Category Archives: Getting Started w/ L.E.D.

Life is hopefully returning to “normal for our house” after our whirlwind last two months, and I can return to having time to think about and edit my thoughts. One thing I’ve given some thought to – in light of my recent Freedom & Simplicity™ seminar – is the difference between Simple and Easy. As Christians, many of us have faced that difference through the Gospel. Jesus told us that we come to Him simply, as children. He also said it is not easy, in fact He said its easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved. So there is a difference between easy and simple.

A lesson to be learned is that although some things aren’t easy, and in fact can be quite a challenge, that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth pursuing. It also means that challenging things don’t have to be complicated. This means anyone can do them, if they will just apply discipline, diligence, and other virtues. Skill and intelligence have their place, but the virtue of hard work – discipline, and faith that relies on God’s help are what really makes the difference in life.

OK, now to my educational application. Many come to a Biblical Principles type of education, especially a structured one like the Principle Approach, feeling intimidated but drawn – sometimes over and over again. I have run into so many people who say, “I’ve looked into that – several times. I’m scared to try it, but I keep coming back to checking it out. I believe that drawing is from God, as this approach draws people into His Word – to learn of Him and His Ways, and to renew their minds to think Biblically. That is quite a challenge that requires discipline. It won’t be gained by just going with the flow. It will require pressing on toward a high standard. But that is not a reason to stay away. It is our high calling in Christ, which He equips us for.

Although some programs can be complicated to implement, an education based on Discipling our children in Biblical Principles doesn’t need to be. It can be quite simple. Simple methods, simple structure, yet challenging us to press in, to come up higher. Requiring of us, Disicpline and Trust. Things we must apply ourselves. On the other hand, complicated methods and complex structures that require intellect and skill always holds a cop out for us home educators. If we aren’t skilled or intelligent, we just plain can’t do it. Not our fault. If we aren’t disciplined and trusting in God, it is our fault. These are things we need to all be working at and growing in.

We firmly believe that God intends education to be Simple – not complicated. We also believe, like all things of Excellence, it may be challenging – not easy. But for those willing to apply Disicpline and Faith, it will bring great rewards – for all.

Since I really can’t use the same name for 2 different aspects of Lifestyle Education through Discipleship, even though it is the best description for both, I call this aspect the 3 StAges of Learning – take your pick, Stages or Ages 🙂

If you were to ask my children what “grade” they were in, they’d probably give you a blank stare. They are not being disrespectful nor shy. But it isn’t a term we use in our home education. They know what it means, but it might take them a while to figure out how to give you the type of answer you are looking for. If you didn’t know it, “grade levels” are not Bible-based nor God-ordained. My children are where they are in learning, line-upon-line. My job as their parent – ordained by God to educate them – is to lead them to continue on this path, progressing to the best of their ability, until they are mature enough to continue on their own, in their lifelong journey of learning.

We have found it helpful, though, to plan our teaching around 3 Biblical Seasons of human growth: Childhood, Youth, and Adult. We term these the “Wonder StAge”, the “Why? StAge”, and the “Wisdom StAge”.

The Wonder StAge is the years of Childhood, up to about puberty. There is much change and growth during this StAge, but these years are all characterized by taking in the Wonder of all of Life around the child. Learning what is out there. This is the StAge of curiosity, of wanting to know and learn – as long as we don’t kill that curiousity with an over-regimented, lock-step, dull, and lifeless, “letter of the Law” type of education. As Christians, we don’t just expose our children to the World of God, but primarily to the Word of God. We set a foundation of knowing God, then knowing His Creation through Him and His Word. We don’t pour tidbits and facts into them, but soak them in God’s ways and His Word and explore all of Life through that. This StAge is best spent in leading our Children to Biblical Principles that they will be able to learn to apply to their lives, throughout their whole lives; and in providing them the foundational Principles of the 7 Pillars of Wisdom. The Principle Approach terms this as preparing the seed. We aren’t trying to “choke a horse” giving them more than they can swallow, but rather planting a seed within them, that has all the potential of a full and fruitful life within its tiny germ, and with nourishing will grow to fruition. During the Wonder StAge we teach our children informally as we give them a sense of the Big Picture of Life. We focus on their Development of Relationships – with God, us and others, as well as with God’s Creation, – through the Word, being “with them”, character and service training, reading and exploration.

