Failing Fourth Grade

Our little homeschool is on break this month so the students and teacher can enjoy the refreshing spring. I plan for next month wondering if fourth grade was really finished. The shelves crammed with curriculum stare at me. Bookmarks peek out in various places, and I question our accomplishments. Maybe my son would learn more in school.

House of Cards

This springtime angst is not something only I feel. Many are looking back over the year evaluating lessons. Did the facts get memorized? Are the children at grade level? What if they are behind? Yet are these even the right questions? Or have they been placed upon us by The Educational Industrial Complex discussed at Principled Discovery?

My tendency is to equate education with finishing curriculum and knowing trivia. But where does that idea originate? Maybe it goes back to my education and coloring in all those bubbles with a #2 yellow painted pencil. Or maybe it’s my own pride. I want the best for my children, but can I provide it? Wherever it comes from, it is not helpful. It feeds my fear. If fourth grade means doing every lesson dictated by pressure of my own choosing or of the public school’s making, I failed; we failed.

The only curriculum Bug finished completely was math, but what an accomplishment! He has gone from hating math to liking it. By persevering, he understands. The cracked foundation is repaired. Such improvement will show on a test, but the internal motivation is not measured on paper. It will reveal itself the next time Bug faces something difficult to understand. He has a reference that cannot be taken from him.

Knowledge needs wisdom to build a solid dwelling and that cannot be assigned to age or grade. If the foundation is strong and the bricks are laid one at a time, holes will be plastered as they appear.

Of Equality, Value, and Birthday Parties

Each person is unique. Each person is valuable. The primary principle of individuality declares it. So, if we are all different, why clamor for equality in everything? I confronted the question in a small, quiet way this past weekend.

We invited friends over to celebrate the life of my now four-year-old daughter. While preparing her party, I decided to break tradition. Cake, decorations, and presents remained, but I left something else out on purpose. The children painted a small plaster animal, but bags of candy and prizes were absent.

In recent years, it has become customary to give gifts to all the children attending a party. When and why did this practice begin?

There are as many different reasons as there are hostesses. If someone gives a gift, appreciation is an acceptable response. I am not saying it is wrong to reciprocate blessings. My concern is motives. Could vanity have a part? Could expectations fuel the spending? Is this shift driven by a desire to make everything fair and equal? If one child gets a present, should not the others?

I struggle with this issue. Sometimes I buy a small token for one child, but do not find anything for her brother and sister. Should I refrain from giving the gift, so jealousy doesn’t grow? Favoritism makes this an issue, but favoritism is impossible if each child is viewed according to their real value. The intrinsic value of the individual is the exact teaching I use to encourage my children to “rejoice with those who rejoice.” Romans 12:15 Equality in worth and equality in stuff are not the same thing.

At Christmas, my children do not automatically receive the same number of gifts, or even gifts totaling the same dollar amount. Things are only worth the value an individual gives them. My son does not enjoy dress-up clothes and dolls. The little girls like to look at their brother’s train set, but they do not spend hours, or even minutes, reading books about trains. Finding appropriate presents for each child is my goal. Something they will enjoy, a treasure especially for them.

Not every child desires a pink, castle, birthday cake. Trying to make everything fair and equal serves to disappoint. Life does not work that way. Some individuals are smarter than others. Some have the gift of music. Some are strong and some are weak. This does not make any one more valuable than another.

Celebrate your uniqueness, rejoice in the gifts you have, and think of ways to bless others. Their worth far exceeds the most expensive of trinkets.

Freedom’s Future, Reason 5 of Why I Homeschool

The world today is riddled with arbitrary standards and vague morality. Cynicism, skepticism, and hatred swell as wars and rumors of wars circulate the media. However gloomy the forecast appears, America is still a land touted for freedom. Will this freedom exist in future generations?

While there is no guarantee of success, hope compels me to plant seeds of liberty in the hearts of my children. It takes tremendous faith and sacrifice to pour my life into three children. Because they are valuable, my love will never be in vain, but sometimes the weight of the unknown presses my resolve. Can one individual really impact the circumstances of life now, let alone one hundred years from now?

Then I am reminded of the individuals God used to change the fate of entire nations. Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt. William Wilberforce labored for years to abolish slavery in England. George Washington encouraged a new nation of Americans to fight and win the Revolutionary War. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery and then risked her life rescuing others. It is doubtful history books will record my name, but, perhaps, my influence will endure. This gives me hope.

I hope the ideas pondered today will flourish tomorrow. I hope my children will follow their conscience, obeying God rather than men. I hope they will live in true liberty. May their children and grandchildren do the same.

Complete series:

1. Safe and Smart
2. Who is Responsible for Education
3. No Degree Required
4. Fulfilling the Purpose of Education
5. Freedom’s Future

What’s in a Definition?

