Reading Classics
January 7, 2010 by Belinda
I stumbled upon this passage not too long ago while enjoying Charlotte’s Web with the youngest daughter:
(Wilbur asks:) “Why did you do all this for me? I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.”
“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
Isn’t that beautiful? Passages like it from books considered classics allow me to focus very intently on what our children read, and why. Have you ever thought about what makes a good book, well, a good book? What makes you want to read a book again, and again, and again?
With all due respect to the Newberry Honors committee, I have determined that a book that receives honors is not, in and of itself, a good selection for me. Nor is a good book defined by the fact that it is listed as a classic. Early in my homeschooling journey, I had a conversation with a more seasoned homeschooling mom about a book that our oldest daughter, then about nine years old, was really struggling to read—from the perspective of interest, not ability. It was killing me to listen, and putting her to sleep to read. But it is a classic, I lamented to this dear soul, whom I now consider a mentor and friend—what should I do? This resulted in a memorable conversation about the fact that it is okay for a book that is considered to be a classic to others to be a sleeper for you. She spoke of books that she read with her son where the climax did not happen until the end of the book. She was very helpful in sharing techniques to keep longer, more difficult books interesting. You would think some of this conversation would be intuitively obvious, but then again, when you take teaching into your own hands, some of the mental flips you agonize over can be mind-boggling if you tried to articulate it to someone. I struggled so much with the “have tos” of school then (and sometimes now)—it is almost embarrassing.
In furthering my own education about reading, and especially selections in reading to older children, I ran across a tidy, eloquent passage that summed up what I want from each book we read: I want books that feed the mind and nourish the soul. I want the kids to be exposed to books that force them to think about who they are and make changes for the better. I want them to chew on the lessons that a book has to offer—not just in the moment, but for years to come. When I think about the best experiences we have had with books, some were rare and precious: we cheered, we laughed until we cried; at least once, I did cry. But those emotions did not always occur. What did happen—and it might not have manifested itself until later—is that the words were shaping the children’s thinking. If God’s Word sets this precedent, should we not fully expect other books that are worth our attention to do the same?
Breaking my goal into its two components, I will ask you the same question that I ask of myself: do your reading selections feed your child’s mind?
In many modern educational systems, instruction is lagging behind development. I pray that this is a claim that none of us boast. However, complaining youngsters and/or teenagers and parents who feel overburdened, along with tests that reward memorization rather than understanding permeate our traditional school systems, and these same ills can become a cancer in our schools, too. We do not help our kids by watering down their education. The ones who are hurt most in this environment are the very ones we seek to help—our children. Susan Wise Bauer’s The Well-Trained Mind outlines the realities of studying classics with older students, but this advice can apply to a child who is struggling with a book of any sort, at any age:
Especially in the early years of high school, you should supervise this process, rather than allowing the student to disappear into the family room alone with her books. Great-books study is demanding. It requires the student to work hard, to abandon simple question-and-answer learning in favor of a struggle with ideas. Often, the material isn’t immediately appealing. The philosophies may be unfamiliar; the opinions are complex; the vocabulary is challenging. Put the student at the kitchen table (or wherever you’re planning to be) so that you can encourage her to keep working. (Bauer, p. 481)
So, how about nourishment of the soul? Simply put, no matter what age, does your reading list challenge your children to do more, to be more?
Even in an age where literacy and moral standards are declining, there is still a body of knowledge that shapes our language and our culture. One of my educational goals is for the children to be aware of what shapes our thinking as a society, past the memorization of dates and names. As we move through these books, I make sure I complete enough homework to have a conversation about what the book means in the larger scheme of life. And to fully do this, we must understand that great authors were great readers, and we must view their books in relation to one another. As painstaking as The Iliad might be, Homeric epic poetry is the model for a number of other classics. C.S. Lewis read J.R.R. Tolkien’s works and was enamored with Greek mythology. Drawing these connections through reading can be immensely powerful in helping us understand the writer’s perspective when we are reading.
How might you test your child’s understanding and interest in a given selection? Consider discussing one or more of the following questions:
- Is this a book you might re-read some day?
- Are there any books that you think about well after you have completed reading them?
- Is there a character from the book that you would most like to meet?