The Why? StAge is the years of Youth, puberty through late teens – if they are properly led through this StAge. This is the StAge of questioning (and wanting straight, True answers), to make learning their own, if the love of learning has been nurtured through Childhood, and not been snuffed out. In this StAge they gain Understanding of the Principles. Those seeds planted in Childhood have germinated and are beginning to grow and will put down strong roots in the Why? StAge, if not uprooted by confusing, conflicting authorities choking them out. We lead them to build upon those Principles, to create a framework in their minds to hook all new learning on. They are able to think more abstractly now, so we can lead them to comprehend the underlying causes, and to see “behind the scenes”. Things begin to make sense to them. This is the StAge to lead them in Deepening Relationships, and gaining an Understanding of all of Life – Understanding God and their Faith in Him, Understanding their Relationships with others, Understanding their own lives and purpose, and Understanding the connection of Creation and HisStory – God’s plan for His Creation and how it all inter-relates. We also want to lead beyond just Understanding those relationships, to forging them, both with God and others. Sending down the strong roots needed for those relationships to grow and flourish. This is also the StAge of their Formal Lessons. These Study years are filled with Reading & Research, Recording the information, Ruminating – thinking about it, Relating & Reasoning – coming to Truthful conclusions, Responding to the material and Releasing those conclusions. What does all of that mean? Basically that they will do a lot of reading, discussing, and essay writing.

The Wisdom StAge is to begin as Youth are becoming Young Adults, and continue through Adulthood as they become able to apply their Understanding not only in situations they see and read about, but to their own lives as well, and beyond, to encouraging others in their lives. In this StAge we release them to their own journey of Lifelong Learning. Obviously, not all teens and twenties enter this StAge. Many adults have never entered the Wisdom StAge; some never progressed very far into the Why? StAge. But this is where God would like all of us. This is the StAge of fruition; the seeds have sent down strong roots, and have grown strong branches, reaching out the fruit they bear to others; as they become able to not only live wisely, but also give godly counsel. This is the StAge of maturity where they “rightly divide the Word of Truth”. They are able to take the Principles and make application through His Word and His ways to all the details and “facts” in life. In the Wisdom StAge they are Designing Relationships by leading others into the Truths they have learned. They are not only able to learn, but also to teach. This is the StAge of releasing their Life Message, going forward in their God given purpose, taking their place in His Plan.

As we enter each progressive StAge, we are not “graduating” from one and leaving it behind. We are adding to it. God doesn’t want us to ever lose our child-like Wonder. He never wants us to stop asking and learning Why? But He does want us to become mature and Wise. He wants us to walk in His Truths, as well as know and understand them. We are to continue to learn and grow in all three StAges throughout all of Life. Many did not take their own Youth StAge seriously, or weren’t given proper opportunity, or correct answers to the questions of Life and they still struggle with Why? They still, as adults, don’t know their own purpose in Life, nor understand God’s Plan – HisStory. But, we can all go back and take the necessary steps in our own education, that we may progress in Wisdom and Understanding, and even Knowledge. And as we learn, we can take our children’s hands and lead them in God’s paths through the StAges of Learning.

**This is an edited repost from Oct. 2002.

You’ll see me return to this topic again and again, as it is an underlying theme in most everything we teach. That is, Wisdom, Understanding, & Knowledge. Today I want to discuss it as applied as the 3 Seasons of Learning.

Many years ago we ran across the classical Greek philosophy in education called the Trivium, 3 levels of learning. We also saw repeatedly this paralleled in Christian education to the Biblical Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom. I began studying it out – praying, searching, researching. In fact, it was my first “4 R’s” study through the Principle Approach. Even as I was continuing this study,a through a very unsuspecting source the Lord laid a twist in my thinking – a paradigm shift. In a seminar that had nothing to do with education, – it was on renewing your foundation to develop a whole and complete Christian life, – the speaker spoke on Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge saying that satan always turns God’s way upside down, in this case to Knowledge, Understanding & Wisdom – again, this was not in specific referral to education. He went on to say that the world (following satan’s way) thinks Knowledge will lead to Understanding, will lead to Wisdom. And Scripture teaches this is not what happens, knowledge puffs up, and Wisdom is the principle thing. That God’s way is Wisdom, Understanding, & Knoweldge.

This pulled at my heart for a long time. What he said made good Biblical sense, but how could I apply it, and what about the Trivium as it is taught? Back to prayer, search and research. What did I know to be true from the Scripture? What did I see in education – actually doing it, not philosophical theories?

