American Government Part 1

For anyone new to the blog I frequently post information for my students in classes that I’m teaching.  The following is for my American Government students and reviews some of what we have covered in class on the Declaration of Independence and begins our exploration of the Articles of Confederation.  I prefer to have students read the original documents so we have spent several weeks reading the Declaration and doing some simulations of discussions that might have occurred at the time.

In class we have been studying the Declaration of Independence and the events that led up to it. The Declaration is an extraordinary document. In class we have read and discussed it in sections and you should be familiar with the arguments that Thomas Jefferson lays out. To people living in the United States today the ideas contained in the Declaration may seem unremarkable, even obvious, but to men living at the time the document was written these were revolutionary ideas. In order to fight a war and create a new nation, the first step was changing the way the colonist thought…at a very basic level.

In A History of Us, From Colonies to Country, Joy Hakim explains that John Adams understood the difficulty and the necessity of Americans making a paradigm shift. For their to be success, first, the colonist had to embrace the ideas presented in the Declaration of Independence.

“Long after the American Revolution, someone asked John Adams what the war had been about. There were two revolutions, he explained. One was the war itself. But the important revolution, he said had occurred even before the war began. It had to do with ideas and attitudes. ‘The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people.‘ said John Adams.”

The idea of inalienable rights, all men being equal, and a government by the people were ideals people had to embrace with such conviction that they would be willing to fight and die for those ideals.

Living in the United States today it is hard to appreciate the risk that these men were taking. There really was very little hope for success. They were not a united group, but 13 independent states with different governments, different currencies, and different goals. They had no central government to direct, control, and pay for an army. They had no way to tax, no authority to make treaties, and no consistent laws regarding money and commerce. America was taking on one of the most powerful nations in the world at the time, while they did not have a standing army.

These were the big problems, but there were many other concerns to deal with. The south had to contend with England

painting by John Trunbull

promising slaves freedom if they fought on their side. Settlers on the frontiers had to deal with Indian attacks incited by the English to weaken the colonies resolve. Every town had colonist who were against the idea of revolution considering it treason and remained loyal to the crown. There were spies, distrust, and families split over loyalties.

Yet, in the midst of this there was a group of extraordinary men who envisioned a government that would serve the needs of the people. This group of men took on the impossible task of going to war with England. Each acknowledged as he signed the Declaration of independence that he was probably signing his own death warrant. It is said that there was complete silence within the hall as each man came forward to affix his signature to the document. It was a solemn and serious occasion and was only the beginning of the challenges the new government would face.

As you all know, the impossible happened and America won her independence. You might think that after that things got easier, but they got worse, much worse. From 1781-1789 the United States was governed by The Articles of Confederation. During most of the war the states couldn’t even agree on The Articles of Confederation and the war was basically fought under a gentlemen’s agreement of co-operation. This was very inefficient and created many obstacles to winning the war.

The rulers of all the powerful nations in Europe called the government that was developing in America The Great Experiment and they expected it to fail quickly, and when it did, they would be there to divide up the spoils. These rulers were contemptuous of the idea that a government could be based on God-given, inalienable rights and that common people could rule themselves. Believing it to be an unworkable and ridiculous system they sat back and waited for failure.

At first it seemed that would be what happened. During the war, and after the establishment of the The Articles each state had their own Constitution. Each state had their own executive, judicial, and legislative branches and their own bill of rights. In reality there wasn’t one country in America, but thirteen separate countries that were trying, some of the time, to cooperate.

After winning the war, States were unwilling to give a unified, federal government much power. They were afraid that after fighting for independence  they would once again find themselves with their liberties being denied, so they fought to limit the power of the centralized governments and to keep the power in the hands of each individual State.

The constitutions of the individual states were set up much like our government today. The power of the States were divided among executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Each State also had a bill of rights. However, The Articles of Confederation were not organized in this way, instead there was a Congress that performed the work of all of the branches. This led to chaos. In an effort to keep the central government from gaining power it was decided that in order for anything to be passed,  9 states would have to vote yes. This made decision making nearly  impossible, and as time passed it became harder and harder to get a quorum of men together to discuss and vote on issues.

The Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses. It quickly became apparent that the lack of power given to the Central government was keeping the United States from moving forward. Among the powers denied to the central government were;  the ability to enforce treaties, to impose taxes, to regulate trade between the states, to call out troops, or to establish courts. Without these rights the country quickly fell into an economic depression.

Added to all these problems was Article Two…it sated that ‘each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States.’ In essence the United States wasn’t really a united country but,  at best, a ‘league of friendship’.

See Part 2 (coming shortly) to continue on with the The Articles of Confederation.

Seperating Molecules

Today my Physical Science students and I were discussing atoms and molecules.  The point of the lessons was not simply that a molecule is a combination of different atoms, but really understanding that these combinations then make up unique substances with characteristics of their own.  We started with water, a great starting point because kids are familiar with it, and are most often familiar with the chemical equation for water..H2O. They can observe that water is different than oxygen or hydrogen and has it’s own unique characteristics.

We explored these concepts with a simple experiment.  (This experiment does use electricity, so use commonsense safety precautions.) We took two copper wires with their ends exposed and attached one end of each wire to the top of a 9 Volt battery, using electrical tape to secure it.  Do not let the wires touch each other, and do not use a stronger battery.  We then put the other  end of each wire into a glass with a solution of water and baking soda.  As soon as the wires were immersed we were able to observe the breaking down of water molecules into their atoms of hydrogen and oxygen.  As the students watched, the gases bubbled away from the ends of the wire and  we were able to discuss the concepts involved.  So, in this first phase we observed a molecule breaking down into atoms.

After a few minutes of observation the students began to observe another change.  The end of one of the wires was turning a bluish green.  Baking soda contains carbon atoms and when you combine hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and copper (from the wires) you get hydroxycarbonate.  Hydroxycarbonate is that bluish green substance that we find on the Statue of Liberty which is made of copper.  In this phase of the experiment  we can watch as new molecules are formed.

Most science concepts can be taught with common household items…this one came from our textbook, love Dr. Wile, but there are experiments for just about everything online.

Socialization

What about Socialization?

It has always been interesting to me that the big objection to homeschooling is that children will not be adequately socialized. Again this seems to come back to the stereotypes that people have of homeschoolers.
From a common sense stand point this argument has always struck me as odd. Children are not born with social skills, so how do we expect other, also unsocialized children, to teach our children social skills. What they learn is how to survive, to get their way, or to bully. They have to be taught to be polite, to be kind, and to share, all skills best learned from the adults in their lives, not from other children.

I’ve, also heard that children need to be in school to learn to deal with the ‘real’ world. What about school is real? It is a totally artificial situation which will never be duplicated again once a child graduates. Where in your adult life are you grouped with 30 other individuals who are exactly the same age as you, in a completely structured environment?

For parents concerned about this issue, there are a multitude of choices that are far superior to the option of institutionalizing your children for 13 years. There are church groups, school groups, park days, and sports activities. If your child is dramatic you can join a theatre group, if they want to do karate, they can take a class. My boys were with other children almost every day of their childhood at some activity or another.

Most importantly, children with a strong sense of self, or identity generally socialize easily, both with other children and with adults. I think the advantages that the homeschool child has in terms of identity is probably one of homeschoolings greatest advantages.

For those of us who have come up through the public school system, we understand how strongly our identity was influenced by our school relationships. Years after high school students who were in the ‘nerd’ group are still uncomfortable around the ‘popular’ kids. The insecurities picked up on the playground continue to play a role into adulthood. It takes work to leave those insecurities behind because they became a part of us when we were too young to evaluate whether or not they were true or valid.

Children who are homeschooled are somewhat baffled by this, they have never had to survive in the typical school situation and cannot appreciate the pressures put on their friends to ‘fit in’. Without this pressure our children are free to develop as individuals and don’t view themselves in the same way that their counterparts in school do. I didn’t fully appreciate this advantage to homeschooling until my children were grown, but watching them now, seeing how this freedom has allowed them to develop self-confidence and the ability to relate to many different people…I think it’s become one of the biggest advantages I see.

