Reformed Christian Homeschooling

Thoughts on Unschooling and Schedules

2009-08-14T15:00:00.002-05:00

Recently a friend of mine made a facebook post that linked to a chart comparing "unschooling" and "schooling". Some of the hallmarks of schooling, according to the chart, were curriculum, schedule, the instructor choosing what will be studied, and requiring the student to work on an assignment until it is completed. The chart also said that schooling involves building one's life around the school district schedule, and trusting others to nurture and develop one's child. I objected that just because I have an organized home school with curriculum and a schedule and assignments doesn't mean that I have become a slave to someone else's interests or failed to create a nurturing environment in my home. The friend replied that the chart was meant to contrast unschooling with state school or private schools.

I still feel it is disingenuous of the chart's creator to link curriculum, schedule and assignments with bad aspects of state schools, since the two can and often are separated by home-schooling families. However, it did get me thinking. I often concentrate on how my home school is different from state schools. But in this area it is quite similar. I wanted to make sure that I had a good reason for the structure of my children's education. I can't just do something in school that way because that is the way I was taught. I need a good reason. So, here are my reasons.

1. Making sure all necessary material is covered: My goal in educating my children is to glorify God by raising up servants for his Kingdom. In order for my children to be fully equipped servants there are certain things they need to learn. In my understanding, unschooling involves allowing the student to choose to study only what he is interested in, for as long or as short a time as he is interested in it. Now, I try to make my lessons interesting for my children, but even if they aren't interested, they still need to learn doctrine. They need to learn how to read, and how to write clearly. They need to learn basic math skills. They will need to learn how to budget a household. They may never be particularly interested in some of these things, but they and many others are necessary for them to learn and so they are necessary for me to teach.

2. Creating interest: Another problem with letting the child only study what he is interested in is that often we don't know what we are interested in until we try it. I used to think that I hated history. But, 4 years ago I started to study it, because I knew I was going to have to teach it. And, to my surprise and joy, I found that I really love it. I am sure we have all had a similar experience at some time. Sometimes we may have to make our children study something, but hopefully we will do so in a way that sparks their interest.

3. Instilling discipline: More than imparting information, I want education to develop in my children a Christian character. An important aspect of such a character is self-discipline. One reason I start school so early with my children is that I want them to practice sitting still, listening, and controlling a pencil. Having a goal (assignment) and working until that goal is accomplished is a skill that everyone needs to be successful and useful in life. Being able to work with a schedule is an advantage to almost everyone. Whether you are a homemaker, self-employed or an employee, one must be able to accomplish tasks on time. Having a curriculum and scheduled assignments gives the child plenty of practice in this life skill. Further, who gets to work only on things that are interesting to him. No one. We all must do some things that are interesting and others that are not. Uninteresting duties like housework and paperwork are part of life. Children need to learn early to do such work with a cheerful attitude if they are to have a Christ-like character. Again, I don't want my lessons to be dull, but if the child thinks a lesson is dull, completing it is still character-building, while allowing him to shirk it for something more fun would only develop a self-centered attitude in the child.

4. Accountability for me: I want to give all my children the best education I am capable of giving them. I want to give them all an equivalent education. Notice, I didn't say identical. They each have their own God-given talents, abilities and callings, so each will pursue a different course, especially as they get older. However, each must learn a core of essential material, and each should be given my best effort. Seeing how the quality of my housekeeping varies with pregnancy, health, outside circumstances, and my own sinful laziness, I know that I need a curriculum and a schedule. It would be so easy for me to slack in my teaching at certain times without a way to keep myself accountable. And since the results of teaching are less visible than the results of housekeeping, I might not even notice that I am short-changing my children if I didn't compare our progress with some concrete goals.

5. Reflection of the character of God: I have said over and over that the only way to really understand any subject is to study it from the perspective of the Bible. All truth is God's truth, and as such all truth reflects His character. God has created a beautifully ordered world. My favorite example of this is math. I love math. I especially love the underlying patterns that connect different aspects of math, how everything fits together so elegantly. To best understand math, one can't just nibble on pieces here and there at a whim. To really understand math one must build it up in ones mind, brick by brick, in an orderly fashion. This requires a well-thought-out curriculum. Similarly, history doesn't really make sense unless it is seen as His story. If a child is allowed to study WWII one month and Ancient Egypt the next, as his fancy takes him, it will be very difficult for him to see the hand of God's almighty Providence in the flow of history. And so, he wont have learned history, just a bunch of trivia. All subjects are this way.

6. Obedience to God's Method of Teaching: All truth is God's truth. We don't know or understand anything unless God reveals it to us. And how does God reveal himself to us? In a Book. Unschooling de-emphasizes facts (calling them trivia) and emphasizes experiences. Now, we all should want to experience God and His work in our lives. But these experiences are sweet extras, not the core of our Christian faith. Our senses are not infalliable. Our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Our emotions are fickle and easily swayed. We may learn from our experiences, but the surest way to learn is by the preaching, reading and studying of the Scripture. When we learn the Scripture, we are better able to make sense of our experiences. In the same way, experience can be a good teacher, but it is a much better teacher when we have knowledge, gained through systematic study, to help us interpret our experience. The way we learn about God's Creation and Providence should be the same way we learn about God himself, by listening, reading, and systematic study.

Bible Class Project on the Armor of God

2009-05-21T12:32:00.003-05:00

Last fall we did a project to learn about the armor of God (Eph. 6:10 - 18). I made a Timothy paper doll and the armor, and he colored it in. We made a different piece of armor each day, talking about it together.

We also illustrated some proverbs. This is Proverbs 12:18a "There is one who speaks rashly like piercings of a sword"

A Call to Dunkirk

2009-01-08T10:30:00.000-05:00

Milepost

2008-09-01T12:43:00.004-05:00

Today I started the school year. This will be Timothy's 3rd year of school and Emma's 1st. I write the following not to brag, but to give you an idea of what you can expect from your children. People today, influenced by state schools, which are designed to produce a dumbed-down and malleable populace, expect far too little of their children. Of course, learning should be fun, and each child is an individual and will learn at a different pace, but I hope this post will give you some idea of what one can expect one's young children to learn.

Timothy is 4 years old. This year we will be continuing the age-appropriate Bible projects in "Plants Grown Up". Our current project is to go through the child's catechism and talk about each question and answer. We are taking several months to do this thoroughly.

By the end of the last school year he had completed the 1st grade math book from Rod & Staff publishers. This means he learned his addition and subtraction facts through 10, how to judge which numbers are greatest or smallest, counting by 2's, 5's, 10's and 25's, pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, cups, pints, quarts, feet, and telling time at the hour and half-hour. If I gave him grades at this age (which I don't) he would get C's. But this is exactly where I want him to be. Math is so repetitive in the early grades that he will get several more years to perfect his knowledge of this skills. And in the meantime he is learning something I never learned in school because it moved too slowly for me at that age. He is learning to stick with something even when it is difficult and even when you make mistakes. This is something I still struggle with; I give up far too easily. Hopefully this training will help him stand his ground in all areas of life. He is moving on the the 2nd grade math book this year.

By the end of last year Timothy had read all the Little Bear books we could get a hold of. He was learning 5 three-letter spelling words each week, as well as learning the phonemes and some spelling rules, and going through "The Writing Road to Reading" by Romalda Bishop Spalding. Again, his work would probably be graded with C's. We will continue in a similar fashion this year, but he will move on to reading Frog and Toad books as well as others of similar difficulty. I have been reading some stories to him, as well.

This year he will continue in "Baby Lambs Book of Art", which he started last year.

This year he is starting "Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!" This series teaches Koine (biblical) Greek to elementary school children. The first year covers the Greek alphabet and how to say one sentence (The Lord is my helper).

I am also hoping to get him started with cello lessons as soon as the cello teacher can fit us in.

Emanuela is 2. This year she will continue to memorize the child's catechism. She has only memorized 4 so far.

We will also be starting my homemade beginners math. Concepts to be learned are larger, largest, smaller, smallest, shapes, sorting, days of the week, months of the year, identifying today's weather, and tracing with a pencil.

I try to strike a balance between encouraging diligence and not overwhelming my kids. But I am encouraged to think I may be doing it right because every day that we are on "vacation" and don't do school, Timothy is disappointed. And Emma, when her own lessons are done, hangs around the table while I teach Tim. And they both exhibit nearly the same enthusiasm about starting school each day as they do about watching their favorite cartoon. I can't expect much more; they are kids, after all. ;-)

An Excellent Op-Ed

2008-01-09T07:44:00.000-05:00

Big Brother at school

By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | October 17, 2007

"FREEDOM of education, being an essential of civil and religious liberty . . . must not be interfered with under any pretext whatever," the party's national platform declared. "We are opposed to state interference with parental rights and rights of conscience in the education of children as an infringement of the fundamental . . . doctrine that the largest individual liberty consistent with the rights of others insures the highest type of American citizenship and the best government."

That ringing endorsement of parental supremacy in education was adopted by the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1892, which just goes to show what was possible before the Democratic Party was taken hostage by the teachers unions. (Wondrous to relate, the platform also warned that "the tendency to centralize all power at the federal capital has become a menace," blasted barriers to free trade as "robbery of the great majority of the American people for the benefit of the few," and pledged "relentless opposition to the Republican policy of profligate expenditure.")

Today, on education as on so much else, the Democrats sing from a different hymnal. When the party's presidential candidates debated at Dartmouth College recently, they were asked about a controversial incident in Lexington, Mass., where a second-grade teacher, to the dismay of several parents, had read her young students a story celebrating same-sex marriage. Were the candidates "comfortable" with that?

"Yes, absolutely," former senator John Edwards promptly replied. "I want my children . . . to be exposed to all the information . . . even in second grade . . . because I don't want to impose my view. Nobody made me God. I don't get to decide on behalf of my family or my children. . . . I don't get to impose on them what it is that I believe is right." None of the other candidates disagreed, even though most of them say they oppose same-sex marriage.

Thus in a little over 100 years, the Democratic Party - and much of the Republican Party - has been transformed from a champion of "parental rights and rights of conscience in the education of children" to a party whose leaders believe that parents "don't get to impose" their views and values on what their kids are taught in school. Do American parents see anything wrong with that? Apparently not: The majority of them dutifully enroll their children in government-operated schools, where the only views and values permitted are the ones prescribed by the state.

But controversies like the one in Lexington are reminders that Big Brother's ideas about what and how children should be taught are not always those of mom and dad.

Americans differ on same-sex marriage and evolution, on the importance of sports and the value of phonics, on the right to bear arms and the reverence due the Confederate flag. Some parents are committed secularists; others are devout believers. Some place great emphasis on math and science; others stress history and foreign languages. Americans hold disparate opinions on everything from the truth of the Bible to the meaning of the First Amendment, from the usefulness of rote memorization to the significance of music and art. With parents so often in loud disagreement, why should children be locked into a one-size-fits-all, government-knows-best model of education?

Nobody would want the government to run 90 percent of the nation's entertainment industry. Nobody thinks that 90 percent of all housing should be owned by the state. Yet the government's control of 90 percent of the nation's schools leaves most Americans strangely unconcerned.

But we should be concerned. Not just because the quality of government schooling is so often poor or its costs so high. Not just because public schools are constantly roiled by political storms. Not just because schools backed by the power of the state are not accountable to parents and can ride roughshod over their concerns. And not just because the public-school monopoly, like most monopolies, resists change, innovation, and excellence.

All of that is true, but a more fundamental truth is this: In a society founded on political and economic liberty, government schools have no place. Free men and women do not entrust to the state the molding of their children's minds and character. As we wouldn't trust the state to feed our kids, or to clothe them, or to get them to bed on time, neither should we trust the state to teach them.

What 19th-century Democrats understood, 21st-century Americans need to relearn: Education is too important to be left to the government.

Jeff Jacoby's e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com.

2007-11-20T09:02:00.000-05:00

How Much of Your Money is Being Used to Fund Musharraf's Abuse of Power?

2007-11-16T08:11:00.000-05:00

Entangling Alliances
Ron Paul
November 13, 2007

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst111107.htm

"In the name of clamping down on "terrorist uprisings" in Pakistan,
General Musharraf has declared a state of emergency and imposed
martial law. The true motivations behind this action however, are
astonishingly transparent, as the reports come in that mainly lawyers
and opposition party members are being arrested and harassed. Supreme
Court justices are held in house arrest after indicating some
reluctance to certify the legitimacy of Musharraf's recent
re-election.

Meanwhile, terrorist threats on US interests may be more likely to
originate from Pakistan, a country to which we have sent $10 billion.

Now we are placed in the difficult position of either continuing to
support a military dictator who has taken some blatantly un-Democratic
courses of action, or withdrawing support and angering this
nuclear-capable country. The administration is carefully negotiating
this tight-rope by "reviewing Pakistan's foreign aid package" and
asking Musharraf to relinquish his military title and schedule
elections.

By the time he complies with the requests of the White House
sufficiently to continue to receive his "allowance," courtesy of the
American taxpayer, his mission will be accomplished. A more friendly
Supreme Court will be installed and enough of the opposition party
will be jailed or detained to assure an outcome of the elections that
will meet with his approval. All the while, our administration lauds
Musharraf as a trusted friend and ally.

So much for a War on Terror. So much for making the world safe for democracy.

Free trade means no sanctions against Iran, or Cuba or anyone else for
that matter. Entangling alliances with no one means no foreign aid to
Pakistan, or Egypt, or Israel, or anyone else for that matter. If an
American citizen determines a foreign country or cause is worthy of
their money, let them send it, and encourage their neighbors to send
money too, but our government has no authority to use hard-earned
American taxpayer dollars to mire us in these nightmarishly
complicated, no-win entangling alliances.

When we look at global situations today, the words of our founding
fathers are becoming more relevant daily. We need to understand that
a simple, humble foreign policy makes us less vulnerable and less
targeted on the world stage. Pakistan should not be getting an
"allowance" from us and we should not be propping up military
dictators that oppress people. We should mind our own business and
stop the oppressive taxation of Americans that makes this meddling
possible."

If you don't want your hard-earned wages to be supporting dictators
like Musharraf and others around the world...

Vote Ron Paul!

2007-11-15T12:57:00.001-05:00

Do You Want to Stop Abortion in Your State?

2007-11-13T16:19:00.000-05:00

This morning, the NRLC endorsed Fred Thompson for president. Here is
an article about Fred Thompson and his pro-life stance:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3858826&page=1

Now, perhaps, as the article suggests, he has had a change of heart
since his days of lobbying for National Family Planning and
Reproductive Health Association, a pro-abortion group. I am not
saying that a person can't change his mind. However, Ron Paul has
never changed his mind on abortion. As an OB/GYN he believes life
begins at conception, and always has.

I think what really separates these two candidates, on this issue, is
what they would do to stop abortion in this country. The end of the
ABC article quotes Thompson's plan to wait for opportunities to
appoint better judges and hope. While, Ron Paul would take an
approach that would immediately stop many abortions. He has been
trying to get the pro-life community behind this approach for years,
without success. It is so simple. He would remove the question of
abortion from the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Here is a quote
from his website on the issue:

"The right of an innocent, unborn child to life is at the heart of the
American ideals of liberty. My professional and legislative record
demonstrates my strong commitment to this pro-life principle.

In 40 years of medical practice, I never once considered performing an
abortion, nor did I ever find abortion necessary to save the life of a
pregnant woman.

In Congress, I have authored legislation that seeks to define life as
beginning at conception, HR 1094.

I am also the prime sponsor of HR 300, which would negate the effect
of Roe v Wade by removing the ability of federal courts to interfere
with state legislation to protect life. This is a practical, direct
approach to ending federal court tyranny which threatens our
constitutional republic and has caused the deaths of 45 million of the
unborn.

I have also authored HR 1095, which prevents federal funds to be used
for so-called "population control."

Many talk about being pro-life. I have taken direct action to restore
protection for the unborn.

As an OB/GYN doctor, I've delivered over 4,000 babies. That experience
has made me an unshakable foe of abortion. Many of you may have read
my book, Challenge To Liberty, which champions the idea that there
cannot be liberty in a society unless the rights of all innocents are
protected. Much can be understood about the civility of a society in
observing its regard for the dignity of human life. "

Ron Paul's approach would allow conservative states to outlaw
abortion, saving thousands of innocent babies in months, rather than
waiting years to appoint judges who may or may not overturn Roe v.
Wade.

Do the research, and then vote for Ron Paul!

December 16th

2007-11-12T15:23:00.001-05:00

Everyone with a Child Should Read This

2007-11-09T15:36:00.000-05:00

by Ron Paul, Dr. May 23, 2001

Mr. Chairman, thirty-six years ago Congress blatantly disregarded all constitutional limitations on its power over K-12 education by passing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This act of massive federal involvement in education was sold to the American people with promises that federal bureaucrats had it within their power to usher in a golden age of education. Yet, instead of the promised nirvana, federal control over education contributed to a decline in education quality. Congress has periodically responded to the American people's concerns over education by embracing education ``reforms,'' which it promises are the silver bullet to fixing American schools. ``Trust us,'' proponents of new federal edcation programs say, we have learned from the mistakes of the past and all we need are a few billion more dollars and some new federal programs and we will produce the educational utopia in which ``all children are above average.'' Of course, those reforms only result in increasing the education bureaucracy, reducing parental control, increasing federal expenditures, continuing decline in education and an inevitable round of new ``reforms.''