I could see, on one hand, as I had studied this aspect much, the point of the “Christian” Trivium of the progression of individuals in learning to first “Poll-Parrot”, then to grasp the meaning in theory, then to apply it. We grow through those stages, that they term Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom in that sense.** But as always, I’m looking for deeper meaning. Was there a God-directed, Hebrew application? I’d studied enough to know that the Hebrew and Greek mindsets were nearly opposites, and the Trivium was a classical Greek philosophy. I knew that, as in psychology, the way that seems reasonable to man, is not always the way of the Spirit. Reason is not the highest authority. Spirit always supercedes. Did God have a higher way of the Spirit?

Because on the other hand, I could not see teaching my children to rotely memorize a bunch of unrelated facts, then as they matured hopefully they’d begin to grasp them and see how they fit together, then someday, if they were different than most of our society, they’d begin to use this information. But they really wouldn’t have any foundation to know anything more than they were taught, just to understand and use it better. That’s the way we were taught, to memorize a bunch of stuff that didn’t make sense, to pass in school. Then maybe, when you were in your late 20’s, 30’s or 40’s it would begin to make sense – if you continued to study. And then, you might actually do something to apply it, in your 40’s, 50’s, or so, when society considered you “over the hill’ and “out of touch”, and didn’t care to listen to what you had to say. Yes, some pushed through and “made it”; they were “gifted” enough to pull it together. But, sadly, many just decided it wasn’t worth it. They “tried learning, it didn’t work, so why bother.” No, what if my kids got caught in this drudgery and didn’t make it through to the other side?

Surely God has a better way. God says, “Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get Wisdom …” If Wisdom is the most important thing, that’s where I’ll begin. So, what do I know – What is Truth – about Wisdom? Well, God says if I lack it, ask and He’ll give it; and that “God gives Wisdom …” OK, so I can’t get Wisdom, just by studying and progressing through certain levels of learning. It only comes from God. Because God also says that man’s “wisdom” is really utter foolishness. Next, how does God give it? Through the only way that man can recieve from God, by Revelation. God reveals Himself in two ways, in our hearts, which is capable of decieving us; and through His Word, which is infallable. So, the only fool-proof way to recieve Wisdom is through His Word, though He will also lead the heart that is connected to Him in ways that agree with His Word.

OK, I now know that Wisdom only comes from God, and He gives it primarily through His Word – now what exactly is it? It’s been defined as the ability to apply the right solution, knowing what to do, good counsel, knowing God’s way or will, applying God’s ways or Truth, or my all time favorite, seeing all of Life from God’s perspective. So Wisdom is being able to see the Big Picture, God’s view and purpose, and then carrying through and acting on it. Whoa, can that really be done? Hey, He’s the one that said, “If you lack, ask Me, and I’ll give it!” What great news!!!

Is this beginning to make sense to you, as it did me? Of course, as Christian home educators we all want to be “Bible-based”, but we aren’t talking anymore about following that old wine skin of rotely memorizing a few verses, or being able to retell the main stories. We are asking Him to reveal His viewpoint and purposes to us, as we study and meditate upon His Word. We are beginning internally, with the Sprit. Looking to see first, Heart to heart. Not beginning with the external, Law, the dry letter that appeals to our heads rather than our hearts. As we see His purposes we are actually unveiling Biblical Principles, that we can grow to understand, see in various aspects of His Creation, and apply to our own lives.

Now we’re getting somewhere. We have just poured new wine into new wineskins!! Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty, but the letter of the Law brings death!! To put this all in very simple terms, rather than beginning with dry, rote facts “Knowledge”, we begin with the Revelation of Biblical Principles – “Wisdom”. As we grow in Wisdom, He gives Understanding – we possess His Principles (even make them our own) and we begin to gain greater insight “Understanding” of them. Then, as we are able to see what His Principles are all about, we begin to see how they apply to everything around us – to all the “subjects” and “facts” of “school”. We gain Knowledge that isn’t rote memorization of dates, places, and rules that don’t make sense; but is rather an application, in God’s Providence, that we can learn from, of His Principles. And further!!, as we see how His Principles apply in His Creation and HisStory, we can relate those things to OUR lives, and make application there also. You see, we have completed the cycle of Seasons and returned to Wisdom – applying God’s Truth, in our own lives.

