Mother Culture: Notes on A Biblical Home Education, Introduction and Chapter One

From our first meeting of the year...

September 20, 2012

Knowing that I didn’t do an exemplary job at sharing notes after meetings last year, Jacki Young, who is graciously co-leading our study group has also heroically offered to share her notes on the meetings.  I have cut and pasted her notes below and added a few thoughts of my own.  (The good stuff is Jacki’s writing; the muttering is mine.  Thank you for your grace in wading through my mutterings.)  Jacki has not only provided a summary of the ideas presented in the book but has also added in some of the thoughts, suggestions, ideas, and musings that we enjoyed during the evening.

General comments about the book:

-          Does not have as many practical suggestions as expected.  Perhaps other Ruth Beechick books would fill in the gaps?  See for example The Three R’s (practical suggestions for kindergarten through grade 2) or You Can Teach Your Child Successfully (Grades 3 and up).  Ruth Beechick also has several other writings that would be worth looking at.  I (Cori) liked this article: http://creation.com/images/pdfs/home-school-corner/teaching-writing/6627how-not-teach-writing.pdf

-          There are a number of assumptions that Dr. Beechick has made from the start of this study such as that we already feel confident in the choice to home educate and that the Bible is wholely true.  She doesn’t leave room for discussion of these ideas in this volume assumedly because she feels that the title A Biblical Home Education ensures that her readers have already grappled with these issues

-          Would like more details on how to teach Bible as literature ie. Hebrew poetry

-          Dr. Beechick distinguishes between language learning and content learning and encourages students to improve their language skills by using them in the content subjects

-          Recent blog articles on simplycharlottemason.com might help with teaching individual subjects (17 part series).  Refer to:

o        http://simplycharlottemason.com/series/subject-by-subject/

Chapter 1 – Bible

-          The Bible is essential for literacy because it is the most widely referenced book

-          The Bible and Bible storybooks are important for teaching doctrine and for teaching Bible as literature; can be used as main textbook for home school.  An interesting difference from the stance that Charlotte Mason had as she wasn’t very much in favour of using Bible Storybooks.  Charlotte Mason felt that the Bible was story book enough and that any other story books pre-digested the truths for the children, and dumbed down the language.  Hmm, food for thought.

-          Reading the whole Bible (not just passages) ensures that parents cannot take verses out of context eg. to manipulate children to doing right

-          Old Testament stories point to Jesus (this is a “type”); this is evident in Jesus Storybook Bible and Mystery of History resources

-          Put Bible readings in history.  Biblical history and the rest of history mustn’t be separated!

-          Beechick says, “Chronological order does not help in the early years”.  As we teach the Bible and History over and over again, children of different ages will hear the cycle a number of times and understand the chronology.  Again, a departure from Charlotte Mason’s style and worth pondering.

-          Beechick’s process of a child learning to understanding analogy:

o        Analogies of actions

o        Analogies of actors

o        The objects in the analogies

-          There are parallels with the three stages of classical education:

o        Grammar (facts & stories)

o        Dialectic (why?)

o        Rhetorical (what do I think?)

-          Do we censor the Bible when reading to young children?  WE use discretion as parents to ensure readings are “age appropriate”

-          Other helpful Bible resources:

o        Children’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos

o        “What’s in the Bible?” DVD series by Phil Vischer

o        Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible on librivox.org

-          Some considerations when choosing a version of the Bible to use:

o        Beechick’s history of modern day Bible translations is “limited” eg. King James Version was not “thrown out” when other versions written

o        Different versions had different goals in translation; some Bibles are paraphrases, not translations eg. The Message

o        Some modern day translations have truncated verses eg. In 1 Tim 2:5, studying refers to studying God’s word, not just studying in general

o        King James version is better written (quality, cadence, flow, etc.); familiarity with KJV enables students to read other difficult classic literature sooner

_____

Wow!  Thank you Jacki for giving such thorough feedback on the book and the meeting.

I’m also looking forward to hearing some feedback.  To those of you who were there, is there anything we missed?  If you weren’t there, what are your thoughts?  What were the take away lessons that have challenged you or have helped in your home school recently?  Please try to post your comments directly on the blog (rather than replying if you are receiving this as an email) so that we can all participate in the conversation.

Looking forward to the next meeting on November 1^st when we will look at Chapter 2: “World History to Match the Bible”!

Blessings, Friends!

Cori

Maple Tree Publications

www.mapletreepublications.ca

Book Suggestions From This Meeting:

(Many of these are regularly in stock at Maple Tree.  Most of the rest can be ordered through Maple Tree.  Call or email for details as not all of our regular stock is listed on the website.)

The Three R’s

You Can Teach Your Child Successfully
A Biblical Home Education
Jesus Storybook Bible
Mystery of History
Children’s Story Bible
What’s in the Bible?
Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible
The Bible: many favourite versions and paraphrases include: King James Version, New International Version, New American Standard Version, the Message, and others…

Perspective

So many of you have asked about our daughter that I realize that it is time to update you. 