Congress is now considering whether to continue this cycle by passing the national five-year plan contained in H.R. 1, the so-called ``No Child Left Behind Act.'' A better title for this bill is ``No Bureaucrat Left Behind'' because, even though it's proponents claim H.R. 1 restores power over education to states and local communities, this bill represents a massive increase in federal control over education. H.R. 1 contains the word ``ensure'' 150 times, ``require'' 477 times, ``shall'' 1,537 and ``shall not'' 123 times. These words are usually used to signify federal orders to states and localities. Only in a town where a decrease in the rate of spending increases is considered a cut could a bill laden with federal mandates be considered an increase in local control!

H.R. 1 increases federal control over education through increases in education spending. Because ``he who pays the piper calls the tune,'' it is inevitable that increased federal expenditures on education will increase federal control. However, Mr. Chairman, as much as I object to the new federal expenditures in H.R. 1, my biggest concern is with the new mandate that states test children and compare the test with a national normed test such as the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). While proponents of this approach claim that the bill respects state autonomy as states' can draw up their own tests, these claims fail under close observation. First of all, the very act of imposing a testing mandate on states is a violation of states' and local communities' authority, protected by the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, to control education free from federal interference.

Some will claim that this does not violate states' control because states are free to not accept federal funds. However, every member here knows that it is the rare state administrator who will decline federal funds to avoid compliance with federal mandates. It is time Congress stopped trying to circumvent the constitutional limitations on its authority by using the people's own money to bribe them into complying with unconstitutional federal dictates.

Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1 will lead to de facto, if not de jure, national testing. States will inevitably fashion their test to match the ``nationally-normed'' test so as to relieve their students and teachers of having to prepare for two different tests. Furthermore, states will feel pressure from employers, colleges, and perhaps even future Congresses to conform their standards with other national tests ``for the children's sake.'' After all, what state superintendent wants his state's top students denied admission to the top colleges, or the best jobs, or even student loans, because their state's test is considered inferior to the ``assessments'' used by the other 49 states?

National testing will inevitably lead to a national curriculum as teachers will teach what their students need to know in order to pass their mandated ``assessment.'' After all, federal funding depends on how students perform on these tests! Proponents of this approach dismiss these concerns by saying ``there is only one way to read and do math.'' Well then what are the battles about phonics versus whole language or new math versus old math about? There are continuing disputes about teaching all subjects as well as how to measure mastery of a subject matter. Once federal mandatory testing is in place however, those arguments will be settled by the beliefs of whatever regime currently holds sway in DC. Mr. Chairman, I would like my colleagues to consider how comfortable they would feel supporting this bill if they knew that in five years proponents of fuzzy math and whole language could be writing the NAEP?

Proponents of H.R. 1 justify the mandatory testing by claiming it holds schools ``accountable.'' Of course, everyone is in favor of holding schools accountable but accountable to whom? Under this bill, schools remain accountable to federal bureaucrats and those who develop the state tests upon which participating schools performance is judged. Even under the much touted Straight ``A''s proposal, schools which fail to live up to their bureaucratically-determined ``performance goals'' will lose the flexibility granted to them under this act. Federal and state bureaucrats will determine if the schools are to be allowed to participate in the Straight ``A''s programs and bureaucrats will judge whether the states are living up to the standards set in the state's education plan--yet this is the only part of the bill which even attempts to debureaucratize and decentralize education!

Under the United States Constitution, the federal government has no authority to hold states ``accountable'' for their education performance. In the free society envisioned by the founders, schools are held accountable to parents, not federal bureaucrats. However, the current system of imposing oppressive taxes on America's families and using those taxes to fund federal education programs denies parental control of education by denying them control over their education dollars.

As a constitutional means to provide parents with the means to hold schools accountable, I have introduced the Family Education Freedom Act (H.R. 368). The Family Education Freedom Act restores parental control over the classroom by providing American parents a tax credit of up to $3,000 for the expenses incurred in sending their child to private, public, parochial, other religious school, or for home schooling their children.

The Family Education Freedom Act returns the fundamental principle of a truly free economy to America's education system: what the great economist Ludwig von Mises called ``consumer sovereignty.'' Consumer sovereignty simply means consumers decide who succeeds or fails in the market. Businesses that best satisfy consumer demand will be the most successful. Consumer sovereignty is the means by which the free society maximizes human happiness.

When parents control the education dollar, schools must be responsive to parental demands that their children receive first-class educations, otherwise, parents will find alternative means to educate their children. Furthermore, parents whose children are in public schools may use their credit to improve their schools by purchasing of educational tools such as computers or extracurricular activities such as music programs. Parents of public school students may also wish to use the credit to pay for special services for their children.

According to a recent Manhattan Institute study of the effects of state policies promoting parental control over education, a minimal increase in parental control boosts the average SAT verbal score by 21 points and the student's SAT math score by 22 points! The Manhattan Institute study also found that increasing parental control of education is the best way to improve student performance on the NAEP tests.

I have also introduced the Education Quality Tax Cut Act (H.R. 369), which provides a $3,000 tax deduction for contributions to K-12 education scholarships as well as for cash or in-kind donations to private or public schools. The Education Quality Tax Cut Act will allow concerned citizens to become actively involved in improving their local public schools as well as help underprivileged children receive the type of education necessary to help them reach their full potential. I ask my colleagues: ``Who is better suited to lead the education reform effort: parents and other community leaders or DC-based bureaucrats and politicians?''

If, after the experience of the past thirty years, you believe that federal bureaucrats are better able to meet children's unique educational needs than parents and communities then vote for H.R. 1. However, if you believe that the failures of the past shows expanding federal control over the classroom is a recipe for leaving every child behind then do not settle for some limited state flexibility in the context of a massive expansion of federal power: Reject H.R. 1 and instead help put education resources back into the hands of parents by supporting my Family Education Freedom Act and Education Improvement Tax Cut Act.

Read more about this fabulous candidate for president.

2nd Grade Literature

2007-10-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

I have been reading a lot of juvenile fiction, lately. Obviously, what your student reads in each grade will depend on how quickly he learns to read, but here are some suggestions for about 2nd grade:

Daniel's Duck by Clyde Robert Bulla
An easy read, this story about a young artist is charming and well illustrated.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The well-known story of 4 orphans trying to make it on their own. Warner tells the simple details of how the children work together to make a home for themselves in an intriguing way. I remember reading this book, as a child, and then acting it out over and over and over again. the first 18 sequels are good, too.

A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla
A more advanced book than Daniel's Duck, this one tells the story of 3 English children who, after the death of their mother, cross the Atlantic to find their father who had gone to the New World in search of opportunity for his family.

The Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla
This story is about an angry young girl who learns the value of hard work and the happiness that can come from it.

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
This is the tale of a spider who spends her energy, her talent, and most of her life saving a helpless pig from death, often with no thanks or recognition. It is a beautiful portrait of selfless servanthood.

The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
Louis the trumpeter swan is disadvantaged; he cannot trumpet like other swans, so, he can't communicate with others or attract the attention of the female swan that he wants to marry. But, instead of moping, he goes out and learns to read and write and play the trumpet and eventually becomes the most accomplished and outstanding swan of them all.

Stuart Little by E. B. White
This story has less of a moral than the other White books, but it is undeniably fun.

Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock, And Then What Happened, Paul Revere, and Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz
Since we are studying history sequentially, one might protest that my children wont know even the basics of American history before 5th grade, which is a shame. Well, here is one way to remedy that without abandoning the benefits of a sequential history curriculum. These books, and the others in the series tell stories from early American history for the young reader. The illustrations are by Tomi de Paulo and only add to the humor and interest of the text. I enjoyed and learned from these books, and believe my children will, as well.

Books by Thornton W. Burgess
Books by Thornton W. Burgess can be difficult to track down, but I found some in my grandmother's house the other day and thought I would try them out. I read the Thorton Bird Book for Children. This is a narrative that weaves in facts about many North American birds. It tells what the birds look like, what they eat, where they nest, what they sound like, etc., all in an interesting fashion. I learned a lot reading these books and have found myself much more aware of birds now. Burgess wrote many books about many different creatures, so there are a lot to choose from. A few warnings about Burgess, though. He talks, occasionally, about Mother Nature, so kids should be told about that fallacy.

Here are some books to read to your second grader. Reading to a child should encourage him to love books. It also allows him to hear more complicated literature earlier. This is especially important with poetry. Since an early reader may not be able to produce the rhythm of poetry due to uncertain or slow reading, he misses half of the experience, but you can give him the whole poem by reading it aloud.

Favorite Poems Old and New edited by Helen Ferris
This is a huge book, with hundreds of poems. Many of them are very good, but some of them reflect unbiblical worldviews. I advise you to read through it and pick out the best poems to share with your student.

Fairy Tales by Hans Christen Anderson
I was familiar with many of these stories, but never knew that, as they were originally written, they had a lot of Christian content in them. Now, Anderson was no reformed scholar, but these stories are much richer than currently portrayed. Do watch out for some hints of works righteousness. Also, Anderson, influenced by the romantics, wrote some tales on the superiority of emotion over reason, which should be skipped. For one or both of the above reasons, I suggest skipping The Naughty Boy, Little Shuteye, The Bell, The Snow Queen, The Red Shoes, The Little Match Girl, A Thousand Years From Now, The Snowman and The Flea and the Professor.

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Kipling is really funny with his explanations about how different animals got some of their features.

Please Read This Essay

2007-10-03T11:51:00.000-05:00

If you think that Christian children can be "salt and light" in state schools, or know someone who thinks this, please click on the title of this post.

Off the Topic of Homeschooling, but I Wanted to Spread the Word.

2007-06-04T10:47:00.000-05:00

Click the title of this post to go to outside link.

Euthanasia is murder...here is proof of a man who was in a coma but still alive and aware, although unable to defend himself from those who wanted to kill him. Thankfully his wife fought for him and cared for him and kept him alive.

The Necessity of Christ-Centered Education

2007-05-16T12:26:00.000-05:00

Please click the title of this post to be directed to a great collection of quotes on the necessity of Christ-centered education.

2nd Year History Curriculum - IV

2007-04-06T15:13:00.000-05:00

The fourth unit is The Early Church.

124. Read SR chapter 82. On pg. 155 remove "He was as good ... many people now." Calling a non-Christian one of the best men that ever lived is to have an unbiblical view of goodness. Also, replace "he fully deserved" with "thy gave him" and remove "which they gave him". Read Pompeii by Peter Connolly pgs. 1 – 37.

125. Read Pompeii pgs. 38 - 73.

126. Read SR chapters 83 – 86. On pg. 159, remove "where we wrote ... New Testament". Revelation was written before 70 AD. On pg. 160: remove "which has never ... best of men". Pagans are not the best of men. Also remove "Ever ready ... comfortable." "in good" before "honest measures" and "was as good and charitable as he, and" and "generous" before "plans". Trajan was a giver of welfare, which is not generous, but rather makes people dependent on and thus slaves to the state. On pg 161: remove "who was so good and charitable as a rule". On pg. 162: replace "when you have learned" with "if you learn". Also, remove "Thus, you see, ... emperor of Rome." I am sure that Guerber was a professed Christian, so it amazes me that she can write such sentences just a few paragraphs after discussing how the same man persecuted Christians. Then explain that we will be reading about two early Christians who died during the reign of Trajan. Read Heroes of the Early Church: Life-changing Lessons for the Young by Richard Newton (HEC) chapters 1 – 2. This book has short biographies of early church leaders written for children. On pg. 18: The population of Antioch is now over 100 thousand.

127. Read SR chapters 87 – 90. On pg. 162: remove "a good and true man". On pg. 164: remove "very good and wise", and change "when" to "if" regarding learning Latin and going to Rome. On pg. 165: replace "a worthy sucessor" with "the successor", remove "the good" and "He was one ... that ever lived." On pg. 166: insert "by God's Common grace" before "practiced all the virtues" and replace "all" with "some of" in the preceding. Obviously, since Aurelius did not worship Jesus Christ he did not practice all of the virtues the Christians taught. He neglected the most important one of all. He even persecuted Christians (or allowed Christians to be persecuted when he had the power to punish the persecuters, both are wrong) so I hesitate to call him virtuous at all. Also replace "one of the finest characters that ever lived" with "a fine character", and remove "and are said ...after the Bible". Putting Aurelius' writings in the same sentence with the Bible is disgusting. On pg. 167: remove "and the only fault .. down at any price." This passage downplays the heinousness of the persecution of the Christians. It is as nauseating apologetic for Aurelius, who had the power to stop the brutal torture and murder of Christians and did nothing. Ignorance is no excuse. Also remove "and best of all .. to doing good." Read HEC chapters 3 – 4. On pg. 27: The population of Smyrna is now 3.5 million. On pg. 31: remove "in a very peculiar ... him from heaven" This sentence assumes that Revelation was written after 70 AD. For the same reason, on pg. 32: remove "Now think what ... glory. And then". On pg. 39: remove "When we go ... This is just what" We cannot go anywhere in seeking truth unless first God helps us. On pg. 43: remove "and excellent" from the last sentence. On pg. 45: replace "nineteenth" with "twenty-first".

128. Read Polycarp: The Crown of Fire by William Chad Newsom (PCF) pgs. 179 – 189. These are brief biographies of some of the historical characters in the novel. Then read PCF chapter 1. (Read pg. 20 – 26, 54 – 60; and pgs. 61 – 76 during literature time). I have cut out pages 27 - 53 because this portion of the novel assumes that Revelation was written after 70 AD. Thankfully, skipping this section doesn't impede ones ability to understand the rest of the book. To that end, on pg. 26: remove "Polycarp's eye glanced ... had to find them." and on pg. 56: remove "for it was indeed ... tall and fair)" and "only a few months after the escape with Ignatius" and on pg. 57: remove "who had never forgotten her, returned to Rome and"

129. Read PCF pgs. 77 – 94. (Read pg. 95 – 106 during literature time).

130. Read PCF pgs. 107 – 124. On pg. 113: remove "As they stood ... one more time." because we skipped that part of the novel. After pg. 115 you can explain the regulative principle to the student briefly. The church in Polycarp's time did celebrate Christ's resurrection on a special day each year, despite a total lack of instructions to that effect in the Scripture. (Read pgs. 125 – 136 during literature time).

131. Read PCF pgs. 137 – 160. On pg. 147: remove "but the Scriptures ...Word of God". On the contrary the Scriptures themselves tell us, in Romans 10, that a person will not believe until he is preached to (the scriptures are expounded to him). Many are converted by hearing a missionary read and explain the Bible who may never have even heard the Bible, let alone believed it to be the Word of God. Furthermore, some may suppress the truth in unrighteousness, but all people know that the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible, being the powerful, voice of the Almighty Creator and Loving Savior will always be a better argument than anything our brains can come up with, even to the self-professed atheist. On pg. 153: remove "Enemies?" and "No, I think not." and "but Rome is not the enemy ... left us alone entirely." Rome, in its policy of state-worship and its state-sanctioned persecution of Christian, was the enemy of the church. (Read pgs. 161 – 177 during literature time).

132. Read SR chapter 91 – 92. On pg. 168: remove "as you have seen, ... emperors; but his" This pagan was certainly not the model of every virtue (take submission to Christ, for instance). On pg. 169: remove "good" from before "father". Read HEC chapter 5. On pg. 47: replace "three hundred thousand and four hundred thousand" with "1.3 and 1.7 million". Also, remove "Seventy thousand looms ... 140,000 weavers." and "And for the purchase ... expended every year" I have no idea of the modern equivalent of these statistics. On pg. 53: remove "a few years ago". Read SR chapter 93. Read HEC chapter 6. On pg. 56: remove "and cost about 100,000 pounds" I don't know the conversion between 1889 pounds and 2007 dollars is. On pg. 67: replace "does not exceed two hundred thousand" with "is 3.5 million".

133. Read SR chapters 94 – 95. Read HEC chapters 8 – 9. We are skipping HEC chapter 7 because Tertullian revealed himself as a heretic by the end of his life. Consequently, on pg. 83: remove "as we found ... previous chapter." On pg. 85: remove "as" before "diligent in following" and "as he was decided in choosing". This puts the merit in Cyprian's salvation on his firm decision rather than in God who chose Cyprian. On pg. 88 - 89 remove "equal to five pounds with us". Read SR chapters 96 – 97.

134. Lecture on the Apostles’ Creed. Lecture on the Nicene Creed. It is important that even our little children are aware of the foundational doctrinal statements that the early church drafted. The lectures should include the text of the creed in question, as well as facts regarding the date and place and a brief description of the heresies they were counteracting. I took my lecture material from The Foundations of Social Order by Rushdoony. This is a very difficult book. I don't think I will be ready to really understand it until I have studied much more than I have now, but it did have the basic details that I wanted to communicate in it. Read SR chapter 98. On pg. 179: replace "so securely that ... it since then" with "as the official church of Rome". The Christian has been largely overthrown in Rome, though it has been established elsewhere in the world. Read HEC chapter 10. On pg 96: replace "the Church of England ... in this country to" to " in our church in" since we don't particularly care what the Church of England does. On pg. 100 remove "ever" before "since been called" and add "and is now called Istanbul" after "Constantinople". And remove "as there is now" after "Constantinople then", since I am doubtful that is still true in Muslim Istanbul. Read SR chapter 99.

