Music in the Family

I had the most refreshing observation yesterday in church. As the congregation was singing “It Is Well With My Soul”, I glanced across the aisle at our pastor’s young children. They were holding hymn books, but I couldn’t help noticing that they were not reading the words. They were singing with all their hearts, but not needing to refer to the page for any of the verses. Impressed with this observation, I watched them singing at our vespers service later. Again, they were singing all verses without the use of the words. For all of their lives, those children will have the benefit of having a collection of hymns recorded in their memory. As I thought more about it, I couldn’t help feeling what a blessing it would be to all Christian families to take up a habit of memorizing hymns. Here are some ideas:

• If you don’t already own a hymn book, buy one. Preferably, get one that is the same as the one your church uses. Or maybe you could even borrow one from the church. If someone in your family plays piano or some other instrument, use that to accompany your singing and to help learn the melodies if you don’t already know them. 

• If no one in your family can accompany the hymns, choose common ones that have melodies you already know by heart and teach those to your children without accompaniment.

• While the melodies of hymns are beautiful and have an emotional and spiritual benefit to the listener, the most valuable part of the hymn is the words. So, if your family does not particularly care for the melodies (although I’d strongly encourage developing a taste for them), you can still learn the words as poems. In fact, many times we learn hymns by rote and never really hear the words. Try just reading the hymns as poems and see for yourself how precious the messages are.

• Buy a book that gives the history of hymn writers and hymns or do a search on the Internet and share the information at family time. There are some amazing stories behind the hymns. Some suggestions of songs to research might be It Is Well With My Soul or O, Love, That Wilt Not Let Me Go. Hymn writers who might be interesting to learn about could be Fannie Crosby or Philip Bliss. 

So many parents wish after their children are grown, that they had invested more time and energy into family music. Don’t wait. It doesn’t require a lot of money for music lessons to enjoy music as a family. And putting the great old hymns in the minds of your children is a gift that will definitely keep on giving!

copyright@2010gwensimmons

Some Children See Him
By Alfred Burt

Some children see Him lily white
the infant Jesus born this night
Some children see Him lily white
with tresses soft and fair
Some children see Him bronzed and brown
the Lord of heav’n to earth come down
Some children see Him bronzed and brown
with dark and heavy hair (with dark and heavy hair!)
Some children see Him almond-eyed
This Saviour whom we kneel beside
Some children see Him almond-eyed
With skin of yellow hue!
Some children see Him dark as they
Sweet Mary’s Son to whom we pray
Some children see Him dark as they
And, ah! they love Him so!
The children in each different place
Will see the Baby Jesus’ face
Like theirs but bright with heav’nly grace
And filled with holy light!
O lay aside each earthly thing
and with thy heart as offering
Come worship now the infant King
’tis love that’s born tonight!

Nature Hunt

Autumn is a great season for participating in nature activities with children.  The weather is cool, yet crisp and pleasant.  Foliage is turning shades of orange, red, and brown.  Flowers are going to seed, creating pods and seed packets that are interesting to touch and see.  It is a fantastic season to explore nature with children.  Here’s a fun game to do outside with children:
Use a word, such as CREATION, and have the children find or see an object from nature that starts with each letter found in that word.  For example:

C = cattail
R = rabbit
E = egg shell
A = apple
T = tree
I = insect
O = olive leaf
N = nectar

The children can document their findings in a nature journal where they can draw, gather, write about, or photograph the items they found.  When one word is completed, move on to another like NATURE, WILDLIFE, or FOREST.

Thankfulness

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
Sing praises to his name: He forgets not his own.
Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side, All glory be thine!
We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Amen

Traditional Thanksgiving Hymn
(A translation by Theodore Baker: 1851-1934)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is only a day away! Suddenly it’s the topic of conversation amongst friends and acquaintances. The beauty shop was buzzing with ‘food talk’ this week. Everyone was sharing what they were planning on making or serving for Thanksgiving dinner. It seems that left-overs and stuffing got the ‘most popular’ vote. I enjoyed hearing about family tradition and favorite foods, and how each family has their own way of implementing this popular holiday. It’s a time to give thanks! From what was said, it appears that this is the holiday that people ‘most cook’ and ‘most eat’. It seems that home-made is favored; and that many mom’s prefer to make the entire meal rather than having grown children bring something in a planned potluck style. My menu hasn’t been decided upon yet, but just listening and talking to others is helping me formulate my plan of action. I must get busy.

Of course I have some friends who are very organized and I admire them greatly! They are already planning their Christmas baking.  Thanksgiving isn’t even past yet.   Oh to be so efficient.

I guess I better run along now and draft a menu for next week — so that I can start thinking of delicious Christmas sweets and savories too. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy taking a walk down memory lane while I look at this picture of the eldest which was taken years ago when he was a budding young cook.

Enjoy preparing for the holiday!

Autumn Adventure Day

 

The school year starts in September for most families. The days are beautifully filled with autumn splendor. The sun is bright, but the shadows long on many autumn mornings. It is a great time of year. Every year our family would start studies with much anticipation and energy. After a few weeks the newness would wear off and the children would need a boost (and so would mom!). Every October or November we implemented something that we called “Autumn Adventure Day” — a day whose events were always a surprise for the children. On that morning I would wake the children up, telling them to hurry and get dressed because I had a surprise for them. A backpack for each of them was packed and ready to go, including a packed breakfast and a journal.  It was usually one I made and it was shaped like an apple or pumpkin with a colorful cover on it. We would hit the road, stopping at all sorts of planned adventures along the way. Usually we would include a visit to the children’s grandparents. Along the way we would do things like: pick a bucket of apples in the neighbor’s orchard; stop at a bakery to watch them make bagels; go to a park and identify trees and gather nuts and seeds; jog a lap or two around a running track; go to Grandma’s house for a story she would read; go to a tea room for lunch and learn manners; to the other grandma’s house for cookies and a nature lesson; and so on. The time line was scheduled and filled with many fun, short activities. The children would record events in their journal in the car between events. Zip lock bags were included in their backpack for collecting nature objects. And a camera was given as well, for recording things that weren’t easy to draw or write about. The journals became more sophisticated over the years — being age-appropriate as the children grew.  Our autumn adventures were chock full of learning activities and events, all mixed with a great deal of fun.  Each autumn the children would look forward to this ‘surprise’ day with much anticipation.