Just reading over my musings of a year ago, I realize how I still get so relentlessly caught up in the mundane and overwhelmed by things that are so transient.  (This week, in addition to life’s everyday blunders and the usual financial frustrations, we have been dealing with BOTH fleas and lice in the Dean household.  When will “normal” arrive, please, Lord?!)

I have been feeling sorry for myself, wishing someone would step up to this plate that I have been given and run the race for me for a little while.  My husband and I have spent the week going to bed sore and exhausted, hoping for relief the next day but finding a new set of challenges with each morning: the dog gets out of the yard AGAIN, a computer crashes and people treat us like we are carrying the plague.  I think that it is the stress of it all that made us turn our backs on the fact that that nasty cold was creeping into the house as well.  Par for the course. 

Yesterday, in the midst of it all, we were brought back to the basics.  (We will conquer the fleas and the lice.  I’ve never dealt with fleas before but have with lice, it’s a lot of work but we know how to overcome it.  The colds will move on, eventually the bills will be paid and our friends won’t be afraid to see us.)  On the other hand, there we were on the floor of the little girls’ bedroom dealing with a tantrum, not the everyday grumpiness that you occasionally encounter but a full out kicking and screaming 3 year old.  And then she went pale, her eyes rolled back and the screaming eased.  My baby nearly fainted.  Now to most this would be happy justice for a kid that had cried it out.  For us fainting can be life threatening.

Suddenly lice, fleas, colds, and harsh words from friends didn’t seem so important.  Surviving the moment was all that we had. 

Now, as soon as the spell overcame her, she started to recover.  She certainly had lost the wind in her sails but she came back to us.  The normal procedure for days like this with a girl with a heart condition like ours has been to see the doctor immediately (get to the ER!) which has resulted in one weekend stay at the hospital so far.  The thing is that our most recent visits to our local paediatric cardiologist and to Sick Kids confirmed that our prayers are working, her heart is holding out and is more stable than they had originally anticipated.  Praise the Lord!  That being the case, we are now told that the pacemaker won’t be inserted into her heart until they see some quantifiable difference in the testing that they do or until this “starts to affect her quality of life”, meaning until dizziness leads to actual fainting.  We do hope to see our doctor this week but for now are closely monitoring her and seeking your prayers.

All of this has brought back some much needed perspective: God is in control.

            “I am the LORD, and there is no other;

            apart from me there is no God.
            I will strengthen you,
            though you have not acknowledged me,
            so that from the rising of the sun
            to the place of its setting
            men may know that there is none besides me.
            I am the LORD, and there is no other.
            I form the light and create darkness,
            I bring prosperity and create disaster;
            I, the LORD, do all these things.” – Isaiah 45:5-7

He allows us to go through the things that he does because He trusts that we will come out on the other side closer to Him and more able to be all that He wants us to be.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-4

Friends, my family and I have so appreciated your kind words, your prayers and your inquiries about our daughter that show that you care.  They have made such a difference to us.  Please do continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers as we journey along this crazy road.  It has made a difference as she had gone a full year now without need for pacemaker surgery and we hope that she will be able to go longer and grow more in order to better be ready for the hardware that is best suited to her needs.

Thanks,

Cori

Maple Tree Publications

www.mapletreepublications.ca 

On Becoming Far-Sighted

Dear Friends,

I thought I would take a {quick} break from my planning.  I’ve spent my evening getting ready to participate in an Awana Children’s Ministry conference at the end of this month.  This will be the second time that I have been to this conference and this year I will be presenting two new workshops called “What is a Biblical Education?” and “Day by Day and Side by Side”.  Even though I do get nervous and pretty perfectionist about my preparations I am really looking forward to sharing some of the new things I have been learning and pondering.

At the encouragement of our local Awana missionary, I picked up a copy of Raising  Modern Day Joseph by Larry Fowler and tonight I got to curl up with a good book to do some “work”.  (This is one of the reasons that I love my job: reading is a requirement!)  I am only part way through it but I am feeling challenged already.

The author asked this question, “What do you want to be able to say about your children when they are thirty?”  Good question…

I think that as homeschooling parents we often consider ourselves more intentional than our counterparts that don’t spend hours mulling over lessons plans and curriculum choices.  But do we often look at our children’s education with such far-sighted lenses?

This was a great reminder to me that I really do need to remember to live beyond just this moment and to think of what the long term goals are that I have when I am educating my kids.  Charlotte Mason stressed that an education was so much more than simply the cramming of much knowledge into a little mind but that equally important was the motivation for learning and the habits that were formed along the way.

Diana Waring recently reminded me in a talk that she did (Thank you Lord for seminars on CD!) that biblical education is a blend of knowledge, piety and morality.  To be truly educated we must be assimilating knowledge in accordance with our relationship with the God of the universe and our love for Him and we must apply that love and knowledge to the world around us, learning to live in a way that is fitting for a child of The King.