135. Read HEC chapters 11 – 13. On pg. 102 replace "60 thousand" with "3.5 million". On pg. 106: replace "the Church of England" with "our church".

136. Read SR chapter 100. Read HEC chapters 14. On pg. 136: replace "nearly two hundred thousand" with "1.3 million" and replace "is not finished yet" with "was not finished until 1915" and replace "have little huts" with "had little huts". On pg. 128: replace "morning service .. in this country" with "church". Lecture on the Te Deum Laudumus. Read HEC15.

137. Read SR chapter 101. Read HEC chapters 16 – 17. On pg. 161: remove "Robert Raikes's ... in operation". The Sunday School movement was detrimental to the church. On pg. 167: replace "No woman has ever been dearer to the Christian church as Monica, the saintly mother of Augustine; and no mother ever conferred a greater blessing" with "Few women have ever been as dear to the Christian church as Monica, the mother of Augustine; and few mothers have ever conferred as great a blessing". Monica was a great woman, but I am not sure that she was the greatest woman ever. We need to be careful about throwing around superlatives. Doing so causes them to lose their effect and us to lose our credibility. On pg. 171: remove "the light shone in upon his darkness" The light from God shone before he repented, or he would not have done so.

138. Read Augustine: Farmer’s Boy of Tagaste by P. De Zeeuw (ISBN: 0921100051) (AFBT) chapters 1 – 7.

139. Read AFBT chapters 8 – 14.

140. Read AFBT chapters 15 – 17. Lecture on the Council of Ephesus. Lecture on the Council of Chalcedon.

141. Lecture on the Athanasian Creed. Read SR chapter 102. Read Science in Ancient Rome by Jacqueline Harris (ISBN: 0531159167) (SAR) pgs. 8 – 35. I skipped the first pages because they are a glorification of science, and the last pages because they are a slap at the medieval times. Watch out for a plug for universal healthcare. I can't tell you exactly where that is, because I borrowed this book from the library.

142. Read SAR pgs. 36 – 56. Read HEC chapter 18 – 19. On pg. 184: replace "five hundred" with "125". On pg. 186: remove "On the walls ...impossible to industry." This is a humanist statement, in direct contrast to God's word "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it" Psalm 127:1 Also, remove "Hence we read ... so with Columba". Try telling those who Christ overturned in the Temple, or those whom he will judge at the last day, that his gentleness the chief element of his character.

143. Review

144. Test on the Early Church

2nd Year History Curriculum - III

2007-04-05T13:39:00.000-05:00

The third unit is The Apostolic Age. By this I mean the time from Christ's incarnation to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

73. Read The Holy Land by Peter Connolly (ISBN: 0199105332) (HL) pg. 4 – 19. I highly recommend this book. It details the clothing, architecture, landscape, art, food, home life, etc. of people living in Israel during the 1st century AD. It will really help your student. The last part of the book, which will be read later on, has maps and illustrations of the siege of Jerusalem, which is really helpful in visualizing what I read.

74. Read HL pg. 20 - 35.

75. Read HL pg. 36 - 51.

76. Read HL pg. 52 - 67.

77. Read HL pg. 68 - 73. Explain that we will now read the Biblical accounts of the life of Christ and the early church contained in Luke and Acts. Explain that Luke, the physician, wrote both. Further explain that the book of Luke is not strictly chronological, but rather grouped by idea, but that we will read it for consistency with the reading of Acts. Read Luke 1 – 3.

78. Read Luke 4 - 8.

79. Read Luke 9 - 13.

80. Read Luke 14 - 20.

81. Read Luke 21 - 24. Read Acts 1.

82. Read Joel: A Boy of Galilee by Annie Fellows Johnston (JBG) chapters 1 – 2. (Read chapter 3 during literature time). As a book of historical fiction, this will be read in history and literature class. This book is about a crippled boy who is healed by Jesus. It is written by a Christian woman and has much to recommend it. Only a few cautions. It makes a few statements that reflect the common error that all children are innocent. Anyone who has children should know this is not true. Even my 15 month old whines and throws herself on the floor when her will is defied and looks around furtively when she is doing something that we have told her not to do. It also states, several times, that Jesus was disregarding parts of the law of Moses. This is contrary to Christ's own statement in Matthew 5:18, "For verily I say unto you, until Heaven and Earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, until all things be accomplished." After Christ's death and resurrection, the sacrificial system became obsolete, for it was merely there to point to the coming Christ, but since this story takes place during Jesus' life, not even that part of the law was neglected by Christ. It seems to be a common error to confuse the law, as interpreted by the Pharisees, and the law, as recorded by Moses. Jesus did neglect the former when in contradicted the latter.

83. Read JBG chapters 4 – 6. (Read chapters 7 – 8 during literature time).

84. Read JBG chapters 9 – 11. (Read chapters 12 – 13 & 14 – 15 during literature time).

85. Read JBG chapters 16 – 18. (Read chapter19 during literature time). When the book is finished, in the process of discussing it, make sure to ask the student if he thinks Joel made the right choice regarding Simon’s offer. Explain that, due to the influence of Plato, many Christians think that the spiritual reality is better or more important than the physical reality. This is not true. God had given Joel a great gift of money and opportunity that he could give back in service to God, but he preferred poverty. Spreading the gospel and making money are not mutually exclusive.

86. Read Titus: Comrade of the Cross by F. M. Kingsley (TCC) chapters 1 – 4. (Read chapters 5 – 7 during literature time). This book is speculation about the 2 thieves who were crucified with Jesus. I recommend it to you with the same cautions as the preceding book and one more: she sometimes ascribes thoughts or actions to Christ that are not recorded in Scripture. While these thoughts and actions are not unbelievable, I still am uneasy about making up things about Jesus. You may ask why I include two books about the same period of time. Partly this is to make the time spent studying Christians as long as possible. Partly it is because the books have different foci and include different historical details. Finally, it is because I couldn't decide which of the two to cut. If you need to shorten your curriculum, choose the one you like least to cut.

87. Read TCC chapters 8 – 10. (Read chapters 11 – 12 during literature time).

88. Read TCC chapters 12 – 15. (Read chapters 16 – 17 & 18 – 20 during literature time).

89. Read TCC chapters 21 – 23. (Read chapters 24 – 25 during literature time).

90. Read TCC chapters 26 – 28. (Read chapters 29 – 30 during literature time).

91. Read TCC chapters 31 – 33.

92. Read Acts 2 - 9.

93. Read Stephen: A Soldier of the Cross by F. M. Kingsley (SSC) chapters 1 – 4. (Read SSC chapters 5 – 6 during literature time). This book tells of the martyrdom of Stephen, but mostly from the perspective of fictional characters. It includes historical details of the time period covered in Acts as well as an interesting story. I once again caution you to beware of Kingsley's view of the law, but still recommend this book.

94. Read SSC chapters 7 – 9. (Read SSC chapters 10 – 11 during literature time).

95. Read SSC chapters 12 – 14. (Read SSC chapters 15 – 16 during literature time).

96. Read SSC chapters 17 – 19. (Read SSC chapters 20 – 21 & 22 – 23 during literature time).

97. Read SSC chapters 24 – 26. (Read SSC chapters 27 – 28 during literature time).

98. Read SSC chapters 29 – 32. (Read SSC chapters 33 – 34 during literature time).

99. Read SSC chapters 35 – 36.

100. Read SR chapter 75. Read Acts 10:1 – 11:26. Read SR chapter 76. On pg. 145: replace "forced" with "influenced", and remove "good and" from before "lovely children". On pg. 146: remove "Among these prisoners ... killed himself too." I don't see the point of including this story about suicide. Read Acts 11:27 – 13:52. In this lesson and the ones that follow I am trying to read about things that happened in the same time period right next to each other. Perhaps the narrative will be too choppy and I will have to revise, but chronological accuracy is what I am aiming for.

101. Read Acts 14 – 18. Read SR chapters 77 – 78. Read Acts 19.

102. Read Acts 20 - 28.

103. Read Quintus: A Story of the Persecution of Christians in the Times of Emperor Nero by R. Weerstand (Q) chapters 1 – 2. (Read chapters 3 – 4 during literature time). This is my favorite book in the entire curriculum. It is a very exciting, gripping story. It has great theology (no editing needed) and good details about Nero and his persecution of Christians. By handling the violence in a restrained manner, the author manages to convey the brutality of that man while still making a book that can be read to/by children.

104. Read Q chapters 5 – 6. (Read chapters 7 – 8 & 9 during literature time).

105. Read Q chapter 10 – 11. (Read chapters 12 during literature time).

106. Read Roman Colosseum by Elizabeth Mann (ISBN: 1931414173). This is a Connolly-type picture book describing the structure and events in the Colosseum.

107. Read SR chapters 79 – 81. On pg. 154: remove "In spite of all these signs". Read HL pg. 74 – 87.

108. Read HL pg. 88 – 93. Read The Cross Triumphant by F. M. Kingsley (CT) chapters1 – 2. (Read chapters 3 – 4 & 5 – 6 during literature time). This book is about the fall of Jerusalem. I recommend it to you with the same caution as before about Kingsley's skewed view of the law. I forgot to mention another caution that applies to this book and her other books. She has the characters say, "My God!" and similar exclamations (almost all spoken during times of emotional anguish). I am unsure why she doesn't consider this taking the Lord's name in vain. Finally, she has a little section on pgs. 2- 3 where she tries to argue against spanking. Spanking is clearly prescribed in Scripture (especially in Proverbs) so I just cut this section out.

109. Read CT chapters 7 – 9. (Read chapters 10 – 11 during literature time).

110. Read CT chapters 12 – 14. (Read chapters 15 – 16 during literature time).

111. Read CT chapters 17 – 18. (Read chapters 19 – 20 during literature time).

112. Read CT chapters 21 – 22. (Read chapters 23 – 24 & 25 – 26 during literature time).

113. Read CT chapters 27 – 29. (Read chapters 30 – 31 during literature time).

114. Read CT chapters 32 – 34. (Read chapter 35 – 36 during literature time).

115. Read For the Temple by G. A. Henty (FT) chapters 1 – 2. (Read chapter 3 during literature time). This is another book about the fall of Jerusalem. I am including two historical novels about this time period because it is so pivotal. Many prophesies of Jesus and most of a whole book of the Bible is devoted to this event. Also, the two novels are not as redundant as one might expect. The first is mostly written from inside Jerusalem and concerns the Jewish priests and the few Christians who did not flee the city. The second book has more details about the battles leading up to the siege because it is from the perspective of a Jewish boy fighting in those battles. It deals more with the Jewish laity than any other people group. If you want to cut one of the two, I would cut Kingsley's.

116. Read FT chapter 4. (Read chapter 5 & 6 during literature time).

117. Read FT chapter 7 – 8. (Read chapter 9 during literature time).

118. Read FT chapters 10. (Read chapter 11 during literature time).

119. Read FT chapter 12. (Read chapters 13 during literature time).

120. Read FT chapter 14. (Read chapter 15 & 16 during literature time).

121. Read FT chapter 17. (Read chapter 18 during literature time).

122. Read FT chapter 19.

123. Test on the Apostolic Age. My curriculum came out 1 day too long, so I cut the review day for this test and justified the choice as follows: Since the preceding 15 lessons are from historical novels they will not be fact-dense, thus, if I am drilling the children 5 minutes per day they should be ready for a test without a review day.

2nd Year History Curriculum - II

2007-04-03T08:44:00.000-05:00

The second unit is Pre-impirial Rome:

Ancient Rome by Mike Corbishley ( ISBN: 081605147X) has maps that can be used to illustrate events throughout the rest of the year.

31. Read The Story of the Romans by H. A Guerber (SR), chapters 1 – 6. Be sure to mention that this is the kingdom of iron and clay that Daniel prophesied. Point out the futility of Roman gods, but the obvious Providence of Jehovah. On pg. 16: remove "and they were very rude...know the whole story" This whole paragraph is written with an evolutionary view, as well as the belief that an educated person must know Roman myths. On pg. 17: remove "and his mother...appeared to him" and "She showed him that ... all his family." and "has been taught...so he at once". This removes the obviously mythical parts of the story. For the same reason, on pg. 19: remove "some of the gods whom ... stirred up a terrible tempest." and replace "a second god...the awful storm" with "the storm suddenly stopped." and replace "This was Venus, ...were a stranger and" with "She" On pg. 20: remove "Venus went away ...of Carthage" and "following her advice". On pg. 21: add "Aeneas thought that" before "the gods had decided that" and remove "people had not learned many.... children" which is evolutionary in outlook.

32. Read SR chapters 7 - 14. On pg. 29, tone down the praise of Numa Pompilius. On pg. 31: remove "As these Romans... foolish they have been". This paragraph assumes that education automatically makes a person more wise and righteous, which is not true. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. And no one has any excuse for sinning.

33. Read The Legionary by Peter Connolly ( ISBN: 0199104255) This book, and the one for the next lesson, each contain two elements: a biography of a particular Roman soldier, and details of Roman warfare such as structure of the fighting forces, weapons and armor used, clothing worn, etc. Skip the biography and read the parts applying to soldiers in general. If you need to shorten your curriculum, skip these to books altogether.

34. Read The Cavalryman by Peter Connolly (ISBN: 0199104247).

35. Read City by David Macaulay (ISBN 0395349222) pg. 1 - 52. David Macaulay is known for his books illustrating how famous edifices were constructed. This book shows the parts of a Roman city and how they were made.

36. Read City pg. 53 - 111.

37. Read SR chapters 15 - 21. On pg. 40: replace "was surprised to see a" with "thought she saw a". Also, remove the first sentence of chapter 17. A pagan cannot be an excellent king. On pg. 44. remove "although" and "knew she was a prophetess, he". On pg. 47: add "which they believe was" after "and kissed the earth", since the earth is not our mother! On page 48: remove the word pure with reference to Lucretia, in order to tone down the praise.

38. Read SR chapters 22 - 29. On pg. 58: remove "Their writers have said... bright and beautiful stars"(pg. 59) since this is mythology. On pg. 62: remove the last sentence "They were always the friends of the people." since I am sure that this is not true. On pg. 63: remove "Thus, you see, the plebeians....look after their interests." This sentence lauds welfare and claims that we need the state to look after us.

39. Read SR chapters 30 - 37. On pg. 64: remove "was a good son, and" to tone down the praise for pagans. On pg. 65: remove "Thus, you see, even in... many another hero". This paragraph implies that moral knowledge in humanity grows over time, instead of with submission to God. On pg. 68: remove "good and" from the first sentence. Again, I hate calling pagans good. On pg. 70: remove "because they were, in general, good and just for all the people." These laws could only have been good and just if they were identical to God's laws, which is highly unlikely. Since I don't know what these laws are, I can't call them good or just. On pg. 74: remove "although he was only a barbarian", since this implies that morality automatically increase with the sophistication of a society. On pg. 75: remove "and people nowadays ... true ones that follow." since we disagree that Roman myths are necessary to education.

40. Read SR chapters 38 - 45. On pg. 79: replace "military justice" with "discipline". I don't think that killing someone for disobeying an order can be called justice. On pg. 87: remove "Judging by this account ... knew how to exaggerate." I find it humorous that she relates obvious myths about gods without comment, but says that a snake can't possibly by 120 ft. long. Since dinosaurs and humans did coexist, according to the Bible, it is possible that in years back, there was such a thing as a 120 ft. snake, or snake-like animal.

41. Read The Young Carthaginian: A Tale of the Times of Hannibal by G. A. Henty (TYC) chapters 1 – 2. (Read chapter 3 during the literature time). Henty books all place a young boy in a historical situation. I have read several and found some more interesting than others. This is one of the more interesting ones. In all his books, however, Henty does a good job of including lots of historical detail while still maintaining the narrative. With this book, and several others to follow, I will be reading to the student during history and literature time. These books are literature, and so they can be included in the literature curriculum. Also, the books are long and not as fact-dense as other books in the history curriculum, so it helps to move through them faster.

42. Read TYC chapters 4 – 5. (Read chapter 6 during the literature time).

43. Read TYC chapters 7 – 8. (Read chapter 9 during literature time).

44. Read TYC chapters 10 – 11. (Read chapters 12 & 13 during literature time). Chapter 13 is to be read during literature time on Friday (even though there is no history class on Fridays).

45. Read TYC chapters 14 – 15. (Read chapter 16 during literature time).

46. Read TYC chapters 17 – 18. (Read chapter 19 during literature time).

47. Read TYC chapters 20 – 21. (Read chapter 22 during literature time).

48. Read SR chapter 46. On pg. 94: replace "unlucky" with "unsuccessful" and "luck" with "success". Read Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick (ISBN: 1883937124) (ADS) chapters 1 – 3. Beware that this book needs some editing because it is too complimentary. I can't be more specific because I borrowed this book from the library.

