Category Archives: Parenting Resources

Discovery Studies: Foreign Language

Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 13 (part 2)

WholeHeartedI think most of us have heard about the benefits of learning a foreign language when you’re young, and the Clarksons addressed that a bit in this chapter on “Discovery Studies.”

“Scientists believe that the first ten years of a child’s life are the peak time for learning language.  A child’s brain in those years is wired by the sounds of language–neural pathways are constructed from what is heard and used, and other factors contribute to make learning a foreign language easier and more natural than at any other time in life” (page 253).

I was fascinated by the German language as a child.  One of the teachers at my elementary school spoke German, and even though I was in the other fifth grade class, I was allowed to go over to his room when he did German lessons because he knew of my interest.  He also gave me a set of audio cassettes with a lesson book and dictionary.  I used to listen to them over and over again, repeating the phrases after the speaker.

I ended up taking four years of German in high school as well, but you know what?  The sound of those simple phrases on the cassettes stand out more in my memory.  There really is something about hearing and learning to speak a language when you are young that sticks in the brain differently than when you are older.

I’ve never fully learned a second language.  In spite of those four years of German class, my abilities were always more in reading the language than being able to participate in a conversation.  I lived in Kenya for a while and learned quite a bit of Swahili and a little Maasai, but while I could understand fairly well, I would never have considered myself fluent.  I also have a fair amount of Spanish floating around in my head, mostly just as a result of living in Southern California.  One time I even had a dream in Spanish, but I’ve never really spent time learning it intentionally.

Until this last year, that is.  I am determined to help my children have more success when it comes to learning languages.  I’ve read controversial articles among homeschoolers about why Spanish isn’t the best language to study, but I think where we live it is an essential skill.  By the time my children grow up, it may be a real hindrance in getting a job if they don’t know Spanish.  I’ve driven through neighborhoods where there are more signs in Spanish than English, and there have been multiple occasions when I’ve been unable to help someone because I don’t speak the language.

“If you want your children to learn a foreign language, you should create a reason for them to want to learn it” (page 253).

While I do hope to inspire my children with mission trips to Spanish-speaking countries, I think just living in Southern California might be reason enough for them to want to learn it.  Our neighbors speak Spanish (though the children are bi-lingual) and while Ian is shy about using what he’s learned with them, he’s also quite proud to tell them, “My mom is teaching me Spanish.”  (If only they knew how incompetent I am!)

I may not know enough to help them become fluent, but I try to make it as fun and appealing as I can, and I hope than by exposing them to the language they will naturally be drawn to learning more on their own.  Actually, I hope that I am just lighting a spark that will ignite a love for foreign language in general, and that all my children will choose to go beyond learning Spanish and dive into German, French and/or other languages as well.  And I think that’s what Discovery Studies are all about!

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Discovery Studies: The Arts in Homeschooling

Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 13

WholeHeartedThere are many different parts to what the Clarksons call “Discovery Studies,” and I enjoy helping expose my children to all of them, but my favorite is probably the arts, just because music, dance, visual arts, and theater have all been important parts of my own life.

Ian took a couple years of Yamaha music lessons, but for the last year I’ve been teaching both boys piano on my own, which is rather isolating.  I want them to know the joy of making music with others, however, so I’m so thankful that this week my boys have a chance to spend their mornings at music camp.  Both camp and their Friday music classes this fall that will give them a chance to sing in a choir and play hand chimes as well.  I hope they will love being a part of creating something beautiful with their friends.

In the last year, Ian has also starting enjoying artistic expression.  He loves to draw, and we’ve gotten several books that show him step by step how to draw specific things.  This afternoon he created a game board, and all three older kids had a great time rolling a die and moving their game pieces around the board, landing on monsters that sent them back to the beginning.  Then he told me he want to make his own book, “Because lots of other people have made their own books.”  I cut some paper and stapled them into a book, which he then spent the next hour or so filling in with pictures on every page.

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I want to make sure I make it a priority to allow him the time for things like this.  He may never be a professional artist of musician, but I hope the arts will always be a part of his life.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

The Heart of Homeschooling: Discussion Studies

Educating the WholeHearted Child: 12

WholeHearted“If Discussion Studies are not the constantly beating heart at the center of WholeHearted Learning, pulsing the life-blood of new thoughts and ideas to every part of the model, then the life will soon go out of your homeschool” (page 211).

I have always loved to discuss ideas.  One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that I get to engage my children in discussions about things I love: the Bible, literature, history, theology, art, music…

There are things to enjoy in each stage of homeschooling, but I am really looking forward to a few years from now, when I can start discussing some of the favorite novels of my childhood with my children.  There are so many “friends” I’ve been eagerly waiting to introduce them to: Sara Crewe, Mary Lennox and Dickon, Johnny Tremain, Heidi, … There are times and places I long to take them as we snuggle up on the couch and spend the afternoon reliving history in our imaginations.