Now, let’s take a look at Proverbs 24:3-4: “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” Here’s the application: None of us begins to build a house with the wall hangings and furnishings – Knowledge. Building is begun by laying a foundation and constructing the framework – Wisdom, the Big Picture, Biblical Principles. Next, the rooms are framed in, siding, a roof and drywalled added. It’s function is established – Understanding, seeing how it works and fits together. Then we decorate the rooms, beautify and make useful – we see the beauty of God’s Principles in all of Life and Learning – as seen in Creation, HisStory, Governments, Economies, Communication, and Dominion Skills. And in turn, we apply them to those areas in our lives.

My search led me back to one of the first places I’d started, the Principle Approach, which is an educational approach based on teaching Biblical Principles. One of the educational approaches that we have adopted Biblical principles from in formulating our own Lifestyle Education through Discipleship. The first Bibllical principle recognized by the Principle Approach is that of “Individuality”. It’s one that we have truly applied in our family’s education. Note, this application was not arbritary Individualism; there is a difference. We began with universal Biblical Principles – God’s view, which we studied and prayed about, to gain greater Understanding of. Then we saw how they were applied in other places; while we sought God for how He wanted us to apply them in our own home. We strongly encourage you, also, to seek God for His application for YOUR family, as you seek and find His Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge in the 3 Seasons of Learning.

** Note: See a future post on our “3 StAges of Learning” – which are really Seasons too, but in a different context 🙂

P.S. I didn’t elaborate much on Understanding and Knowledge, as we all know what they are. Understanding is “getting it”, something making sense. Knowledge is learning the facts, as in “book learning” or “head knowledge”. Which to prove it does not lead to understanding or wisdom, is seen opposed to “common sense” meaning “just knowing”, or heart knowledge, the sliver of the image of God still seen in some men. 🙂

In this message I want to go back to the foundations of L.E.D., defining just what is meant by Lifestyle Education through Discipleship. Defining terms is the first step to really studying a topic, and brings foundational understanding to it. I hope to follow up with some more of the Foundational Principles of Lifestyle Education through Discipleship, taken from our 8 Principles of L.E.D. seminar session. L.E.D. is an education built upon Wisdom & the Word – that is, a Biblical Worldview & great Real Books/Literature. My desire is for you to see the purpose and intention for the Wisdom’s 7 Pillars resource lists that I have been sending, and are available through our website – to see how and why to include the Recommended Resources we suggest. They are not just random booklists, but rather books we’ve found to be a real blessing to our lives as they fit into the Big Picture of what our goals for L.E.D. are.

Education is made up of primarily 3 things: philosophy, methods, and content. Our philosophy is Lifestyle Education through Discipleship. Our method is Freedom & Simplicity. And our content is Wisdom & the Word – that is divided into 7 Pillars of Wisdom, 7 areas of study. We hope that in defining these things you will gain clear understanding of the excellence, yet simplicity of Lifestyle Education through Discipleship.
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Lifestyle Education through Discipleship is a decidedly Christian philosophy of education, centered on Jesus and the work of His Spirit in our lives. It was developed through prayer and scripture study – not educational PhD’s. We are far more interested in pleasing God with the education we provide for our children, than following a man-made system. We believe God has a unique Destiny for each person, and that following the plans and goals of the One that made us will lead to far greater success than following the State’s one-size-fits-all design.

First, you’ll notice the initials of L.E.D. spell led. At the core of this
philosophy is being led by the Holy Spirit. Every family is unique and God has various unique callings for each family. Every child within each family is also unique. Therefore there can be no “cookie cutter”, “canned”, “one-size-fits-all” curriculum that is right for your family. The only right curriculum is the one tailor made for your family’s uniqueness and direction, and even tweaked for each child’s uniqueness. Only God knows this fully, so we must depend on seeking Him and following His direction as He leads, knowing that He knows best what your family, and each child needs for right now and for in their future, not some curriculum committee somewhere that doesn’t even know your family and did not take them into consideration when writing their curriculum. Therefore, what we share with you are universal Principles that you can apply to your own unique family’s education, and examples of how those Principles are applied in our family.

