Friday, August 17, 2007
What Do You Think
about Classical Christian Homeschooling? Most of you (homeschoolers) are probably familiar with the Trivium and how it applies to the way our children learn. If you are NOT familiar with it...well, that makes me feel a whole better lol seeing as how I had only recently come across the details :) I have a friend whose children attend a Classical Christian School, but I did not think a whole lot about it. I about abandoned my plan to use Abeka again this year when I came upon this, but realized that there is no reason I can't incorporate a good bit of the suggested material into what we are already doing. Not to mention...I am not confident enough to pick and choose curriculum without fearing I am missing something. Anyway, just curious about what you seasoned moms think?
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7 comments:
Okay, Heather, for your sake I followed the links and tried to read about this....twice. It was a little dry to say the least. I'm probably not considered a "seasoned" mom yet, but I had never heard of this before. My opinion: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." Teach your children from God's Word and let your maternal instincts lead you to do what is best for them. There's no sense in getting stressed-out about doing things by a certain method. Your kids will most definitely learn and grow in the environment of love that you surround them with.
Pam, thank you so much for taking the time LOL. Sorry it was dry for you. I am hoping I will also hear from someone who had perhaps tried it or knew of a friend who tried it for homeschooling. I am def. not stressed about it PTL. Brian loves the theory behind and we do believe the Lord has shown us some of the "bigger picture" of the learning process in this. It actually simplifies things and is proven through the ages as a much studied process to produce well rounded, God-fearing, well educated children. To apply it is not as complicated as the explanation of it. I found some beautiful History and Art books-intro to latin books which helps with vocabulary...etc. I will not introduce them until next year. Thank you for your insight!
"fearing I am missing something"
You're going to miss something! Seriously! Everybody misses something--there is just too much to know. Whetting their appetite for learning is infinitely more important than any fact they could memorize, for just that reason; they'll need it all their lives. To fill in what *we* missed in educating them.
And therein lies the true parental responsibility, in my opinion: prioritizing. I agree with Pam that the drawing them near the Lord, so that they might enjoy the wisdom that begins with the fear of Him, will accomplish--by itself--more than you can imagine. He just plain honors that! Seeking His righteousness, I guess.
I know you *know* that, but you'll *see* it more and more as your kiddos grow.
Anyway, I have loosely adopted the Trivium concept from the beginning. We're going back to the Ancients this year; little ones will be on grammar level, Fifi somewhere between Dialectic and Rhetoric. I don't know enough to lead a group or teach the idea, but it has been a nice enough fit with the Charlotte Mason method that I employ to recommend a good look at it--now, while your children are young enough for the wiggle-room of (even) major mistakes.
Quickly--what I like best about the CM method is the love for learning that it sparks in a child.
August should be dedicated as a month of prayer for homeschoolers!
Me again. Here's another link to check out. Decidedly Christian (not Catholic, which is typically the historical setting of Classical education).
Hope it helps. Write me if you want: graftedb at yahoo dot com
http://www.triviumpursuit.com/index.php
Amen, amen, and a BIG amen to what Pam and GB wrote!! I agree with everything they said. And I am somewhat familiar with Classical education and the Trivium (I attended a workshop on it years ago). While it wasn't for us, I did find it very interesting!
I spent *many* years (and we are entering our 15th year of homeschooling) living with the fear that I would somehow miss teaching my children something. This put me on a quest to find the "perfect" curriculum and you know what? There isn't one! There will be gaps in your children's learning experience no matter what curriculum or philosophy of teaching you use.
The bottom line is that our children won't know *everything* when they graduate from high school. There will be gaps (hopefully not huge ones!), just like there were when we graduated. We didn't know everything either! (Although we thought we did, right?!) The important thing is to instill in them a love for God and His word and a love of learning--and that love will continue long after they have finished school.
I know this is already long, but I wanted to share a story with you: When Ash was in 7th grade and Zach was in 2nd, we had *the* most difficult year and because of the circumstances (Rande's mom, who was very ill, came to live with us and eventually passed away) they did not get a whole lot of "traditional" school work done that year. Our homeschool group at the time required the students to be tested each year and I was very concerned with the results of my kids' tests. Well, you know what? They both scored average or above average in all subjects. I was shocked! I learned a huge lesson--that sometimes learning doesn't look like "school" and it's not all about academics--it's much more than that.
So yeah, that's my $.02 (or more like $.25)! I think you are going to do a GREAT job!! : )
GB thank you so much for the link! I agree 100% that encouraging a growing love for God is first and foremost a priority of ours! Teaching God's Word takes priority. I have briefly looked at Charlotte Mason method and used Learning To Read In 100 Easy Lessons with Brianna....I will go take a better look. Thank you so much for all the support and advice!! You all are wonderful.
Mrs Mishel-lol..I can *only* imagine what a workshop like that would entail-ich, but yes we find the idea very interesting. We will like, GB, loosely adopt the method. I know we are not going to cover *everything*, but I know I need to aim high and then as I go along see what is realistic and works. Thank you so much for sharing about Ash and Zach- I can't even imagine the difficulty of all that. God Blesses in spite of the circumstances-thank you for the testimony to that.
You know, I could have sworn I commented on this post earlier today. Maybe I was going to and something distracted me.
But I wanted to say that it is a blessing to have bloggy friends who turn to us for encouragement and prayer, but it's also wonderful to HAVE someone to turn to for encouragement and prayer. Thank you for being there for me! I'm so blessed that you are my Sister. We have a common bond, for we are daughters of the King of kings. We will rejoice in His presence together and although we may never meet on this earth, because of our bond, as long as we are touching Jesus, we are touching each other. Isn't that sweet to know?
~Kristi
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