49. Read ADS chapters 4 - 6. This section of the book includes some experiments to try. They may be over the head of a 2nd grader, though. Be guided by the abilities of your own child.

50. Read ADS chapters 7 - 14.

51. Read SR chapters 47 – 51. On pg. 102: remove "But it was now time... part of the oppressed people." This sentence implies that the poor need the government to provide for them. For the same reason replace "needed" with "wanted" in the next sentence. And add "desired" before "rights". Remove "an excellent" in the description of Cornelia. Also replace "clearly showed how bad it was" with "claimed that it was bad". Discuss the tyranny and oppression that democracy (mob-rule) leads to. Also show that people will always be helpless when they depend on the government to give them handouts, instead of making their own way. Read SR chapters 52 – 53.

52. Read SR chapters 54 - 62. On pg. 120: remove "Although he was one of the greatest generals who ever lived" Again, I hesitate to call a pagan the greatest in the world. How can he ever stack up to Lee or Jackson or William of Orange? On pg. 121: replace "even a barbarian has" with "he has" to remove the evolutionary undercurrent.

53. Read Roman Fort by Peter Connolly (ISBN: 0199104263) pg. 2, 5 – 9, 12 – 23 (ignoring specifics of Hempsteads), 26 – 29. This book describes the building of a Roman fort in Britain. Like Legionary, ignore the specific story and focus on the general details about Roman forts.

54. Read SR chapters 63 – 65. Read Julius Caesar by John Gunther (ISBN: 0394905431) (JC) pg. 3 – 10, 13 – 33. This book will need to be edited beforehand, since it is far too complimentary and welfare-friendly. I borrowed it from the library, however, so I can't be more specific.

55. Read JC pg. 34 - 74.

56. Read JC pg. 77 - 107.

57. Read JC pg. 111 - 128.

58. Read JC pg. 130 - 172.

59. Read SR chapters 66 – 69. Read Cleopatra by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema (ISBN: 0688154808). This is a picture book about the life of Cleopatra. Read SR chapter 70. On pg. 134: replace "very beautiful when" with "if" since the student may not learn Latin and the works may not be beautiful.

60. Read Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster (ISBN: 0964380323) (ACW) pg. Xi – 26. I really like the illustrations in this book. I also like the narrative style and I think that it has a good level of detail. I also enjoy the perspective of the book: looking at all parts of the world during a specific period of time. This perspective is particularly interesting because the time period in question includes the Incarnation of our Lord. She shows the state of everywhere from Japan to the Peru at this most pivotal moment in history. Be warned, though, Ms. Foster does NOT write from a Christian perspective. She makes some shockingly heretical statements in this book. I could only find this book on Christian websites, so this came as a surprise to me. However, with some editing, it is useful. On pg. xiii: remove "like that of offering burnt animals to God?" and "pleasant ones, ... Christmas season". We did not discard animal sacrifice, Christ brought it to its end. Remove "above all" and "that will be forever...have been spoken?" This sentence foreshadows the main error of this book, that there is some universal truth which all people have access to and all religions have at least a piece of, and that humanity is getting closer to all the time.

61. Read ACW pg. 26 - 55. On pg. 37: replace "$15.00" with "$140.00". This book was written in 1947, and according to the Federal Reserve, $15 in 1947 is worth about $140 today. Pretty sad, huh?

62. Read ACW pg. 56 - 84. On pg. 69: remove "and so he was devoted to the Law... diligently for righteousness" The Pharisees were devoted to their own laws, not God's laws. I find the comparisons of the Pharisees with the Puritans particularly repugnant.

63. Read ACW pg. 84 - 111. On pg. 93: remove "The age of the Messiah ... ever seeing repeated." I find this comparison of the Messiah and Saturn disgusting. On pg. 94: remove "His words used to describe ...the one most pure in heart." (pg. 96). This whole passage is even worse than the one above. Here Foster tries to liken Virgil to Isaiah. I shudder.

64. Read ACW pg. 112 - 140. On pg. 116: remove "One of the very important battles ... the world was going forward." This paragraph ties justice, freedom and the rule of law to human development rather than obedience to the law of God. On pg. 139: replace "find it wise to nail the cross" with "think it wise to nail the cross". There is nothing wise about blending Christianity with pagan religion. That is sinful. On pg. 140: replace "all other early races" with "many other early races". I know at least one race that didn't practice human sacrifice: the Israelites. Also, remove "It may be possible...slow in dying." It is not known that there were more savage natives in Gaul when the druids arrived. That assumption is based on evolution.

65. Read ACW pg. 141 - 169. On pg. 150: remove "Under its great dome ... dome of any temple." Appalling, damnable, blasphemous...I trust that I don't need to explain why. On pg. 152: remove "The Jews had a sacred book ...days of their race." Here she uses a lowercase "g" to refer to the god of the Jews. And she likens the Bible to Homer. Yikes! On pg. 158: remove "a lover of truth and". Virgil, a pagan, did not love truth. On pg. 159: remove "just as all races of people must have been once upon a time." The race of Israel did not have gods that were spirits of the forest. Also, remove: "And that is ... Great Spirit of the Universe". This is just wrong.

66. Read ACW pg. 170 – 185, 192 – 207. On pg. 171: replace "wisdom of the Magi" with "order of the Magi" and remove "one of the great prophets of the world". They were not wise, nor was Zoroaster a great prophet. On pg. 174: remove "And we do rightly so?...layer upon layer." As mentioned before, it was not wise or right to blend Christianity with pagan festivals. On pg. 185: remove "All the years of his life ... the rest is but explanation." Hillel's supposed summary of the law of God forgets the greatest commandment and decreases the requirements of the second greatest commandment by stating it negatively. Pages 186 - 191 are Foster's summary of the Pentateuch. I didn't even bother to read it. There is no way I am going to let this spouter of blasphemy summarize the law of God for my children. On pg. 194: remove "more or less reasonably". Describing the worship of emperors as even slightly reasonable is ludicrous. On pg. 204: remove "the wisdom of the Egyptians". Moses learned of God, not the Egyptians. Also remove "Those two old obelisks ... thirteen centuries later." This passage asserts that an Egyptian pharaoh, Akhenaton, was the first to conceive of One God. This is false. Adam was the first and the knowledge of One God has always existed on this Earth, by God's grace. This passage also takes an evolutionary view of religion, as if the idea of One God was an inevitable part of human development. On pg. 207: remove "Originally, Akhenaton ... today is not yet ready to accept."(pg. 209) More of the same.

67. Read ACW pg. 210 - 238. This lesson, the one before it, and several after it, have a lot of passages on the religions of the world at this time. If you want to shorten your curriculum I would start with these passages. I am including them, though, for two reasons. Since one's religion affects everything that one does, it is impossible to study a civilization without studying its religion. Secondly, all of the religions mentioned are still held on this earth, though with different dressing. Since anti-Christianity often claims to be new and enlightened, it will strengthen our children's defenses to realize that "there is nothing new under the sun". And the passages in question are short, so we are not dwelling unduly on error before the student has been sufficiently steeped in truth. If you chose to read these sections be sure to discuss the major errors of each false religion with your child. That will help keep the focus of our teaching where it should be, on the law of God. On pg. 213: remove "one of the greatest of the all ...harbor toward the city" (pg. 214) Some unnecessary praise of philosophers and criticism of the Creation story. On pg. 214: remove "how long those six days were supposed to be, and other" and "And though he held fast ... down in Ancient Hebrew" This passage asserts that there are many similarities between Greek philosophy and the Bible. This may appear to be true at a quick glance, but further investigation shows that they are completely at odds. On pg. 215: remove "and will probably keep on asking forever." At some point everyone will know the answers to these questions. Pg. 216: remove "just as pure sunlight ... different colored windows" This simile does not hold. On pg. 218: remove "His teaching was ...body was ugly." Pagan philosophy is not beautiful. On pg. 220: replace "great" with "famous" when speaking of Plato and his work. Add "Plato believed that" in front of "once the world itself..." On pg. 222: remove "People's mind can never ... into a baby's shoe." Evolutionary view of man. On pg. 223: "For each nation, like each person ...found in this world." I have already addressed such comments. On pg. 233: remove "One law there is ... in the skies" and "as they advanced beyond the state of savages". On pg. 235: remove "mistaken" from before "Spanish conquerors", "wonderful" from before "calendar", and "They were the first civilized Americans". On pg. 236: remove "but they had looked back ... which they had started counting." This does not fit with the Biblical timeline. It may have been adjusted by atheist scientists, as the Egyptian timeline has been. On pg. 238: remove "But they had separated, ... mysterious Mayans."

68. Read ACW pg. 239 - 264. Don't forget to point out the major errors in the false religions. On pg. 250: replace "2,000 years" with "1,500 years" and remove "but many centuries before that" to fit with the Biblical timeline. Remove "Then, like all other ... full of unseen spirits." Not Israel. On pg. 257: replace "one upon which all great teachers of every land agree" with "as follows." This suggests that all religions share some common truth, which is not true. Also, someone lately pointed out to me how much less demanding Confucius' version of the golden rule is. In requires no positive action, no sacrifice, no putting yourself out of your way for another. All it requires is that you aren't actively mean. Of course, no one could even do that without God's help, but still, they are not the same thing. Remove "so pure and simple ... to understand." and "That was good, ... far in the future" Unchanging rules (like the 10 commandments) do not stifle a culture. False religion does, though. On pg. 260: remove "when the Jews ...Arabian desert." She keeps harping on this theme that the Jews were once semi-savage nomads. It annoys me. Also remove "more primitive" from the last sentence. On pg. 261: remove "It is the first ...in the world today." She says that the Rig Veda is the oldest holy book, written in 1000 B.C., but Moses wrote in the 15th century B.C. Something is wrong with her math. On pg. 262: remove "or Jahveh" I shudder as she lists Jehovah with Aton or Ahura Mazda and Brahma, all false gods. On pg. 264: replace "holy" with "extraordinary". Buddha was not holy. Replace "greatest" with "most popular". The two are not identical concepts, just think of Bach and Beyonce. Remove "and pure of heart" and "in one of the late sacred ... one of these ways." Damnable thoughts.

69. Read ACW pg. 265 – 268. On pg. 268: remove "great" from before "religion of China". Buddhism is not great. Also, replace "gospels" with "works". The Buddhist holy books should not be given the name gospels, which means good news. Remove "This is the story ... will reign among mankind." (pg. 272). We will skip reading the story of Buddha's life, just like we skipped the Greek and Roman myths. Read pg. 274 – 286. On pg. 278: remove "meaning 'Prince of Peace' " and "also to" before "be spoken of". Comparing Christ to Ping Ti, even if in name only, is horrible. On pg. 279: remove "no one knows exactly, ... seen in starlight." This passage is humanist propaganda about how the gospels don't agree with each other. Also remove "are the two men". She must be forgetting about Mark. On pg. 284: remove "And the earth was ... clap their hands." This passage is supposed to be Jesus' thoughts, but they are nothing like what the Alpha and the Omega would ever think. Even if they sounded appropriate, I would hesitate to put any thoughts in Jesus' head, so to speak. On pg. 286: remove "Those great prophets ... top of a hill?" Here the boy Jesus is thinking of the prophets with admiration and doubting his ability to follow in their footsteps. So, so, so wrong! Please skip pages 287 - 294, which are Foster's summary of the Old Testament prophets. Just like her summary of the Pentateuch, I didn't even bother to read it. With her humanist worldview, she will surely get it wrong. Read pg. 295 – 307. On pg. 299: replace "but according to Matthew, he may have been" with "when he was" and "and this would be" with "he took". Again she says that the gospels contradict each other. Also, remove "He could almost feel ... the promised land!" Again, I don't like putting thoughts in Jesus' head. For that reason, on pg. 300: remove "The House of the Lord ... people kneeling!" Also, replace "legend" with "story". Calling the story of the fall of Jericho a legend, implies a doubtful attitude towards Scripture. On pg. 301: replace "1,200" with "1,500" to fit the Biblical timeline. Also, remove "There Jesus saw it for the first time" On pg. 303: remove "Jesus did not sleep ...wise quiet eyes." (pg. 304) Again she is presumptuously ascribing thoughts and actions to Christ. On pg. 304: remove: "So absorbed was the boy ... left for home." Jesus was in complete control of this situation; it was not some mistake on his part.

70. Read ACW pg. 308 – 316. On pg. 311: remove "slowly, and their own way, develop and become civilized." which displays an evolutionary view of man. Also, remove "what future wars might have been avoided" which assumes that a large empire creates more peace than small independent states. On pg. 316: remove "This is from the story ... for it lies within each."(pg. 319). This is Foster's summary of Jesus' life and teaching, which is something else I didn't bother reading. Read pg. 320 – 325. On pg 323: remove "they had felt his presence with them." which implies that Christ was only there in spirit, rather than in bodily resurrection. Also, replace "preach the gospel to every creature" with "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." because that is what he actually said. On pg. 325: remove the last paragraph. Read SR chapters 71 – 74.

71. Review the Pre-Imperial Rome unit. Cook a meal from The Classical Cookbook, if desired. (See previous post for details about The Classical Cookbook.

72. Test on Pre-Imperial Rome.

2nd Year History Curriculum - I

2007-04-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

I am finally ready to write down my plans for 2nd Year History. I have spent the last few months reading a lot of potential texts and ranking them according to priority as well as timing how long it takes to read them. Then I tried to create a curriculum of the correct length with the best texts I could find. For my curriculum I assumed 36 weeks of school, with history taught 4 out of 5 days per week (the 5th day is for geography). That makes a total of 144 lessons. I tried to make each lesson between 25 and 35 minutes, but I also tried to stop at places in the texts that made for a reasonable flow of information. Finally, I assumed that the teacher would be reading the texts to the student. Most of these texts were written for older children. I do not think the 2nd grade student should have trouble understanding them, but he may not be able to read them fast enough, so they should be read to him. After each lesson, the main facts that you want your student to remember should be written on cards. These cards should be drilled for about 5 minutes before each lesson. Cards the student has learned can be retired until it is time for review. These drills will be especially important if your child has an exceptional reading ability and is reading the lessons himself.

The year is divided into 4 units. The first is Ancient Greece:

Ancient Greece by Anton Powell has many useful maps which can be used throughout this unit.

1. Explain that now we are going to study the Greeks, the civilization that conquered the Persians, the civilization of brass that Daniel mentions in his prophecy to Nebuchadnezzar. The Greeks were descended from Japheth, who they worshipped as Iapetos (Jupiter). Japheth's son Javan was the father of the Ionian Greeks. Elishah, the first son of Javan was the ancestor of an ancient Greek tribe the Elysians. The Pelasgians were likely descended from Ham. Nearby civilizations include the Phrygians and the Lydians, descendents of Lud, a son of Shem. Also the Thracians (Balkans) Etruscan (Italy) and Trojans descendents of Tiras, a son of Japheth. Also the Scythians were descendents of Magog, the second son of Japheth. (You can use the Wall Chart of World History (ISBN = 9780880292399) to illustrate the above). Read The Story of the Greeks by H. A Guerber (SG) chapters 1 – 4. skip the second two paragraphs on pg. 17; since we are not going to be reading most of the myths. On pg. 18, in the second full paragraph: change "long known" to "not lost" and change "further advanced" to "more learned". These changes correct Ms. Guerber's evolutionary view of the development of mankind. The Bible tells us that Noah could make fire, thus all his descendants that couldn't, had lost that ability. On page 22, cut out the section "It was under the reign on Deucalion ... owed its birth to this great miracle." since it is obviously untrue, and we are trying to deemphasize the Greek myths. Explain that ancient Greek myths arose from a confused half-remembrance of true history. Bits of true history became mixed with false stories; which false stories came from willful rebellion at Babel, and in time degenerated even further. The Greeks, the descendants of Noah through Javan, forgot their true history and the true God, and all they had left of it was bits embedded in their mythology. We are going to read a few Greek myths to illustrate this. If you are looking to shorten your curriculum, I suggest taking out this part about the myths. It is interesting to confirm the Babel dispersion in this way, but it is certainly less important than other aspects of the history. Read D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire ( ISBN: 0440406943)(DBGM) pg. 10. Explain to the student that the story of the separation of Father Sky and Mother Earth mirrors many ancient cultures who have heaven-earth separation myths, from their single place of origin at Babel, all of which are perversions of Genesis 1:6 – 7.

2. 2) Read DBGM pg. 14 – 20. Point out the similarity between this account and the flood (mountains destroyed, the first volcanoes, only a few people left alive on the earth, and a rainbow). Read pg. 22 – 23. Read pg. 35 – 37 (skipping the story of Arachne). Read pg. 70 – 77, noting God’s sovereignty (the Fates) and justice (Nemesis), and noting that men are made in the image of God. Note how the smell of burnt offerings appeased Zeus. Explain that Deucalion is the Greeks’ confused remembering of their ancestor Noah through his son Japtheth (Greek “Iapetos”, Roman “Jupiter”) and his grandson Javan (Greek “Ion”, from whence “Ionian” is derived). The Pandora's Box myth contains clear elements of the true history of the entrance of sin, death, and everything evil into a perfect world: the first woman receives a gift which she is not to open (the first woman has access to fruit of which she is not to eat), and the result of her disobedience allows evil to enter the world. The Pandora's Box myth even has Hope remaining in the box, which the woman especially cherishes, mirroring the promise of the woman's Seed in Genesis 3:15. Read pg. 112 – 113. Read pg. 178 – 180. Explain that another manifestation of the promised hero based in Genesis 3:15 in Greek mythology is found in Achilles, the invincible warrior who could only be wounded in the heel. Read pg. 181 – 187.