In defining the terms of L.E.D., let’s look at Discipleship first. I think the apostle Paul defined it best. “You follow me as I follow Christ.” It follows the premise that more is caught than taught, and that actions speak louder than words. Our children will long remember what we did, not what we told them to do. They will become lifelong learners not because we tell them they should, but because they see us continuing to learn and grow. Discipleship, just as parenthood, calls us to be Leaders, and Leaders must be Learners, constantly learning and growing themselves. In order to lead you must be going somewhere, and know where you are going, or it will be as the blind leading the blind, and you’ll both fall in the ditch. As Christians, we don’t have to have to have the whole course charted out on our own. We only have to be followers of the Someone who does. If we continue to seek diligently after the Way, Jesus, and follow Him, we will stay on the right course and lead our children in that too.

Next we’ll look at Education. Education consists of 2 avenues, teaching and training. Training a child involves shaping his desires and habits. In the Proverbs we’re told to “Train up a child in the way he should go.” The Hebrew word for “train up” means to “touch the palate” causing the child to develop tastes for the things Mama is eating. To educate through training is truly Discipleship, as our children desire the things that excite us and are learning from the habits we have. This can be a very scary thing, as we all have habits that we don’t want our children to learn. We have places in our lives that we don’t want to lead them to. This requires much humility and transparency as a parent, not in telling our kids to “do as I say, not as I do”. But in allowing them to see us repenting, seeking God’s help to overcome, and gaining victory.

Many parents are so focused on finding a child’s individual bents, interests, and desires that they forget that God put them in their family, to learn to have the desires, interests and bents of their parents. He put them in their family to learn what their family could teach them. This isn’t to say that individuals within the family won’t have varying desires and interests, or that they shouldn’t be allowed to follow those interests. We’ve all seen the tragedy that comes when parents try to force their kids into becoming what they always wanted to be, to live out their dreams for them. We do need to encourage our children’s uniqueness and individuality, but also not be afraid to be ourselves and encourage our children to follow us, and pass on our desires to our children. There is much that God is doing in our lives that He wants our children to learn through following us. There is also much for our society to learn about Family Legacy.

True teaching involves promoting growth of the framework of the mind. Relating what is known to what is not known. The best teaching is not trying to force someone to memorize the facts (real or supposed) and spit them back out on a test. True teaching causes growth. It makes lightbulbs go on in the brain. It is when we take a person from something they know, and lead them through the relationships and connections into something they didn’t know before. We provide “hooks” to hang the new information on, that makes it relational and remember-able. Jesus, the Master Teacher and our example taught in this way, through stories, parables, and analogies. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like….”

Lifestyle is our last term. Lifestyle relates to the atmosphere of our learning environment. Deut. 6:4 puts it, “as you rise up, as you lie down, as you sit in your homes, as you walk along the wayside.” Education is something that happens at all hours, in all places; not something that happens between certain hours, on certain days, in a certain place. Every worthwhile aspect of Life is a Learning experience, – not contrived to be so, but in and of itself, – if it causes you to grow in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. This isn’t just living any old Lifestyle. If your Lifestyle is complacent “couch potato”, that is what you will Disciple your children in, know matter how much you tell them to study their textbooks. Living a Lifestyle that is enthusiastic about learning, and always looking for learning adventures and teachable moments, a Lifestyle that values Living Life will also be “catching” to our children, if we bring them along side of us in it.

Lifestyle Education through Discipleship takes place within a family setting based upon being together, bringing your children alongside you – as you rise up, as you lie down, as you sit in your homes, as you walk along the wayside. It’s most of all about building relationships, by spending time working, learning and growing together. God’s plan to place children within families is for this purpose, to build relationship and interdependence by working, learning, and growing together. Parents are designed to be the teachers of their children. No one else has been called to that purpose. All parents may not be thoroughly equipped to provide their child’s complete education. In fact, I would go as far as to say no parent (nor anyone else) is thoroughly equipped. But parents are called to do it, and therefore equipped to begin, and they will become more thoroughly equipped to complete it as they seek and wait on God, the Holy Spirit. This is exactly where He wants us; dependent upon Him, and growing ourselves. Along with our own growth, and our own dependency on God, Legacy, again, is another primary reason for parents as teachers.

The primary goals of LED are to bring the child to a dependent relationship on God and to a Biblical Worldview – to love Him, serve Him, and share Him with others. It focuses heavily on developing that relationship with God through prayer, worship, Scripture reading and meditation. As that relationship is developed, we move beyond just “loving Jesus” and come to know Him and His thoughts and ways. We develop the “mind of Christ” and we study His Word and its relation to our lives and the world around us. And we, and our children become the arms and legs, and love of Jesus to the world around us – including our family. Everything that we study is looked at through the lens of God’s Word. For “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.”

