Yearly Archives: 2013

This article is part of a series for new home educators. In this, and several other articles, we cover What style of education is right for our family? And where do I get our curriculum?

Classical education is a return to the educational theories of Classical Greece and Rome. It’s methods utilize the Trivium or three tools of learning based upon stage of development. The Grammar stage focuses on the science of language usage, concrete thinking and memorization. The Dialectic stage on logic, proper analytical thinking and understanding. And the Rhetoric stage on the science of verbal and written expression, abstract thinking and debate. The Great Books of Western Civilization play a large role in this philosophy, as well as the classical languages of Latin and Greek. Christian Classical also develops a biblical worldview with a focus on theology study. This is a rigorous academic approach.

A few resources explaining the philosophies and methods of the Classical approach:

• Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style by Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn of Trivium Pursuit – understanding Classical Education from a Christian viewpoint. Bluedorn’s approach does not begin with rigorous academic schedule for young children.
• The Case for Classical Christian Education by Doug Wilson (I’ve not read this one.)

A few Classical education programs:

• Veritas Press – is “a full service curriculum provider with a classical specialization”. Veritas Press has written many of its own classical curriculum resources.
• Classical Conversations is a currently popular Christian Classical program with licensed communities, where you meet for classes.
• Classical Christian Homeschooling – a website with much info, a free online curriculum linked to catalog of resources recommended.

Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™ emphasizes “right reasoning” and the ability to communicate effectively, and also divides learning into 3 seasons of development (but not completely the same way classical educators do.)

This article is part of a series for new home educators. In this, and several other articles, we cover What style of education is right for our family? And where do I get our curriculum?

The Living Books approach has possibly become the largest new/old method and philosophy, or at least the fastest growing in our time. There is a lot of variation within this category, but the primary unifying factor is that the curriculum is not based on a textbook, nor a Unit integrating all subjects into a certain topic, but rather on reading great, real literature. Within this category are Ruth Beechick’s approach and the Charlotte Mason method, as well as others. The Great Books or Classical method has many similarities too, but enough differences that I will cover it separately.

This method, and Classical and Discipleship/ Christian Worldview, are probably the most picky in the actual resources they utilize. There are many similarities in these 3 styles, but some differences also. Although both the Living Books and Classical styles utilize only very well written, excellent books, not dumbed down insignificant “twaddle”, their choices are not always to present or teach an accurate Christian worldview. (Ruth Beechick’s approach does.)

The Living Books approach, like Unit Studies, can be parent directed or a written curriculum by others. It is  more literature based (as opposed to activity based) and generally is not as concerned with integrating the subjects as Unit Studies. It may or may not be more grade level oriented.

Charlotte Mason methods utilize an environment of excellence, in literature, music, art, languages, nature; and gentle, natural methods such as narration, copywork, dictation, and notebooking to instill a love for learning. It provides a liberal (broad) education. Miss Mason was a British educator who sought to improve education in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s. She saw  education as an Atmosphere (rich environment), a Discipline (character habits), and a Life (living thoughts and ideas) in a time when many were treating children as a bucket to fill with facts.

Dr. Beechick may not classify her approach as “Living Books”, but rather as a biblical, common sense approach. But because many of her recommendations are similar to Charlotte Mason, I’m putting it here. Her approach is first and foremost biblical though, that the Bible should be the foundation of education and that subjects should be taught in the context of Scripture. She also is a proponent of gentle, natural methods, such as those mentioned above.  Mrs. Beechick has over 60 years of educational experience as a teacher, college dean, and editor of curriculum. She has devoted the last 25+ years to promoting home education and supporting home educators.

These resources explain the philosophies and methods of the Living Books approach, as presented by Ruth Beechick and Charlotte Mason:

• A Biblical Home Education: Building Your Homeschool on the Foundation of God’s Word by Ruth Beechick
• For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home & School by Susan Schaeffer McCauley – Charlotte Mason style
• A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on The Gentle Art of Learning by Karen Andreola
• The Original Homeschooling Series (6 Volumes) by Charlotte Mason – Mason’s own works, of course, tell you exactly what her approach was, but many find them too long and detailed for most modern readers who have not had an excellent literary education themselves. If you desire to do a pure CM approach, I recommend that you read them, but to read a modern introduction, such as above, first.