Since this is one of those topics that seems to concern everyone, it is not surprising that research has been done. Now that a generation of homeschool students have come of age and are adults, surveys have been taken to see if the socializing aspects of homeschooling have been successful. (Again, the details of this study are available at HSLDA.com.) HSLDA commissioned the largest research survey done to date of those who have been home educated. The study was conducted by Dr. Brian Ray and surveyed over 7,300 adults who were homeschooled. Over 5,000 of these had been home educated for at least 7 years. Here are some of the results from this study.

Over 74% of home educated adults between the ages of 18 and 24 had gone on to take college level courses compared to 46% of their public school counterparts.

71% of homeschool adults were found to participate in ongoing community service activities…whether this be coaching a sports team, volunteering at a school or working with a church…compared to 37% of adults of similar ages. 88% of homeschooled adults were members of organizations like community groups, unions, professional organizations, and churches, compared to 50% of U.S. Adults.

Homeschoolers also tend to be more politically minded and involved.

“Only 4.2% of the homeschool graduates surveyed consider politics and government too complicated to understand, compared to 35% of U.S. adults. This may account for why homeschool graduates work for candidates, contribute to campaigns, and vote in much higher percentages than the general population of the United States. For example, 76% of homeschool graduates surveyed between the ages of 18–24 voted within the last five years, compared to only 29% of the relevant U.S. population. The numbers of homeschool graduates who vote are even greater in the older age brackets, with voting levels not falling below 95%, compared to a high of 53% for the corresponding U.S. Populace.”

The study also had some other interesting statistics that I share, well, because I found them interesting. 90% of the homeschoolers surveyed had used the public library in the past year as compared to 56% of the general population. 98% of homeschooled adults had read a book in the past 6 months, as compared to 69% of the general population. 91% of homeschoolers believed that a citizen should be able to make a speech against the church and religion as opposed to 88% of the general population.

So there you have it, socialization… no problem. It appears that as adults homeschooled children go on to get further education, are involved citizens, and continue to be active in community life, as well as using the public library and defending the right to free speech.

Are Parents Really Qualified to Teach their Children?

As we start off the year I thought it worth going over some of the most recent test results on homeschooling as well as answering some of the ‘most asked’ questions. So to start us off….

Are parents really qualified to teach their children?

Yes, although I understand if you have your doubts. We have been taught to think that we need a special credential to teach our children and that if we teach something in the wrong order our children will be permanently damaged. As you will see in a minute, the research suggests that not only are parents qualified, but that they do a much better job than the majority of schools.

The reasons should be obvious…who is more concerned and tuned in to a child than his parents? Who knows his/her strengths and weaknesses better? Who is more interested in seeing that child succeed? What school can offer the individualized help that a parent can offer? Just the one on one tutoring nature of homeschooling gives it many advantages over a classroom situation.

Added to the fact that parents have far smaller ‘classes’ to teach, curriculum writers have realized that homeschoolers are a big market and have written curriculums with the parent/educator in mind. You don’t need a credential to use these materials, most come with step by step instructions. Understanding that parents will be doing the teaching, curriculum writers have taken that into account and made their products usable for families.

In addition, many homeschool parents, frustrated with what is out there in terms of curriculum, have written and marketed their own, and it is excellent. Unlike your local school, where one curriculum fits all, parents are free to choose from the hundreds of quality programs that are out there, the one that will fit their child the best.

For a multitude of reasons, homeschooling has proven itself successful…but don’t just take my word for it. Let’s look at some of the research that has been done.

Studies have been conducted by Universities, State boards of education, and various Education Research organizations. There have been studies done on both academic achievement, and the all important socialization issue.

Here are the results from the most recently published research project. The following is taken from the HSLDA website. You can go to the site to view even more details.

“Drawing from 15 independent testing services, the Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics included 11,739 homeschooled students from all 50 states who took three well-known tests—California Achievement Test, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, and Stanford Achievement Test for the 2007–08 academic year. The Progress Report is the most comprehensive homeschool academic study ever completed.

The Results

Overall the study showed significant advances in homeschool academic achievement as well as revealing that issues such as student gender, parents’ education level, and family income had little bearing on the results of homeschooled students.