After a recent discussion I realized that I should explain why I spend so much time analyzing words and what they mean. Dana of Principled Discovery wrote insightfully on this subject. She graciously gave me permission to repost her ideas here. May her words inspire you to reflect on the definition.

What’s in a Defintion?
by Dana Hanley

In the educational approach we are using, finding, analyzing and applying the proper definitions of words is very important. We use the Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language because it is the only American English dictionary which uses scriptural definitions of words. The goal is to learn to appreciate and strive for precision in language which will lead to precision in thought, precision in communication and, hopefully, precision in behavior. So, I suppose it would be appropriate to begin a discussion of definitions with a definition:

Definition:
1. A brief description of a thing by its properties; as a definition of wit or of a circle.
2. In logic, the explication of the essence of a thing by its kind and difference.
3. In lexicography, an explanation of the signification of a word or term, or of what a word is understood to express.

My hard copy gives me some more information…that the word is derived from a Latin word which means “to end,” or “to limit.” It seems the main principle expressed is to “explain” the “essence” of a thing by its “properties.” It shows the end or limit of a concept, thing or idea. This applies whether we are talking about the definition of the biceps or what is found in dictionaries.

Our language is currently undergoing drastic changes, and what defines us as Americans is under attack. A brief survey of modern dictionaries, particularly when compared with Webster’s 1828, shows an increasing push toward ambiguity. Some are so vague as to be essentially meaningless. When the definition (border) of a word is vague, so is the idea it encompasses. When ideas are vague, so is our culture. The natural result is an ever growing “gray area” in all the affairs of man. In short, when did the word “wicked,” come to mean “good?”

While listening to Ravi Zacharias today, I heard more on definitions I thought was interesting. He brought the concept to the forefront with a simple rewording of a well known bible verse, updating it slightly to better match the original meaning or essence of the Greek:

In the beginning was the definition, and the definition was with God and the definition was God.

At first, I thought that was a bit odd. But after listening to the rest of what he had to say, I realized just how much clearer this translation leaves one of the most basic concepts to Christianity. Back up to the Garden of Eden. Eve is talking to a serpent. What is the temptation to which she yields? Luscious fruit? A sweet talking snake? Genesis 3:5 tells us, “…ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. ” She seeks to be like God, knowing good and evil. Determining good and evil. Defining good and evil. That role which belongs solely to God, she desires for herself. She wants to define right and wrong for herself, without regard to the law of God. What do we seek today? This is the root of all sin, from which all sins we could possibly think of are derived.

Secular humanism has made man into a god, glorifying his achievements and telling him how he can define right and wrong for himself. Christian humanism does the same, with some recognition of a higher power. True Christianity seeks to follow the Definition…and be conformed into His image. Christ is the end, the limit, the essence and the property of what it means to follow God. The only way to truly follow Him is to let Him lead, beginning with an understanding of scripture and continuing by allowing Him to provide the definition of your walk with Him.

For more on the importance of using Webster’s 1828, here is an interesting article by the Foundation for American Christian Education.

Fulfilling the Purpose of Education, Reason 4 of Why I Homeschool

In Reason 3 I discussed the purpose of education. According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary education does the following:

• Enlightens the understanding
• Corrects the temper
• Forms the manners and habits of youth
• Fits [students] for usefulness in their future stations

If this is the purpose of education, how is it accomplished? I think that Noah Webster had something in mind. Compare the use of Scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

• Profitable for teaching
• For reproof, for correction
• For training in righteousness
• So the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work

Both of these lists address mind, will, character, and destiny. The decisions made today affect tomorrow. Our children are being formed right now. What are they thinking? What is shaping their character?

The most important things take place internally. Character cannot be forced upon anyone. Consequences motivate, but unless a child learns to reason he will not be prepared for a destiny full of freedom to accomplish all the useful, good works he can. He will be dependent upon someone telling him what to do or fearful of making the wrong decisions instead of pursuing his dreams. Instructing children using biblical principles of conscience, liberty, and love will lay a foundation of faith so they will know what is appropriate, no matter the hardships, no matter the accolades.

Teaching the value of individuals created in the image of God inspires love. Reading stories of biblical heroes reveals how imperfect people can be used in mighty ways. History is filled with providence as liberty takes root and spreads. The heart beats faster observing shining stars in endless space. Studying the flow of sap in a flower amazes. By applying the Word of God to life the motivation for learning becomes loving the creator and knowing his creation. Education then becomes inwardly inspired instead of externally compelled.

To give children a good education in manners, arts, and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties. Webster’s 1828 definition of education

Complete series:

1. Safe and Smart
2. Who is Responsible for Education
3. No Degree Required
4. Fulfilling the Purpose of Education
5. Freedom’s Future