I highly recommend thinking outside of the box! It’s how memories are made! What a blessing it is to be the teacher of one’s own children. Having an autumn adventure day is just one way of making it a fun and happy experience.

Growing Uniquely

I planted a tree.  I knew about trees, so I gave it space to grow.
 
I planted a morning-glory vine.  I knew about morning glories, so I put a trellis next to it so it could cling and pull itself up.

I planted a tulip bulb, and because I knew about tulip bulbs.  I waited until spring before I looked for signs of growth.

I was blessed with a child.  Because I loved that child, I learned how he grew.  Once I knew, I provided the environment and resources that best facilitated his optimal and delightful development.

* * *

Each plant has its unique characteristics and can be expected to act and grow according to them.  In the same way, given the right elements, children will thrive and grow when given the proper tools.  The recipe of warm responsiveness, time within the family unit, and freedom to explore will create children who grow willingly, enthusiastically, and naturally.  Each child will thrive and grow in their own unique way when given the time and resources to do it!

Hand-Made and Customized Education

“True home schooling is tutorial, hand-made, customized to each child. Such parents respond to their children in a loving, informal way, a balance between systematic structure where needed and a great deal of freedom for youngsters to explore.”
 
~ Raymond S. Moore

Inquiry and Curiosity

"It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.
 
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

Albert Einstein

Well-Adjusted Children

“The price for bright, well-adjusted children. . .warm parent responses, high family values, and a lot of opportunity to explore.”

Raymond S. Moore

Piaget, Advocate of Delayed Academics

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist and philosopher who studied children from birth through adolescence. He lived from 1896 through 1980 and was influential among educators for decades. He was known for many things, but possibly the best for his theory of cognitive development and the way he advocated for delayed academic studies. His research forms the foundation of educational method that some specialists have built upon in the development of their own educational theories. Dr. Raymond Moore, the ‘grandfather of homeschooling’ in America, and his belief in delayed academic learning is one example of someone who used Piaget’s theories in the development of their educational theory.

Piaget believed that the way children processed cognitive thinking was different than that of youth and adults. He studied children by several methods. One was by researching and charting standardized test scores. Another was by studying his own three children and recording how they developed from birth through to adulthood. He observed children through all ages and stages, both in a learning environment, at work, and home.

His ultimate conclusion was that all children develop in stages and that each one will exhibit very distinct and certain patterns of cognition in each period of their growth and development. These patterns can be recognized as sequential and predictable for each age. He identified four developmental stages. As his theory advocates, they are: 

1) Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)

A this stage a child learns through sensation and movement. It is important that they experience touch, smell, taste, hearing, and things to see (colors, shapes, and faces). It is also important that they observe and experience movement at this age. Rocking a child is vitally important during this phase of development. At this stage, children are extremely self-centered and cannot see the perceive the world through the eyes of another. They let their needs be known by crying and requiring immediate attention. 

2) Preoperational stage (ages 2 – 7)

At this stage, a child cannot use logical thinking. These years are sometimes known as the years of magical thinking. Children from two to seven are beginning to master symbols such as language and are starting to be able to form conclusions based upon past experiences. Although initially egocentric at this age, this trait weakens as they grow older. During this stage of development, children are developing their motor skills. It is important to allow opportunity and experiences for this growth, and to not rush a child onto the next stage before mastery of motor skills is achieved.

3) Concrete operational stage (ages 7 – 12)

Children of this age are very concrete in their thinking. In fact, their thinking is limited to concrete experiences. They learn to generalize by drawing conclusions about one situation and applying it to another. As they mature through this stage, they begin to think logically, but that thinking is still very concrete in nature and with practical tools to assist them. Children at this age are no longer ego-centric. 

4) Formal operational stage (ages 12 – adult)

Children in this stage can now deal with abstractions, mental speculation, and the formation of hypotheses. Abstract reasoning occurs and they are able to think logically. They can keep watch or maintain in their thought processes. Abstract reasoning opens up the world of thinking to children at this stage.

The rate or speed of passing through these phases may vary, but the sequence of stages is consistent for all children. When choosing or designing curriculum for children, the method and materials should match the cognitive level of the child. It is important that these principles are applied to how a parent-teacher chooses to home educate the children in their care so that natural, purposeful, and successful learning can result. Rushing a child through one stage to the next can be counter-productive and effectively cause burn-out and learning difficulties for the child. From the studies of Jean Piaget we can conclude that it really is ‘better late than early’ when it comes to academic instruction.

Teaching to Think

"The most necessary task of civilization is to teach people how to think.  It should be the primary purpose of our [public] schools.  The mind of a child is naturally active, it develops through exercise.  Give a child plenty of exercise, for body and brain.  The trouble with our way of educating is that it does not give elasticity to the mind.  It casts the brain into a mold.  It insists that the child must accept.  It does not encourage original thought or reasoning, and it lays more stress on memory than observation."

