In general, we use the Charlotte Mason method of education. One of the joys of life for me has been to discover Charlotte Mason's method in the Bible. This was the first aspect of the Charlotte Mason method I discovered in God's Word, and I can still remember how excited I was that day!
The background of this story is that God is telling Moses that when the Israelites get to the Promised Land, they are going to ask for a king. Therefore, God lays out some instructions for what He expects of the kings of Israel.
“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel." Deut. 17:18-20.
God actually expected each king to write out a copy of the law, which is Genesis through Deuteronomy, in his own handwriting. I wonder how many kings actually did that? I don't believe we have record of any kings actually doing that, but some may have. I wonder what would have happened differently if they had obeyed the Lord in this. Well, I guess we don't have to wonder too long, because God tells us all the benefits that He promises to the kings that do obey Him in this.
Charlotte Mason calls this copywork; we call it "The King's Assignment." We each copy God's Word for 15 minutes a day. I know one young man who had an attitude problem and his parents told him his assignment to graduate from high school was to copy Genesis through Deuteronomy. By the time he finished, he was a changed young man, and is diligently serving the Lord today, many years later.
It takes quite a bit of work and effort to write the Bible yourself, but do we really have more to do than the king of Israel did? Think of it this way: if you are a son or a daughter of the King of Kings, shouldn't you tackle the "King's Assignment," too?
Writing out God's Word in my own handwriting has provided more benefits than I ever dreamed of. Rather than tell you what they are, I shall encourage you to give it a try for yourself, and see what God reveals to you!
Showing posts with label Homeschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschool. Show all posts
May 26, 2006
Apr 30, 2006
Exponential Education
I have recently discovered something about education.
Do you remember learning about exponents in math? I don't suppose I can actually show one here, but it was a smaller font number to the upper right corner of another number, such as 3 "to the power of" 4, whereas 3 is the main number and 4 is the little number in the corner. These always fascinated me. If we were just to take 3 X 4, for example, the answer would merely be 12. However, with exponents, you multiply the number times itself for however times the exponent says to. So in this case, we would multiply 3 X 3 X 3 X 3, which would give us 81! What a tremendous difference!
So what does this have to do with education? I have recently applied this same principle to learning. As we have increased our field trips, our museum trips, our hands-on learning, I have noticed that our learning has increased exponentially as well. You know that old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Oh, how true that is! An educational picture, of sorts, can dramatically speed up learning. (And likewise, the evening news can dramatically speed up learning as well, but those are not the kinds of pictures I want my children to have seared upon their brains. I want to be very careful what "impressions" I put upon our minds.) So I feel good about "investing" in the IMAX theater for a great educational movie, which may take many, many hours of reading a great book to get the same educational impact.
Now, if just seeing something has such an exponential educational impact on our brains, I started thinking about what else learning could do. Several years ago, I heard a great Sunday School lesson that forever changed my life (don't you love those memorable lessons?). The man was talking about reading God's Word and he started with talking about just reading the Bible, where the only sense that is used is seeing. Then he talked about reading God's Word out loud. Now, we not only see the words, but we are saying them and hearing them also! Wow! That was an exponential leap! In the same amount of time, we can now see, hear, and say the words of God! As I started experimenting with this, I noticed that my disabled daughter would come and join me every morning, so that she could hear God's Word, too. I am not reading to her, but she is able to hear the word of the Lord. What an extra blessing! (Moms, don't push away your little ones when you are spending time with the Lord. They can learn, too, although you are not speaking to them.) A little while later, I discovered even more exponential learning from God's Word, which I will cover in a post entitled "The King's Assignment," coming soon!
We have never done too many field trips, but this last year we incorporated quite a few of them into our schedule. We don't go for the ones that are more for amusement (muse = think; a = not or without; a-muse = not thinking; without thinking), but there are lots of great educational opportunites out there. Have you ever studied something in a book, and then gone to see it, or do it? It's that "Aha!" feeling, isn't it? Before we went to Sea World a couple years ago, for example, we always liked dolphins, we read about them, we looked at pictures of them, we'd even seen them afar off. But when we were able to spend an hour with the dolphins with almost no one else around, to play catch with them, to pet them, to feed them, to play with them, to laugh with them - our learning about dolphins increased to tremendous exponential proportions. No amount of book learning, and I'm all for book learning, could match this one hour experience!