3. Read SG chapters 5 – 7. Read In Search of Knossos by Giovanni Caselli. (ISBN: 0872265447) This book includes pictures and details about an excavation of the Minoan civilization. I like to include books like this, since they help the student picture the time period under study.

4. Read SG chapters 13 – 16. I skip chapters 8 - 12, since they are the story of Oedipus, which is neither true nor appropriate for children. The next section is about the siege of Troy. Troy has been excavated, and it has been shown that at least part of Homer's story is true. On pg. 39 remove the section "She first carried Achilles, ... Styx had not touched" and the word "good" from before mother. This part of Achilles story is false and not necessary to learn. On pg. 40 remove the section "but unfortunately there was no favorable wind ... The deer was killed." Since there is no such thing as Diana, this story cannot be true. On pg. 41: insert "They say" before the sentence "The god heard and granted this prayer..." since obviously Apollo did nothing. Explain that the story about Apollo striking them with a plague is obviously false, but I read it because it may have been true that Agamemnon stole Achilles slave and that is why he wouldn’t fight against the Trojans. Read SG chapters 17 – 19. On pg. 43: take the phrase "guided by one of the gods" out of the first sentence of the third paragraph. On pg. 45: remove "The Greeks said, however, that their gods were very angry with" and "on account of the cruelty they showed on that dreadful night and that many of them" .

5. Read SG chapters 20 – 25. On pg. 47, last paragraph: change the word "chance" to "providence". On pg. 48 remove "the most" and "the world has ever known" from the sentence that begins "This was quite easy to do, because Homer had put..." and on pg. 49 remove "The native land of the grandest poet the world has ever known" David was the best poet the world has ever known. On pg. 50, third paragraph: remove "thoroughly good and". Being a pagan, that cannot be true of him. For the same reason, remove "As he was one of the wisest men who ever lived" from the last full paragraph. On pg. 51: remove the word "beautiful" to describe the Greek legends and "good and wise" to describe the Trojan women, since Greek legends are full of debauchery and Trojan women were pagans. On pg. 53: and the phrase "but stupid" after "how cruelly he had torn the brave" And remove "Ever since then, ...memory of this lad." Since there is nothing to admire in that boy's conduct. In the next paragraph, change "behave well" to "obey immediately". On pg. 55: remove "And good" from the third paragraph of chapter 25, since Lycurgus was not concerned with having his people obey God's laws, which is what it is to be good. Also, in the next paragraph, change "knowing" to "thinking" since there is nothing wrong with great wealth, if God blesses you with that and you get it honorably (i.e. Job was restored to even greater wealth). On pg. 56, first full paragraph: remove "to make them a great people" because they weren't great measured by God's standards. And "and as long as they remembered this promise...happy people". Discuss how the Spartans may have possessed some admirable qualities, like bravery, respect for elders, and lack of complaining, but they were slaves that lived a harsh, servile life. Their own lives were unimportant, if only the state of Sparta had a good army. We can see this in that the boys who died by beating or hiding foxes were praised and honored, not mourned or censured for wasting the life God had given them. This civilization was an abomination to God, since human life was not valued. Point out that slavery is the inevitable result of giving up our God-given responsibility to train up our children and instead letting the state raise them. Explain that this is one reason why we choose to homeschool. Read SG chapter 26. On pg. 57, second-to-last paragraph: change "the child he loved so well" to "his child". Since love is to obey the commands of God, he could not love a child whom he killed. In the next paragraph remove "his generosity, and by" his actions were sinful, and thus selfish, not generous. Note how false gods do not save, and how cultures that worship the state are cruel to others as well as their own people. Read SG chapters 27 – 28 .

6. Read SG chapters 29. Skip ch. 30, since it is likely not true, and has no bearing on anything else. Read SG chapters 32 – 41. On. pg. 65: remove "and it must have been...foot-race course was called". No big reason...just trying to cool the tone of enthusiasm. On pg. 69: remove "so that the bright sun god....dying for his misdeeds". On pg. 71: change "When you learn Greek" to "If you learn Greek". On pg. 72, last full paragraph: remove "and ruled them very wisely" since one who does not worship and obey God cannot be very wise. Take note of how easily democracies are swayed.

7. Read Darius the Great by Jacob Abbott (DG) (ISBN: 1590161521) pg. 13 – 49. This book is about the Darius mentioned in Scripture. This book gives a detailed history of his life, mostly taken from Herodotus. Thus book was first written in the middle of the 19th century and has a great vocabulary.

8. Read DG pg. 49 – 81. On pg. 80, last paragraph: replace "in all countries are" with "was". A thoroughly Christian populace would not be easily swayed by sensational arguments.

9. Read DG pg. 82 – 113. On pg. 103: remove "instinctive" and add "due to the law of God written on his heart" after the phrase "in man". This is perhaps being overly picky, but the word "instinctive" is too charged with evolutionary though, in my opinion. I break in the middle of pg. 113 due to time restrictions. The chapters in this book are so long that it is difficult to always break with a chapter.

10. Read DG pg. 113 – 143. On pg. 124, remove "as such characters generally do at the present day". This phrase shows the text's age. Teenage malcontents no longer become sailors.

11. Read DG pg. 144 – 182. On pg. 157: remove "If they had risen....brave his power". This is an unfounded assumption on the author's part. He can't read Darius' mind. On pg. 58: remove "but all this is now changed....artillery another way". This paragraph is quite dated. On pg. 168: remove "as, in fact, the accounts....But we must return to the Scythians"(pg. 171) In this passage the author takes a detour to theorize about the nature of savages. I don't think that his thoughts are correct or useful for this narrative. I break after the last full paragraph on pg. 182.

12. Read DG pg. 182 – 184. Discuss the law of God written on our hearts. Read DG pg. 184 – 209. On pg. 189: remove "The attempts of a stronger...But he had no such design." (pg. 190). In this passage the author argues that a more advanced civilization has a right to invade and conquer a less advanced civilization for the good of that less-advanced people. Besides the error of ranking cultures by their degree of civilization (cities, technology, arts, etc) as opposed to by their degree of godliness, this idea is certainly unbiblical. I don't claim to know all the instances in which war is just, but civilizing your neighbors is certainly not a reason. On pg. 191, bottom: remove "and so, as the historian absurdly states...other evil passion" (pg. 192) If it is absurd, why mention it?

13. Read DG pg. 210 – 243. On pg. 243: remove "It ought, however, to be related...reigned in their stead" (pg. 246). This story is supposed to show that the tyrants sometimes acted kindly, but I think it fails in that objective.

14. Read DG pg. 246 – 286. On pg. 251: add "they believed" before "warned them that they were provoking". On pg. 262: remove "They who visit it ... myself a slave." No one can really get strength and encouragement apart from Christ. On pg. 278: remove "supernatural" from before "remorse and terror". On pg. 280: remove "This sentence as well ... condemnation and destruction" (pg. 281). This paragraph, which seems to contradict the author's earlier statements about invading the less-civilized, implies that there is no just war. This claim is also untrue. If nothing else, wars of self-defense are just.

15. Read SG chapters 42 – 49. On pg. 83: remove "not only a good man, but also" Let's not fling the word good at someone who did not keep the law of God. On pg. 85: remove "the greatest sculptor the world has ever known" This is pretty high praise and shouldn't be thrown around. Take note of how easily democracies are swayed. Also note how proud Xerxes looked upon himself as a god. Discuss the ways in which God preserved the Greeks from the mighty Persians, since He prophesied that the Greeks would eventually conquer the Persians.
16) Read SG chapters 50 – 58. On pg. 102: remove "upright and" from the 1st paragraph of chapter 56. and on pg. 103: remove "great" from before "man was marked by a temple". This praise is too excessive. On pg. 104, third paragraph: remove "good and". Once again, I don't like to use the word good with reference to pagans, so freely. On pg. 107, second-to-last paragraph: remove "which have never been surpassed". I don't think that the Greek art can be called the best ever. That is pretty high praise. Discuss the ways in which God preserved the Greeks from the mighty Persians, since He prophesied that the Greeks would eventually conquer the Persians.
17) Read Ancient Greece by Peter Connolly (AGPC) (ISBN: 0199108102) pg. 6 – 39. I will be suggesting many Peter Connolly books. He has interesting and detailed illustrations of actual ancient artifacts, as well as landscapes and reconstructions. He does include nudity in his pictures, however, for instance in his drawings of the Olympic games, the Roman baths, or Greek art. Most of the nudes are small and could be easily covered up, if you wanted to, and owned the book. This particular book has a lot of Greek art in it, and thus a lot of nudes. So, if you need to cut something from the curriculum, this is a good candidate.
18) Read AGPC pg. 40 – 61.
19) Read SG chapter 59. On pg. 108, replace "he was so wise and so thoughtful" with "by God's common grace". No one knows anything about God without his revelation. Read Science in Ancient Greece by Kathlyn Gay (from the library).
20) Read SG chapters 60 – 67. On pg. 113: remove "a truly wise and good man" and "however". Being a pagan who did not know, reverence or submit to God's Word he could not have been "truly wise and good". Also remove the last sentence "this belief was very ... return evil for evil". This was not true of Ancient Israel, at least if they obeyed the laws of God,which never change. On pg. 120: remove "who was generous and kind-hearted" again with the excessive praise. During the part about Socrates and the one God, discuss God’s common grace and the fact that no one is without excuse.
21) Read SG chapters 68 –70. On pg. 122: remove "though he was the greatest philosopher the world has ever known." which is not a title to be given to a pagan. This should be given to Solomon. Also, remove "good" from before "citizens whom these cruel rulers..." On pg. 123: replace "as you know, was one of the best and gentlest of men, yet he" with "though he was gentle" and remove "Although Socrates was so wise.... could prove it to be true" because it is far too high praise for this man. On pg. 125: remove "Socrates, as you have seen, ...Do good to them that hate you" This comparison of Socrates to Christ is appalling! On pg. 126, second to last paragraph: remove "beautiful and" Since Socrates theology was a lie, it could not be beautiful. On pg. 127: remove "beautiful" from the first paragraph, "good and" from the third, "beautiful" from the fifth, and "virtues" and "and all who know his name both love and honor him" from the seventh. Discuss common grace in Socrates acknowledgment of one god. Mention that he put human reason as the ultimate though, and explain how people have been lulled by the many correct things in Socrates philosophy into treating human reason as a discoverer of truth and on par with Revelation (or higher). Read SG chapters 71 – 75. On pg. 129, first full paragraph: remove "He was a good and brave man."
22) Read SG chapters 76 – 84. On pg. 141: remove "their greatest citizen and general" and add "supposedly" before "sprung". This tones down the praise and delineates what is myth. On pg. 144: remove "goodness and" from the last paragraph. Again, throwing around the word goodness. On pg. 148: remove "beautiful" from the description of Plato's talk.
23) Read SG chapters 85 – 92. On pg. 155: remove "As Demosthenes was such a great man." On pg. 156: remove "he was bound to succeed and" and "as it always is". Success is no guaranteed. On pg. 161: remove "Alexander's remarkable coolness, ... have been truly great." Aristotle, as a pagan, was not truly great. And, since he was not preaching God's Word, his preaching could not make others great either.
24) Read SG chapters 93 – 103. On pg. 161: rcplace "had one great fault" with "had a great fault". I am sure that he had more than one fault. On pg. 164: remove "pious" from the description of Alexander's pilgrimage.
25) Read Alexander the Great by John Gunther (AtG) ( ISBN: 1402745192) chapters 1, 3 – 7. Go through beforehand to do some editing; this book is far too complimentary. I can't tell you exactly what to edit, since I borrowed this book from the library, and I didn't write down the parts that need editing.
26) Read AtG chapters 8 – 14
27) Read AtG chapters15 – 20.
28) Read SG chapters 104 – 115. On pg. 194: remove "the country from which later nations learned their best lessons in art, philosophy, and literature." Since, once again, the Greeks were not the greatest civilization.
29) Review and that evening cook a meal from Classical Cookbook by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger ( ISBN: 0892363940) I haven't actually read this book, but it intrigues me. I love to cook, and it would be really fun to try food from the culture we are studying. The meal is obviously optional.
30) Test: Ancient Greece I choose to test for two reasons. First, it gives the child something to work toward, an opportunity to gauge his progress. Secondly, it gives me some feedback on how well I am doing as a teacher. Right now I have no idea what form or what questions I will use for the test.

Underpinnings of 2nd Year History

2006-11-09T11:13:00.000-05:00

The moment that God opened my eyes to the anti-Christian nature of classical education was when I noticed that the classical "Christian" history curriculum I intended to use spent a whole year on the ancient Greeks and Romans, including the time of Christ's life and the beginnings of the apostolic church, during which year it had at least 8 books of classical mythology and only two books about the church (the Bible and another on architecture of bascilicas). How foolish and sinful to steep our children in man-made religion and the imaginations of wicked God-hating civilizations, while largely ignoring the history of the people of God! I was disgusted, and went off in search of a thoroughly-Christian, elementary, history curriculum.

My search was not fruitful, however. There were a few curricula created by people and publishers that I had reason to trust, but they focused, almost exclusively, on American history. This is very disappointing to me. It is important for our children to learn American history, and that in detail, but to spend 6 - 8 years exclusively on American history does our children a great disservice. America does not exist in a vacuum. Furthermore, God does not govern His creation through isolated acts of Providence that interrupt the normal flow of history. On the contrary, the Sovereign Creator, who does not let a single hair of our head fall without His permission, has controlled the entirety of history throughout the whole earth. Thus, if we are to praise the mighty acts of God to the next generation, we must teach them the history of the world, not just the United States.

The mandate to teach all of world history does not mean that we learn about every battle and every leader in every civilization that ever existed. In the teaching of history, as in all things, we look to the Bible for our model. The Bible contains much history, and it all focuses on the people of God. We meet other civilizations and peoples and learn something about them, but only when they intersect with the people of God. Such must be our approach to history. We are to teach the history of God's people in this world. This will necessitate learning about unbelievers, so we might understand how they affect the church, but our focus should always be on the church and God's providential care of her.

That brings us to the Greeks and Romans. The Roman civilization was dominant during the time of Christ's incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection. It was also dominant during the early days of the apostolic church. Many aspects of the Roman culture (one language, good roads, and even the cruelty of the colosseums) were used of God to advance the gospel. The Romans took much of their philosophy and culture directly from the Greeks, and Greek philosophy contributed to the heresies that plagued the early church and were addressed in church councils. Further, the triumph of the Greek and Roman civilizations were prophesied by Daniel, as well as their ultimate fall. For these reasons the Christian should learn about the Greeks and Romans, but should always place more emphasis on learning about the church.

Since I could not find a thoroughly Christian text to tell the story of the Greeks and Romans to elementary school children I went back to The Story of the Greeks and The Story of the Romans, both by H. A. Grueber and published by Nothing New Press. These were the books that the classical curriculum advertised were written back when "academic standards were more rigorous and the acquiring of a biblical worldview was considered just as important as the acquiring of reading, writing, and arithmetic skills". I bought these texts and was quite disappointed. They most certainly did not contain a biblical worldview. The views expressed in them were less blatantly humanistic and evolutionary than modern, secular school books, but that only makes them more dangerous. The unsuspecting mother could be lulled by some Christian-sounding phrases into missing heresy such as the books' claim that Socrates was the wisest man and greatest philosopher that ever lived. We know from the Bible that Solomon, not Socrates, was the wisest man that ever lived. The whole of The Story of the Greeks was peppered with the claim that the Greek civilization was the greatest the world has ever known. This is a terrible thing to teach a child, for how can pagans create the greatest civilization ever? Such a claim is to deny the beautifulness of God's laws (which the Greeks trampled), to deny the power of the gospel (by claiming that unbelievers can be good) and to call God a liar when He says, "Blessed in the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance." (Psalm 33:12)

However, since I know of no other text that tells the story, for children, with such thoroughness, I am forced to use this text. I will tell in my next post what parts I cut out and what parts I changed to make the text acceptable. I will also give an outline of the lessons I intend to teach, which should cover approximately six weeks (down from 18 weeks or so devoted to the Greeks in the classical curriculum outline). If you know of another text I can use, please tell me. I will be exceedingly grateful.

On to the 2nd Grade....Art again.

2006-10-30T14:26:00.000-05:00

So, I think the previous posts cover the first year of school thoroughly, now on to the second year...