Thomas Edison

Giving Children the Freedom to Explore

The third element of the Smithsonian Institute formula for creating a genius is to provide the child with freedom to explore.  Allowing children to grow and develop naturally creates a relaxed and less pressured environment, thereby allowing them to use their creativity and curiosity as they explore the world around them and find things that interest them.  By contrast, the hurried child frequently is pushed to learn on a schedule, get things done within external parameters, and to skim the top of schoolwork rather than to comprehend it in-depth.  This can result in children becoming delayed and burned out.  The home educator can facilitate brain development and intellect by creating an environment that gives the child time and resources to explore the things that interest them most.  A wise parent-teacher observes and regards these things and enhances the learning process by expanding upon them as they facilitate learning in their child.  There are a variety of techniques that can be used to accomplish learning by this free and organic method of instruction.  Time is a vital element in this approach.  Children need time to touch, taste, feel, hear, and smell life as it goes on around them.  Distractions like electronic gadgets and television should be eliminated from their day so that they can learn by exploring their world.  There are moments when the child needs time alone to create and learn about things around him or her, but the presence of a parent who is willing to create and explore things with the child enhances the process.  Our time with them is as important as their time alone.  Creating art, listening to music, acting in charades, building with blocks, walking in nature, or cooking in the kitchen are ways in which children and parents can explore and interact together.  Resources for exploration, like art supplies, books and magazines, objects from nature, manipulative learning resources, musical instruments, and concrete materials like wood, nails, and a hammer should be abundant and available to the child.  As the child develops and grows, the parent can observe trends and interests, creating learning opportunities that amplify the learning process.  Creating great spaces of time for the freedom to explore is vital in the growth and development of an intelligent child.  A less hurried child is a child who learns faster, more thoroughly, and with less pressure.  Learning is enhanced by the simple gift of freedom to explore.

More Time with Parents than Peers

Homeschool parents are probably asked about socialization more than any other topic related to educating their children.  Our culture has led us to believe that children need to be around peers in order to have good social skills, and that this process needs to start at a very young age.  Daycare centers and preschools are filled to capacity with children whose parents believe they are doing what is best for their kids.  So, when a family chooses to home educate, well-meaning grandparents, neighbors, and even strangers question their decision.  But, if we consider the second point given in the Smithsonian Institute study on raising genius children, we realize that cultural beliefs are not necessarily accurate.  The Smithsonian study found that the children who developed the highest quotient of intelligence were those who were virtually isolated from children outside of their family.  If children spend more time with their parents than with their peers, positive socialization takes place.  When a family works together, plays together, studies together, and serves others together, children tend to have fewer mental or emotional problems and are more likely to be free of peer dependency.  A study reported in Kid’s Stuff magazine found that children taught at home do not lag in social development.  The study indicated that home taught children have consistently fewer behavioral problems.  Instead of being negatively socialized by their peers, the children who were home educated depended more upon adult contact and less with contacts with other children, resulting in well-adjusted and well-behaved children.  Why?  Because they tended to imitate their parents.  Imagine that!  Not only do children who spend more time with adults than peers have the opportunity to have a higher IQ, but they are more socially adjusted as well.

Applying Your Homeschool Philosophy

An educational philosophy is important for your home school. If you have a home school philosophy that is specific to your family it helps to keep your goals and strategies in focus. The grandfather of home schooling, Dr. Raymond Moore, recommends that each family have a philosophy written and prepared as the basis of establishing a curriculum for each family that home schools. A successful family philosophy focuses HIGHLY upon the formula that Dr. Moore presents (Smithsonian formula) on creating a genius.

The Smithsonian Institution’s study of twenty world-class geniuses stresses three factors: 

1) warm, loving, educationally responsive parents and other adults;
2) scant association outside the family, and
3) a great deal of creative freedom under parental guidance to explore their ideas.

Peer pressure works to tell us that we must socialize our children by having them spend time with other kids. But, studies have shown that the greatest socialization takes place within the family structure and by association with other adults. It is perfectly okay for children to spend all week with their parents, associating with other children only weekly at church. As children reached the upper elementary grades, they frequently start asking for opportunities to spend with other children. At that point, teaming with other friends to start a ‘home school activity group’ that meets semi-monthly and provides structured field trips for a group of local, home school children can be provided. This frequently fills the ‘need’ of children to associate with others their age. Piano and other group lessons can also help meet this need. The structured environment continues to facilitate learning and prevents an opportunity for negative socialization.

A great deal of freedom to explore is important. In order to create creative children, time and resources to work with are essential. So is the ability for mother or father to put up with a mess! A separate space for learning can be helpful in containing materials for this type of exploration. Paper, glue, paste, scissors, computer printers, cameras, film, paint, glitter, etc. and etc. are much more important than coloring books and paint by numbers. A supply of art materials should always been readily available at all times. They are tools that can be utilized for every subject, not just art class.

It’s important to keep priorities in focus. If one chooses to home-educate, then the education of our children must be a priority. This includes their religious education and the development of their intellect and ability to think for themselves. This comes before: canning and freezing food; laundry; a clean house; shopping trips; visiting the neighbor; etc. Of course these other things are important — but the children and their education should come first. Assigning workbook pages for the children so that the parent has time to wash windows or clean the oven does not create a wholesome and productive school environment. Children become bored to tears and homeschooling can become a struggle with this approach. Instead, plan work into the daily routine, so the children work with the parent in establishing a tidy home structure. Make this process a part of learning. Then, continue to develop other kinds of learning events as a family team. Although it is important for a child to learn to work independently, busy work is not the key.

Lessons learned while creating, building, analyzing, and applying concepts are best absorbed and retained by children. A unit study approach that is developed by the parent teacher around the interests of the children being taught is interesting and grasped well by them. It is the role of the teacher parent to create lessons and learning experiences that spark the interest in the children being taught. A bored child does not learn well. It is the parents role to provide experiences that facilitate growth, learning, and interest in any subject. Mastery will result effortlessly if this principle is applied.

