Our Home: A home striving to live by God\’s principles.

You are probably wondering why another entry on observation. This seems to be a subject the Lord has me ruminating on quite a bit this year. I borrowed a book through inter-library loan at the suggestion of another educator. It, too, is a book on observation, but this one challenges you to focus even closer. Though I’ve only gotten the first 1/5^th read, I’m finding valuable quotes that speak to me. Here are a few, “The world is full of magic things waiting patiently for our senses to grow sharper”-John Keats; “Genius…is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one.” –Ezra Pound; “Scientist themselves believe, at heart-that behind the diversity lies a unity.”-Horace Freeland Judson; “Individuality is the true beginning and end of all art.”-Goethe; “…begin now to study the little things in your own door yard, going from the known to the nearest related unknown…”-George Washington Carver. Do you notice the familiar Principle Approach vocabulary?: individuality, diversity, and unity. I don’t know if any of these people are professed Christians, but one thing that does not change are the universal laws of God with which they write about.

So what is the name of this book that hopefully I have intrigued you with? “Private Eye”, by Kerry Reuf. The name says it all. As I mentioned earlier, this book challenges you to narrow your focus. This is encouraged by using a jeweler’s loupe, first one, and then two put together, allowing you to hone in even more. Having a paper and pencil close by to draw or write observations is a must. During this process it is good to continually ask yourself questions that encourage analogy: “What else does it remind me of?, What else does it look like?, What else? and What else?.” Questions like these “sustain wonder and inquiry”. Then ask: “Why is it like that?, What’s going on here? If it reminds me of….I wonder if it might function or work like that….” The author continues, “close observation-mixed with wonder- is essential for the development of artist, scientist, writer, as well as mathematician, humorist, inventor, and more.”, but I add to this always remembering that God is the author.

I believe it is Providence that has put this book in my reading schedule. I continually go over scriptures of observation in my head, “O taste and see that the LORD is good:[1], “because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.”[2], and there are many more through out the Word. If I would narrow my observations more in all areas of life, would it just put me in awe of who the Lord is? When I read His Word, do I ask why and what else questions? God is good whether one chooses to believe it or not, but it is not until we taste and see, that then we are able to internalize that goodness. Our joy in the Lord, obtained through our wonder and inquiry, lived out in life, is the best teacher. I want my children to develop a close relationship with the Lord, as they should see in me. We are a superficial society. Even our educational efforts can be like that as we lack patience for our children to develop a relationship and ask why and what else, with what they are learning.

Without realizing it, my informal study on observation is going through the 4 R process, as I am developing a relationship with it. I am continually Researching (Bible & informal reading), Reasoning (allowing time for it to ruminate), Relating (making connections) and Recording (I take notes, write significant quotes, and blog entries, record on my heart), hopefully for the purpose to draw me closer to God.

I look forward to sharing more, as I continue on this journey of observation.

[1] Psalm 34:8

[2] Genesis 16:11

It had been 6 months since I had last seen the aisles of a Good Will store. Because of a recent accident I had, it required the emergency room nurse to cut the arm off my beloved black turtleneck. I happened to be driving past the store and committed myself to stop on the way home and look for a shirt to replace my ruined one. Two steps into the store I realized I was being pulled in the direction of the used books. In the past 15 years, I don’t know if I’ve ever passed up the opportunity to glance at the books on a used bookshelf. It’s not that often I find something that excites me, but there to my amazement, a writing book written by Lucy Calkins. From the suggestion of Bravewriter, Julie Bogart, I borrowed “The Art of Writing” from our local library. I gleaned so much from Lucy’s book, so I can’t tell you how excited I was to find this treasure, “Living Between the Lines” for only 99 cents.

Writing has long been a thorn in my side. I took a writing course back in my early 20’s and ended up quitting. Having home educated 4 children, I never felt adequate teaching children to write. Since joining Bravewriter, Julie has encouraged me to start writing a blog and also helped me do something with my children’s writing even if it was only freewriting once a week. Lucy’s book has come at the right time, a time that I needed to advance a step, but not quite sure how or what. I look at this next progression as a building block added to what we have already been doing. Though I knew these things, and they seem quite simple, Lucy has given me the courage to believe in what I know to be right.

Allowing our children and ourselves to live life in whatever season we are in is so important. James Howe writes, “My greatest worry for children today is that they are losing their capacity to play, to create a city out of blocks, to find a world in a backyard, to dream an adventure on a rainy afternoon. My greatest fear for children today is they are losing the capacity to play”. This quote started to resonate within me. We live in such a technological world, TV, Xbox, computer, etc…many things that want to draw our attention away from things that can bring purpose to our lives. I won’t say that these technological “toys” are bad, but if they are used to the extreme, will they squelch the creative individuality in each of us? Are my children living life to its fullest? Am I living life to its fullest? Now that my youngest is going to be 12 this year it is easy for me to see this. I’ve passed up some of my children’s lives and my own.

