(From the 2007 Christian Heritage Home Educators of Washington)
Becky Develle is a homeschool mom and representative for Institute for Excellence in Writing
Choosing Curricula
Daniel 1:1 "In the third yearof the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it."
Have our minds been held captive? Are we a nation of non-thinkers? Who are we electing into government?
The founders of our nation had brilliand and organized thoughts, grounded in Biblical training.
Public school-not designed to teach us how to think. Created in the ancient Spartan model to make soldiers (currently a predictable work force). Reasoning skills were lost along the way. You only need to know what’s on the test. Multiple choice testing is indicative of this. The sysyem determines where everyone is compared to others. A form of mind control. You only know what you are supposed to know. Standardized tests reflect this.
"I know 100 valuable facts, but they weren’t on the test." ~Winston Churchill (Leigh note: I could not verify this quote online.)
We have lost God’s providence along the way. History is God’s story.
Bring God’s hand into your stories. Work on what it is God wants your children to know, not what the state deems necessary. (Leigh note: Washington state requires either standarized testing yearly, or non-test assessments. Becky encourages the non-test assessment for a more accurate portayal of your child’s level of comprehension for his/her age. In Washington state, she suggests Family Learning Organization for testing or assessment.)
Deut.6
Tell your children of God’s mighy deeds.
Deut. 17 and 18: Write your own scripture and discuss. Be intimately aware of God’s word.
You can think without writing, but you can’t write without thinking.
Read, write, discuss: model for learning
Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.
God wants us to have reasoning skills.
Teach diligently-we hace to be the best teachers we can be.
The majority of the Bible is a story. Capture our children’s heart and heads. The stories you remember
most are the ones by great tellers.
Livingmath.net
God is the author of all things to be learned (art, math, etc.)
Recommended Materials
Excellence in Writing-Teaches the parent how to reach writing.
If you really want someone t learn something:
-read a great story that engages the student
-have them write about it
-discuss it together
Encyclopedia of Biblical Truths-Ruth Haycock (education from a Biblical viewpoint)
The Heart of Wisdom approach
Teaching the Classics-Begin with simple bedtime stories. Use the socratic question list.
Poetry memorization-Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization by Andre Pudewa (I bought this)
memorization increases the brains capacity; work it like a muscle. Increases and creates a sophisticated language pattern.
Enough About Grammar by Joe Floren- Honest and simple
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation-self correction
The Word Write Now-like a thesaurus based on character traits
Spell to Write and Read-There are 28 rules of spelling to make english a phonetic language.
44 sounds spelled 70 basic ways-phonograms
Hi Leigh,
I'm sorry I missed most of this! If I hadn't had Millie with me, I would've eaten up there too. Are you using the Poetry Memorization program yet? We are and so far we really like it.
Love, Alyssa