Developing an educational philosophy assists the home school family to teach and learn purposefully. Once a philosophy of learning is established, the resources selected to facilitate this learning fall into place. If workbooks do not play a role in promoting your educational philosophy, there is no need to spend money on them! Instead, use your resources to find the tools that promote the philosophy you choose to embrace. Children are a precious natural resource. Thoughtful care should be taken in establishing how we will help them learn.

Blessing Our Children

Blessings are words of affirmation and love spoken to another.  When a parent speaks these words and then exhibits them by action or deed, the child is blessed beyond measure.  Gary Smalley and John Trent speak of the five elements of the blessing in their book by the same title.  These elements are a meaningful touch, a spoken message, the attachment of high value to the one being blessed, the creation of a word picture of the special future perceived to the one being blessed, and an active commitment to fulfill the blessing.  Although all parents can share the blessing with their children, the homeschool  parent has a greater opportunity to pass this blessing along to their off-spring simply because of the dedicated amount of time he or she spends with their children.  The creation of a warm and responsive environment facilitates a positive sense of self-worth in children, blesses them, and helps them develop intellectually and to his or her full potential.  Although teachers in an institutionalized setting can be warm and responsive, studies have shown that the sheer number of students under the care of a classroom teacher limits his or her ability to spend much time affirming each student individually.  An average teacher spends seven minutes a day responding to students, and this number includes both positive and negative responses.  Because of time constraints, discipline issues, and lack of one-on-one interaction, most students are not asked the “why” and “how” questions that expand their abilities to become thinkers.  Instead, instructors tend to spend more time asking “who, what, where, and when”, simply because the answers to these questions are easier to evaluate quickly so they can move along to other things.  Home education provides an opportunity for parents to bless their children by responding to their individual needs in a warm and positive way.  A by-product of this blessing is the development of intellect and the creation of thinking children.

Schooling on Purpose

When our family began our homeschool journey, my husband and I spent time together, talking specifically about how we wanted to educate our children.  We researched styles of homeschooling and decided that a relaxed approach that focused upon teaching our children through life experiences best reflected our beliefs and goals.  This meant that education wasn’t designated as something that happened within a block of specific periods of time.  Instead, it was something that we kept in focus from the moment our children woke up each morning until they went to sleep at night.  Every life experience was an opportunity.  These opportunities did not pass by in a laissez faire manner.  Instead, we worked together to grasp onto teachable moments throughout the day.  In the early years, the teaching moments involved hours of reading, singing, exploring nature, and playing together.  As the children grew, they took on age appropriate responsibilities that taught them life skills.  Study of God’s Word through Bible stories and games emphasized the value of developing moral characters and inculcating Godly traits.  The children were immersed in a learning environment through books, discussion, opportunities, and experiences.  Unschooling was not the concept we grasped, but rather schooling on purpose throughout all the events of life was emphasized.  Teachable moments from dusk to dawn created the beginning days of homeschooling for our family.  Using opportunities to immerse the little ones in learning all day long created an environment where learning took place naturally and organically.  It just happened.  On purpose.

Creating Natural Students

In the early years of the current homeschooling trend, the ability of a parent to teach their child academics was firmly challenged by those in the traditional school system. Homeschool skeptics argued that specialists were needed to teach children to read, write, and learn math. The talk in public school faculty lunchrooms frequently centered around a community members decision to home educate rather than to take advantage of all that the public schools had to offer. It is true that the public schools do offer many things to the children in our communities. For some families, a public education is the only alternative. But, when there is a willingness and opportunity for a parent to share in the educational process with their children, and home education is the result, much success and educational growth has been shown to occur. Over time, even many professional educators have admitted that the academic results of homeschooling can not be argued. Time after time, homeschooled children test above the national average in all areas and at all grade levels. If a homeschool family commits to education and spends time focusing on learning, children who are academically competent and who know how to think is the result. Homeschool families have a plethora of resources and methods to choose from. Each family educates using their own unique approach. Because of this, children obtain knowledge and skills at different rates and at widely differing ages. But, in the long run, what could be perceived as a lack of knowledge in an area at one age could mean nothing when looking at the broad view. Children develop naturally and according to their growth and learning spurts when homeschooled. A teacher-parent who educates purposefully within the scope of a child’s natural growth and interests creates a learning environment that is frequently spontaneous. Although a planned curriculum may be given (and reassures the teacher-parent that they are on schedule), a great deal of valuable learning occurs independently by the child outside of the planned lessons. Once a child has been shown how to learn what they need to know, they usually catch the spark and will continue to learn, gathering facts, information, and skills independently along the way. This is the best kind of learning! Learning becomes intrinsically theirs and becomes much more meaningful to them than some facts in a book. Higher levels of applied learning result, and the world awaits! The role of parent then becomes as a guide to stimulate learning, exploration, and an environment conducive to such. Patience, a willingness to answer questions, and the time to show the child how to learn for themselves are traits that will provide great dividends to the future of the child. With the right resources (time, energy, and materials) and attentive parents, the homeschooled child cannot help but take off as a student with great potential!