I still have so much to learn in this respect but my husband and I have put some thought into what we want to be able to say about these children of ours when they are thirty and, so far, it looks something like this, “It is our hope and prayer that our daughters will become lovers of God and of their families, women of strong character who are contributors to family, church and society, who are unwavering in their faith and able to share it with and defend it to others.” 

Tall order, I know.  And I do struggle with the notion of expecting something of them that I don’t always see in myself.  I guess this is better to be called a hope, a prayer, than an expectation.  But without a plan, as we know, we will never get anywhere.  I like the quote that I read in the book this evening, an excerpt from a poem by Longfellow,

            I shot an arrow into the air,

            It fell to earth, I knew not where.

Without intentionality in our efforts to rightly guide these precious treasures in the path that they should go we can only be sure that we won’t know where they will end up. 

The path is long from finished in our journey of parenting and educating but it is my hope and prayer that, with God’s help, if we keep those long term goals in mind, we will have a better chance of answering that question with confidence someday: “My daughter is 30 today and she is all that I every imagined that God would want for her to be!”

What are your hopes, Friends, for your children?  What to you want to be able to say about them when they are beyond these intensive years in your care?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Cori

Maple Tree Publications

www.mapletreepublications.ca 

Mother Culture 2012-2013: A Charlotte Mason Support Group

Well Friends,

If you haven't been with us for long then you mightn't know that we host a bit of a virtual support group here Under the Maple Tree to compliment the real life support group that I also get to enjoy meeting here in my home.

Every year, the little group of us choose a book that we will read and discuss together.  In the past we have read some really great resources like For the Children’s Sake and A Charlotte Mason Companion.  Last year we went through the newest edition of Educating the WholeHearted Child.  Of course, from time to time, we also add in readings from Charlotte Mason’s own writings.

This year’s book is A Biblical Home Education by Dr. Ruth Beechick.

I’m sorry that I am posting this information after the fact as we have recently had our first meeting but if you’d like to join us for these gatherings either in person or virtually, I wanted to let you know the details and let you know that you are welcome.

As we did last year, I am going to try to post notes on the readings after each meeting.  I didn’t do very well at it last year even though so many of you responded with comments on the blog or by email.  I guess I can only do better this year.  And I am sure that I will improve since the ever so helpful Jacki Young, who has been faithfully be helping to lead our little group in my living room for the past year, has also now offered to take minutes of our meetings so that if you can’t be here because of scheduling conflicts or because of distance, you can still access the resources and ideas that we chatted about.  Thank you Jacki!

So, if you’d like to join us then, the meeting schedule and reading list is as follows:

September 20: Introduction and Chapter 1 (20 pages) Bible

November 1: Chapter 2 (18 pages) History

December 6: Chapter 3 (18 pages) Science

January 10: Chapter 4 (18 pages) Worldview

February 21: Chapter 11 (22 pages) Choosing Curriculum

April 4: Chapters 5 & 6 and Appendix (42 pages): Thinking Skills, Reading Skills, Cross-Dominance

May 9: Chapters 7 & 8 (35 pages) Study Skills, Writing Skills

June 13: Chapters 9 & 10 (27 pages) Grammar Skills, Early Education

I guess I have had it in my head that we are going to roughly read the book from front to back (in a manner that we don’t often). J Since there are more chapters than meetings we will be doing one chapter some meetings and two during others. We usually attach some sort of list of practical topics to the reading so that we have the chance to look at and share resources but I thought that, though Dr. Beechick’s is a fairly simplified list, we could just use her chapter topics for our practical discussions as well and try to embrace her philosophy a bit more fully.  That is, Dr. Beechick’s philosophy is that there really are just two topics that should encompass schooling: language arts skills and content, or learning to read and reading.  Given that the first four chapters are about the content and the next five are about language arts skills, I thought we should deal with the first chapters individually and the later ones in twos. Please note that we will read chapter 11 out of order since it is about choosing curriculum and some wise women thought it would be helpful to look at that just before we start going to conferences in the spring.

If you’d like to join us for the meetings in Bradford then here are the rest of the details about our little gatherings. You don’t need to be a die hard “CMer” to attend nor do you even have to have or read the book though it is our basis for discussion. You can come for one meeting or for all – there is no cost to join. Meetings are for parents only (and nursing babes, of course) and are held on Thursday evenings at my home in Bradford from 7:30 to 9:30. I have copies of the Beechick book available for $14 (as well as many other Charlotte Mason style resources) if you need them.  If you would like to attend, then please RSVP to me, Cori Dean, at 905-778-9412 or mapletreepublications@sympatico.ca, and I will send you my address and answer any other questions that you have.

Looking forward to meeting with many of you during this school year!

Blessings,

Cori

Maple Tree