That is the academic, more “heady” side of why we read classics. The more important piece to me is what these books do for the heart and mind aside from giving the kids a fighting chance at appearing intelligent (smile). The characters in these books challenge us to be more, to do more. You cannot read The Epic of Gilgamesh without questioning your own sense of courage and bravery. Romeo and Juliet forces us to ask ourselves how far would we go for love’s sake? Secondly, these books increase our sense of compassion for our fellow man. Our six-year-old understood that while listening to Charlotte express her love for Wilbur. Is that not what God commands of us—to love Him with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and to love our neighbors as ourselves? In fact, He tells us that every law and prophecy hinges upon these two commandments. Consider these thoughts from Carol Jago’s With Rigor For All: Teaching the Classics to Contemporary Students:
When teachers are fully successful, they are successful beyond any of their conscious intentions about particular subjects: they make converts, they make souls that have been turned around to face a given way of being and moving in the world. (Jago, p. 68)
May He bless you as you choose spiritually and mentally healthy reading selections for your children.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
The Place Where Everything Just “Fits”
Every now and then, we are placed, I believe divinely, in a warm and comforting space in our homeschooling experience where everything just seems to fit together. I relish those moments when there are unplanned and unexpected opportunities to really seal knowledge into their hearts and minds through the power of repetition. For example, at one period in history, we were reading about King James commanding the Bible to be rewritten, a conversation which adds a “real life” feel to our Bible study. Our son brought up how our study of astronomy is a constant reminder of what God is doing in the scientific world (my words, not his). We read the book of Matthew and talked about how the people knew God’s law, but didn’t know God’s love. Meanwhile, apart from school, we’ve had to deal with some flesh-like bickering between the older two, which led to the memorization of 1 Corinthians 13. Finally, as a just-before-bed read aloud, we enjoyed Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls, great fodder for talks about the “wild” west and so many turn-of-the-century events (the transcontinental railroad, mountain men, the growth of America).
What I described above is an academic product; the other component of this time of “fitting together”, and perhaps more important for our goals, is our enjoyment of each other as family while we read. I was blessed to hear Sally Clarkson lecture about the value of reading, and one of her touch points was the power of reading to build strong bonds of relationship. A few days ago, I read to our toddler while the older kids enjoyed breakfast at the table. I got so tickled as I read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and my older two “intellectuals” had quite the dialogue about why a Wink’s fur is pink just because it likes to drink pink ink. How funny, and how fun!
As much as I strive to follow a Charlotte Mason approach in our school, I fully realize that, for reading this to one of the children, I must seek forgiveness for my sin. Indeed, Miss Mason would refer to One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish as twaddle, and would probably shake her head in dismay at the thought that I exposed the children to such emptiness. However, I am not discussing a specific book as much as a connection to one another that occurred while learning.
I obviously have my biases based upon my own family’s journey while educating at home. Yet, regardless of your teaching methodology/ approach to learning, I believe you can create an environment that enhances the relationships your children might already enjoy with one another. Creating and building relationships is very different than reciting a short-term memorization of facts that will later be lost and gone forever. How do we build upon that foundation of familial relationship to make learning together even more meaningful? Consider the following:
Game time and tea time (even for a boy!) can be as educational, though informal, as any text you might find. This one-liner from a fellow homeschooler opened my eyes to all new possibilities…
When dd was young and we were asked what curriculum did we used, I used to say Milton Bradley; we used a lot of games for early learning.
Sharing books, and sharing conversations over books, brings a family together in the same way that a family movie favorite will, only it occurs during the “school” day. I personally like to stop that read-aloud right at the point where it creates a good cliffhanger. The kids are delightfully annoyed. “MOM!” My son will exclaim.
Making books together has been a more recent, but very effective way for our kids of all ages to learn and to show off their handiwork and talents to one another. The books are personal keepsakes, and I don’t miss an opportunity to have one child teach another based upon what he/she has already learned and documented.
For the families that like to get out (not our pajama-clad clan), school on the road, as in a local library or Barnes and Noble, can stimulate any bored and stale homeschool.
You may have your own methods for building friendships among your children as you build collegians. Learning isn’t always fun, and not every day will be one that calls for a Kodak moment. For this reason and more, we should pay special attention to the signs of accomplishments in their hearts as well as in their minds; the former are not gradable.
A while back, the oldest prepared for science—learning about density via adding salt to water and observing an egg that sank initially gradually float. She had to fight with her sister and brother to drop teaspoons of salt and the egg into the glass of water. As we read about Sebastian Bach walking 200 miles for the opportunity to attend music school, the same kid broke into a mini math lesson to see how long this walk would take for a child. You could feel the hush of shock and sadness over the kids as they looked at pictures while I told the story of the Holocaust. Our younger two then had some great quality time together as we all sipped on peppermint tea. Later, over a morning snack of Fuji apples, the oldest exclaimed, “Thanks, Mom. These are my favorite kind.” I thought she said these are my favorite times, and so I smiled inside and out as I replied, “Yea, mine, too.”
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
Keeping Our Home Warm
‘Housekeeping requires knowledge and intelligence…, the kind that is complex, not simple, and combines intellect, intuition and feelings. You need a memory good enough to remember how things are done, where things are, what the daily routine requires, what everyone in the home is up to as it affects housekeeping, the state of supplies, budgets, and bills… Above all, housekeeping must be intelligent so that it can be empathetic, for empathy is the form of intelligence that creates the feeling of home…’
~From Cheryl Mendelsohn’s Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House, pg. 10-11
In a rare moment when I am not on the computer for work or business purposes, I enjoy short, cute quizzes that tell you—with tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, I am sure—what type of cook or gardener or housekeeper you are. There are times when I attempt to view my home from the perspective of an outsider. I look at furniture choices (although most of the furniture is hand-me-downs as opposed to the result of deliberate store picks), plant selections, and paint colors. As I look, I have my own short synopsis of who I am, equally tongue-in-cheek. I conclude that I am low-maintenance, arguably cheap, and my choice of colors says that I must be a closet naturalist. In summary, I am led repeatedly back to the one word people often use to describe me: “warm.”