Developmental Psychologist Promotes Delayed Academics

It might seem unusual to mention Dr. Raymond Moore [1916 - 2007] in a listing of educational leaders in history, but his influence upon home education was significant. He has sometimes been called the “grandfather” of homeschooling in America. As a developmental psychologist, his views of education were an application of his research and the opinions of famous educators and/or writers like Piaget, Holt, Elkind, and White. According to the publisher of many of the books he authored, he was successful in bringing together the major disciplines of early learning — the brain, the senses, reason, and social-emotional development — in a way that was both organized and workable. His educational method formed an applied approach to a unique and successful formula for home education. As an early pioneer in the homeschool movement, it was through his influence and effort that homeschooling became legal in all fifty states. He developed what is know as the “Moore Formula” which customized an educational approach to a child’s interests, abilities, and aptitudes. Instead of workbooks or copywork, he emphasized the unit study or projects, both of which facilitated higher levels of learning. His approach advocated an equal time spent in study, work, and service. He was a proponent of delayed academics, even for home education, encouraging parents to delay formal academics until children are 8, 10, even 12 years of age. His research and anecdotal records of successful homeschool families who have used it prove that his approach produces children who are enthusiastic about learning and who have reduced levels of burn-out when compared to children who are traditionally schooled. Students taught using the Moore Formula have been shown to be independent thinkers and strong leaders. They test well academically and are sought after by higher institutions of learning because they are not burned out and are enthusiastic about learning. The service aspects of the Moore approach succeed in developing selfless traits and strong characters. Although the philosophy of Dr. Raymond Moore and the way it is applied to educating students is unique and many time opposes traditional thought regarding education, the result of students schooled with his approach to learning show superior and significant results.


Books authored by Dr. Raymond Moore and his wife, Dorothy are:

Home Spun Schools
Home Style Teaching
Home Grown Kids
Homemade Health
Homebuilt Discipline
Better Late Than Early
School Can Wait
The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook

Most of these books are available on Amazon.com. 

The Hebrew School

During the old testament time of the prophets, Samuel established schools that were designed to teach Israel the ways of God and how He worked in the world.  The students were teachers in training and were instructed to go out and teach the people what they had learned.  The Old Testament shares that these students were young men who were intelligent and godly.  They were willing to learn and to share.  The scriptures were used for instruction in law, history, music, and poetry.  A spirit of devotion was gained through the sacred Hebrew writings.  Communion with God as a heavenly father, faith, and a clear understanding of God’s principles were garnered through the Old Testament writings.  This resulted in obedience to His ways.   Lessons were also taught by observation of the works of God as seen in the natural world.  Nature spoke of God’s ways and the students learned from this cognition.  Additionally, the students in the schools of the prophets were given work to do as part of their educational experience.  It was common in Israel for every youth to be taught a useful skill or trade.  Even if they were wealthy or made a living by a means not physical, each was expected to gain skills in a physical or mechanical trade during their youth.  This usefulness was a protection that allowed each to have a skill that they could use at times in their lives when financial resources might not be readily available.  Often, many of the teachers in Samuel’s schools supported themselves by physical labor.  It appears that being an educator was not a lucrative position in and of itself.  The Hebrew system used simplicity as a tool and self-restraint as a goal.  Students studied scripture, observed nature, and worked to learn a useful skill.  Uncomplicated, yet effective, this method of education served and the individuals of Israel very well.  King David and King Solomon were well-known and effective leaders who benefited from this simple type of instruction.  God blessed the people of Israel, and their adherence to these principles brought them great blessing. 
 
“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.”  1 Corinthians 10:11

God's Care

 A journal entry which shows of  God’s revelation through nature:
 
I struggled up the steep incline, over another rugged boulder, and around one more hairpin curve, and stopped.  The pristine alpine rock garden that blanketed the craggy mountainside before me took away what was left of my breath.  An angel garden.  Could Heaven be more beautiful?

In the center of the scene, a crystal river-let danced and catapulted.  Along its edges, moss-bedecked rocks were interspersed with magenta monkey flowers and yellow alpine buttercups.  Spreading out on either side, and on up as far as I could see, this ultimate wonderland extended.  I stood spellbound by the exhilarating freshness, the vibrant coloration and virgin beauty of this lush, living tapestry.  Here, on this unsullied peak of Mt. Rainier, God managed to preserve a little of the beauty of the Garden of Eden.  Here, overpopulation and pollution have little effect upon creation.  It comes as if from the hand of the Creator.  Hidden and remote, God saved a little bit of heaven for those who care to seek it out.  God cares!

~M

The Wonder of Childhood

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”
 
“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, ‘What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?’”

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”

Quotes attributed to Rachel Carson

Using Home to Teach Life's Lessons

When beginning the homeschool journey, it is easy to become caught up in schedules, drills, copy work, worksheets, textbooks, and routines.  If you as the parent were the product of traditional schooling, these tools are familiar and comfortable for you as a homeschool mom or dad.  With a wealth of resources available on the glossy pages of homeschool catalogs or in teacher supply stores, purchasing helpful materials is easy, albeit sometimes hard on the pocket book.  These resources can become a blessing to us if we use them well and with purpose, but if they simply become assignments to throw at our children, school evolves into something no different than sending a child to the community school down the road.  School at home replicates the traditional classroom and the maximum benefits of home education become limited as a result.  Instead, consider using the home as a school to teach life’s lessons.  Allowing every teachable moment in every day to teach academics, life skills, and service to others achieves optimal results and reaps great rewards.  Teaching the whole child by a true homeschool method creates a child who learns enthusiastically and well.  Teachable life moments create well adjusted children.

Homeschool Philosophy of Education

Do you have a philosophy of education for your homeschool? Taking time to think about what is important to you in the education of your children provides you and your family with a base for all decisions related to how your children learn and how you teach. Once this has been done, selecting curricula, establishing schedules and routines, and choosing extracurricular activities becomes easier, as your belief system has been well thought out and decisions have been made about what is important to you.
 