I’ve spent the years trying to find the right curriculum, the right tools to learn. Do my children look at me as being a slave driver, that all I care about is getting the house cleaned and getting our “school work” done? I see now those are all externals. Do my children trust me to tell me what their life is about? Do I listen to what they have to say without always having to instruct? These are ideas that build on the internal. Trusting and knowing you’re being loved is the setting that is needed to make learning happen. My children should be sharing their observations of life, which gives opportunities to communicate. What life am I living that I find important to communicate to my children. “Joy is the best teacher”, says Julie Bogart. It seems I stopped living life to educate, when education is life.

Literature is an important way to pass on one’s stories. Fill your children’s lives with these instead of the dry textbooks. My boys are reading books written by people who love to share their observations of nature. We read wonderful classics that bring an imagination out in a child to hopefully stir something inside them that they can relate, which in turn provides ideas that can be written in a journal and there starts the cycle again.

Is writing really my thorn, or is it the lack of patience thereof, the patience to wait upon the Lord to work His ideas in my children and in me? I think it quite providential that I found this treasure of Lucy Calkins, though I am still without a black turtleneck. It is through people like her that I am encouraged to live my life to it’s fullest.

Well, we’re up and at it again. I must admit I entered it with a little fear and trepidation. Since I have 2 older children who are graduated, I am on my 2nd round of history. I spent the last 3-4 yrs in American history and for the 2nd time I am doing an Ancient History study. (The first I used Beautiful Feet.) Tuesday was our first day and so far so good. We are beginning our study with Genesis and tho I am following Ruth Beechick’s book “Genesis: Finding Our Roots” per Ambleside Online schedule, I am tweaking it to fit our family. I hope to review the 7 history principles in our reading of Genesis the next few weeks.

I purchased the old series “A Picturesque Tale of Progress” which will take us from our starting pt. of Egypt up to 800AD. Talk about fast! I don’t have a great interest in learning all the pharaohs of Egypt and dictators of Rome or a deep study of Grecian gods, but it gives us a good overview in light of our biblical principles. Before Christmas we discussed the Christian idea of man and government and will be using that as our guide to see the Pagan idea of man and gov’t. We are also reading Orwell’s “Animal Farm” for literature which ties in well with government thinking. (I hope we get to read this again in a few years, as it is an allegory of the Russian revolution of the early1900s.)

For a read aloud I am reading “Wind in the Willows”. It is a book which uses the literature style of imagery. I took a few minutes before one of our readings to share what imagery is and gave them an example. Now we can be on the look out for it as we read. I plant the seed, but I don’t have to overwater.

I have had a difficult time keeping my boys from gobbling their books. Per Charlotte Mason, I want us to take our time to build relations. Our learning this week has made for wonderful discussion!! I am so glad about the peace I have using biblical principles. It goes back to “my” education. The things I have learned in the past, I now feel comfortable implementing in discussion. I recognize that my learning is not done and feel the Lord pricking my heart to pick up where I left off on my rudiments course. I’m glad I took the time off, as it gave me an opportunity to relate what I learned. When we gobble a meal we lose the enjoyment of what we eat and we probably lose nutrition because of poor digestion. Our learning is the same. If we gobble books we lose out on all the nuggets that people have written from their heart. It has taken me many years to understand that.

T is intersted in so many hands on things. Trees, plants, fruit trees, … I found a series of books at the library that breaks down the principles of these subjects. We will start looking into some hands on projects that will help fulfill his science. Since we are starting in Genesis, maybe I’ll have my son copy the verse for when plants were formed and have him start building a biblical principle study/notebook. I want to be gentle, as I don’t want to discourage him from his interests by making it ‘work’.

To review:

What is working in our home? Living books.

How do I use living books? I found others that have better organizational skills that showed me how to take a book and schedule. We read and discuss.

How do I implement biblical principles? We search the scriptures and make charts for our notebook which builds the foundation for our future discussions.

Allow time to build own interests and allow for studies to come out of those interests.

My son just woke up and said “They should make a movie on “Animal Farm”. Hmmm. I think we are quietly building relations here. Before Christmas we read “The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe”, then watched the movie. That was a precious moment for a mother to hear ALL her children (22-11) discussing the movie and the favorite parts and why. Oh, it is wonderful to see the fruits of our labor! God is so good.

It’s that time of year now when I can look back and analyze our first four months of “school”. I ask myself the question “What worked and what do I need to fine tune?” I feel good about the route we are taking this year. We are using living books to learn from and it seems to be working well. T my 14ds will be starting vision therapy in January, so I’m looking to stream line many things.

Because of the difficulties T has with his left eye, it has affected his reading skills, so for me to make his studies more profitable, I have had to lean more towards interest. I found this quote on another blog and I think it reflects the direction I am going this year. “Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he’s not interested it’s like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating.” – Anonymous.