Therefore, we rely heavily upon the Bible for our curriculum content, but it isn’t the only book we study. Lifestyle Education through Discipleship is an education of Wisdom & the Word. Wisdom being a Biblical Worldview, looking at all of Life – everything we study – from God’s perspective. The Word expands from a foundation in His Word, the Holy Bible, to the great words written by others that we can learn from – excellent, living books – literature. These Real Books form the core of our 4 Real Resources – but now were getting into other topics for another day.

To put it quite simply, Lifestyle Education through Discipleship is discipling our children (leading them as we follow God) by teaching and training them (in a Biblical Life & World-view with the Bible and Real Resources) as we rise up, lay down, sit, walk along the way (all the time, every where).

This is Part 3, the last, of this series.

PART 3 – Freedom & Simplicity Framework

OK, let’s get to where the rubber meets that road. How does this theory apply? What would a study be composed of? Here’s a few ideas for incorporating the Pillars into a Freedom & Simplicity framework of Wisdom, Understanding, & Knowledge.

Let’s start with a Focus of The Fear of the Lord. I think this is a great Foundational Focus (and a good place to start your year), because through it you can lay the foundation for all the Pillars. There are MANY Scriptures to choose from for both your Foundational Scripture, and the direction of your Supporting Scriptures, giving you many possibilities for your Supporting Principles. How we integrate the Pillars will be determined by which of the Scriptures and Principles we’ve chosen. Let’s take a look at some possible directions.

How can we integrate Government? What does government based on the fear of God look like? We could cover Character traits of godly self-government. We could study what godly government of the home is. How about how a church should be run? A “nation under God”?

In HisStory we can look on the chain of HisStory at the lives of people who feared God – or people who didn’t. How about Nebechadnezzer, and the results of him not fearing God, then the change in his life? Or the Pilgrims? Or our Nation – our Constitution based on a people that feared God, and now lived under by people who don’t.

Creation. How does Creation illustrate the fear of the Lord? “Even the wind and waves obey Him.” You could take this anywhere! Or, “Go to the ant you sluggard.” Or perhaps THE original creation itself. Light be! Land be! Birds be!

In Economies we could look at the blessing of the Tithe. We could look at environmental care – stewardship based on godly fear, or corrupted to nature worship.

In Dominion? (taking it back to personal application) “Whatever things you do, do them heartily as unto the Lord.” Work ethic is a good place to start. Or what types of skills do you value? Or the content of those skills – what do you play, how do you draw if you fear the Lord? Are you taking Dominion to build your own kingdom or His?

I hope this has given you some fuel to get your fire started, and that you’re beginning to see how a Lifestyle Education through Discipleship can be built on Universal Principles and Freedom & Simplicity methods that instill Excellence, has a curriculum built upon Wisdom & the Word – through the 7 Pillars of Wisdom, yet is uniquely designed for just your family.

This is Part 2 in a series.

PART 2- of the Freedom & Simplicity framework:
Are you thinking, Its easier to just give them books to read. Lisa, you recommend good ones on your website; so why should I go to the work of making this framework?

Without a framework of Principles, the content just stands alone as factual trivia; they have not learned the most important thing Wisdom. The purpose of the framework is to disciple our children in Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge – teaching our children to reason and apply, not just to know facts, but also know God’s thoughts in all matters pertaining to life, not just spiritual matters. To train them to look for application to their own lives, to the world around them, and to God’s Kingdom – from everything they learn. To show them that there is a purpose to every study; that it’s not just a waste of time, or doesn’t matter if they remember it or not. To teach them to look for these principles in everything they do and come across – not just in their lessons. To develop a Biblical Worldview that is consistent in everything they do.

So our goal is to create a framework that will do that, that is consistent with our philosophy, and methodology; but is not burdensome. A framework that has an easy to follow pattern; that will produce the results we want without resulting in striving and weariness of the flesh.

Many may read the same books, but God does not want the same education for each. Many may believe the same philosophy, and follow the same methodology, but God has different life purpose for each. He desires a unique education for each family, and even within that, because of differing personalities and interests and giftings, each will receive that education slightly differently.