I don’t think we’ll have any problems keeping Discussion Studies at the heart of our homeschool.  There are so many wonderful things to look forward to in the years to come!

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Disciplined Studies (Math)

Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 11 (part 2)

WholeHearted Back when I was in elementary through high school, if you had asked me what my least favorite subject was, I would have quickly answered, “Math!”  After my days of math class were behind me, however, I realized that it wasn’t really math itself I found distasteful; it was the way it was taught.  I thrived on the challenge of math, and because I grasped things quickly, I spent a lot of time waiting for the rest of my class to be ready to move on, which meant I rarely felt challenged.  I think if I had been homeschooled and could move at my own pace I would probably have found it one of my favorite subjects.

I actually really like most things about mathematics. I resonated with these reasons Clarksons give for considering a study of math worthwhile:

“Math is empowering–it strengthens logical thinking, which can contribute to real-life problem solving skills.

Math is rewarding–there is a certain feeling of pride and accomplishment in getting the right answers to challenging math problems.

Math is necessary–the bottom line of math study is acquiring abilities that enable us to function successfully and independently in society.

Math is affirming–the beauty, elegance, and exactness of math reflect the nature and faithfulness of God (unchanging) in contrast to the corruption and confusion of sin” (page 206).

I love the sense of order, knowing there’s a definitely right answer, and working my way through whatever I need to do to find that answer.  I get a lot of satisfaction out of solving math problems, and I see that same enjoyment in my children, particularly Elijah.  I could easily see him wanting to work his way all the way through calculus.

I’ve written a lot in the past about some of my struggles in teaching math to Ian.  I want to be sure that I don’t drive him towards a dislike for math simply because I’m not teaching it in a way that works for him.  Right now I feel like we’re in a really good place, but I want to stay sensitive to his learning style and needs.  I’m not saying he has to love math, but I hope he’ll be able to enjoy it more than I did as a child.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Disciplined Studies: Language Arts

Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 11

WholeHeartedMaybe it’s because I come from a family of teachers and have my own classroom experience, but I’ve never struggled with the insecurity I know many homeschool moms feel when they think of the enormous responsibility they have taken on as their children’s main teacher.  The only time I waver a bit is in areas when I’m taking an approach that’s completely different from the way something is taught in schools.

One of the main places I see this is with language arts.  Schools tend to use a systematic approach to teaching things like grammar, spelling, vocabulary and composition.  I feel those things are best taught through regular exposure to good literature.  The Clarksons have a similar approach.

“The more language your children are exposed to in the early years, the more they will naturally acquire good grammar.  Grammar rules, which will never by themselves make any child good at grammar, can wait until your child is writing easily and well at around age ten, and then only if they are needed” (page 199).

The same is true for things like punctuation and spelling.  Rules and word lists are not as affective as constant interaction with the written word.  We use methods such as reading aloud, narration, copywork, and dictation to teach the same concepts, and it feels so much more natural helping Ian pick things up as we go along.  I need to remember this when I start seeing what other people are doing and get worried.  I really appreciated this chapter because it reassured me I’m not being negligent by postponing the technical side of things.

In my college music history class I remember being struck by the knowledge that composers like Mozart and Beethoven grew up learning music theory and the mechanics of writing music by paying careful attention as they copied beautiful music of other composers note by note.  In the same way, I believe my children will learn how to write and communicate best by paying close attention to how other authors have used beautiful language before them.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Bible Study vs. Devotional Reading

Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 10 (part 2)

WholeHeartedLast week I talked about three goals I had when it came to my children and the Bible.  After some prayer, I ended up amending the third goal, which was to start encouraging Ian to have a daily devotional time on his own.  It was a lesson for me in seeking the Lord’s will before making my own plans.  (Back to that Word for 2014: Pray!)

As I finished Chapter 10, I noticed that the Clarksons have almost an opposite approach to mine.

“Serious, systematic Bible study is important, but it can wait until the high school years.  In the childhood years, you are building spiritual appetites and habits for the Bible that will become personal commitments to serious Bible study later” (page 191).

They encourage Bible reading and developing a habit of daily devotions with younger children, but put off serious study until they are older.  In some ways that makes sense to me.  I really resonated with this statement:

“Too much formality risks turning the inspired Word of God into just another curriculum” (page 191).

I remember feeling that way in college.  I loved my Bible classes, and I felt so blessed to be at a Christian college where God’s Word was an important part of many of my classes, but I struggled at times with it becoming in some ways like another textbook.  I want to be careful to keep God’s Word as holy in our home, to not let it become “just another curriculum.”