For several years, probably due to readjusting our finances after I came home and/or settling into a house that was not so new anymore, I did very little to improve the house. We moved furniture around and replaced items as needed, but I stopped buying, stopped painting, and for the most part, I stopped decorating. Then my husband began to have his men’s group meetings here, and I began to see the house through other’s eyes and started buying again. After the first of my new purchases I was a bit ashamed of myself: was I worried about what others thought (something I pride myself on not doing)? Was I trying to impress someone? If I wanted to spruce up the house, why did it take having people over to make me spend money– providing comfort and luxury for the five folks that live here motivation was not enough?
I had more time to visit my own thought processes while listening to my husband’s comments as the men’s meetings rotated from house to house. I could not help but notice everyone’s attraction to the newer, bigger homes and the assessments that followed. Then I really got mad. In my rekindled passion for upgrades, was I subscribing (or I should say renewing my subscription) to a materialistic view that “things” in my home dictated how blessed we are as a family?
As all of this was churning through my head, I had a chance to think more about that word warm. In part, being warm means:
1) showing or feeling kindness and friendliness
2) showing passion or liveliness
3) showing or feeling great enthusiasm
When I think about it, I realize that this is what I wanted for our home—to be warm, not just for visitors, but even for the people that live here each day. I want people to walk in and feel at home, to be relaxed. I want the atmosphere to spark conversation, to give people the freedom to laugh, to cry, to just be. What a change that type of thinking made in how I spent my time and resources. Even the mundane clean-up tasks I have taken up with a new energy. I will admit I still do not dance around with the broom. What I have done is to take a look at the home, not as a list of tasks or a depressing view of all the home improvement projects I would love to complete with unlimited time and money. As a wife and mother, I have a God-given unique ability to do something that no one else in my home can do: I can turn this house into a home. This ability transcends the way I place pillows on a sofa, to the smells I choose for cleansing and deodorizing, to the foods I select at the grocery store. It is a heavenly covering over all who abide here. How I manage the home is about safety, health and wealth; my care and concern nourishes the mind, body and soul.
As one small example, so many do not enjoy grocery shopping, and there is nothing wrong with that, but I get a kick out of meal planning. It is one of my favorite household activities. Past the joy of eating (smile), I like managing the budget, and consequently setting the course for what we will eat. I love making the list, experimenting with new ingredients, and observing how the whole process determines where we will shop—a regular grocery store, a whole foods store, a fish market or a produce market, or maybe all of those listed and more. So, guess what? As I am shopping and the Muzak pumps out 80’s pop music, I reminisce of my college days, relish where I am now and the opportunity to bring pleasure to my family in this way, and I sing along.
Though our home is far from immaculate, and more often than I like, I must admit that it is not even company-ready, I have learned to embrace managing the household as more ministry than misery. I realize more and more each day that all of the tasks that we manage, and the associated value that we place on them, are a function of what we want people to feel while in our homes. “People,” by the way, can be those that live in the home every day, and not necessarily company. With each flower blossoming, with paper-free counters, clean clothes and floors, and even with photo albums that depict our times together, I am slowly, but surely, day by day, creating an environment that is warmer and warmer.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
What My Children Teach Me
September 3, 2009 by Belinda
Recently, a follower of mine “tweeted” (twittered? Twitted?) a link to a homeschool conference video. The particular topic of the video was, “What did Your Kids Teach You this Past Homeschool Year?”
As humbling a thought as this is for many of us who pour hours (not to mention dollars!) into curriculum and who sweat over flawless execution of our plans, it is very real. I should correct myself: it is very real if we are willing to step out of self and embrace the fact that we are not the only vessel through which education can flow. So, I thought about my own year, and what my children taught me. At first, the answers were superficial, and I almost felt silly. Yet, a spirit willing to learn something new led me to delve deeper, and I was left with such a spine-chilling sense of purpose until I thought it might bless you, too. This is what my kids taught me last year, and each year, for that matter:
Patience is not just a virtue; it is life and breath to your home environment. Whether you are entering year 1 of your homeschooling journey or year 101, it is your journey. Though some will take it as their personal responsibility to tell you what you should do, where you should be, and how you should have gotten there, what will be most important is to create an environment where your children can learn. Set goals, even stretch goals, but be open to your children’s needs, their challenges, and the way that they learn best. You will gain far more this way than by following a strict list of have-to’s.