We can share with you a Biblical philosophy of education. We can give you Discipleship and Excellence methodologies. We can recommend excellent resources for a Biblical Worldview. We can even present a Framework pattern to fit it all in. But we cannot write your curriculum for you. We cannot plan your lessons for you. Only God can do that. And He will, through the unique circumstances He has you in. But you must be connected to Him and His Word and committed to discipling your children in the way they should go, as they rise up and lie down, as they sit in your home and walk along the way.

In Part 1 I gave you the structure of planning the framework. In this part I’ll expand on pulling it together, and in Part 3 I’ll give you some ideas and examples.
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Perhaps youre saying, OK, I can find Bible passages about my topic (if there are any). And I can use a Dictionary to define my topic further and see that there really IS something related to my topic in the Bible. And SOMEHOW maybe I can pray and meditate on these Scriptures and come up with underlying Biblical Principles related, or at least find something in Haycock’s Encyclopedia. But how will I EVER know what examples to use from the Pillars. I’m not very creative!

Don’t stress out! Remember this is the Freedom & Simplicity way! You do not have to have all knowledge of all subjects and a super creative mind. Remember this is about taking on HIS yoke, not wearying our flesh.
Pray. Know Him and His Word. This is the primary thing, and will take you very far.
Become familiar with the Pillars and their composition.
Become familiar with your Resources.
Utilize, especially at first, whatever tools you need to help you become familiar with knowledge that can serve as examples: Haycock’s “Encyclopedia of Bible Truths” can be a great help here, Scope & Sequences, even Curriculum Guides, if you have some good ones.
Allow the Holy Spirit to lead. Don’t feel like you HAVE to find a tie-in, the perfect example, beforehand. God will lead and direct. Choose a resource and as you are reading it together, look for examples of the Principle – or the antithesis of it. Don’t feel you have to tie EVERY Pillar into each Principle. This is what has burnt out so many moms in writing unit studies – and what has created some far stretches in connections. You can cover every important thing, even if you have to create its own Focus to do it. Utilize natural connections, but don’t push for unnatural ones. Using underlying Biblical Principles really helps in integrating studies across the Pillars. All you are doing is looking for God’s hand and plan in everything you study. His Word and His Spirit will guide you.

Each Focus will probably be studied 2-3 times within the child’s education. You have time to add to it, to expand it. Even when you aren’t studying that Focus/Principle, you will undoubtedly come across things that fit into it. Start a folder or Notebook and continually add to it, and you will have more depth to the topic when you restudy it, when your children are older (and need more depth). When you come across things you know you want (them) to study, even if you don’t know what Focus or Principle you will teach it through, put it in a folder of its appropriate Pillar. This is your study. Leaders are Learners, and Leaders are Readers. For you to lead/ disciple your children you must be a learner and a reader, otherwise your children will not become learners or leaders.
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Lets take a look at the structure of the Pillars. This will help you see what fits in where. When looking for material to be covered, think, Where does that fit into the Pillars? Again, don’t stress about it. It may fit more than one place. Just pick a logical place and plug it in – in more than one place if need be. Remember, it isn’t God that tries to force life into neat little fragmented, unrelated boxes. Thats the education of the humanists.

GOVERNMENT
God is the Sovereign Ruler of all. There is also God-ordained Government under God’s rule. We are first to have internal rule over ourself, then external, home/family, church, and civil governments. There is also the corruption of these – every man doing what is right in his own eyes (anarchy), tyrannical/dictatorial home or church rule, or complete State rule.

HisSTORY
HisStory is truly His Story. The Story of the earth and its inhabitants is Providential. You can see God’s hand and His Plan throughout it. Because it is linear we can follow Key Links on this chain of HisStory. You can utilize the Principle Approach’s Chain of Christianity (as it moves westward) Creation, Moses & the Law, Jesus, Paul & the Early Church, the Bible in English, Columbus, the Pilgrims, the Patriots, the Pioneers, & Me or you can adapt it or design your own. We look at these links through the P.I.P.E. of 4 Key Aspects: People (Individuals & Institutions), Ideas (Primary Documents, Literature, Art & Music), Places (Geography), and Events.

CREATION
God’s Creation is orderly. It also is given to teach us – of Him and of ourselves. The 6 Days of Creation cover all areas of Science and Mathematics. You can divide them into their Days – Time, Space & Matter; Energy; Sky; Water, Land & Plants; Outer Space; Birds & Aquatic Animals; Land Animals & Man – or into: Life: human, animal, plant; Earth: surface, sky, space; Physical: physics, chemistry, technology; and Mathematics.