National Average Percentile Scores
Subtest	Homeschool	Public School
Reading	89	50
Language	84	50
Math	84	50
Science	86	50
Social Studies	84	50
Corea	88	50
Compositeb	86	50
a. Core is a combination of Reading, Language, and Math. b. Composite is a combination of all subtests that the student took on the test.

There was little difference between the results of homeschooled boys and girls on core scores.

Boys—87th percentile
Girls—88th percentile

Household income had little impact on the results of homeschooled students.

$34,999 or less—85th percentile
$35,000–$49,999—86th percentile
$50,000–$69,999—86th percentile
$70,000 or more—89th percentile

The education level of the parents made a noticeable difference, but the homeschooled children of non-college educated parents still scored in the 83rd percentile, which is well above the national average.

Neither parent has a college degree—83rd percentile
One parent has a college degree—86th percentile
Both parents have a college degree—90th percentile

Whether either parent was a certified teacher did not matter.

Certified (i.e., either parent ever certified)—87th percentile
Not certified (i.e., neither parent ever certified)—88th percentile

Parental spending on home education made little difference.

Spent $600 or more on the student—89th percentile
Spent under $600 on the student—86th percentile

The extent of government regulation on homeschoolers did not affect the results.

Low state regulation—87th percentile
Medium state regulation—88th percentile
High state regulation—87th percentile

In short, the results found in the new study are consistent with 25 years of research, which show that as a group homeschoolers consistently perform above average academically. The Progress Report also shows that, even as the numbers and diversity of homeschoolers have grown tremendously over the past 10 years, homeschoolers have actually increased the already sizeable gap in academic achievement between themselves and their public school counterparts-moving from about 30 percentile points higher in the Rudner study (1998) to 37 percentile points higher in the Progress Report (2009).

As mentioned earlier, the achievement gaps that are well-documented in public school between boys and girls, parents with lower incomes, and parents with lower levels of education are not found among homeschoolers. While it is not possible to draw a definitive conclusion, it does appear from all the existing research that homeschooling equalizes every student upwards. Homeschoolers are actually achieving every day what the public schools claim are their goals—to narrow achievement gaps and to educate each child to a high level. (Emphasis – mine)

Of course, an education movement which consistently shows that children can be educated to a standard significantly above the average public school student at a fraction of the cost—the average spent by participants in the Progress Report was about $500 per child per year as opposed to the public school average of nearly $10,000 per child per year—will inevitably draw attention from the K-12 public education industry. “

If they don’t trust the schools, why should we.

A 2005 report by the Thomas B. Fordham institute found that public school teachers are twice as likely to send their children to private schools.  A  recent Sacramento news story  reported that Raymond who is the Sacramento City Unified Superintendent will be the first in 20 years to send his children to District schools.  When the people who know the most won’t send their own children to public schools, it seems we should all be a little concerned.

This blog article links to the original studies and reports.  Revealing reading.

Lest we become snobs

I’ve met people who turn up their noses at children’s books thinking they need to move past them, but I think a well-written children’s book is one of lifes great joys.  Much that is written for children in recent years is trite and garish, often taken from Saturday morning cartoons…but there are treasures to be found on the shelves in the children’s section of the library.  Treasures where authors have used the beauty and elegance of language to say in a simple way thoughts that are not simple.

Just as an example…here are some quotes by A.A. Milne from that classic, Winnie The Pooh.  Enjoy.

“Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?”

“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.”

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”

“My spelling is Wobbly. It’s good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.”

““When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s the same thing,” he said.”

“What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.”

“He respects Owl, because you can’t help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn’t spell it right.”

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.”

The Classical Method

Continuing in this series…One of the most popular movements among homeschoolers has been a movement back to the Classical approach.  This method hearkens back to the Middle Ages.  There are many different books on this method, each with it’s own unique take on how it should be implemented.  Here I will try to give you  what is generally common to all.

The classical approach to home education stresses the use of the Trivium.  The Trivium is a three-part process of training the mind  of the child:  the Grammar stage, the Logic stage, and the Rhetoric stage.  Each stage focuses on a different developmental stage.