For most of us, educating the whole child is of top priority. Helping him or her develop spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally creates a well-adjusted child that has the talents and abilities necessary to succeed in today’s world. Homeschool families in 2010 are given opportunities to choose from a myriad of academic resources. Curriculum companies have been quick to write textbooks and provide resources for the learning needs of homeschooled students. Sometimes it is easy to forget that a child’s education is not one-dimensional, but that academics are only one piece of the puzzle. Spending equal time planning for physical, emotional, and spiritual elements is key in creating a well balanced child. For example, character is developed through work and service to others. Physical wellness is also a result of hard work. And service to others helps the child discover that a happy heart is one that tends to the needs of others as it focuses outward in life.

If you haven’t taken the time to write down your philosophy of home education, why don’t you take a moment to jot down what you really believe about educating your child. What is the foundation of your home school? It is the core of your family system of education.

To Think or Reflect Thoughts

Teaching children how to think can be difficult.  In contrast, teaching children to merely reflect the thoughts of others is simple in comparison.  Think about it for a minute.  Requiring children to memorize and repeat correct answers can be done by practice and repetition.  Sometimes it is necessary to learn this way, like in the case of memorizing times tables or equations.  But the way a child learns best and retains knowledge is when he or she can reason and comprehend why things happen.  Knowing how and why helps him or her understand and apply it to their field of knowledge and usefulness.  When a child learns to think for themselves, they achieve a level of growth and autonomy that surpasses students who simply memorize facts and figures.  Even the subject of spelling requires more than mere memorization.  Critiquing words and how they are spelled based upon phonics and rules of the English language requires reasoning abilities.  Teaching thinking necessitates several things.  Using an inquiry method of instruction, where problems are directed to the student and where the student is given time to think and solve is one of them.  Comparison and contrast, evaluation, and questioning are all necessary components in creating thinkers.  Giving the student the ability to evaluate and make judgments teaches them to think for themselves.  If you are asking your child to list, label, match, name, or recall information, you are teaching them to be reflectors of the thinking of others.  But, if your instructional technique leads them to interpret, discriminate, defend, critique, appraise, or explain something, you can be sure you are on the pathway to teaching your child how to think.  This is the challenge of educating the student, but one that reaps great rewards!

Daily Nature Study

 “Nature study should be an important part of your child’s daily program. This may include working with plants, pots, or window boxes indoors, or a bigger garden outdoors; collecting, identifying, and classifying leaves, rocks, shells, etc.; starting a nature experiment; or taking a walk to see what can be found to study.”
 
Dr. Raymond Moore in Home Grown Kids, p. 154

Creating Independent Thinkers

In the early years of the current homeschooling trend, the ability of a parent to teach their child academics was firmly challenged by those in the traditional school system. Homeschool skeptics argued that specialists were needed to teach children to read, write, and learn math. The talk in public school faculty lunchrooms frequently centered around a community members decision to home educate rather than to take advantage of all that the public schools had to offer. It is true that the public schools do offer many things to the children in our communities. For some families, a public education is the only alternative. But, when there is a willingness and opportunity for a parent to share in the educational process with their children, and home education is the result, much success and educational growth has been shown to occur. Over time, even many professional educators have admitted that the academic results of homeschooling can not be argued. Time after time, homeschooled children test above the national average in all areas and at all grade levels. If a homeschool family commits to education and spends time focusing on learning, children who are academically competent and who know how to think is the result. Homeschool families have a plethora of resources and methods to choose from. Each family educates using their own unique approach. Because of this, children obtain knowledge and skills at different rates and at widely differing ages. But, in the long run, what could be perceived as a lack of knowledge in an area at one age could mean nothing when looking at the broad view. Children develop naturally and according to their growth and learning spurts when homeschooled. A teacher-parent who educates purposefully within the scope of a child’s natural growth and interests creates a learning environment that is frequently spontaneous. Although a planned curriculum may be given (and reassures the teacher-parent that they are on schedule), a great deal of valuable learning occurs independently by the child outside of the planned lessons. Once a child has been shown how to learn what they need to know, they usually catch the spark and will continue to learn, gathering facts, information, and skills independently along the way. This is the best kind of learning! Learning becomes intrinsically theirs and becomes much more meaningful to them than some facts in a book. Higher levels of applied learning result, and the world awaits! The role of parent then becomes as a guide to stimulate learning, exploration, and an environment conducive to such. Patience, a willingness to answer questions, and the time to show the child how to learn for themselves are traits that will provide great dividends to the future of the child. With the right resources (time, energy, and materials) and attentive parents, the homeschooled child cannot help but take off as a student with great potential!

Achieving Optimal Intellect

Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, the influential teacher of the Suzuki method of music education, spoke frequently of the ability that all children have to learn things well if they were placed in the right environment.  His motto is “any child can learn”.  His methods, though sometimes controversial, make sense to me.  Expanding his concepts to areas beyond music opens the door to new concepts in education.  Believing that any child can achieve optimal intellect, I embarked on a journey to explore ways to help my own children become thinkers and not mere reflectors of the thoughts of others.  As a public school teacher, I knew that some students learned to think, but many who crossed my path were simply satisfied with becoming cookie-cutter students; ones who followed the crowd and interacted and learned just like their peers.  It seemed that if I put my own children through the same process as the norm, the risk of developing reflectors rather than thinkers was great.  During the discovery process, I came across a simple formula for creating children who knew how to think, create, and excel and I was hooked!  This formula was developed by Harold McCurdy and his team of researchers.  They were commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute to discover the recipe for the creation of genius’ throughout history.  The results of their research revealed simple and amazing principles that any parent can implement in their homeschool.  Would you like to know the formula?  Here it is:  1)  provide the child with warm, responsive parents and other significant adults in their life, 2) isolate the child from peers outside of their immediate family, and 3) give the child much freedom to explore and follow their own interests.  Although simple, this formula goes against much of what current culture believes and endorses for raising intelligent children.  But, when these principles are not present, or are only minimally present in the lives of children, it is found to suppress the development of his or her intellect.  Would you like to raise children who can think?  Consider the formula for raising a genius!