Field trips in-the-moment can be very effective, but on a budget, a living book will free both the body and the mind. Not too long ago, our own trial with temporary unemployment during this recession left me somewhat depressed about all of the trips and tours we did not take this year. As an aside, our area offers a number of free/ low-cost trips and tours, but I prefer an in-the-moment excursion that enhances our current studies to a field trip just for the sake of a field trip. This means that our field trips often take us away from our immediate area and require planning and budgeting. We were not able to do that this past year—a real source of frustration and anguish for the way that I like to educate. Yet, one of my favorite bloggers described best what can happen when we experience learning through quality literature:
‘Music, art, animals, nature, politics, literature, poetry, equations, Rome, Iceland, Ireland, the moors, the sea, metropolises, machinery, the universe, the past, the poor, royalty, Heaven and earth…you name it, they have dipped their hands in the chest and pulled out something of value as they have explored truth and beauty in the world around them.’
From LindaFay’s HigherUp and Further In, “Ask and it Shall be Given You,” May 25, 2009
Taming the tongue is harder than taming a lion. This applies not only to how we speak to our children, but also to the negative self-talk we fall prey to when things are not going well. Once those plans go awry, it becomes easy to embrace what others might have said in a moment of sheer brainlessness:
“Maybe you aren’t cut out for this.”
“I’ll never be able to…” (or worse, thought about our children:) “You’ll never be able to…”
Come against the attack of the enemy, confess what the Lord says about you and your children, and step out on His renewed grace and mercy.
It may be the song of an unfamiliar bird, not the travels of Odysseus, that inspires a child to explore and discover. The end result is the same. I love to plan. I get excited about planning the way that some women get excited at a shopping mall or a lady’s night out. But, I realize—though it took some time—that plans can sometimes get in the way of what I really want the homeschool experience to produce in our children: a natural yearning to know more, to grow more, and to be more. When the kids run to the field guide to identify a stranger at our feeder, or launch into a discussion about some historical event or character (when I want them to do something else), this, too, is learning. Just because it was not written on my outline does not belittle the value of a purposeful diversion or its power to catapult their interests and overall education.
When you cannot feel God’s hand in your plans, trust His heart. Jeremiah conveyed it to us so very well, and my words will never be as eloquent as the Word of God:
For I know the plans that I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
May God bless you and quicken your spirits to the lessons He wants you to teach, as well as the lesson he wants your young ones to teach you.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
Homeschool Jewels
I once read a great article by Diane Flynn Keith entitled “7 Dumb Mistakes Smart People Make When They Homeschool and How to Avoid Them.” The article really struck home with me in areas where I’ve been, and some areas in which I insist on returning, despite my best efforts. For copyright’s sake, I won’t post the entire article here, but I will share her list of mistakes:
- Unrealistic expectations (or no expectations) regarding yearly or daily goals
- Over-scheduling & under-scheduling
- Ignoring child feedback
- Overspending
- Isolation
- Thinking you can do it all
- Striving to convince everyone else that they, too, should homeschool
Like I said, I could preach a sermon on all but #4, and I’m good enough to even get an offering on #s 2 and 6. The reason that I’ve not been guilty of overspending, at least not yet, is more of a function of the method I chose for homeschooling than any well thought-out savings strategy. One great benefit I’ve always enjoyed about Charlotte Mason’s principles is that there isn’t a lot of curriculum to buy if you play your cards right. I have used as a mantra that quote I heard early in my journey about ‘all you need to homeschool is a Bible, a math book, and a library card.’
As a curriculum developer and self-publisher, I am not condemning the idea of packaged curriculum. To be clear, bought curriculum is the unofficial, yet official mark of a homeschooler. Think about it: how wealthy would you be if you had a dollar for each time another homeschooling parent stopped and asked you, “So, what curriculum do you use?” Moreover, there are wonderful homeschool-friendly products available from parents who have traveled the same path and appreciate the roses, and thorns, along the journey. Where would the homeschooling movement be without this type of ingenuity?
For me personally, as I pray and do the homework regarding what to buy, I have a couple of homeschooling jewels that I often refer back to, especially at the year’s end when I’m beginning to think about the years to come.
Jewel #1 on buying curriculum: consider the following questions:
- Is this something I can teach without a curriculum?
- Am I attracted to the content, or the packaging and promotion?
- What do the reviews say about it?
- Finally, this one is my favorite: buy books instead of buying “stuff ”.
Jewel #2: get stuck in a rut.
Yes, that’s right. I said do get stuck in a rut. Although our routine has had some variance over the years—an extra workbook here or different teaching element there—we have stuck, pretty much, to the same schedule and basic subjects each year. So, without additional prep work (besides my own), our children know what is expected of them each day of the week. Unless we have an interruption (a field trip, travel, or unplanned event), they can sit and complete their work whether I’m around or not. Only once in our time at home was I too sick to get out of bed, but I was astonished and thrilled that the kids came downstairs and did everything they were supposed to do, only consulting me if they had questions.