The Grammar stage, early elementary school, is the first.  During this time a child is ready to begin absorbing information.  The child thinks in concrete terms, enjoys memorizing facts, and is happy accumulating information on a wide range of topics.  This is the time to lay a firm foundation.  This is not a time for in depth analysis or personal self-expression, but a time to get the basic structure in place so that as the child grows and learns they will have many ‘hooks’ on which to attach new information.  During this time children learn basic math facts, rules of phonics and spelling, history stories, and definitions of  basic science.

The next stage is the Logic stage.  Children enter this stage in late elementary school, or Jr. High.  During this stage students are capable of abstract reasoning and become obsessed with discovering ‘why’.  Children are interested in cause and effect, and begin to see relationships between different fields of study.  During this phase they are ready to begin the study of algebra, a more abstract field of mathematics.  Instead of just learning the facts of the War of 1812, students now need to know what caused the war, what lessons can be learned from it.  In english, students begin to apply logic to their writing, following carefully reasoned paragraph construction and showing an increase in critical thinking.  When dealing with literature in this phase students are not just recounting the facts of a story, but they are analyzing the characters and plot, discussing the moral choices that were made.

The last stage of the Trivium is the Rhetoric stage.  This is where all the learning comes together and the student learns to write and speak with clarity and forcefulness.  Rhetoric is a step beyond the logic stage, this is where the last two stages find their culmination.  At this point in a students development he should be able to take facts, analyze them, come to conclusions, see interconnections and then be able to express his views in a logical, well-thought out, elegant way.

One unique aspect of the classical method is that it is based on the written word.  There is very little room here for videos, or educational computer games.  The child is expected to interact with the written word in a meaningful way…this in turn will strengthen and train his mind for more rigorous disciplines and thinking.

Another emphasis is that all knowledge is interrelated.  Science, history, philosophy, mathematics…they are all related, and a development in one field inevitable spills over and affects another.  Being able to recognize there interconnections is an emphasis in the Classical approach.

As I said above, this approach became popular during the Middle Ages.  During that time there was a resurgence of interest in the classic civilizations of Greece and Rome.  Scholars were expected to study not just Latin and Greek, but also the histories and literature from that period.  The art and architecture of these civilizations became the new standard and there was an almost sacred reverence for anything thought to be from this era.  Because of this many who embrace this method also stress learning Latin, (and to a lesser degree Greek) and reading the ancient writers works.  There is much to recommend this approach as much of our language has come from Latin and Greek,and our ideas, history, and government finds it’s roots in these ancient cultures.

In one approach, outlined in The Well Trained Mind, by Susan Wise Bauer, it is suggested that children follow a four year course that is repeated three times.  On each cycle the child moves on to the next stage of development.  Here is a quick look at how this would work taken from The Well Trained Mind, website.

We suggest that the twelve years of education consist of three repetitions of the same four-year pattern: Ancients, Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, and Modern Times. The child studies these four time periods at varying levels — simple for grades 1-4, more difficult in grades 5-8 (when the student begins to read original sources), and taking an even more complex approach in grades 9-12, when the student works through these time periods using original sources (from Homer to Hitler) and also has the opportunity to pursue a particular interest (music, dance, technology, medicine, biology, creative writing) in depth.

The other subject areas of the curriculum are linked to history studies. The student who is working on ancient history will read Greek and Roman mythology, the tales of the Iliad and Odyssey, early medieval writings, Chinese and Japanese fairy tales, and (for the older student) the classical texts of Plato, Herodutus, Virgil, Aristotle. She’ll read Beowulf, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare the following year, when she’s studying medieval and early Renaissance history. When the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are studied, she starts with Swift (Gulliver’s Travels) and ends with Dickens; finally, she reads modern literature as she is studying modern history.

The sciences are studied in a four-year pattern that roughly corresponds to the periods of scientific discovery: biology, classification and the human body (subjects known to the ancients); earth science and basic astronomy (which flowered during the early Renaissance); chemistry (which came into its own during the early modern period); and then basic physics and computer science (very modern subjects).

This pattern lends coherence to the study of history, science, and literature — subjects that are too often fragmented and confusing. The pattern widens and deepens as the student progresses in maturity and learning. For example, a first grader listens to you read the story of the Iliad from one of the picture book versions available at any public library. Four years later, the fifth grader reads one of the popular middle-grade adaptations — Olivia Coolidge’s The Trojan War, or Roger Lancelyn Greene’s Tales of Troy. Four more years go by, and the ninth grader — faced with the Iliad itself — plunges right in, undaunted.

