadership approach, the two great teachers are mentors and the classics. “Mentors meet face-to-face with the student, inspiring through the transfer of knowledge, the force of personality, and individual attention. Classics were created by other great teachers to be experienced in books, art, music, and other media.” The combination of great mentors and great classics will result in an educated statesman who will apply the depth and breadth of knowledge in practical ways that help others. This approach to home education in high school in consistent with the Socratic Paideia years in which dialogue between homeschool parent and homeschool teen drives instruction.
Beyond the educational philosophy, DeMille offers concrete steps for facilitating a leadership education in the classical home school. Regarding mentors, he offers six fundamental keys: use the classics, personalize the study program, read/write/discuss, apply lessons to life, only accept quality work (“great work” or “do it again”), and set the example by doing all of the above for yourself!
He provides a comprehensive list of age-appropriate books to read although they are not all widely accepted as classic literature. He contends that future leaders should study the classics because they:
- teach human nature
- bring face-to-face with greatness
- reveal unconquered frontiers
- force thinking
- connect cultural stories
- teach that personal and national canons give life purpose
Finally, DeMille answers frequently asked questions as to how to implement this leadership home education method and gives specific direction as to subject areas.
Much of the direction of the course of study is set by the student as he matures and determines his passions. The concept of depth and breadth require rigorous study on the part of both parents and students; however, the result is likely to be a family of lifelong learners who significantly impact their community.
* * * * *
To learn more about the “pillars” of DeMIlle’s leadership education, read the history of George Wythe College.
* * * * *
Does “leadership education” sound like a home education philosophy that you might want to explore? Learn more about it by joining one of the following free Yahoo Discussion Groups. [The descriptions of each group come directly from Yahoo.]
IEW-TJE (382 members)
“Started by a group of Christian women who use The Institute for Excellence in Writing materials, this group discusses the ideas and implementation of “A Thomas Jefferson Education” by Oliver DeMille and “Teaching the Classics” by Adam Andrews in the Christian homeschool. This group does not necessarily reflect the views of IEW.”
MentoringOurOwn (997 members)
“This group is for those of us who are making the transition from the conveyor belt education paradigm and into the world of mentoring our own children. As we apply the principles we are learning, we can share our experiences and new-found understanding with each other, through our articles. Topics appropriate for this site might include, but not be limited to: Thomas Jefferson Education (TJEd), Leadership Education (LEd), American Hebraic Classical Leadership Education, 5 Pillars Certification, 5 Pillars of Statesmanship, Liber, Divine Providence, Georgics, Public Virtue, Central Canon/Classic, Gospel Scholar, The Lord’s Library, Family Work, Family Rhythms, Core, Love of Learning, Scholar, Depth, and Mission Phases of life and learning.”
* * * * *
Have you read about the unschooling home education option of John Holt, “living books” home education philosophy of Charlotte Mason, or the systematic classical home education model of the mother-daughter team of Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer yet? Discover that they all encourage love of learning even though different paths are suggested to achieve such a love. How are you doing at verbalizing your own home educational philosophy? Answer ten questions in my post, “What Is Your Home Education Philosophy?”, to determine your family’s philosophy of home education.
How to Think About Meaningful Ideas in Your Home School
Posted by Diane in How to Teach Homeschool Skill 2: THINKING on February 7th, 2008
The third stage of the classical trivium is speech…as classical Christian home school parents we want to teach our children to effectively communicate in writing and speaking. But learning the skills of effective communication alone is not enough. We need to also teach the kids to communicate meaning. Meaningless essays, speeches, or conversations might help build skills in the early years, but over time, we desire that our home school children will be people of influence, communicating that which is ultimately meaningful to their King.
Before your child can communicate effectively in writing or speaking, he must first understand the topic. Acquiring knowledge is the first step, and as he matures, that knowledge should become understanding and eventually (we pray) wisdom. Certainly, we want him to communicate when all he has is knowledge because he is building foundational speaking skills, but a classical scholar strives for deeper meaning, and when he or she understands the topic, written and oral communication can be extremely powerful and life-changing. Consider this example for learning and communicating about a topic that should be meaningful to Christians.
A Meaningful Idea
In 1982, a worldwide prayer movement for the unreached people groups of the world was launched, and since its beginnings over 25 years ago, the Global Prayer Digest has helped fuel over 9400 days of prayer for an estimated 10,000 unreached people groups. What is an unreached people group?
According to the Joshua Project, there are 16,256 distinct ethnic or “people” groups in the world. Of those, 6877 people groups are considered “unreached” which means they have the least exposure to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the least Christian presence in their midst. Just to put this in perspective, of the 6.6 billion global population, the Joshua Project estimates that 2.7 billion or 41% of the world’s population are unreached! Of course, the driving purpose behind accumulating information on unreached people groups like the Najdi Bedoin people of Iraq is to ultimately assess the effectiveness of the completion of Jesus’ Great Commission to His Church (“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations“) so that missionaries, lay persons, and resources can be mobilized for people with the greatest need for a life-changing relationship with the Living God.