So, I will be giving field trip reviews on this blog now, for my local readers especially, or maybe those who would like to come for a visit!, but we do like to travel once in a while, so I will write field trip reviews for wherever we might go. I hope these reviews will encourage you to exponential learning, no matter how old you are! The day you stop learning is the day you grow old.
Exponential learning also includes science experiments, gardening, cleaning house, a walk in nature, seeing the baby ducks grow up, and a million other areas of life. Explode your learning with exponential education!
Do you remember learning about exponents in math? I don't suppose I can actually show one here, but it was a smaller font number to the upper right corner of another number, such as 3 "to the power of" 4, whereas 3 is the main number and 4 is the little number in the corner. These always fascinated me. If we were just to take 3 X 4, for example, the answer would merely be 12. However, with exponents, you multiply the number times itself for however times the exponent says to. So in this case, we would multiply 3 X 3 X 3 X 3, which would give us 81! What a tremendous difference!
So what does this have to do with education? I have recently applied this same principle to learning. As we have increased our field trips, our museum trips, our hands-on learning, I have noticed that our learning has increased exponentially as well. You know that old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Oh, how true that is! An educational picture, of sorts, can dramatically speed up learning. (And likewise, the evening news can dramatically speed up learning as well, but those are not the kinds of pictures I want my children to have seared upon their brains. I want to be very careful what "impressions" I put upon our minds.) So I feel good about "investing" in the IMAX theater for a great educational movie, which may take many, many hours of reading a great book to get the same educational impact.
Now, if just seeing something has such an exponential educational impact on our brains, I started thinking about what else learning could do. Several years ago, I heard a great Sunday School lesson that forever changed my life (don't you love those memorable lessons?). The man was talking about reading God's Word and he started with talking about just reading the Bible, where the only sense that is used is seeing. Then he talked about reading God's Word out loud. Now, we not only see the words, but we are saying them and hearing them also! Wow! That was an exponential leap! In the same amount of time, we can now see, hear, and say the words of God! As I started experimenting with this, I noticed that my disabled daughter would come and join me every morning, so that she could hear God's Word, too. I am not reading to her, but she is able to hear the word of the Lord. What an extra blessing! (Moms, don't push away your little ones when you are spending time with the Lord. They can learn, too, although you are not speaking to them.) A little while later, I discovered even more exponential learning from God's Word, which I will cover in a post entitled "The King's Assignment," coming soon!
We have never done too many field trips, but this last year we incorporated quite a few of them into our schedule. We don't go for the ones that are more for amusement (muse = think; a = not or without; a-muse = not thinking; without thinking), but there are lots of great educational opportunites out there. Have you ever studied something in a book, and then gone to see it, or do it? It's that "Aha!" feeling, isn't it? Before we went to Sea World a couple years ago, for example, we always liked dolphins, we read about them, we looked at pictures of them, we'd even seen them afar off. But when we were able to spend an hour with the dolphins with almost no one else around, to play catch with them, to pet them, to feed them, to play with them, to laugh with them - our learning about dolphins increased to tremendous exponential proportions. No amount of book learning, and I'm all for book learning, could match this one hour experience!
So, I will be giving field trip reviews on this blog now, for my local readers especially, or maybe those who would like to come for a visit!, but we do like to travel once in a while, so I will write field trip reviews for wherever we might go. I hope these reviews will encourage you to exponential learning, no matter how old you are! The day you stop learning is the day you grow old.
Exponential learning also includes science experiments, gardening, cleaning house, a walk in nature, seeing the baby ducks grow up, and a million other areas of life. Explode your learning with exponential education!