So if you are interested in further pursuing this method here are some books and resources you can use.  (Keep in mind, most of these authors have websites where you can continue to hear what they are writing and thinking about in between books.)

The Well Trained Mind, by Susan Wise Bauer and Jesse Wise.  (Ms. Bauer has several books and a very helpful website.)

The Case for Classical Christian Education by Douglas Wilson (Again, he has many helpful books including, Rediscovering The Lost Tools of Learning.)

To view curriculum that is focused on the Classical Method I would recommend visiting Veritas Press which has some excellent materials.

The Schooling Method

I’m continuing to post information on the different methods of home education that are available.  Here is the Schooling method, sometimes referred to as the Traditional approach.  If you missed the others you can check out, The Unschooling Method...and The Charlotte Mason Method.  Hope the information is helpful.  Once we get through all of the methods then we will discuss how to choose a curriculum that fits your child.

This is probably the most common method of homeschooling and it is just what the name implies, doing school at home. In this instance there is not a radical shift to homeschooling, basically what happens in the classroom at school is recreated in the home. Standard textbooks are used and parents basically follow the same scope and sequence that the public schools follow. Standardized tests are frequently used to evaluate how students are doing. Generally, to gain the most from homeschooling a paradigm shift is needed, a complete re-thinking of what works for you, your comfort level, and what works for your child and their learning style. Most of the homeschooling methods assume you are making a paradigm shift and are embracing a completely different model of education. The schooling at home method does not require this paradigm shift. The location has changed from school to home, but the logistics of that education have remained the same. This is also probably one of the most comfortable paths for parents to take. More than likely the parents were educated in this manner so it is familiar. While all homeschooling parents feel unsure of themselves as they start, using this method takes out the guesswork and leaves parents feeling like they have a firm framework to work within. Lessons are laid out, tests evaluate progress, and parents do not have to worry about gaps in education. The advantages to this method are many. For parents who need to pull a child out of the school system for a time… an illness, travel, to catch up.. with this method they can easily put the child back into school and know they will be on track. Another advantage is that there are generally fewer objections from family and friends when they see that the child is doing, roughly, what would be done in the classroom. While the curriculum may be the same as what is used in schools, the amount of time it takes to use the curriculum is generally a lot less. There is no need to wait for others in the class to finish assignments and there is no arguing with the fact that one on one tutoring is more efficient than a one to thirty ratio. Probably the two most popular publishers of homeschooling textbooks are Abeka and Bob Jones. Both have been in the business of supplying textbooks to private schools for years and have established a reputation for being academically rigorous, unabashedly Christian, and accommodating of homeschooling parents. Both have developed video programs to supplement their textbooks so that parents can have live classroom teachers involved. In the early grades this method will require a fair amount of parental involvement (as do most methods) as children are learning to read, and do basic math. As children get older parents can assign the needed work and children will be able to work through large portions of it unassisted, needing parental guidance only for grading of tests and explaining of difficult concepts. The disadvantages of this method are also many. This is a great method if you have the typical good ’student’. If your child is a visual learner who likes workbooks and the feeling of success they get by doing well on a test, they will do fine with this approach. However, if you have a child who is an auditory or kinetic learner they will experience a lot of boredom and frustration with this method. If your child has ADD or ADHD this method can be unnecessarily difficult for them. By choosing this method families also forego much of the freedom that is available to homeschoolers to pursue education in more creative, wholistic ways. Children who do not test well may come to feel inadequate or stupid using this method when in reality they are just being educated in a style which is a poor fit for them. Another frustration with this method is that the teacher’s manuals are written for the classroom teacher and the bulk of it is how to set up the lessons for a large number of students, how to manage the class etc. As a homeschool parent you have to wade through this information to get to what you need.

The Charlotte Mason Method

The Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling is another popular option. This method has a solid educational philosophy behind it’s implementation and taking the time to research and understand it’s underpinnings will be time well spent. See the book list at the end of this article.