Routines are just what the name suggests—routine, boring, and monotonous. I can, however, offer the carrot in front of this ho-hum horse. As a college instructor, I reach out to students each day who are having a less-than successful start in post-secondary studies. In some cases, they are simply not college material. However, in many cases, they are bright learners who could have an academically successful experience, but they lack the skills to be good students—discipline, time management, and concentration. As much as we hate to admit it, these are the roles we often play as parents in the homeschool.
So the question becomes, how do we help our kids transition to do these things themselves? Cutting them off cold turkey after 12th grade doesn’t work in many cases, so we have to create an environment for certain habits to form. Moreover, those habits must form in us first. We can’t lead where we aren’t willing to go; how dare we expect children who can manage themselves when we present ourselves as flighty and undisciplined. School can still be filled with love and laughter, but think about and certainly pray about making it boring enough for your children to learn to discipline and manage their lives.
Again, these nuggets have been invaluable for me as we progress through the years. Prayerfully, they will bless you, too.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
Conventional Wisdom
July 9, 2009 by Belinda
In the Bible, David is placed before us as one who sometimes had to encourage himself, and that is where I find myself each time I re-read my own post. Every blue moon I find the right scripture, the right memory, and I manage to stumble upon words that allow it to resonate with me again and again. I thought to share them and prayerfully encourage you, too. Would you mind if I jumped right into our word for today (smile)?
In Acts 10-11, Peter’s vision of the unclean meats led him to begin to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He was questioned and ridiculed by his peers, but he stayed with what the Lord told Him to do. What courage and conviction it takes to step out in what you believe regardless of what friends say. I’ve had a chance to think about this myself on an individual level. What would my old friends, and even my parents, now gone to glory, say about my current lifestyle?
My mom: “Never put yourself in position to depend upon a man.” (This was based largely upon her horrid experience with her first husband, before she met my father).
My dad: “You quit that good job?”
Friend #1: “You have how many kids? What’s the matter with your TV?”
Friend #2: “You’re doing what? After all those years in school?”
Friend #3/ family: “Are you guys going to homeschool all the way through high school? What about the prom? How are your kids going to get into college?”
Conventional wisdom tells us to complete high school, complete college, get a job, work 30-40 years (or until you are laid off enough times to lose complete faith in the economy), then retire and live a few golden years before you die. The media builds upon this conventional wisdom with even more dismal images: obnoxious, ungrateful children who don’t love, much less respect, anything or anybody; if a husband is there, he is an unintelligent buffoon who sits like furniture in front of the television, and whose only contribution to the family is a paycheck. Job showed Godly wisdom when he prayed for his friends and their conventional wisdom instead of operating in like kind and cursing them all.
I remember years ago when we began to homeschool, my sister sent a birthday card to her ‘unique, one of a kind’ sister, who ‘broke the mold.’ We laughed about it later when I shared with her that I wear that label as a badge of honor. I have a gift of faith—a supernatural ability to believe God—but for years I allowed people to stop me. I have increasingly freed myself from the boundaries and limitations of conventional wisdom, and I’ve found the road less traveled by to be far more rewarding.
Here are some of my most precious treasures (on most days):
- a husband who loves being around us, hates to be away for too long, and when he travels, often tries to figure out a way for us to tag along
- kids who are respectful to us and to others, who laugh with and love each other
- a family who is blessed to have everything we need and most of what we want amidst our sacrifice
There is so much fruit to this way of living. As we enter the season of welcoming others to the homeschooling community, let us not forget that we are blessed, wherever we are.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
Transforming Your Homeschool Environment
July 7, 2009 by Belinda
Charlotte M. Mason once wrote:
It is our business to…spend a part of our lives in increasing our knowledge of nature and art, of literature and man, of the past and present. This is one way in which we become greater persons, and the more a person is, the better he will do whatever piece of special work falls to his share.
If Rip Van Winkle was homeschooled before his infamous slumber, he might have awakened surprised at the number of tools to educate a child. The newest wares at any curriculum fair make a traditional book look outdated. Regardless of whether a child is homeschooled or not, education has definitely embraced technology. From sleek educational toys that constantly morph themselves via the Internet, to virtual learning, all of the focus on new and improved can find a parent in a quandary about the value of the seemingly old and antiquated. Yet, I would argue with anyone that the mainstay of any well-designed homeschool is a library of good, living books. There are experiences that take place over quality literature that will transform a homeschool environment.
I have never been the master of creativity. When it comes to thinking out-of-the-box, it is sad to say my mind does acrobatic tricks to avoid some of my own mis-education via the public school system. However, the time together over a good book has tremendously altered what might be an otherwise boring education for our children. As one of many examples, it was not too long ago that the kids and I completed Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold.