I will start with art again. We will continue with our study of great artists and their works. Here is my tentative outline:

Albrecht Durer (Self Portrait at 28, Stag Beetle)
Michelangelo (The Creation of Adam, The Last Judgment, The Pieta, The Sistine Chapel, David, Moses). I will be covering up the genitals on the statue of David when I show it to my kids. I don't want to condone nudity in art, since the Bible repeatedly equates nakedness with shame (outside of the marriage bed, of course), but David is such a beautiful and iconic work that we cannot pass over it. I should also mention that later in his life Michelangelo regretted his early use of nudity in his art (God and the History of Art by Barry Stebbing).
Titian (David and Goliath, Allegory of Time Governed by Prudence, Flora, St. John the Baptist)
Raphael (Sistine Madonna, The Visitation, the Marriage of the Virgin, Madonna and Child with Book, The School of Athens, Pope Julius II)
Tintoretto (Christ at the Sea of Galilee, The Paradise, The Maundy, St. George and the Dragon, Wedding Feast at Cana)
Peter Brueghel (The Painter and the Buyer, The Blind Leading the Blind, Hunters in the Snow, Children's Games)
El Greco (St. John the Baptist, Madonna and Child with St. Martina and St. Agnes, View of Toledo, St. Paul, The Burial of Count Orgasz)
Peter Paul Rubens (Head of a Girl, Entombment, Daniel in the Lion's Den).

Since I am not sure if I will have too many or too few pieces when I am done deciding which pieces to study, this outline and the one for the first year art history may change later.

As always, I would love to hear from you if you think I missed a piece or an artist that is important (or if you think I included ones I shouldn't).

God bless.

Elementary Science

2006-10-26T10:13:00.000-05:00

Even before Rushdoony turned me away from Classical Education I was not satisfied with the approach to science taken by the author of the Classical curriculum I planned on using. She thought that the study of science in any rigorous sense should be left entirely to college students, and that younger students could be sufficiently educated by only observing nature, learning the history of science and learning to counter evolutionary arguments.

Such an approach is normal for classical education. Science was not one of the subjects taught in the traditional classical curriculum, because science was only pursued by aristocrats with a lot of time on their hands. In today's world most jobs involve some kind of technology, so in order to properly equip our children for a calling, they must have a knowledge of basic science. Further, science education should be systemmatic and orderly because that reflects God's created order. Studying bees, then clouds, then volcanoes, then whatever else suits your fancy reflects the evolutionary humanist worldview that all we have are random, isolated facts, plus it runs the risk of missing important areas.

Rigorous study of the traditional areas of science (biology, chemisty and physics) involves higher math, so it will necessarily be left for high school or middle school. In grades 1 - 6, I can teach my students about different areas of science, to give them a framework on which to place future learning, and also to whet their appetites for study of science. I believe that such an objective can be accomplished in 2 days a week, instead of the 5 days per weeks assigned to most subjects.

Science is, at its most basic, a systemmatic study of God's creation. Studying God's creation should lead us to praise Him for His wisdom and power. It should also enable us to more effectively take dominion over the earth for the glory of God.

To build observation skills and cultivate a love of and interest in the creation we live in I will take the elementary school students out to a park or to our backyard on the first pleasant day of each term to make observations in their nature journals. Each student will choose three living things to record. The older students will draw the organisms on the spot. I will take pictures of the organisms chosen by the younger students (for the students to draw from later). All students will record the time of day, the place, the weather, and any observations they can make about the organisms that they chose. The next day the students will look up each of their organisms in a guidebook and write down facts about the organism in their notebooks. The next day we will go to the library to pick out books on the organisms. The next three days each student will read (or be read) the books about his organism. The following lesson we will continue with our regular science curriculm. In this manner the students will learn the skills of observation which are necessary for science. It will, I hope, encourage them to enjoy being outside, which is healthy. They will also learn about the area we live in, so that they can begin, even now, to take dominion over their area of the earth, to the glory of God. Finally, I hope that, knowing details about the life around them, when my children see that life again they will be more easily moved to praise God for His wise and marvelous Creation.

For the elementary science curriculm, I have chosen the Answers in Genesis-distributed curriculm called God's Design for Science. It is written for elementary school, but it is done in an organized way, always stressing the role of God the Creator. It includes lessons to be read, hands-on projects, quizzes and tests. It has 11 units, which I calculate, can be completed in grades 1 - 7. Look for this curriculum at www.answersingenesis.com

More About Music

2006-10-24T08:05:00.000-05:00

While I have been absent from this blog I was packing, moving and unpacking. Thankfully, that is all over now and life can get back to (ab)normal. :-)

Now...on to some specifics about music history. I intend to teach this class to all my 1st - 6th graders at once. We will cycle through 6 years of lessons (1 per week), so every student will eventually learn all of the composers in the series. We will learn biographical information for each composer, as well as learning to identify, by sound, several of the composer's works. We will start the lesson by reading or listening to biographies of the composer or drilling biographical information. The readings will be taken from Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers by Patrick Kavanaugh, The Gift of Music by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson, the Vox CDs of great composers, and other sources that I will mention later. Then we will listen to the piece for the week (or a portion of it, if it is really long). Throughout the weeks that we are studying a composer we will listen to his music during homework time and other times.

Here is my list of composers to study (and pieces) for the first year (36 weeks):

1. - 3. Heinrich Schutz: I had never heard of this composer before reading The Gift of Music. He was one who took church music from monastic chanting into the kinds of harmonies we are familiar with today. His music is all choral settings of Biblical texts. I have chose Psalm
100, Seven Last Words From the Cross, and Deutches Magnificat (Mary's song of praise).

4. - 6. Archangelo Corelli: This baroque composer wrote many Concerti Grossi, early versions of the symphony that had less instruments than our modern symphony. I have chosen to highlight Concerto Grosso in F Major, Op. 6, No. 9; Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 8 the
"Christmas Concerto", and Sonata de Chiesa, Op. 3, No. 5.

7. - 10. Antonio Vivaldi: We all know Vivaldi's Four Seasons, but he also wrote concertos for many different instruments and even some choral music. The first piece the student will learn, will of course be the Four Seasons. Since it is such a long work, we will listen to it in the evening, or on a Saturday, in order to be able to hear it all at once. Other pieces to study are: Gloria in D, Bassoon Concerto in E Minor, and Concerto for Piccolo in C Major.

11. - 20. Johann Sebastian Bach: Bach was a devout Christian man and made some of the best music ever, to the glory of God. The most difficult thing about studying Bach is choosing which of his many masterpieces to focus on. These are my choices: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor (S 1043), St. Matthew's Passion, Mass in B Minor, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, Cantata No. 80, Well-Tempered Clavier No. 1, Magnificat, BrandenburgConcerto No. 2., and Musical Offering. For studying Bach, in addition to the sources cited above, I plan on reading them Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia by Opal Wheeler and Sybill Duecher.

21. - 26. George Frederic Handel:
It is reported that Handel openly wept while working on his famous Hallelujah Chorus, a song in praise of Christ. Here again is another composer who dedicated his work to the glory of God. Water Music, Messiah, Largo from Xerxes, Organ Concerto in B-flat Major, Op. 7, No. 6; Concerto for Harp in B-flat Major, and Music for Royal Fireworks. In addition to the sources cited above, I plan on reading Handel at the Court of Kings by Opal Wheeler.

26. - 32. Joseph Haydn: Cello Concerto in D Major, No. 2; The Creation; Symphony No. 45; Mass No. 9 in D Minor, "The Lord Nelson Mass"; Symphony No. 104, "London"; Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major; String Quartet in C "Emporer". In addition to the sources cited above, I plan on reading Joseph Haydn: the Merry Little Peasant by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Duecher.

33. - 36. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: I really don't need to say anything about Mozart's worth as a composer. I was heartened to learn through Christian authors that Mozart was not the hedonist that he was portrayed as in the movie "Amadeus". He was a bit of a reckless teenager (which is what they base their slander on) and not the wisest of money managers, but he showed in many letters to family and friends his faith in God and desire to please Him. We will continue with many more pieces by Mozart in the second year of Music History. The three for this year will be: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Requiem, and Clarinet Concerto in A Major.

I will continue with the schedule for the second year later.

Choosing a Musical Instrument

2006-09-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

As I stated in the last post, my husband and I will choose an instrument for my children to start with. This choice is just based on what we think they might be suited for. Right now, we plan on having Timothy start with the cello and Emanuela start with the violin.

However, after a year or two of instruction I would like to give my children the option to stick with the instrument we picked or choose another. God has given the human race a wide variety of abilities and affinities, and I want my children to find the perfect instrument with which to praise God. To that end, and in order to increase their enjoyment in hearing music, in the year before we begin the main curriculum I intend to teach my children about different instruments. I will not try to introduce all instruments; that would be nearly impossible. We will learn the most often used instruments in an orchestra.

I want the student to be able to recognize the instrument by sight and by sound, be able to identify the parts of the instrument, and know by what mechanism the instrument produces different notes (i.e. pressing keys, plucking strings, bowing, fingering strings, striking with a mallet, etc.) I will also give them a brief background of when the instrument was developed. There are two websites that I have found particularly useful www.dsokids.com/2001/instrumentchart.htm, and www.nyphilkids.org/lockerroom.phtml Both of these sites have information on different instrument as well as pictures and sound clips.

I plan on introducing the following instruments, one per week: violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, piccolo, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, English Horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, French Horn, saxaphone, tympani, snare, cymbals, xylophone, glockenspiel, harpsichord, piano, organ, and harp.

The remaining weeks of the year the child will have the opportunity to further investigate instruments that intrigue him. I will try to find a person who plays that instrument, books on the instrument, and music featuring that instrument. At the end of the year he can choose which instrument to play, with the knowledge that he can change his mind later, if he wants.

This freedom to choose could be abused, and it will be up to Denis and myself to discern whether a student repeatedly switching instruments is still searching for the right one, or merely avoiding the hard work of progressing beyond the beginning stage. If we believe that the student would benefit from the discipline of sticking with an instrument they don't like for awhile more we may require it.

2006-09-07T20:18:00.000-05:00

"Praise ye Jehovah. Praise God in his sanctuary: Praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with trumpet sound: Praise him with psaltery and harp. Praise him with timbrel and dance: Praise him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise him with loud cymbals: Praise him with high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah."

- Psalm 150

Over and over throughout the Scriptures we are commanded to praise God with music, thus music instruction is never optional for the Christian. At the very least, all Christians should know how to sing with a hymnal. Now, I understand that God has blessed people with differing natural talent for music, but our music abilities can be strengthened with practice just as our math or linguistic abilites are. Similarly, our musical abilities can atrophy with lack of use, like any other skill. Thus, with practice, anyone should be able to sing hymns without causing major ear trauma to the surrounding listeners. I plan on teaching "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" (Eph. 5:19) to my children. We will draw our songs from the Trinity Hymnal, Judy Rogers CDs, and Psalms for Singing, by Vic Lockman. If they are able, we can introduce harmony. We will work on basic breathing techniques, matching the proper pitch, and ennunciating. Our little chorus will work on each piece until it is respectable, and perform it (even if it is only for papi), then move onto the next piece.

Besides singing, praising God with an instrument is also commanded repeatedly in Scripture. Thus, each of my children will learn an instrument. Parents I have talked to prefer the Suzuki method. It produces the best pitch and does not require the ability to read, so the child can start in pre-school. Further, it relies on active involvement by the parent, which should make learning more fun, and keep the child accountable to practice. I am told that it is wise, after a few years, to have the student learn to sight-read as well though. I plan on choosing an instrument for my child to start with, since it is difficult for a three- or four-year old to make an informed choice. However, the student can choose to change instruments later, or add another instrument if he so chooses. In high school I will give the student the option to discontinue music training, if he chooses, but I pray that he will get so much joy and blessing out of praising the Lord with music that he will not want to stop.

During my post on art I mentioned that one way to learn that is encouraged in the Bible is to study the "great cloud of witnesses" that proceeded us. As we study great musicians (or artitst) of the past, and their God-honoring works, we learn how to create our own music that honors God. My husband reminded me that God, as God, causes all things to glorify Him. They either glorify His goodness, mercy and grace, or are judged by Him to the glorifying of His justice. So, I was wrong to say that we should not study works that do not glorify God...since that is impossible. What I should have said, is that we want to study men and music that are worthy of emmulation, that are good witnesses. Now, none of these men or pieces will be perfect, but their needs to be something that we can learn from them that will assist us in serving God with our music.

The philosophy of humanists, buddhists and other anti-Christians is reflected in their music. Eastern music (made in a Buddhist culture) and Buddhist western musicians create music that seldom, if ever, resolves; this reflects their views that time is cyclical and meaningless, which is antithetical to reality of time as the progression and working out of God's plan, ever moving forward, through periods of tension and periods of resolution, toward the ultimate resolution at the Last Judgment. Humanist, who believe man is his own god and authority rebel against God's laws for music, especially laws of tonality. God made us to appreciate, and find beautiful, sets of notes, called keys; humanists try to create music that is not confined to keys, but it is ugly and chaotic. Some might say that we should study this music anyway in order to understand our times, and perhaps we should mention to our children that it exist, and explain the philosophy behind it, however, we must never forget that "bad company corrupts good morals" (1 Cor. 15:33); if we keep company with music that is in rebellion against God by studying and analyzing it at length, He promises that it will corrupt our music.

Thanks be to God for His common grace, not all anti-Christian composers make music that is consistent with their presuppositions. For instance, Wagner was a notorious God-hater, but some of his music is quite beautiful. One of my husband's favorites, Mussorgsky, was a drunk, but his music is beautiful and stirring, as well. Also, it is impossible for us to judge the intentions of men's hearts and thus study only those who sought to honor God; instead we must try and study music that is beautiful and creative, musicians that use the gifts God has given to create in a manner that reflects God's own Creation. This will be a rather subjective exercise. As Christians seek to redifine the classics, there will need to be a thoughtful dialogue. This is just the beginning, so with prayer that I would be thinking God's thoughts after Him, and not just echoing man's praise, I will begin to gather musicians and pieces to teach my children.

More on this in my next post. As always, your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Elementary Math

2006-09-07T14:24:00.000-05:00

In order to effectively fulfill our calling in the Kingdom of God, we all must learn math. One of the most important reasons is that we are charged to be good stewards of our money, and arithmetic skills allow us to make a budget, calculate unit prices, interest, returns on investments, our tithe, etc. Very basic math is also needed to wisely schedule and efficiently utilize our time, for cooking, and for simple home repairs. These and other everyday uses of math require our students to learn arthimetic, very basic geometry and pre-algebra. It is these skills that I want my children to learn by the end of 6th grade.

During middle and high school (7 - 12th grade) when the child is begining to specialize with a view to his calling, different kinds of math will be needed. All students will need to learn some economics, in order to be well-informed voters (part of taking dominion for God). Those who are going into business, law or politics will need to know more economics. Those going into business should learn math for accounting and management. Architects and carpenters need to know geometry. Computer scientists need to know mathematical logic. Researchers need to know statistics. Engineers and scientists need to know calculus. And other callings will have their own math requirements.

I would like to take a small sidebar and say that, while I will begin specializing my children's educations in 7th grade, it is not necessary that the child know what his calling is at that time. Part of discovering one's calling is prayerfully considering one's abilities and affininties. If the child is confident that he knows his calling, we can choose a course of study that fits that calling. If the child does not know his calling yet, the child can choose the path of study that most interests him (or he is best at). As he progresses in his studies his calling should be easier to discern.

Now, back to elementary math. The situations in which we all use arithmetic rarely involve a pencil and paper. For our arithmetic skills to be useful, most of the time we have to be able to do the calculations in our head. Thus, the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts need to be drilled until they come naturally to the student, almost automatically. Also, math, created by God, is orderly, systemmatic, and full of patterns. In order to teach math well, a text must be arranged in a manner that reflects that order and those patterns. I like the Rod & Staff math curriculum. It has tons of drills and practice worksheets (how many of them we use will depend on how much practice the student needs). It is arranged in an orderly manner, with no silliness. It is 8 years of study to learn arithmetic, basic geometry and beginning algebra. I intend to teach those 8 texts by the time the student completes 6th grade.

Literature

2006-09-07T12:50:00.000-05:00

We teach our children to read, primarily that they might read the Scriptures, but there are many other things that the student may read and derive benefit from. Non-fiction works are also important, but in this post I shall discuss fiction works. Fiction can be encouraging, cautionary, uplifting or otherwise beneficial. Fiction can also, righteously, be read purely for fun, as long as our enjoyment of the entertainment does not interfere with our duties. Of course, if we can combine entertainment and edification in one piece of literature, all the better.

Young readers need lots of practice to increase their abilities. The books that they use to practice must, of necessity, have a small vocabulary and simple sentence structure, however, they need not, and should not, be boring! The McGuffey Readers, the Little Bear series of books and the Frog and Toad series of books are all perfect for those learning to read. They have simple words and sentences, but still contain interesting, whimsical stories, edifying lessons or both. The Early Reader Books by Dr. Suess are also largely good.