However, I’m not sure I quite agree with what the Clarksons are saying.  Without serious study I worry they will be prone to take Scripture out of context (as I see so many Christians doing).  I see the early years a chance to fill my children’s minds and hearts with Scripture, and I feel that systematic study is an important part of knowing what they are reading.  My approach has been to focus on the stories and principles of the Bible, learning about the Bible itself, and memorizing as much as possible, laying a foundation for when they are older and their hearts/faith have caught up.

Also, as I wrote in my “amendment” last week, I want to hold off on encouraging Ian to have a daily devotional time until I know that he is resting on his own faith.  I don’t want to push him into “religious” habits that aren’t flowing from a heart that loves Jesus.  On the other hand, I know God can work through those times alone in prayer and Bible reading to help that loving faith grow and develop.  And I do think it’s a wonderful habit to help our children develop.

So I guess what I’m saying is I think it’s important to have both serious study and a more heart-focused devotional time.  For now, I feel God is leading me to wait until Ian expresses an interest in being baptized before guiding him toward a habit of devotional reading.  I suppose the best thing to do is continue to pray and seek God for wisdom in how to help my children walk along the path of faith.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Valuing Scripture

Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 10

WholeHearted“It is a deliberate choice you make to ensure your children grow up valuing the Bible as God’s revealed Word, not just consuming it like another Christian product” (page 186).

As I read through this chapter I was struck by this idea.  We have tried hard to make this choice for our family.  Both of our older boys received ESV Bibles with their names imprinted on the covers when they turned four.  They read from them every night during our family Bible time as well as using them during school and whenever they want to read on their own.  They take them to church on Sundays and share them with the kids in the 5th grade class where Eric and I teach.  (We want to worship together as a family on Sundays, so we bring all our kids in with us.)

I overheard Elijah telling Arianna the other day, “When you turn four, you’ll get a real Bible too!”  I love that he knows it’s a milestone in our family, and that he sees the difference between Bible storybooks (of which Arianna has plenty!) and the “real” Bible.  It’s important to learn the stories, and with little ones Bible storybooks can be a great tool, but there’s nothing like the inspired Word of God.

This chapter brought to mind three two areas I want to focus on for improvement in teaching my children to value Scripture:

  • I want to be more intentional about pointing out to my children that when we read, God is speaking to us. I want them to know that this is different than all the other times throughout the day when Mommy reads out loud (which happens a lot the way we choose to teach them.)

“When you read and study the Bible with your children, remind them you are carrying on a conversation with the God of the universe.  When you open the Bible to read God’s words, remind them to open their hearts to hear God’s voice.  Remind them often that the Bible is not just an inspired curriculum about God and the Christian life, nor is it just a heavenly storybook, but it is God speaking to the world and to them through his revealed Word” (page 186).

  • I want to be sure I’m reading the Bible on my own in front of my children.  I tend to try to wait until I am alone to spend time in the Word, but while that time is definitely important, it doesn’t help model for my children the importance of the Scriptures in my life.
  • This probably needs to wait until after I’m more established on my second goal, but I want to start encouraging at least Ian to have a personal devotion time.  Right now I require all my children to lie down in their beds during “nap time,” even my 6-year old.  He often does sleep, but I think I could use the first part of those two hours to help him develop a devotional habit.  (After all, that’s often when I have my own devotions.)  I’ll have to consider this some more, but I want to keep it in mind and start heading in that direction.

Edited: After posting this I was praying about this last goal and felt God saying to wait, not just until my children see me reading my Bible more often, but until they really start expressing their own faith.  More specifically, I felt He wanted me to wait until after they have expressed a desire to be baptized.  Ian could probably tell someone what it means to have faith in Jesus and have our sins forgiven, and one time he asked me when he would be baptized, but he’s never said he wanted to do so or really expressed his own faith.  I think if I were to encourage devotions at this point it would be more of a religious exercise rather than time spent listening to God.  So I’ll just keep this in mind for later.  🙂

 

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Non-Conforming Parenting

Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 9

WholeHeartedAt first glance, this chapter on “The WholeHearted Learning Youth” isn’t exactly applicable to our family right now (since our oldest is only 6).  It provided a lot of food for thought about how I want to approach the years ahead, but much of it was just wisdom to file away for later.

One thing that stood out to me, however, was the issue of conforming to the world’s ways, not just culturally, but also educationally.  Am I making decisions based on what the world says my children’s education should look like, or am I allow God to be our guide?  My “Word for 2014,” PRAY, has helped me develop a habit of turning to the Lord for things I have previously just managed on my own.  The Clarksons reminded me that I also need to be seeking the transforming of my mind through the Scriptures.  In their discussion of Romans 12:1-2 they write:

“…Go to God’s Word to keep your mind renewed by truth.  The real power of God’s Word is not just that it’s true and trustworthy, but that it transforms–it is the ‘living and active’ Word that penetrates and changes ‘soul and spirit’ and ‘thoughts and attitudes’ (Hebrews 4:12).  The only way to know you are doing God’s will as a parent is to constantly renew your mind with God’s truth.  You become a conformist to the world’s ways of thinking by default; you become a biblical idealist only by design” (page 172, emphasis mine).