Embracing The Meaningful Idea
There are many ways to research ideas – you can read, watch an instructional DVD, interview involved people, or experience the idea yourself. In my personal opinion, I think books, DVDs, or interviews function best as appetizers to the main course. In other words, researching the meaningful idea through these methods is critical, but real understanding and wisdom only come when the meaningful idea is experienced. The most passionate communicators in the world are those who have “lived” their passion!
The first step is learning about the meaningful idea. In this case, you can find books and internet sources to inform and instruct in the basic elements of the idea. For example, I mentioned the Global Prayer Digest and Joshua Project websites above which both provide lots of informative data and perspective on the big picture of unreached people groups. Books like Operation World and You Can Change The World can illuminate on specific unreached people groups. Many local churches support missionaries to unreached people groups; an email interview or free skype internet call to the missionary can add a different dimension to your child’s knowledge base. If the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course is offered in your area (over 200 U.S. locations), your home school high school senior could enroll in this semester course, earn dual college credit, and learn more about the people groups movement.
But don’t stop at acquiring knowledge about the topic…get involved! Once the child or youth begins to learn about the topic, have him or her experience the topic firsthand. In this particular scenario, you can participate in reaching these ethnic groups by regularly praying as a family for the needs of the people. Another idea that also teaches the concept of tithing is to pay your children for some special projects around the house then have them tithe to their people group out of their earnings. Service in the form of collecting resources for foreign missionaries or organizing prayer chains in youth group force hands-on involvement. You might even be called to travel overseas and visit your adopted unreached people group!
How Our Family Embraces The Meaningful Idea
Throughout the years, my family has “adopted” various unreached people groups. When David was teaching in India a few years ago, the kids and I chose 12 Indian people groups to pray for while he was gone. We chose people groups in the geographical area of the country that he would be visiting. We read about each group and prayed for a different one each day. At other times (like the Muslim holiday of Ramadan), we prayed nightly using the facts on a website like Frontiers or a prayer guide like the one published by Global Prayer Digest (daily email guide is free.) Each day we read a little bit about the culture of the unreached people group and included them in our nightly family prayers.
When the kids were doing elementary level work, we read a great book by Jill Johnstone called You Can Change The World. Now that the kids are older, we frequently consult a terrific reference book that I believe every Christian family should have in their library called Operation World when we want to learn more about specific people groups like the percentages of Christians by denomination, number of missionaries, and the top 10 prayer needs for effective evangelism.
Currently, we partner with missionaries in three unreached people groups in Southwest Asia, South America, and Central Africa (represented by the mission agencies: Frontiers, Wycliffe, and International Leadership Institute, respectively) through monthly financial support. Of course, we pray for those people all the time because we hear first hand through regular emails what’s going on with the communities so we can pray as immediate needs arise.
In addition to our family giving, the kids each select a people group to support with their personal tithe. Meredith has been sending her tithe to Lebanese orphan girls through Partners International for several years; in fact, one year she got so involved with her adopted little sisters that she asked her local friends to give the money that they would have spent on her birthday present to the orphanage. At her birthday party, they created a card that they all signed to send to Lebanon. Now that is experiencing the meaningful idea!
Communicating the Meaningful Idea
Once your home school child or high school teen has acquired knowledge about the meaningful idea, it is time to incorporate written and oral communication. You might start with assigning an essay or short expository speech with visual aids. Younger kids can give their speech to family members or “publish” the essay by posting it to the refrigerator for all to read! For an older teen, you might arrange some public speaking engagements like the local retirement home or youth group where your child can practice persuasion skills and field questions from the audience. If you have immersed the kids in knowledge and given them a chance to personally experience the meaningful idea then it is very likely that they will have generated some true passion, understanding, and maybe even wisdom that will certainly be conveyed when they write or speak about the subject!
Take the Plunge
You can apply these homeschooling methods for interpretation to any meaningful idea whether an abstract idea that you discuss as a family or an idea in a book. As classical scholars, we should be encouraging our kids to do more than simply memorize useless facts to parrot back on true/false quizzes. Take them deeper, and explore real meaning. Start with ideas that you and your husband are passionate about then move on to ideas you as a family want to learn more about. Each of your children has a significant calling on their lives, or you wouldn’t be investing such time and energy into raising a classical scholar who can communicate effectively as they influence their culture. Recognize that calling, and do all that you can to help them get ready. The rewards of such preparation will yield profound results now and for generations to come! Remember, homeschool theory without application is worthless! Please share your example of how your family explored a meaningful idea in your home school in the comments section below.