The First School

Christians look to the creation of Adam and Eve as an example of individuals made in the image of God.  Their garden home and how they lived in it are a model to the human race.  Adam and Eve were students of the Creator of the universe.  The garden of Eden was their classroom and nature was their textbook.  Can you fathom how amazing it would be to have God as your school teacher?  What an opportunity!  The one who created everything and who had all knowledge taught to His creation the secrets of the universe.  Chemistry, physics, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, biology, art design, history of the universe, music, philosophy, language, are only a sampling of subjects that Adam and Eve studied in their communion with God as their teacher.  As we observe the life of Adam and Eve before sin entered the world, we discover that God commissioned  Adam and Eve to take care of the garden [Genesis 2:15].  Although they lived in a sinless, perfect world, they were not left to languish in a field of flowers!  They were given the assignment of learning the secrets of the universe [study].  Useful employment was given to them, as they were to take care of the garden [work].  God’s love reflected upon their hearts as they cared for one another in perfect love [service to others].  God designed the lessons He taught them in their Eden home to teach them completely, encompassing their intellect, physical strength, and spirit in communion with Him and with one another.  The garden of Eden represented all that God desired for mankind.  The desire of His heart was that Adam and Eve would have children, grandchildren, and future descendants that would establish homes and schools just like the one He modeled for them, and that they would reflect the knowledge of His glory.  The first school was of the God of creation.

Teach Your Own

An excerpt from “Teach Your Own” by John Holt, the educator who promoted freedom for children to learn naturally and coined the term “unschooling”.
 
“I have used the words “homeschooling” to describe the process by which children grow and learn in the world without going, or going very much, to schools, because those words are familiar and quickly understood. But in one very important sense they are misleading. What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children’s growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools but that it isn’t a school at all. It is not an artificial place, set up to make “learning” happen and in which nothing except “learning” ever happens. It is a natural, organic, central, fundamental human institution, one might easily and rightly say the foundation of all other institutions. We can imagine and indeed we have had human societies without schools, without factories, without libraries, museums, hospitals, roads, legislatures, courts, or any of the institutions which seem so indispensable and permanent a part of modern life. We might someday even choose, or be obliged, to live once again without some or all of these. But we cannot even imagine a society without homes, even if these should be no more than tents, or mud huts, or holes in the ground. What I am trying to say, in short, is that our chief educational problem is not to find a way to make homes more like schools. If anything, it is to make schools less like schools.”

Nature Represents God

Close your eyes for a moment and picture a young boy of ten or twelve years of age with dark hair, bright eyes, and a ruddy complexion.   Can you visualize him slowly ambling up a warm, Judean hillside?  Picture Him deep in thought, yet very observant — unusual for one His age.
  
This child, Jesus, was happiest in the fields and on the hillsides.  There, among the birds and flowers, through their actions and interactions, God taught Him many practical and spiritual lessons.  Jesus learned through the symbolism that He Himself had embedded into the things of nature when He created the world.  A mother bird, sheltering her brood under her wings, taught Him of the security of His Father’s care.  A tiny seed, pushing its leaf up through the hard earth taught Him of the power of the implanted germ of new life imputed in human hearts by God.  A pure white waterlily, floating on a murky pond, taught that He could live a pure and holy life, even amidst the strife and turmoil of the world.  Many of the lessons that He later taught on the hillsides of Galilee to the eager throngs, He learned through careful attention to the lessons taught by the little things around Him.

As human beings, we are a part of His creation.  We also fit into the symbolic scheme of the natural world and are commissioned to be examples of spiritual truths.  As His highest and most intelligent of earthly creatures, God is asking us to be vessels that reveal His love to others.  Through the tender bonds of love, we are to symbolize Christ to the world.  We are to be symbols, a model or representation of God’s family.  Our relationships with those around us, both at home and beyond, may be all that those in a sin-sick world can see of Christ’s love.  Expressing His character through our actions and deeds is what God asks us to do.  Quite a challenge, but the power to achieve it comes from Him.  Just look to the tiny examples in nature that share this truth.

~M

Learning Through Nature

David tells us in Psalm 19:1 that “the heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands”. All of God’s creation is an expression of His love for us. His principles and truths are shown through observation of the things He has made. Object lessons from nature teach children concepts that their minds may not be able to grasp from books or school routine. Learning like the child Jesus did, at a mother’s knee and in the woods or fields surrounding a child’s home, gives each one the opportunity to gain the same knowledge of God and His character as Jesus observed. The book, Education, says “let the child from his earliest years be placed where this wonderful lesson book shall be open before him” [p. 101] By looking at the landscapes crafted by God as the artist, observing the change of seasons, and seeing all that God made, the foundation of true education is firmly given.
 