A few popular Living Books programs are:

• Ambleside Online is a free online Charlotte Mason curriculum – many of the books used are available free online too.
• Simply Charlotte Mason family friendly curriculum and a website with a host of help and resources for both learning about the Charlotte Mason method and for lesson use with your children.
• The Three R’s (for up to third grade) and You Can Teach Your Child Successfully (for 4-8 grade) by Ruth Beechick – Dr. Beechick’s own helpful guides for getting started in providing a biblical, common sense education for your children.
• Heart of Dakota is a currently popular program based on Living Books.

Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™ utilizes Living Books, an environment of excellence and gentle, natural learning methods (narration, copywork, dictation, and notebooking, etc.) to instill delight and excellence in learning. We heartily agree with Mason’s description of education as an Atmosphere, Discipline and Life; but disagree with some smaller points of application. We also provide a strong biblical foundation and context for all learning, like Beechick, and line up with her in most (but not all) areas.

This article is part of a series for new home educators. In this, and several other articles, we cover What style of education is right for our family? And where do I get our curriculum?

Unit Studies are catching on even in institutional classrooms, as a more effective way to teach. Unit studies integrate several subjects in the study of a certain topic through real books and (usually) hands-on experiences. Studying the topic within contexts and relationships, with varied types of activities, with good literature, and to a deeper level, all contribute to a more memorable (and enjoyable) study. Unit Studies can be parent designed (meaning you make them up for your family) or a published program you purchase (probably written by another home school mom).

Because a Unit Study can be based on virtually any topic and can utilize various methods, there is a wide difference in published Unit Studies and their foundational philosophies. Most are multi-level, rather than individual grade-level based, meaning your whole family is learning together–everyone learning the same topic, each on their own level. This makes them much more family friendly than textbooks/ workbooks or delight directed learning. Mom is not forced to keep up with the many different subjects and topics of many different grade levels. Many of the full curriculum Unit Studies (as opposed to just individual units) are based on a rotation plan of generally about 4 years, and cover all topics in all subjects within that rotation.

Some drawbacks to Unit Studies are: some can be time and labor intensive for mom to plan or gather supplies, the integrating of the subjects can sometimes seem forced, sometimes the activities (and even whole unit studies) can have very little educational value and just be time wasters.

Published Unit Studies give recommended book lists of Real Books to read, to go along with the activities/assignments (along with any background information or other lesson) they suggest. Some list mainly books you can find at your public library and note that you can substitute any book your library has. Others list (and possibly include in their package) books that would be harder to find in your public library, but are more assuring of providing appropriate content than just choosing any library book on the topic. Some are full programs for all grade levels, all subjects for a full year, or even multiple volumes covering all years. Others can cover just one topic, or only include a few subjects, or only cover a couple of grade levels. The ones listed below are more inclusive.

Resources for helping you design your own Unit Studies:

• Unit Studies Made Easy by Valerie Bendt is a guide to creating your own literature based unit studies just for your family. Many of her educational ideas are based on Charlotte Mason’s and Ruth Beechick’s philosophies.
• Design-A-Study guides by Kathryn Stout help you design your own studies/ curriculum in most subjects. They don’t give specific information on creating Unit Studies, but can be helpful guides for those just starting out on their own.
• Annotated book lists, or Books of Books as I call them, can be a great help in designing your own Unit Studies. These are some of our favorite books for helping us choose literature for any type of Real Book education.

A few popular Unit Study programs:

• Tapestry of Grace is biblical worldview based, utilizing classic books of Western Civilization. It covers all grades through high school. Progresses chronologically through history. Science is not included, but history of science is intertwined. Writing program is integrated.
• Far Above Rubies and Blessed is the Man are gender specific unit studies for high school students, based on Scripture – girls, Proverbs 31:10-31, and boys, Psalm 1. All subjects are covered, but they are very life prepatory focused. Though written from a Conservative Christian viewpoint, the author does not make your decisions about these issues for you, she urges you to research and come to your own conclusions.
• KONOS is a  hands-on activities oriented Unit Study program, based on character traits, that covers all grades up to 8th, in 3 Volumes covering approx. 2.5 years each. 4 Volumes of KONOS History of the World is available for high school students to complete through independant study.
• Weaver is a more structured Unit Study program based on workpages and grade level oriented assignments. It has 5 Volumes for grade school, and 5 Supplement Volumes for high school. Although there are hands-on activities included, it is more seatwork oriented and “schoolish” than KONOS. Units teach chronologically through the Bible.

Aspects of Unit Studies that are used in Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™ are: focused topics of study (providing greater depth of understanding); family study (everyone learning the same topics together); integrated subjects (where applicable).