Apr 16, 2006
The Evolution of My Homeschooling Philosophy
When I first began this homeschool journey eleven years ago, I was mostly concerned about protecting my daughter from the bullies in school who kicked her and hit her every day; about the teacher in her public school who informed me that she would not have time for my daughter that year because she had to spend all her time disciplining certain boys in the class whose fathers were high-ranking military officials; and about the extremely low academic standards that frustrated me even in kindergarten.
As I continued homeschooling, and as I grew in my walk with the Lord, my reasons for homeschooling changed and grew and became personal convictions. I learned to truly love learning for the first time in my life, and had a great desire to pass on a love of learning, a lifetime of learning, to my children. Someone introduced us to living books from the very beginning, and I am very grateful for such an enjoyable start even to this day. We learned how subjects that used to be dreaded were now so much fun!
Gradually, I realized that homeschooling is more than just school at home. I began to realize that training my children in every aspect of life was something I could do, something I should do, and something I loved doing! We have learned how to function in every day life, cooking, cleaning, car maintenance, lawn care and gardening. We learned every detail of moving and setting up a home, including organization, house painting, repairs, and deep cleaning. We learned how to set up a library, build a chain-link fence, and as many things as I can possibly fit into each day. But most of all, we learned about living our life by God's Word. How should we act in this situation? What should we wear? How should we spend our time, money, etc.? What does the Bible say about _____? Homeschooling is preparing my children for the rest of their lives.
That began to evolve into the realization that all of life can be "homeschool." I learned how to identify, and eventually use, teachable moments. We learned about character through the examples of others' behaviors, some good, some not so good, and from the books we read and the movies we see. We learned that we can learn something from every small experience in life. I learned that the best way to teach is through real life. We learn early math through going shopping or doubling a recipe. We learn science through taking a walk and considering God's creation. I learned about exponential learning, how doing something hands-on, or seeing a museum exhibit, or how a live experience greatly increased the amount of learning taking place vs. reading about that same subject. Field trips took on tremendous importance!
Along the way somewhere, I realized that homeschooling should be fun! I determined that I wanted to pass on the joy of learning so that my children would not only have pleasant memories of learning opportunities while they are growing up, but that they will delight in learning for the rest of their lives. We enjoy great books, we put on the music while we have fun working around the house, we dance to the Lord together, we exercise together, we laugh together! What a joy it is to learn together!
During this whole venture, God quietly began showing me that homeschooling was really His plan for families. We are told to diligently talk about the things of the Lord to our children when we sit in our house, take a walk, when we sit or lie down and get up. That's a lot of time! I am so grateful that God put a desire to homeschool in my heart before He gave me a conviction about it. I am grateful that my children always saw a mother who homeschooled them because she wanted to and not because she had to.
Now we come to the latest revelation for why I continue to homeschool. In this last year, the main thing God has been teaching me in my walk with Him is how important relationships are. In fact, I think NOTHING is more important than relationships. God left us here on earth, upon our profession of Christ, not just for one reason - to glorify God and serve Him forever - but for a second important reason - people! Jesus told us to love God first, and then love others. One of the reasons I homeschool is to teach my children to love God more than anything else! But another huge reason I homeschool is to have that relationship with my children!
I LOVE being with my children! I love working with my children. I love reading to my children. I love going on field trips with my children. I love going to the symphony, to the park, to the museum, even on errands, with my children! I love just talking with my children. Everytime we are together, we are working on our relationship, whether for good or for bad. What an opportunity homeschooling is to work on relationship: relationship with God and relationship with family. Even relationships with other families are afforded many oppotunities to grow as well. Life is not about me; it is about God, and others, namely my husband and my children.
While there are many altruistic reasons for homeschooling, when I discovered that relationship-development with my children was God-ordained, I could then enjoy homeschooling even that much more. I so look forward to spending each and every day with the precious children God has allowed me to raise and homeschool. What an awesome privilege and delight!
As I continued homeschooling, and as I grew in my walk with the Lord, my reasons for homeschooling changed and grew and became personal convictions. I learned to truly love learning for the first time in my life, and had a great desire to pass on a love of learning, a lifetime of learning, to my children. Someone introduced us to living books from the very beginning, and I am very grateful for such an enjoyable start even to this day. We learned how subjects that used to be dreaded were now so much fun!
