Archive for the ‘Principle Approach’ Category
Homeschool Events Then and Now
Then
- Home Education Week wrapped up over the weekend.
I enjoyed participating. There are a number of blogs I missed, but I’ll continue visiting. I’m usually the last one to the party, so don’t put the chips and salsa away yet. I look forward to chatting with you.
- Carnival of Homeschooling was full of pranks at Why Homeschool.
While there, I surveyed Barbara Frank’s Entrepreneurial Homeschool, bookmarked Chrysalis’ Classic Children’s Books, and took the Cate’s Homeschool Survey.
- Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival encouraged at One Child Policy Homeschool.
The welcome mat is still out for these exciting events. So drop by if you get a chance.
Now
Christian history study begins this week. Join PrincipledMom as she looks at one of my favorite subjects.
Even if you don’t have The Christian History of the Constitution, I encourage you to read the prompts and ask questions. Over the next weeks, I will capture some of my thoughts here.
Update: The study is found in Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History starting on page 306.
Revelation- Why Study Math Reason 4
In past weeks, we discussed a few reasons to study math. If you remember, Reason, Dominion, and Justice are a few of the principles we can use to inspire our children. My hope is that by shining meaning and purpose on the subject the weighty work will be transformed into joy. This quote from Alfred Whitehead found in Mathematics, Is God Silent resonates;
There is a widely-spread sense of boredom with the very idea of learning. I attribute this to the fact that they [the students] have been taught too many things merely in the air…The whole apparatus of learning appears to them as nonsense.
Moonbeams by Jessie Wilcox Smith
Telling children they have to learn something to get a college degree, or a good job may motivate some, but the abstract noose of the future strips away meaning and leaves a dead shell. The study of mathematics is meant to be so much more. It is the study of life. It is the language of nature. Most importantly, it reveals the glory of the Creator.
Music. Shape. Form. Sequence. All the beauty of nature is written with mathematics from the symmetrical petals on the tiniest flower to the spiral galaxies in an unfathomable universe. The laws of nature are the fingerprints of a wise, faithful, infinite Creator who teaches us that 2 plus 2 always equals 4. The fundamentals of math do not change. They exist in the nature of an unchanging God.
True motivation and inspiration for mathematics lies in the observance of God’s created order…There is a treasure to be found in the mathematical structure of God’s creation. We only need to learn how to find it…Keep your eyes open for mathematical insights in newspapers and magazines. Get out into God’s creation and investigate. Take pictures and collect flowers, pine cones, shells… ibid. p. 109
I am ready to find the treasures. Will you join me?
For more insight into mathematical principles, consider these helpful books listed in my perceived order of importance:
- The Guide to American Christian Education by James Rose
- Mathematics, Is God Silent by James Nickel
- Encyclopedia of Bible Truths: Science/Mathematics by Ruth Haycock
- The Noah Plan Mathematics Curriculum Guide by By Arthur Paul Ricciardi
Or visit these websites of moms who have done the research, too:
- Biblical Principles of Mathematics- Principled Mom
- Principled Math- Lifestyle Education through Discipleship
- How I’m Teaching Math- Loving Him 4 Ever
Biblical Education is Easy
El announced to the bibleprinciples group that Ms. Dang has a new website. While there, I discovered she has a blog! Today I skimmed an article that nourished my soul with the sweet waters of truth.
Biblical education by definition is easy and light. Scripture tells us how children are taught: ‘For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.’ Isaiah 28:10
This gentle instruction reminds me to sprinkle principles like dew on budding flowers allowing time for the life to soak in. My tendency is to pour bucketfuls of fertilizer-saturated water over the tender shoots in my children’s hearts.
My students have unique ways of letting me know they’ve had enough. The little plants float to the surface, stretch for the sun, and flutter in the breeze. Children grow little by little, inch by inch. They should be taught the same way.
For more of Ms. Dang’s biblical wisdom, visit Philomath Foundation.
Thoughts about Teaching Art
Art is a subject area which our children love. It has been relegated to drawing without instruction, to coloring without observation, to modeling without purpose. The study of the life of Benjamin West, Father of American Painting, is helpful. He learned his first lessons of shading, line, and perspective by his own efforts. These are principles which we will enjoy teaching our students- and the use of pencil, crayon, brush.
Lisa and Summer, thanks for asking me what I’m reading! Would you believe this quote is from A Guide to American Christian Education? It has been next to my computer for weeks as I ponder principles of mathematics. Art is still more enjoyable for me than arithmetic, but my passion for the “language of science” is growing.
So what books are you savoring? I’m tagging:
Here are the rules:
- Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
- Open the book to page 123.
- Find the 5th sentence.
- Post the next 3 sentences.
- Tag 5 people.
(For those of us who count sentences, it’s true. I didn’t follow the rules. Shocking, isn’t it?)
Justice- Why Study Math Reason 3
Without common and honest measures individuals can easily defraud one another. Leviticus 19:35-36 outlines God’s intention for trade relationships.
You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin.
No one wants to buy from a dishonest dealer, but how can you detect a swindler unless you understand the numbers? I think that is why Scripture admonishes repeatedly “not [to] pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge.” The vulnerable in society need protection. It is criminal to cheat anyone, and seems especially heinous to steal from the weak.
More years ago than I want to mention, I sold ice cream. After making a milkshake for a mother and her young son, I asked the owner the price. He told me an amount I later realized was higher than listed. The lady spoke little English and the man purposely cheated her out of a few dollars. No amount of money is worth debauching your soul. Being a part of that transaction still grieves me. The lady was not valued for her individuality, her humanity; only for her money. This scenario is too common.
My children will face similar situations. Will they know if they are being cheated? Will they safeguard the defenseless through their honesty? Justice cries out for individuals who can be trusted. Every relationship depends on it. Math illuminates corruption, and my hope is to heed its warnings. In order to love wisely, my children must understand arithmetic.