Charlotte Mason was an English educator who lived in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. She was able to put her educational theories into practice in her own schools. Her approach was three-pronged…atmosphere, discipline, and life. She also believed parents were one of the crucial elements in a child’s success. As I explain her understanding of these three-prongs you will see why she thought parents were primary and the schools secondary in the educational development of children.

First, atmosphere. She observed that children absorb what is around them. For instance, if parents read good books to their children on a regular basis children will absorb correct grammar, vocabulary, and speech patterns without any effort on their part. By using this simple fact parents have a powerful tool at their disposal. If the atmosphere of the home is calm and loving…children will absorb that. If parents are critical and there is always stress in the air…children will absorb that. As parents and educators we need to be intentional about the atmosphere we raise and educate our children in.

Second, discipline. By discipline Charlotte Mason was largely referring to the need to develop good habits within the child. Our children will develop habits…good or bad. How much simpler will their lives be if they have developed good ones that require no thought and are just a part of their person. She would have children acquire the habit of paying full attention to whatever task they are at, to being observant of the natural world, and of caring for themselves and their belongings. Much of her teaching on habits is about the moral character of a child. How easy is it for our children to fall into the habit of being quarrelsome or critical. Would it be just as easy to train your child to a habit of cheerfulness and generosity. “The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days.” Mason

Third, life. Whenever possible Charlotte Mason wanted real life experiences to overlap with a child’s learning. Because of this, at her schools, formal instruction only lasted for the morning. The afternoons were reserved for nature walks, art projects, and other real life learning.

One of the cornerstones of Charlotte Masons approach is the use of ‘living books’. Believing that most children’s literature is ‘twaddle’ Charlotte Mason implored parents and educators to give more thought to children’s books. If you have been in a bookstore recently you will see what she meant. Many children’s books talk down to the child as if they are not intelligent beings capable of thought. Textbooks are summaries and predigested thoughts for the child to memorize…they do not engage their minds in any meaningful way. Instead she encourages parents to choose books that inspire children to think, to aspire to be better, and to fill their minds with new ideas. In other words, to search for books that ‘live’. Believing that when we spread before children a rich feast of ideas they will blossom she sought out ways to introduce them to the best and the brightest. She believed that children who were continually fed ‘twaddle’ would come to despise books and education seeing that it has nothing of interest to say to them.

Instead of quizzes and tests this approach makes use of narration. Narration is simply, telling back. For an early elementary school student it would look like this. Carly listens to her mother read to her the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis. When she is done Carly tells her back all she remembers. This will include her impressions questions etc. That’s it. From this interchange her mother knows that she has ‘comprehended’ and that she has taken from the story what is appropriate for her. In this sense Carly leads the lesson. Her mom doesn’t have a summary point that Carly needs to take away from the lesson. She lets the story speak directly to Carly without interference. A few years later Carly’s narration might be in the form of a drawing with a written summary, and a few years after that a well-thought out essay.

Spelling, grammar, and vocabulary are not taught with lists to be memorized and exercises to be copied. Instead dictation is used. Depending on the age of the student a selection a literature is chosen to be studied. After a period of study the child has the selection dictated to them…then they compare to the original. Were there words they had trouble spelling, they will work on those to do better next time. Did they use the quotation marks correctly…a quick review of the punctuation might be needed. As the child advances he will be given dictation without first viewing the selection and then make comparisons.

Nature Study is an integral part of Charlotte Masons approach and she encouraged students to keep Nature journals where they could record what they were observing. These journals were meant to be beautiful as well as informative. One page might have a careful drawing of the grasshopper the child observed…and the next a poem written or copied that reflected the season.

History is studied through the use of living books. Biographies, Autobiographies, historical fiction, and well done non-fiction books are read independently and aloud.

Math studies rely heavily on the use of manipulatives. The goal is to have the child understand the concept before doing any paper and pencil work with equations. This assured the teacher that the child truly understood and wasn’t just parroting back memorized facts.

Art, Music, Shakespeare, and Hymns were also studied in the same relaxed fashion. An introduction was made and the child was free to explore and take in what spoke to them. In this fashion they were introduced to the great men and women of centuries past and were able to better understand their place within their own time.