From the kids’ perspective, the front of the book started out decently, the middle was slow, and the end was the “good” part. Personally, I became fascinated with Arnold’s character. I had always gathered from the little I had seen in textbooks that he was some clod in the midst of a genius like George Washington, but he was actually a brilliant military strategist. Also, his earliest experiences with failure and rejection (being ridiculed as the son of the town drunk) led him to an almost obsession with being successful in the eyes of others.
This same obsession, unfortunately, was also the source of his destruction: he was driven toward power and money, and even at the height of his undoing, couldn’t see that he had done anything other than get an early jump on what had to be the logical ending of the Revolution (i.e., America’s losing and return to British control). From such a vivid portrayal of the good and bad of this historical character, the kids and I have had wonderful dialogue regarding places where we get in our own way. I draw repeatedly upon Arnold’s valuable character traits taken to an extreme to point out how even the best things about us can be exploited to a fault. Not only did this study lead help us to progress; it led us to pray.
Though I am constantly inspired, but challenged, by a total Charlotte Mason educational approach, I am understanding more every day the importance of an atmosphere that fosters learning, rather than just a table of textbooks and workbooks. Author Yoshika Lowe said it best:
‘…although it is not intuitively obvious, less is more in homeschooling, and more is just more for the sake of doing more. It may make you feel better about the volume of work your child has sifted through, but it does not mean they have a better education. You are not homeschooling so that you can mimic the public school. It does not work for them, so it definitely will not be productive for you and your children.’
After homeschooling for several years now, the “homeschooling honeymoon” is over, and the thrill of wearing pajamas while learning has lost its excitement. Yet, the experiences over a good book live on. Once my husband and I were watching a television show in which there was a reference to a character as an “Uncle Tom.” Our oldest asked what an Uncle Tom was. Not having shared Harriett Beecher Stowe’s work with her, I tried to explain it as best I could. My daughter’s response was, “Oh, like that character Nancy in I Thought My Soul would Rise and Fly.” She was remembering a book that we read three years ago!
As homeschoolers, we come from a long line of self-educated people who have had a great impact on our society. I recently read of former President Harry Truman’s love for history, and how it helped him make decisions in one of our nation’s most turbulent times. One of his favorite reads was Plutarch’s Lives. He was also a lover of biographies. A library rich in quality literature brings forth greatness in all of us; the words, internalized, almost demand that we be our very best selves, just as hanging out in a crowd of achievers inspires each individual to be more, to do more.
Even in today’s pop culture, media still points a well-educated mind back to the past for true knowledge. In the movie Akeelah and the Bee, the lead character learns certain words by reading W.E.B. DuBois’ writings in the The Crisis. When she questioned her coach and mentor as to why she could not simply memorize lists, his response was that the best way to internalize the spelling of a word was through a relationship with it. She would increase her vocabulary best by understanding the power of words and phrases; she had to become a lover of books.
I continue to cherish our reading time, and I am sure that these are the memories that will last in my mind’s eye when I reflect on our days of homeschooling. Why, our foray into non-traditional education (not that anyone would mistakenly call us eclectic) began when I began reading to the kids from Laura Ingalls Wilder, a childhood favorite of mine. I was sold on the value of a living books approach when the kids would beg me to read more of the stories after school each day. I also remember perusing through The Chronicles of Narnia on hot, summer evenings. Even our then two-year-old would ask us about Digory (from The Magician’s Nephew) or question when we would get to Prince Caspian.
I once heard a homeschool conference speaker say that all you need to educate your children is a Bible (the best work of literature and then some), a math book, and a library card. Though I possess an engineering degree, I am increasingly convinced that the moments that formed my own love for learning had less to do with equations and logic, and more to do with no electrical plugs, a cup of tea, and what Mortimer J. Adler (author of How to Read a Book) refers to as ‘the absent teacher’—a great book.
Check out my article on page 10 of the funky flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
A Husband’s Role in Homeschooling
May 13, 2009 by Belinda
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body… Ephesians 5: 21-23
With all due respect to that most grand of days, Mother’s Day, behind us, I penned this post with Father’s Day in mind. A few years back, I was blessed to hear a tremendous sermon regarding “The Power of a Praying Father“, and I was so blessed. As we approach this celebration of the men in our lives, and as many of us approach the end of one school year and the beginning of another, I am writing in the hope that I can solicit a group that will cover fathers in prayer. Specifically, I am in prayer that fathers to receive, submit to, and then share a God-given vision for their families. In conjunction with that, I pray for myself and for other wives that we are receptive and submissive (yes, it’s the dreaded “s” word) enough to partner with their husbands in carrying this vision forth.
Let me first say that I write this with an understanding that there are men who teach in their homes. If you are a male and the primary teacher in your home, you might have to bring a different balance to my comments.