These early readers, in order that they become familiar with good literature, should be read to often. I plan on having my children in 1st and 2nd grade read to me Monday through Thursday; I will read to the child on Friday. I should read books to them that they could not read themselves, books that contain well-written and God-honoring prose and poetry. The classical curriculum that I was planning on using before I read Rushdoony's The Philosophy of Christian Curriculum, suggested reading historical fiction and fiction written during the period being studied to supplement the non-fiction history readings. I think this is a great idea. It helps the history come alive for the child and makes for a more cohesive school day. For 1st grade, Old Testament History, I could not find many such books, but I did find three:

The Cat of Bubastes by G. A. Henty
Pillar of Fire by J. H. Ingrahm
Cyrus the Persian by Sherman Nagel

I located all three books at www.graceandtruthbooks.com They have a wide selection of historical fiction for children, although I am not crazy about the way it is organized on their website.

Here are some other books that I am planning on reading to my students or having them read to me during first grade:

Three Billy Goats Gruff, Stone Soup: An Old Tale, Once a Mouse, and Dick Whittington and His Cat by Marcia Brown
A Child's Treasury of Poems by Mark Daniel (beautifully illustrated!)
A Child's Garden of Verses by R. L. Stevenson
Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter
The Babar stories by Brunhoff
The Frances stories by Russell Hoban

I welcome suggestions from you, the reader.

Foreign Language in Elementary School

2006-09-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

Once again, we must start with the question, does the study of foreign language equip a student for service in the Kingdom of God?

The answer to that question depends on the language being studied and the calling of the student. The two most widely useful languages for study today are Biblical Greek and Spanish. Biblical Greek enables the student to study the New Testament in its original language, and Spanish allows the student to effectively witness to the growing number of Spanish speakers in this country, and not just the English speakers.

Elementary school is the best time to introduce a foreign language, since ability to learn a new language declines exponentially as we age. Since an elementary school child usually does not know his calling yet, I plan on teaching my young students Biblical Greek. Biblical Greek is only essential for those who wish to be preachers, evangelists or theologians, but is undoubtedly very useful for everyone who wishes to study the word of God (and we all should). Thus, studying Biblical Greek provides the most advantage for whatever calling my children pursue. Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek is a nice text, and the one I plan to use. It is designed to start in Kindergarten, a rare thing for foreign language texts, and builds slowly to a thorough knowledge of the language. It also employs a copybook of the Gospel of John, so the text of the Bible is used to learn the language.

When the child reaches middle school or high school and is beginning to discover his calling, we will add a foreign language that serves this calling. Biblical Hebrew is useful for those going into the ministry, Japanese for businessmen and engineers, German (perhaps) for engineers, Russian/Arabic for military, Italian for musicians, Latin for the medical profession or for biologists, etc.

If a child has a calling that does not benefit from knowing a foreign language (shopkeeper? plumber? I am having a hard time thinking of any) he does not have to study a foreign language, and should not if it is taking time away from necessary studies. Most states and colleges require two years of foreign language for every student, no matter their vocation. To satisfy that requirement I would suggest Spanish, for the evangelism opportunities it affords. Our children will already know Spanish, having been taught it from birth by their father, who is half Cuban.

Classical Greek and Latin used to be the languages of scholarship and religion, but since that is no longer true, they are of little use and should not be focused on. English grammar and vocabulary can be learned without spending years studying Latin. The only exception to this would be those who are called to the medical or biological fields which have their own large vocabulary of words lifted directly from Latin.

We should always remeber that we are studying foreign language, not to be superior to the monolingual, or to be multi-cultural, but as a tool for subduing the earth to the glory of Almighty God.

Phonics

2006-09-06T10:23:00.000-05:00

It is vital that a child learn to read so that he might read the Bible. We are commanded over and over to meditate on the Word of God, an activity which is much easier to do when we can actually read it on our own. Of course, there are many othre things that a child will want and need to read throughout his life, but the Bible is the most important.

Along with learning to read, a child must learn how to spell. Spelling is essential for taking notes, which improves understand of any subject. It is also vital for all written communication, and written communication helps one spread the gospel and fulfill duties as a family member, church member, citizen, friend, etc.

Now that we have easily ascertained that teaching a child how to read and spell is important, it only remains to chose the teaching method that is most effective.

Whether reading instruction should use phonics or a sight reading method is hotly debated today. I believe that the phonics method is the best way.

The sight-reading method relies on the child memorizing each individual word and internalizing phonics rules subconsciously. They argue that most adults read by sight, not sounding out each word, and that phonics rules are too confusing for children and have too many exceptions, thus the child's progress is hindered.

Now, it is true, that no matter how we learned to read, we eventually read familiar words by sight. However, it is when we encounter new words that our method of learning to read becomes important. I sight-reader can only guess at a new word based on whatever bits of phonics rules he has internalized through exposure. A phonics reader, however, will be able to sound out almost all new words easily. It is true that the sight reader will make more rapid progress initially, but once the phonics reader learns the rules, he will make much faster and easier progress than the sight reader.

Further, phonics reader has an immense advantage over the sight reader in spelling. The sight reader must memorize every word he wants to spell, while the phonics reader can just sound it out.

But what of the difficulty of learning all the exceptions to English phonics rules? Well, first of all, because of the minimal phonics education in America, most people think there are more exceptions than there actually are. For instance, I was watching a TV show on PBS designed to teach kids to read. It presented the word give as an exception to the rule that a silent e at the end of a word causes the previous vowel to use its long sound. Most people know this rule, but few know that there are actually 5 rules governing a final e in a word. One of the other 5 rules is that a silent e follows all words that would otherwise end in v, since no English word can end in a v. This is the rule that is applied to give, that is why we use the short i sound. I admit that there are many phonics rules in English, much more than in Spanish, for instance, but this is because English is a mix of Latin, French and Germanic words, and thus a mixture of their different phonics rules. However, it is still a lot easier, in the long run, to learn all the phonics rules than to learn one rule and many, many "exceptions" to that rule.

Besides, people who claim phonics is too difficult for children underestimate them. God has given children, especially young children, a marvelous capacity for learning. Children, like adults, are sinners, and as such, can be lazy, but laziness or lack of enthusiasm should not be confused with lack of ability. If we teach with enthusiasm and consistenly challenge our children there is much that they can achieve, by God's grace. If we "train a child up in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6); he will live a life of hard work pursuing and achieving goals. However, if we do not challenge him, he will grow up to live a life of laziness and low expectations.

I intend to use The Writing Road to Reading to teach phonics, spelling and penmanship simultaneously. This makes sense to me because all three are aspects of communication and thus each will reinforce the other. The method described in this book is systematic, with drills to cement learning and lots of practice. The phonics rules in The Writing Road to Reading are not always the clearest and best, however, so I recommend The ABCs and All Their Tricks. Use this book's phonics rules whenever the two books disagree. The ABCs is also a good source of spelling lists, since it collects lists of words that demonstrate each phonics rule.

History in Elementary School

2006-09-05T12:25:00.000-05:00

"Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall laud thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." Psalm 145: 3, 4.

The reason we teach history is that we are commanded to, and should delight in, rehearsing the mighty acts of our God to the next generation. The glory and praise of God should always be formost in our minds as we teach history. This will affect the way in which stories are told.

In Deuteronomy 6, the young son asks his father, "What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you?" the father replies by giving the history of the Israelites deliverance from the Egyptians (notice how understanding God's Law and understand God's Providence go hand in hand). In telling this history, the father places the emphasis on God's power, providence and purpose, not on the actions of men. The Epyptians were important to the history only because of their intersection with the people of God. We should strive to teach history in this way. Our focus should be upon the mighty works of the Lord, which necessarily means that our focus will be on His Church. We study non-Christian civilizations, men, movements, and trends because they interacted with the Church, not because of any innate greatness in them; they are deemphisized and the Church is emphasized.

Speaking of a wicked man, the psalmist prays, "Let his posterity be cut off; in the generation following let their name be blotted out. ... Let them be before Jehovah continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth." Psalm 109: 13, 15. We are to honor what God honors, so why would we want to spend a lot of time studying wicked men (and cultures) that the psalmist prays would be not be remembered anymore?

The curriculum that I was planning on using before I read Rushdoony's Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum has a faithful survey of Old Testament History. It uses the Bible as the main narrative, adding supplemental books at certain points. These supplemental books discuss the Creation, Joseph, the Exodus and Esther, and also the Egyptians, Sumerians, Phoenicians, Babylonians and Persians. However, it is always clear, that learning about ungodly civilizations is for the purpose of understanding more fully God's mighty acts with respect to His people.

Unfortunately, this curriculum's second year leaves much to be desired. It focuses on the Greeks and Romans, spending significant time on Homer, Aesop and Greek myths. During this year there are only two books that focus on the early church, one of which is the Bible. In her second year curriculum this sister in Christ demonstrates a significantly skewed perspective. We do need to study Ancient Greece and Rome, since the Lord Christ was incarnate in a small town in the Roman Empire (which was heavily influenced by the Greeks), and the early church grew within the Roman Empire, despite every effort by the Romans to suppress it. However, the focus should be on the early church, not on the Greeks and Romans. The Roman Empire was only the feet of clay, but the Church, with Christ as its Head, is the mountain to which all the nations of the earth shall stream (Daniel 6).

The classical curriculm spends much time studying ancient mythology, saying that one cannot be culturally literate without knowing these things. I admit that this argument was quite persuasive to me, until I read Rushdoony. I now realize that it is foolish to try to make our children literate in a culture that hates God. We must be about building a Christian culture, a Christendom, and part of any culture is its heroes and classics. We must choose godly heroes and God-honoring classics of literature, music and art, and make our children literate in those things. Once they are steeped in truth and surrounded by a cloud of witnesses to God's faithfulness, they will have no trouble counteracting falsehood in this culture. The one who spots counterfeits, does not so much need an understanding of the history of counterfeiting or an in-depth knowledge of counterfeiting technology, as he needs a flawless knowledge of the real thing. With such a thorough knowledge of what is right, it is easy to spot even the subtlest deviation from that standard.

So, with a prayer that I would glorify God, I would like to propose a new outline of history.

This is the outline of history that I learned in state school:

1. Ancient history, meaning before Egypt, was barely mentioned, except to say that people lived a hunter-gatherer, uncivilized, near-animal existence.

2. Egypt is slightly empasized, mostly their pyramids and mummies, and then we move on to Greece and Rome. Much is made of these great empires. They are portrayed as lands where freedom and rationality reigned, and where great art, literature, and technology were created.

3. The time after the fall of Rome is know as the Dark Ages or Middle Ages. This time is not studied in terms of events, but rather a picture of life during that time is given. It is all cold, dark castles, hidden monks, savage Vikings, ignorant, squalid peasants, hunger, disease and superstition. The only light ever mentioned during this time is the Muslims, who are described as having cities full of light, art and learning.

4. Out of the dark, Europe proceeds to the Renaissance, a rediscovery of the glory of the Greeks and Romans. Much is made of the flourishing of arts and learning when Europe returned to the ways of these Ancients. Very little is said about the Reformation. The motivation for the split is not given. I was taught in one class that the main reason that England is Protestant and not Catholic is that Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife and the pope wouldn't let him. The effects of the Reformation, except the printing press, are largely ignored. Human spirit and ingenuity are showcased in the explorers

5. In describing colonial America, history classes are double-minded; the founding fathers are simultaneously portrayed as men seeking human freedom and equality, and slave-owners, indian-killers and oppressors of women. The Enlightenment is praised as a time when men threw off the shackles of religion and set people free. The bloody, horrible French Revolution is equated with the American Revolution. The North winning the Civil War is shown as another example of freedom overcoming oppression.

6. Except for Hitler and the Holocaust, World Wars I and II are largely ignored. Instead Women's Suffrage and the Industrial Revolution are highlighted. The war in Vietnam is decried, as is the development of nuclear technology, and the Civil Rights and Women's movements are praised. The Hippie culture is explored, but almost nothing is said about the rise of Communism.

Now, the classical curriculm is more God-honoring than my state-school curriculum, but it still follows the humanist timeline of the state school. It lumps the Reformation in with the Middle Ages, but spends a long time on the Enlightenment. And then there is that whole year on the Greeks and the Romans.

I would like to propose the following outline instead:

1.) Creation to the close of the Old Testament: The time when the church was confined mostly to ethnic Israel. This will studied directly from the Bible, with a few supplemental books and a lot of illustrations (since it will be for first grade).

2.) History of the Early Church: Study the Greeks and Romans only to set the stage. Study the life of Jesus and the lives of the apostles. Describe the persecution of the church by the Romans and the lives of great martyrs. Learn about Augustine and the early church councils. Describe the fall of Rome.

3.) The Church before the Reformation: Starting after the fall of Rome, learn about the development of the Eastern and Western churches, the rise of monasticism and scholasticism. Civilization in Europe during this time was largely Christian. It was not perfect, and not every individual was Christian, but the countries acknowledged the lordship of Christ. Because of this Christian basis, there are many heroes of the faith to study. Learn about the Vikings and the Muslims only in order to better understand how the Christian Europeans interacted with them. Include in this study the Renaissance. Although the Renaissance overlapped with the Reformation in time, it was the outflow of the ideas of medieval scholasticism, which attempted to mix Christianity with Greek philosophy. Thus, the Renaissance can be logically studied at this time.

4.) The Reformation and its initial effects: The Reformation is the greatest event in the history of the world since the Ressurection of Christ and the fall of Jerusalem. It is an example of God's rich grace and mighty hand reviving his church from the apostasy that it fell into through its love of pagan Greece and Rome. It is full of thrilling stories and inspiring heroes. It also was the impetus for the Age of Exploration and the founding of this country. The explorers were self-conciously attempting to fulfill the Great Commission, and the founders of this country were largely reformed Puritans, trying to build a Christian civilization. The colonists will be saved for next year, but the explorers will be covered this year.

5.) Early America: This year will cover Jamestown and the Pilgrims, the causes of the American War for Independence, the events of that War, the founding documents of this country. The War of 1812. The westward expansion. The Gold Rush. The rise of humanism and unitarianism in the US, and its effects on the country. The "Endarkenment" in Europe will be studied mainly to show its spread to and effect on the United States. The Great Awakenings, when God sent revival to this country, will be studied, as well as the Industrial Revolution.

6.) The War Between the States and the Rise of Tyranny: Before the War Between the States, we were the United StateS, a group of united, but distinct states. After the Civil War we have become a large country under an increasingly tyrannical civil government. We will learn the causes of the War Between the States (not slavery) and the major events thereof. We will follow the decline of the church in the U.S. and the subsequent effects on the policy and culture of this country. The World Wars, Cold War, and Muslim terrorist will be studied. The Civil Rights and Womens Movements, the rise of Communism, Socialism and Imperialism will be studied, always with an eye to their theological foundations.

This is a very broad outline. I hope to flesh it out and refine it as I learn more about history, myself, and collect materials to teach history to my children.

Stay tuned. :-)

Geography

2006-09-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

Geography sets the stage for the study of history, current events and for missionary work. If we desire to spread the Kingdom of God throughout all the earth, it is essential that we know what the earth looks like, and some basic cultural traits of the tribes of the earth. Knowing georgraphy adds understanding and interest when we hear current events, when we pray for missionaries and when we study history. Further, knowing how to read a map is a necessary tool in many life situations.

Students can, and should, learn the basic facts of world geography in elementary school. This will allow them to put all of their historic and current events learning into a spatial context. There are 6 inhabited continents; I intend to teach one per year in grades 1 - 6. The Geography Coloring Book is the method I prefer. It is fun, since kids love to color. It requires them to spend a long time looking at the maps, in order to color them, which should aid them in memorizing the look of the world. It includes political and topographical maps, maps of large and small areas and many facts that can be used for drill.

I intend to start with North America, because that is home to my students. South America will be next, because it has the least to memorize of any continent. Next will be Europe since we will be studying European history that year. Next will be Australia and the Oceania. The last two years will be Africa and then Asia, which I chose to be last since they have the most countries, and thus the most information to learn.

Young children need an introduction to the abstract concept of maps, so I intend to use Me on the Map as the first part of the first year of geography. It goes outward from a map of a little girl's room, up to a map of the whole world.

This systemmatic study of geography will be interrupted in order to serve the needs of history class. When I introduce a new map in history, the student will trace that map in the corresponding geography time in order to thoroughly familiarize himself with the area we are studying.

My Beginnings with Art History

2006-09-04T23:10:00.000-05:00

So...I have been working on selecting artists and pieces for my elementary school children to learn. I want them to be able to recall biographical facts about the artists and to be able to identify the pieces (and interesting facts about some of the pieces) on sight. We will mostly study Christian artists, to observe what God enabled them to achieve and how their faith affected their work. We also learn about art techniques by studying the artist who developed them and important pieces that showcase them. Some of the artist we study will not be Christians, but in those cases, there must be a compelling reason to showcase art that wasn't created to honor God. Care needs to be taken with these artist to show the results of their presuppositions.