These were principles that my maternal grandmother and mother firmly believed in. Both were school teachers, and both used nature study as an integral and significant portion of their lesson planning and instructional method. In the classroom, Sabbath School, Pathfinders, and at home, the study of the planets, stars, moon, and sun were balanced with rock or shell collecting, finding and creating butterfly and insect collections, observing birds and their nesting or migratory habits, learning to identify trees and creating leaf crafts, or studying botany by roaming mountainsides and fields in a search for early spring flowers. Nature was left undisturbed, but small aspects were brought into our home for our continued enjoyment and learning. Stories and books about nature filled the gaps in between the moments spent outside. Art always centered around something found or seen in nature. Watercolor, pastel, and pencil scenes ranged from vast landscapes to tiny parts of a flower gathered in the woods. Stories from books like Benny the Beaver, Girl of the Limberlost, or A Tippy Canoe and Canada Too taught of nature’s lessons and fueled our imaginations. My sister and I received untold blessing from the influence of these two amazing women and the lessons they taught from God’s second book. Such a heritage becomes a part of who a person is, and that heritage is something that was passed along to my own children in our homeschool. Much of my instruction reflected that of my mother and grandmother. Sometimes Mother and Grandmother would come to visit our homeschool, and I would turn the reins over to them. They become honorary instructors for the day. Their lessons continued through the generations as four generations observed God’s creation together.

Time has passed, and the life cycle passed more quickly for some than for others. My mother’s lessons remain in my heart, as she is no longer here to share them with us. But Grandmother’s influence still is cherished in her 102nd year. A recent visit with her was spent with me pushing her in her wheel chair through the gardens at her pleasant Canadian nursing home. We would stop to smell the flowers, and I would pick one of each kind and gently tuck them into each buttonhole of her sweater and in the band on her hat. The common act pleased her, and as we wound our way through the garden paths, I was both joyful and tearful as I remembered the days gone by. Teaching and learning had gone full-cycle and the roles reversed. But the joy of sharing God’s creation remained a firm bond in our relationship. Nature provided many lessons which became a significant part of our family legacy. The children and grandchildren of the future will enjoy lessons that were established by the careful instruction of generations before.

What are you doing to implement nature as a part of your homeschooling? Are you creating a legacy for your children? Please leave a comment and share how nature is an integral part of your teaching method.

Free Christian Homeschool Curriculum

SonLight Ministries is closing and is offering their materials at reduced rates or at no charge.  For more information, see the link below:

http://www.sonlighteducation.com/news.html

Children, the Most Precious Gift

Children are the most precious gift.  According to Psalm 127:3 they are a heritage.  It says that “children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.”

The dictionary defines gift as something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; a present.
Such favor from God can only be appropriately met by placing much value upon it.  We can show our children that they are valued by loving, cherishing, and appreciating them.  Kind words, a gentle touch, and an ear that always listens can bless them and show them their merit.  It is a favor that exists simply because they exist and it is one that is not earned.

Tangible affirmation reminds children that they are valued.  Years ago, when my children were in early elementary school, I cross-stitched a verse that said “Children, the most precious gift”.  It was framed as the focal point between two old-fashioned art prints of children and hung as a unit over the sofa in the living room.  Placed there, it held place of significance in our home and served to remind the children that they were important to us.  This framed art remained as the central focus during their teenage years.  Although they are now young adults and living on their own, I’ve decided that the framed art and cross-stitched message remains.  No matter what the age, children are a blessing and it is our responsibility as parents to affirm this to them always.
Blessings are words of affirmation and love spoken to another.  When a parent speaks these words and then exhibits them by action or deed, the child is blessed beyond measure.  Gary Smalley and John Trent speak of the five elements of the blessing in their book by the same title.  These elements are a meaningful touch, a spoken message, the attachment of high value to the one being blessed, the creation of a word picture of the special future perceived to the one being blessed, and an active commitment to fulfill the blessing.  Although all parents can share the blessing with their children, the homeschool parent has a greater opportunity to pass this blessing along to their off-spring simply because of the dedicated amount of time he or she spends with them.  The creation of a warm and responsive environment facilitates a positive sense of self-worth in children, blesses them, and helps them develop intellectually and to his or her full potential.

Today, thank God for the special opportunity He has given you to homeschool your children.  And don’t forget to give your children an extra hug and words of affirmation!  They are His gift.

God's Law of Love

When considering love as the basis of true education, we can reflect upon the two great commandments of the new covenant.  The first is God’s desire that we love the Lord with our entire heart, soul, strength, and mind [Luke 10:27] and the second is that we love our neighbor as our self [Matthew 22:39].  By doing this, we find that His power and strength recreates us into His image.  God is love, and when we align ourselves to Him, this love reflects back into our hearts and is shown by the love we express to everyone around us.  God does this not only for us, but for every being on the planet.  You have probably heard it said that to our children, we represent God and His character.  So, it is vital that we keep connected to divine love on a daily basis as we exemplify and reflect His character.  By serving those in our homes we show God’s love.  And by modeling loving behaviors to those in our neighborhood, church, and to others around the world we teach our children the joy of service.  Too often it is easy to get caught up in simple daily tasks, forgetting that God commissions us to serve not only in our family circle, but to those in need all around us.  And what a joy and pleasure it is to be given the opportunity to home educate so that we can incorporate principles of service into our children’s hearts and minds as they inculcate the principle of love for themselves.  Go, reach out, and touch someone today.  And take your children with you.

Love, the Basis of True Education

True education is an education that educates the whole child.  God’s Word and revelations to us through nature show that love is the basis of true education.  Take a moment to think about this.  Love.  Our entire course of learning should be based upon this platform.  Considering this as the basis of all education makes me contemplate not only the academic environment, but how we as parents create opportunities and an environment for character development and service to others.  When we make the decision to homeschool, we usually think of what programs, textbooks, or worksheets we want to use.  But are we spending an equivalent amount of time establishing opportunities for character development and service to others?  Instead of making this an assumed by product of living in a Christian home, what if we established specific and tangible goals for the child’s character and expression of love to others through service?  It seems reasonable that by focusing on love, everything else will fall into its proper place.  Love.

Welcome to HEWC

 
Welcome to Educating the Whole Child, a blog which explores methods of homeschooling the whole child from birth through high school.