Before we leave Charlotte Mason let me leave you with a few of her quotes on the importance of instilling courtesy into our children.

“Courtesy seems a small thing until we encounter rudeness.”

“Children learn courtesy by living in a courteous environment and by simple coaching.”

“Do not allow a child to be discourteous just because a person is familiar.”

“Let the young child feel that the omission of courtesy and kindness causes pain to loving hearts, that the doing of them is as cheering as the sunshine.”

Books on the Charlotte Mason Method

For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer McCauley

The Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning by Karen Andreola

A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison

When Children Love to Learn: A Practical Application of Charlotte Mason’s Philosophy for Today by Elaine Cooper, Eve Anderson, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, and Jack Beckman

Unschooling

I’m working on a new website…in anticipation I’m putting together some information for new homeschoolers,  starting out with explaining the many different methods available.  This is one of the more controversial methods out there and takes a unique and gifted set of parents to pull it off.  So if you’ve ever wondered about the Unschooling movement here is a peek.

A quick disclaimer…in explaining any movement in a brief summary generalizations are going to be inevitable.  There is a wide range of people within this group and I’m not trying to represent all of them…just capture the heart.  If you have input I’d love to hear it.

Unschooling is a movement that seeks to reconsider and revise what we currently call education. Those who have embraced the movement are a rather diverse group who approach unschooling from a variety of perspectives and in each household the results are different.

Basically, learning is guided by the child not the parent. (A similar movement called Delight Directed…as in the studies are guided by what delights the child, would share many of these same characteristics.) It is not that the parent is uninterested in their child getting an education, but that they believe lessons learned at the child’s initiation are far more productive. These parents have a deep respect for children believing them to be intelligent individuals capable of making connections and learning without a set curriculum, tests, or state standards.

Using this method takes a great deal of confidence and resolve. If you thought homeschoolers in general have their methods questioned imagine explaining that you are going to allow your child to decide what they learn.

So what could unschooling look like and why would you choose it. Let’s imagine our student Rafe has become interested in Charlie Brown from seeing the cartoon in the Sunday Paper. The next time he is at the library he checks out a book of Charlie Brown comics…as he reads he begins to wonder about Snoopy’s fights with the Red Baron and discovers that the the Red Baron was a flying Ace in World War I. The next trip to the library Rafe gathers up books on World War I and Flying Aces. He has his mother buy him a map of Europe to put in his room so he can see where the battles took place. After a few weeks he branches out to other comic books, Superman and Batman, each of these spark interest in other topics. Is Kryptonite also real? What is the difference between a rock and a mineral? He begins to write and illustrate his own comics. . His mother takes him on a field trip to an artist who has worked in comics and can explain the page set ups, the process etc. Rafe spends many uninterrupted hours pouring over his books, creating and illustrating his own works, and seeking answers to his many questions.

Requiring prolonged periods to explore and investigate, and parents who can help students hunt down resources and answers, unschooling has many qualities that are appealing. Skills, such as reading and writing, are acquired because the child has need of them. This kind of learning is not possible in a setting where ringing bells, distracting conversations, and helpful teachers are constantly interrupting the child’s line of thought and inquiry.

Was Rafe’s unschooling time productive? Educational? Enough? Unschoolers think that it is not only productive and educational but superior to the methods used in schools today. They measure success by a different yardstick, no SAT tests here. Instead they are hoping to help their children realize their own unique potential, gifts, and place in the world. The focus is on the individuality and giftedness of each child.

The downside of this method is that parents must be comfortable with the fact that their child’s education will have gaps.  Now I don’t believe any of us get through high school without some gaps in our education, but following this method exclusively is bound to leave some areas unexplored and parents will have to be able to live with that confident that their child will learn what they need.

If this method sounds interesting to you…here are some books to get you started.

The Unschooling Unmanual by 8 authors including John Holt, Nanda Van Gestel, and Daniel Quinn

The Unschooling Handbook; How to use the World as your Classroom by Mary Griffith

The Unprocessed Child:  Living without school  by Valerie Fizenreiter

Dumbing us Donw:  The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling  by John Taylor Gotto