Thus far I have only outlined a year's worth of study. Here is what I have so far:

Byzantine and Romanesque (illustrated manuscripts, Bayeux tapestry, mosaic)
Gothic Art (stained glass, cathedrals)
Cimabue
Giotto de Bondone (Lamentation, Death of St. Francis, Adoration of the Magi)
Donatello (St. Mark, David in marble, The Penitent Magdalene (I really like this sculpture; I can really empathize with her need for a Savior), the Feast of Herod)
Fra Angelico (Annunciation, Madonna and Child with Angels, Christ Resurrected and Maries at the Tomb, Crucified Christ with St. John the Evangelist, etc.)
Jan van Eyck (Arnolfini, Rolin, Ghent, Crucifixtion and Last Judgment)
Heironymous Bosch (Death and the Miser, Ship of Fools, Christ Carrying the Cross, The Last Judgment)
Leonardo da Vinci (Mona Lisa, Last Supper, Study of Hands, Lady with an Ermine)
Albrecht Durer (Portrait of Mother, St. Michael fights the dragon)

Leonardo da Vinci's faith is the subject of much debate. Many believe that he was a sodomite, but I am skeptical of these reports because it serves the homosexual agenda to claim a great man as one of their own. He may have been a sodomite, but I will need more than an accusation which never resulted in a conviction and a series of apprentices (a very common practice at the time) as proof before I would believe such slander. But, whatever the truth is, he was instrumental in the development of techniques for showing distance and for softening the lines in portraits. He was also a very dedicated and diligent worker. It is these positives that I am attempting to showcase in the pieces I chose to study.

I will add to this list later. Now I am going to move on to history and geography for the first year.

Why Teach Art?

2006-08-30T15:44:00.000-05:00

The first question that should be asked of any subject is: is the teaching of this subject necessary to equip the child for his calling in the Kingdom of God? If it is necessary, we must then ask: how can I teach this class in a way that best gives glory to God and equips the student to serve God?
I have always believed that art was important, but I have never before stopped to consider what God has to say about art. I will endeavor to do so now.
"Honor and majesty are before him: Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary." Psalm 96:6
Beauty dwells with God. He determines what is beautiful. And he loves beauty, so we should love beauty. He is called beautiful:
"And Jehovah their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for [they shall be as] the stones of a crown, lifted on high over his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!" Zechariah 9:16 - 17
We also know that God loves beauty, just by looking at the world He has created; even in its fallen state there is still much beauty in it. As men made in the image of God, we have the ability to create (although not ex nihlo like God). Our creations can be used to glorify God or to rebel against him.
Art, one of our many ways of creating, can be used to communicate truth, to encourage us to think about something "pure", "excellent", or "praise-worthy" (Phil. 4:8). Traditionally, Christian art was used to tell the story of the gospel to those who couldn't read. Art, because it contains images, which are often less precise than words, may not always be as effective in communicating truth as literature, but it can still be used to speak to others on a level closer to the heart than to the head. And of course, there are times when a picture truly is worth a thousand words. So, art can be a good use of one's time, if done with the intent to communicate truth (even such simple truth as, look at this beautiful flower that God created) for the glory of God.
Art can be good and useful, but I don't think it is essential for all students to know how to paint or sculpt really well. Thus, a highschool student should be given the freedom to drop art class if he is not interested in it, or needs to concentrate on other things. Art should be required of younger students, however, since they must be given a chance to learn and explore a wide variety of subjects. Younger students need this diversity of learning in order to discover where their aptitudes and intrests lie. This knowledge will help them identify their calling in this world.
Art class for the elementary school student will include drawing, painting and sculpting, but drawing will take precedent. Even for the non-artist, being able to draw well is an invaluable tool. Simple, clear drawings help us draw maps, jot down ideas for a decorating, sewing or carpentry project, take notes in a laboratory, and do many other things. I plan on using I Can Do All Things by Barry Stebbing to teach elementary drawing and painting. It builds skills slowly, with a wide variety of different lessons. It also includes a little art history. Best of all, it is saturated with the Christian faith of the author.
For preschoolers, Baby Lamb's Book of Art, is also great.
When the writer of Hebrews wanted to tell his readers what it is to have faith and how to live the Christian life, he described the lives of many faithful men of the past. In other parts of Scripture, we are enjoined to follow the example, or avoid the example, of those that preceded us. I believe that this method of learning the Christian life can be applied to learning other things, such as art. Thus a useful method of teaching art is to have the student copy masterpieces, provided I am careful to choose masterpieces that glorify God, and avoid those anti-Christian works that the world calls masterpieces. Looking at and learning about masterpieces that we don't copy and the artists that made them can also be useful. I plan on using God and the History of Art, by Barry Stebbing to help with this. Now, I need to decide which artists and pieces are worthy of study and imitation. Any suggestions?

Bible as a Class

2006-08-30T14:38:00.000-05:00

Teaching Bible as a class is tricky, since the Bible should be the starting point of every subject we teach.
Since "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge", we can know nothing unless we look at the world through the lens of Scripture. In order to do that one must be thoroughly familiar with the content of Scripture. That is why I propose to read through the Bible, a chapter per day, to my students. I will read it chronologically to emphasize its historicity. After the reading we will summarize what was read and make specific applications to our lives. Also, a major component of Bible class, especially for the elementary grades, will be memorizing Scripture, as well as the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms (as the best human summary of Biblical truth).
In order to "take every thought captive to the authority of Christ", we must know the content of Scripture, and be able to judge truth claims against Scripture. This means thinking about Scripture in an orderly manner - having a systemmatic theology. The student already has a start in systemmatic theology from memorizing the catechisms, but the older student should study books on systemmatic theology. (More on this later).
Thirdly, I want my children to be able to "give a reason for the hope that is in [them]". This means studying apologetics. High school students should learn presuppositional apologetics. (More on this later).
Finally, since God's Word governs our actions, as well as our thoughts, we will study how to have a Christian character and life using Pam Forster's Plants Grown Up and Polished Cornerstones. These books collect Scripture passages and practical exercises in developing different traits of godly manhood or womanhood. These books will be used throughout all grades.

The purpose of education is to prepare children to fulfill God's calling as free men in God's world.

2006-08-30T13:48:00.000-05:00

You would think, that as a Christian, I would have understood that, but my own humanistic, state education did such a good job that my underlying assumption was that knowledge is an end in itself. I wanted my children to know a lot of things, especially intellectually snobby things like philosophy and complex mathematics. I now realize how arrogant and man-centered a view that is. Like everything else, knowledge is good only to the extent that it is used in service of God and in the advancement of His kingdom. I need to approach homeschooling with the purpose of shaping my children into effective servants of God. To be effective they will need a lot of knowledge of God, of His laws, of themselves, and of His Creation, much more knowledge than is given in public or most private schools today. However, this knowledge will not be presented to them that they might discover truth and meaning themselves, as if they were little gods, deciding good and evil for themselves. All knowledge will be given as God-created truth, to be seen in the light of God's Word, and used for His glory.
For a much better explanation of the above, please see R. J. Rushdoony's book, The Philosophy of Christian Curriculum.

My blog now has a purpose! I was never comfortable just writing my random thoughts on the internet, but now I intend to devote this blog to musings on the purpose of Christian education and practical methods for creating a thoroughly Biblical homeschooling program.

May God use this blog, and everything else in my life, for His own glory.

Mrs. Putina...why Jay Leno is an ignoramus

2006-07-18T22:46:00.000-05:00

I am currently watching Jay Leno, he is making fun of President Bush for calling Vladamir Putin's wife Mrs. Putina. Well, he obviously knows nothing about the Russian language. Russians have a male and female form of the last name. For example, the famous book Anna Karenina involves, among others, the characters Anna Karenina and her husband Alexis Karenin.

Now, I am not a huge Bush fan or anything, but this time he got it right.

Well, it's been almost 2 months...

2006-06-01T19:23:00.000-05:00

... and lots of things have happened, but I have not written. I could say that it is because I have been busy, but that would not be entirely true. I have been busy, but not so busy I haven't had time to waste at the computer.

Right now I am simultaneously talking to an old high school friend on AIM. Whenever I talk to a friend I haven't seen in awhile, she always asks what I am doing these days, and I usually find that question uncomfortable, for though I am always busy, I can usually find nothing to say that doesn't sound trivial.

That is one of the reasons I am reluctant to write on my blog. I do a lot of things in a day, but none of them seem important enough to chronicle. However, as I sit here trying to tell my friend how I spend my time, I realize that for most people, doing lots of little things is what life is all about. Every achievement, small or great, is a collection of little tasks performed faithfully, or performed poorly.

On a less philosophical note, we are spending the weekend at a nice little house in the woods. It should be a fun mini-vacation.

Update on Jackson Bortz

2006-04-05T14:48:00.000-05:00

Praise the Lord, at the hearing on Monday, Jackson was allowed to go home with his parents! Thank you God for answering our prayers.

I pray that this victory will not satisfy us, but that we will show our commitment to oppose tyranny, by continuing to petition and fight for constraints on DFCS. There are many more children out there, held hostage, separated from loving families. We must send the message to our government that we can care for our children better than Big Brother.

Linda Hirshman, I have something to say to you.

2006-04-01T08:59:00.001-05:00

I just read the above article about a horribly insulting and dismally ignorant feminist who was featured on ABC's Good Morning America for two days. She had the audacity to say that women should not be allowed to choose to stay home because it is bad for society and bad for the cause of women's equality. Now, my first response to this is laughter...she can't be serious. But knowing that she is serious, and apparently at least some agree with her, I am grieved.

She mentioned that she did a lot of research by reading the blogs of homemakers, so, just in case you come across this one, Linda, I have some things to say to you.

First, so you don't write me off as some country bumpkin, let me introduce myself. I have a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where I graduated with a 3.95 GPA. I am from the Phillips Exeter Academy class of 1999, where I graduated among the top 15 in my class. I have worked for NASA, in Houston.

Now...to one of your points. You stated that, in choosing to stay home with children, women put themselves into a position usually reserved for the lowest classes in society, that of cleaning up excrement. You also said that the duties of keeping a home and raising small children "does not sound particularly interesting or fulfilling for a complicated person, for a complicated, educated person."

Well, I do have to admit that I don't enjoy changing diapers, but I do it for love of my children. Mothers are called to, many times a day, mortify their own desires for the sake of those they love. Far from being demeaning, such self-sacrifice is noble and elevating. We all start life as self-centered infants and toddlers, concerned only with our own needs and comfort. Self-sacrifice marks how far we have moved from such beginnings towards responsibility and adulthood.

Self-sacrifice defined the ministry of Jesus Christ, and thus, the life and work of a mother is the most Christ-like in the world. He gave up the riches of his life in heaven and humiliated himself to live amongst men and then to be sent to a gruesome and painful death. He endured his Father's abandoment of him on the cross, that he might bear the full punishment for the sins of his people. As one saved, by the grace of God, I want to please him who created and redeemed me. He has called mothers to be "keepers at home" and to "raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord". When I am faithful, I feel His smile, and that is more fulfulling than anything else.

If mothers do not care for their own children, who should? According to your logic: those least educated and able. This is a shockingly arrogant statement. So, are you saying that daycare workers, teachers, nannies, and others who care for children are only in that position because they lack the ability and intelligence to do anything else? I do not agree with that statement, at all, but let's say, that it is true. That is all the more reason for a mother to care for her own children. I certainly don't want the least intelligent and least capable members of society responsible for the welfare of the most precious people in my life! There is no amount of money or power or intellectual stimulation that could tempt me to put them in danger. And there is real danger in taking small children away from their home. The first few years of a child's life are crucial to his intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. At home I can make sure that my babies are intellectually stimulated by playing with them and using appropriate books, video and toys that are designed to increase their mental power. At home I can supervise their social development by teaching them to share and be considerate of others when they play with siblings or with friends. In a daycare environment children learn to snatch toys and guard them against bullies. They have to be always vigilant against bullies and they have no mommy to watch them and tell them when they need to share and when they need to apologize. At home I can bolster my children's emotional development by providing a happy and secure place for them to live out their earliest years. My children are secure in my love; they know that I will not abandon them to another, just to please myself. I am there to soothe every hurt, to share every triumph, and sometimes just to give hugs. The world is a harsh place, and my children will be better prepared to handle it with hearts and memories full of love and encouragement. Anyone who has ever spent time with small children knows that what they want more than anything else is the love and attention of their mommies. At home I can guard the physical health of my children, by preparing them nutritious food and by making sure they exercise. Also, at home, they are not exposed to nearly so many of the diseases that run rampant through daycare. For all these reasons, and many more, it is best for my children for me to be a homemaker, and as I have already stated, I am willing and eager to provide my children with the best upbringing because I love them.

If you can't understand this, perhaps it is because you have never known the kind of love that moves one to sacrifice, and if this is the case, then I pity you. But even if you can't understand why mothers would be willing to make such a sacrifice, you should be glad that they do make it, for they are literally raising the future of this world. What mothers do now, in shaping the characters of their children, will have a far bigger impact on the future than any activism, political debate, books written, or laws changed because what we do today with voice or pen can, and probably will, be changed in the years to come by those who are now children.

Finally, even those who are not mothers should resist you because you wish to take away a woman's ability to choose to stay home. Are we slaves to be ordered to work in a cubicle against our will? And what are you saying about those women you supposedly seek to empower? Are they so stupid or self-deceived that they cannot make such a fundamental choice about lifestyle? What supreme arrogance to think that you know better than they what would make them happy and fulfilled!

Being home with my children, nurturing them, providing a haven for my husband, such things are deeply fulfilling to me. Aside from the joy of benefitting those that I love most in this world, their is much to challenge my intellect and creativity. Children change by the minute, and keeping them challenged requires study and preparation. Organizing a household schedule, making things run efficiently, and keeping us within budget, are real challenges. But better than working in a grey office building, I get to work near the smiling faces of my family and surrounding by the beautiful environment of my creating. Yes, folding laundry and scrubbing toilets is dull and repetitive, and often it seems as if the work is never-ending, but the love of Christ sustains me, and I know that what I do is vital. I provide a place of peace and cheer, where children can learn and grow and where my husband, my children and I can live together, love each other, and work for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom on earth. In short: I make a home.

Victory

2006-03-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

On Monday I went to a rally at the GA state capitol in support of the family of Jackson Bortz. He was snatched from him parents by DFACS, and even though his parents have been cleared by a judge from all charges of abuse, they refuse to return him. Please read the website www.savejacksonbortz.com

Every parent in GA should be concerned, yet there were barely 30 people there at a time. And that was to represent 7 different children snatched by DFACS. It is shameful. I don't say this in a self-righteous way, since I have never been to such an event before, and was only moved to go by the sermon I heard the Sunday before. However, I must say that the church needs to be standing against evil instead of living in a bunker of isolation, waiting for the world to end.

Brothers and sisters, God is not going to snatch us out of this evil world. He is expanding his kingdom until "the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea", until the nations of the world flock to the church to learn how to govern, until he comes again in glorious victory.

Sometimes we think the world is getting worse and worse, less and less Christian, but that is only because we are arrogant. The U.S. is getting less and less Christian, but other parts of the world (China, for instance) have great increases in the church. If we won't serve God and the advance of His kingdom, he will use others (even the rocks, if necessary) to serve His purposes. We must stand against evil, because God calls us to, and because, if we don't, we are putting our children in danger. Our children will have to live in the world, so let's make it a better one for them to live in.

Mmmm....hungry..

2006-01-13T20:02:00.000-05:00

Being on a diet stinks!!!
But, seeing as I have 45 lbs to lose (to get back to what I was before my first baby) I am going to be on this diet for awhile.
To be healthy, one is only supposed to lose 1 - 2 lbs a week, so I may be on this thing for almost a year!?! Wish me luck (in a manner of speaking, I don't really believe in luck).

Oh...and just to say that I posted some good news on my blog, the guy who ran a red light, while talking on his cell phone, broke Denis' collar bone and totalled our car, finally admitted fault in the accident to our lawyer, so hopefully he will be paying for all the bills we footed ASAP.

10 days and counting

2006-01-09T14:37:00.000-05:00

My daughter, Emanuela Arcadia Bueno, is 10 days old today. She is still firmly convinced that the best time to sleep is 1000 to 1600, and the best time for playing is 0300 to 0900. As a result, despite attempts to reprogram her clock, I have not slept much in the past 10 days. When I do manage to catch an hour or so of sleep I have the weirdest dreams, and when I am awake everything is kind of fuzzy and moves slowly.

Denis is being wonderful. Even though Emma's crying at night keeps him up almost as much as it keeps me up he watches her whenever he is home so that I can sleep as often as possible. He is back to school this week, so that is even more of a sacrifice.

I would really love to whine more about how tired I am, but just the act of writing those whinings down made me ashamed, so I erased them. I should be more thankful, especially for such a healthy, beautiful daughter. I guess that Denis is right, having a blog may be good for me. Also, if I am going to whine and complain I will have to use my private diary and not the internet.

Oh no...what have I done?

2006-01-05T23:36:00.000-05:00

Well, I have a blog.

Add this to the ever increasing list of things I said I would never do, and have now done. That list has really grown quickly since I have had children. For example, I used to swear that my kids would never watch TV, but who can resist the hypnotic pull of Elmo. That little red puppet could rule the world.

I have read a few blogs and always shuddered at the thought of having anything like that. I mean, how many people really care what I am thinking about on a given day. And with that little counter at the bottom of the page I am forced to know just how few people find my musing interesting.

But...my husband assures me that I will find this whole blog experience worthwhile, so...here it goes.