Gradually, I realized that homeschooling is more than just school at home. I began to realize that training my children in every aspect of life was something I could do, something I should do, and something I loved doing! We have learned how to function in every day life, cooking, cleaning, car maintenance, lawn care and gardening. We learned every detail of moving and setting up a home, including organization, house painting, repairs, and deep cleaning. We learned how to set up a library, build a chain-link fence, and as many things as I can possibly fit into each day. But most of all, we learned about living our life by God's Word. How should we act in this situation? What should we wear? How should we spend our time, money, etc.? What does the Bible say about _____? Homeschooling is preparing my children for the rest of their lives.
That began to evolve into the realization that all of life can be "homeschool." I learned how to identify, and eventually use, teachable moments. We learned about character through the examples of others' behaviors, some good, some not so good, and from the books we read and the movies we see. We learned that we can learn something from every small experience in life. I learned that the best way to teach is through real life. We learn early math through going shopping or doubling a recipe. We learn science through taking a walk and considering God's creation. I learned about exponential learning, how doing something hands-on, or seeing a museum exhibit, or how a live experience greatly increased the amount of learning taking place vs. reading about that same subject. Field trips took on tremendous importance!
Along the way somewhere, I realized that homeschooling should be fun! I determined that I wanted to pass on the joy of learning so that my children would not only have pleasant memories of learning opportunities while they are growing up, but that they will delight in learning for the rest of their lives. We enjoy great books, we put on the music while we have fun working around the house, we dance to the Lord together, we exercise together, we laugh together! What a joy it is to learn together!
During this whole venture, God quietly began showing me that homeschooling was really His plan for families. We are told to diligently talk about the things of the Lord to our children when we sit in our house, take a walk, when we sit or lie down and get up. That's a lot of time! I am so grateful that God put a desire to homeschool in my heart before He gave me a conviction about it. I am grateful that my children always saw a mother who homeschooled them because she wanted to and not because she had to.
Now we come to the latest revelation for why I continue to homeschool. In this last year, the main thing God has been teaching me in my walk with Him is how important relationships are. In fact, I think NOTHING is more important than relationships. God left us here on earth, upon our profession of Christ, not just for one reason - to glorify God and serve Him forever - but for a second important reason - people! Jesus told us to love God first, and then love others. One of the reasons I homeschool is to teach my children to love God more than anything else! But another huge reason I homeschool is to have that relationship with my children!
I LOVE being with my children! I love working with my children. I love reading to my children. I love going on field trips with my children. I love going to the symphony, to the park, to the museum, even on errands, with my children! I love just talking with my children. Everytime we are together, we are working on our relationship, whether for good or for bad. What an opportunity homeschooling is to work on relationship: relationship with God and relationship with family. Even relationships with other families are afforded many oppotunities to grow as well. Life is not about me; it is about God, and others, namely my husband and my children.
While there are many altruistic reasons for homeschooling, when I discovered that relationship-development with my children was God-ordained, I could then enjoy homeschooling even that much more. I so look forward to spending each and every day with the precious children God has allowed me to raise and homeschool. What an awesome privilege and delight!
Apr 12, 2006
Charlotte Mason - Updated
Are you interested in the Charlotte Mason "Original Home Schooling Series," but have a difficult time wading through all that old Victorian era English? Here is a free online modern version written by Leslie Laurio, also available for sale in print. When I first heard of this version, I was concerned that it might be too freely paraphrased, or even dumbed down from the original, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it maintains the full integrity of the original insofar as I have read it. I would say that the original reads like the KJV Bible, and is really not too hard to read if the KJV is your regular Bible, but that the modern version reads like the NKJV. Just the odd words have been updated. She has also added links to the online version where a poem, book, author, etc. might be mentioned by Charlotte Mason that we might not be familiar with. That was very helpful. I still heartily recommend the "Original Series," but this is a good supplement. What a blessing this is in my life!
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