For science I am letting my children pick a topic of choice. T enjoys the topic of trees and I really struggled to make this a “notebook” study. He already knows how to identify trees and he didn’t seem too interested in making an ID book. In the fall we collected pine cones and come spring he plans on planting the seeds. He has transplanted acorn and maple shoots, planted garden seeds, but we have never done pine tree seeds. I found a series of books at the library that breaks down the rudiments of plants and trees. After reading Ambleside Online this summer and how they break down books, it encouraged me to take my choice of books and organize the reading. I must have one of the left brain/right brain issues, because I used to struggle with what to do with a book. It does require patience to plant seeds and watch a tree grow, so this will be an on going study of planting and transplanting. My 11ds devours books, so he is content using the Master books I already have on my shelf.

We study history chronologically and we just finished studying this past century. Tho my older 2 read books of this time period, we never did “study” it. Come January, we will pick up our studies in Ancients. It has been so many years it is alittle intimidating. I spent the past couple weeks going over the rudiments of the Christian Idea of man and government. As we start our reading I hope we can start making some comparisons to our rudiments chart and recognize the pagan ideas. The hard part for me as a mother is to keep up with the reading.

Some other things: I am always looking for ways to make our Bible study come alive, so that is an area I will be looking to refine in the new year. I have been implementing current events in our days. I have been using World magazine for this and it brings about good discussion for principles. We also sing hymns and it makes a great opportunity to not only praise God at home, but a chance for us to praise Him at church. We are involved in a speech class, but I see singing at church a wonderful way to develop communicating skills. This is something I am going to be pondering upon this coming year, as to make “speech” life application vs. “class”. I thank God for the opportunities He gives us.

There are two things that I have been doing this year which I think it has made a big difference for me and it too falls under communicating skills and that is narration and freewriting. I am not a person with a one track mind. I have difficulty paying “attention”. While teaching the habit of attention to my boys as they read, I am challenged myself to listen/pay attention as they share with me what it is they are learning that interests them so much. I also have them write something once a week that is of their choosing. I can help them choose a topic, but they don’t seem to have a problem finding something of interest. The boys took a 6 week writing course in the fall, and tho we haven’t done any finished writing projects since the class, they no longer have a fear of paper. Come January, our new discipline will be a monthly project of revising a selected piece.

Tho refining is an ongoing process, I think this past year has brought much peace to my life. I have a much better idea of what Principle Approach is and have found a more gentle approach in application that works in our family. For this I am thankful.

When people start reading about PA, they learn about the 4Rs. I don’t think the 4Rs were meant to be as legalistic as I’ve made them out to be. I thought in order to come to a conclusion I needed to literally 4R a subject. So, I would sit down and get out my 1828, concordance, and Bible. With pen in hand, I’d start writing (that was 10yrs ago, now I cut & paste) definitions and more definitions, underlining, & searching the scriptures so I can come to some conclusion to what God says about the topic. This is a valid activity, but there is more to research than books. What is the first thing we should do when we read our 1828 or Bible? Observe!

When I realized that research was observation, I started looking at other means to observe beside books. Word study is not an activity for young children to be doing (unless they are learning how to read), but observation as a whole is. I realized my children are partaking in PA when they are observing. It is a quite natural activity that we take for granted. I do believe the art of observation should be encouraged and fine tuned. Let me give a couple of examples:

Katherine Dang in her Cds mentions children learning to reason from the scriptures at a young age. “Thy Word is true from the beginning”. What do you observe? Let them draw their own ideas according to their observations. In order to declare they must observe. I am a work in progress in teaching my children this. When you do literature studies, you are training them to observe character, etc…

Here is an example that came quite by accident. I started having my sons reading natural history books. Books where the author writes about the creation around him. My 11ds just finished “Secret of the Woods” by Long. Long spends one or two chapters writing about his interactions with one animal. It is a downloaded book. This has encouraged my ds to start observing the world around him. He has been setting wild cherries out for chipmunks to eat. He watches their behaviors, such as how they wash themselves. He then runs to me and tells me. It is thro’ this discussion that I can lead him to discoveries of individuality, self government etc…This, too, is a work in progress for me.
I hope others are encouraged to look beyond books to observe, oops, I mean research. 4R’ing does NOT have to be a legalistic four step process. It is quite natural.

I have had the opportunity to discuss with my children the idea of private property and James Madison’s quote, “Conscience is the most sacred of all property”. It wasn’t till yesterday that I saw this principle REALLY mean something to my 14ds T.

T has a partnership with his brothers owning an Xbox. (Not my idea!) Since this purchase, he has purchased a game with his own money. This is not the first time he has bought something with his own money, but for some reason, yesterday it clicked. T was telling me how much he enjoyed owning something and what was so important about owning something. I must say, I had a hard time keeping quiet. I so badly wanted to jump in and throw a bucket of spiritual lessons on him, but I didn’t. I sat back and let him enjoy the moment of his new found idea of ownership.

I am learning in this process to let the Holy Spirit work and to remember the “science of relations” CM talks about. Line upon line, precept upon precept. You can be sure at some point in our Bible study we will look at Bible verses that encourage ownership.