In my current season of life it is hard to find time to spend in the Word, at least to the extent that I have in the past.  I find myself grabbing snatches here and there: a few paragraphs from the open Bible I leave on the bathroom counter when I manage to catch a few uninterrupted moments, verses taped above my kitchen sink that I can meditate on as I do dishes, and maybe a few chapters during naptime when I’m feeling particularly starved (provided all four children actually stay in their beds for an extended period of time).  Yet I must cling to those scraps of Scripture if I have any hope of being the godly parent I want to be.

My children will only be young for so long.  I want to use these years as effectively as possible, both as far as training and instructing my children “in the words and ways of biblical Christianity” (page 174), and renewing my own mind with God’s truth.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Appreciating Each Child’s Uniqueness

 Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 8

WholeHeartedGrowing up, my dad and I often butted heads as our iron wills came into conflict.  I felt like an oddball in our family, like no one understood me.  As I grew up, however, I realized that part of the reason my dad and I got so passionate in our disagreements was because we were actually alike in many ways.  By the time I was a teenager we had developed a healthy respect for each other’s strength, and disagreement between us became quite rare.

Chapter 8 was about personality and learning styles.  As I read through it I kept jotting down the names of people in our family who were described so well in certain sections.  Some of those descriptions don’t resonate with my own personality at all, but I see them in my husband or some of our children.  Oftentimes those are the things about them that frustrate me the most, especially when it comes to educating children who think or react to the world so differently than I do myself.

I think one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children is appreciation for the unique person God has created them to be.  My two older sons are incredibly different from one another, and I want to make sure they know that that’s not only okay, but it’s a good thing.

untitled shoot-099Elijah is very gifted with numbers, and at times it has driven Ian to tears when his younger brother comes up with answers to his math problems before he even gets a chance to start working them out.  But I remind him that we are all unique, and each of our strengths are important for specific things.  God has gifted Ian in ways that will prepare him for the work he can do for His kingdom, fulfilling a purpose that Elijah wouldn’t be able to do.

untitled shoot-119I want my children to have the self-confidence of knowing that God created every part of them, even their personalities and learning styles.  And just as they are uniquely valuable, so is each person they meet, created by God in a particular way to be used by Him for His own glory.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

 

Our Home Library

    Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 7

WholeHeartedOh, what a dangerous chapter this was!  I have been building a personal library since I was a child, and the Clarksons have now helped me justify my compulsion to fill our home with good books.

“A growing home library is absolutely essential for a WholeHearted Learning approach to home education… Just remember, books are an investment.  They have intellectual asset value.  They are nonconsumable curricula that can be used with every child, then with their children, and passed on to succeeding generations.  Books are worth it” (page 128).

AMEN!

Some things in Educating the WholeHearted Child have challenged me as they exposed my inadequacies.  Others have encouraged me as I see things I am already doing (or at least heading toward).  But I doubt there will be any other standards in this book that I even come close to attaining to the extent that I have already met their challenge to build up a family library.

So rather than a lengthy post, I thought I’d share some pictures.  These are only the “tidy” book areas, because as Margaret E. Sangster said (quoted in the sidebar on page 130), “To the genuine lover of books no house is completely furnished which has not a good many of them, not arranged formally in one room, but scattered all over the house.” There are several baskets (and stacks) that didn’t make it into any pictures.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ve probably already seen our main library in the school room:

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But I don’t think I’ve ever shared what our living room wall looks like:

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That still wasn’t enough space for me so here’s the entrance to our guest room:

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And a little back corner of the guest room (with 2 shelves in double rows, and yes, that box on the right and the one underneath it are filled with books, as are the cupboards under the shelf):

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And of course the kids have little mini-libraries in their room.  Here’s Arianna’s shelf (minus the books in her bed):

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And here’s the boys’ shelf:

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I know it doesn’t look like much, but that’s because their beds usually look like this:

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I cleared out Ian’s bed this week and it had to have had at least 30 books in it.  But I’m not complaining.  I’m too busy bursting with pride!  Yes, it’s a sickness, and I think it’s contagious.

I love this sidebar quote from Henry Ward Beecher on page 129: “No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them.  It is a wrong to his family.  He cheats them! … It is a man’s duty to have books.  A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life.”

I don’t know if I’d go that far, it’s nice to know I’m not alone in my desire to surround my children (literally) with good books.  And I don’t think there’s any danger of them being cheated in this way!

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

 

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