Men have a wonderfully unique, God-given power to cast forth vision in their homes and consequently change the environment. Yet, some of you will say, “My husband never casts a vision about anything!” Indeed, there are a number of women I know whose husbands are seemingly clueless as to what goes on in their homeschooling world, or whose husbands are apathetic and/or antagonistic about the whole endeavor. However, I want to challenge that thinking by saying that our husbands tell us their visions all the time, but we may have to tune ours ears differently to hear the words in light of what we strive to accomplish on a day-to-day basis. I wonder how many of us are in line with his vision for the family, including his vision for homeschooling.
As a personal example, I am blessed to have a husband who takes an active role in our studies and is genuinely curious about what we do. I sometimes will share with him stories I read or hear of other homeschoolers, and he says repeatedly, “God forbid we have to put the kids in a private or public school, I just don’t want them to be behind in any way.” I consider this a critical piece of his homeschooling vision, and if I align myself with it, I know that he is uncomfortable with learning gaps, and certain approaches to home education will simply make him uneasy about what happens in our learning environment. I could argue the value of those approaches and decide rebelliously to “do my own thing”, but why create a situation where he is uncomfortable?
In addition, he is the most likely to encounter all the not-so-positive comments from co-workers/peers/clients when he mentions homeschooling. If I go against his wishes, when asked about his kids and their education, he has to defend a decision he’s uncomfortable with to a society that is even more skeptical. Why set the stage for that? Are we in this together or what?
Romans 12:1-2 tells us to not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. The world’s plan for our schools says to pour resources into planning, buy the best curriculum, teach, test, and start the loop all over again. God’s word teaches us order: there is a spiritual head (God), and there is an earthly head (man). We have such an opportunity through educating at home to truly pour into our children. Prior to putting any book before them, I invite you to put before them a household that is ready, through an aligned vision and prayer (more on that later) to take on the monumental task of developing God’s next world changers. Ask your husband about what he sees for the family’s future and then listen. Just listen. Then pray for God to deal with you both about the vision–if it’s out of kilter with His will, He will adjust it. If the vision is in His will but out of your will, He will adjust you. Personally, I have found myself asking the Lord, why am I hearing this? How should I use this information? It just takes a step of surrender to Godly alignment and then trusting God for the rest. I am a living witness that it works.
How important is alignment? My pastor pointed this out, and you may have already known it, but it was a revelation for me. We often think of Eve as willfully disobedient and/or disrespectful as she yielded to the serpent’s tempting regarding the fruit of the forbidden tree. When the Lord gave Adam instruction regarding the trees of the garden (Genesis 2:16-17), Eve was not even there! The scripture says that He commanded the man. We never read where Adam shared with Eve what the Lord had told him. Was Eve disobedient, or could it be that she was ignorant of instruction? In light of these thoughts, think about this: how much happiness, peace, and joy are we missing out on because we are not tuned in to our husband’s sharing of the vision?
God bless you today and always.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
Curriculum Choices: Only after God, Only after Goals
April 7, 2009 by Belinda
Mary McLeod Bethune says:
‘On October 3, 1904, I opened the doors of my school, with an enrollment of five little girls…whose parents paid me fifty cents’ weekly tuition…I considered cash money as the smallest part of my resources. I had faith in a living God, faith in myself, and a desire to serve…That’s how the Bethune-Cookman college campus started.’
Though the Lord may not have placed in any of us the desire, much less the anointing, to begin a college in our homes, I believe with my whole heart that we decide to homeschool with similar ideals – and not much else. Our traditional academic environments then lead us to, inevitably and sometimes too quickly, to curriculum choices.
Without a doubt, from the moment you began to think about homeschooling, you had visions of school days dancing in your head. Are your “students” in desks for 7-8 hours each day? Are they perusing through textbook after textbook? The reality is that it takes a period of readjustment for us as parents to encompass all that homeschool can be. You must also factor in helping our children adjust if they have spent time in traditional academic environments. Even if your child has never seen the inside of a classroom, he or she may have an expectation based upon conversations with friends or relatives.
There is nothing wrong with a traditional approach to home education, if that is your preference. Too often, we enter into a conventional approach and then dive into major curriculum expenditures because that is all we know. The facts are that your homeschool, within state-specific boundaries, can look as much or as little like a traditional school as you and your “student(s)” find effective. I will offer this bit of wisdom: before you spend money on education for your children, invest in your own education.
One of my favorite passages of scripture is Jeremiah 29:9-11 in which that Lord encourages us that He has plans for us, “plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future.” I am reminded when I look at our children that, in the same spirit of our heavenly Father, we desire to give our children a hope and a future. You know the plans that you have for your children, and after praying about homeschooling, there is no better starting point than to begin to write those plans.
It may be clear to us that we need to establish yearly goals for our students, but what about setting goals for yourself and for your school? Knowing what you want your children to accomplish long-term, and knowing what you want to accomplish as a parent/ home educator will shape and define your school environment as much as any curriculum decision. I cannot stress this enough: invest in your own education and understanding before you take on the overwhelming task of curriculum decisions.
There are, from my perspective, two sets of goals that are critical to your homeschooling vision. The first has to deal with what you want your children to be able to do after they finish school. You may be able to quickly list “go to college” or “get a job,” but how about the more intangible goals that relate to what habits we teach each day? When we really thought this through, we began to list goals such as these:
- As adults, we want our children to be our friends.
- We want our children to marry spouses that know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
- Our children will be independent thinkers (i.e. plan “A” should not always be to call Mom and Dad!) .
These were the activities that set the backdrop for our curriculum choices, and in many cases, the decision not to choose a traditional textbook/workbook approach. We instead began to introduce great heroes of our past and present to our children, in most cases, before they were heroes. Words like the ones above allow children reflect on the thoughts of those who have immortalized themselves with what must have been small, but selfless, acts at the time. More importantly, these words plant seeds of potential greatness within a child as they see history makers, not as unreachable superhumans, but as boys and girls who enjoyed everyday life and used it to spark greatness.
First and foremost, however, we chose tools (emphasis mine) based upon maximizing the opportunities for God to visit us and minister to our family right there at the kitchen table. Nothing is more important than His presence. Even if we don’t get to everything I have planned, we take time to understand the price that was paid for our lives, and to know the one who paid that price. It is not enough that our children have “head knowledge” about Jesus; they need to know Him in a real way.
I have one final thought regarding what we teach and what tools we use to help us. When I am not teaching our own three blessings, I am privileged to teach college students. In many cases, they are not traditionally-aged college kids, but adult learners who could not or did not take advantage of the benefit of a college education earlier in life. Much of my work with them involves exposure to introductory concepts in the world of management and leadership. Over the years, these are the lessons I’ve learned:
- God teaches us love; the world teaches us tolerance.
- God teaches us humility; the world teaches us arrogance.
- God teaches us to prefer others over ourselves; the world teaches us to love ourselves over others.
- God introduces us to Jesus and Christianity; the world introduces us to religion and spirituality.
- As an educator, I fully recognize that our children may go off to college and not have a believer to teach them. However, I stay mindful with all my students, whether they were born of my womb or not, that teaching for the sake of sheer knowledge is empty without a God-given revelation of how to use that knowledge to change this world for the better cause of Christ Jesus. The presence of God and the presence of written goals are instrumental tools in finding the right curriculum. But before rushing to the nearest vendor, rush to a Bible, a pen, and paper. You will not regret it.
Check out my article on page 24 of the funky flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
What Little League Won’t Teach You
April 7, 2009 by Belinda
One of the many blessings of homeschooling is that our kids can become who they are without the pressure to fit a stereotype. As parents, we can nurture all that God created them to be without reservations or limitations. In a society where boys are provided with all the wrong images of what makes a man manly, I have grown to love the fact that my son loves ballet and tap–and performs both excellently.
This is his sixth year in the dance program, and I have to admit that his father and I were, shall we say, nervous about putting him in a program that struggled to keep a single boy in it, and has never as long as we’ve been there had more than one boy. In the early days, I was very protective of him as I know how cruel kids and, unfortunately, some adults can be when kids don’t fall into stereotypical interests and activities. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for not turning our boys into “sissies” by stripping them of their God-given boyishness. But I have to wonder if, in the name of raising strong men, we’ve not reached an area when the pendulum has swung the other way. Are we guilty of the reverse of the modern-day feminist movement, which seeks to glorify every aspect of our daughters’ budding womanhood except that of becoming a wife and mother? Have we convinced ourselves that a “manly man” can’t spring from a boy who loves the performing arts?
In my years of watching male dancers, I’ve seen men who are as buff as anyone I’ve seen on a sports court or playing field. I also applaud my son that his interests, at least today, are quite varied—-he began learning basketball last year, and he plays tennis. His ability to pirouette and sashay is no more of a flaw in him than my passion for the NFL is in me. (Incidentally, he also watches parts of the games and regularly enjoys Sportscenter with us). I tell you what else has happened in the six years since he took his first class:
He’s no longer a sensitive kid, crying every time someone questions him or pokes fun at him about dancing. He’s a confident kid who’s proud of himself and ready to show off his skill rather than ‘hide it under a bushel.’
He can articulate to anyone, kid or adult, why it’s unacceptable to him to be laughed at or mocked about his ability. He is learning to believe in himself and to do what he loves regardless of how many choose to applaud him.
For these reasons and more, he’s admired by many parents in the program, and I believe that when the time comes, he’ll have more than his share of women to be a manly, and moreover, a Godly man with, beginning with an admiring crowd of female classmates! What he’s learned in his willingness to continue to dance he would have never gotten, at least as early as 8 years of age, on a testosterone-laden Little League bus. He is, in the words of the great poet Robert Frost, taking ‘the road less traveled by, and that will make all the difference.’ Praise God.
Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs.