ECONOMIES
In Economies, we look at Stewardship, the governing and exchange of the things He has entrusted to us. This covers: stewardship, personal finances, business economics, and world economics.

DOMINION
Dominion covers the skills needed to possess the land. This includes any husbandry and life skills physical exercise, home and land skills, artesan skills, vocational skills, etc.

The Dominion Pillar is where our cycle of Wisdom, Understanding & Knowledge circles back to Wisdom – the application of God’s Principles in our own lives.

In Part 3 we will take a look at some ideas and examples to turn the theory of this framework into an application.

2004

Thursday, March 18

In the midst of the series I’m doing on the 7 Pillars of Wisdom, today I’m interjecting this post on the principal purpose of Lifestyle Education through

Discipleship.

The guiding principal behind L.E.D. is not just to have a relaxed,

natural-methods, lifestyle-based home education. It is not even just

to have family-centered education. It’s not even just to raise kids

who “love Jesus” and to shelter them from “the world”. These are all

good parts of L.E.D., but none of them is the “principal thing;”

although knowing, loving, and serving the Jesus of the Bible is

definitely the reason for our educational goal.

Proverbs 4:7 tells us “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get

wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” (See also verses

4-9.) L.E.D. has one main underlying goal, that is for our children to

“get wisdom”. We’ve talked before about how the “Fear of the Lord is

the beginning of Wisdom.” Therefore, any instruction your child

receives that is not based on the Fear of the Lord, is not wisdom;

which throws out the entire government/public school system. No matter

how many Christian teachers and coaches are there trying to bring a

little light into a very dark place for the lost and dying that are

there, government education is designed with a main underlying goal

also, to indoctrinate children into their way of thinking and beliefs

about life. These ways are blatantly at odds with the ways of the

Bible, making this no place for a Christian child to receive his

instruction; his view of life and way of thinking. But expounding on

this issue isn’t the purpose of this article. The purpose of ALL

education is to impart a way of thinking and view of life. By defining

OUR goal, hopefully you will see how the goals of these 2 systems –

government/public ed and L.E.D. – are worlds apart.

Let’s begin with a working definition of Wisdom. Wisdom is seeing life

as God sees it; viewing the world, all of life, through the lens of

God’s Word. That is called having a Biblical Worldview. You can see

why this begins with the “fear of the Lord”. The beginning of Wisdom

is knowing who God really is, (which instills an honor and reverence of

Him,) and believing the Bible is His Word, and having a desire to

follow His ways. The Bible, God, through His Word, speaks to all areas

of our lives; and wisdom for living all of life is based on renewing

our minds to His Word, developing a Biblical Worldview. In fact Joshua

1:8 puts it, that by having His Word always in our mouths, and

meditating on it day and night, to do all that is in it, is the way to

prosperity and good success.

We, as Christians, are in the world (we live on this earth, amongst

those that are of “this world” only), yet we are not to be “of the

world”. We are set apart to live differently than those of this world;

to live a lifestyle rooted in the way of God’s Word, not following the

ungodly lifestyle, ways & beliefs of this world. Romans 12:1 tells us

that we are not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by

the renewing of the mind. That is, God’s Word changing not only WHAT

we think, but also HOW we think – transforming our minds, totally

changing them from the way the world thinks. Having a Biblical

Worldview doesn’t just mean we don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t cuss,

don’t sleep around, and we do go to church on Sunday instead of

sleeping in, and if we’re really on the ball, we say a prayer and read

a verse every day. It means our way of thinking and viewing all of

life is governed by God’s Word, rather than by the world around us.

The title of Israel Wayne’s book, Homeschooling from a Biblical

Worldview, really sums up our goal. Just by BEING Christians, you

will not impart a Biblical Worldview to your children. Perhaps your

own mind is not renewed, and you don’t even have much of a Biblical

Worldview yourself, to impart to them. Everything that is around us in

“the world” counters a Biblical Worldview. That is why we must

purposely “not be conformed” to it, why we must purposely renew our

minds by the Word of God. If your own mind has not been transformed,

from the non-Christian education you received and just from living “in

the world”, this goal of “Homeschooling from a Biblical Worldview” may

seem impossible to you. But what God has called you to do, He will

equip you do to. You may have to learn right alongside your children,

leading them, being only one step ahead.

Having your children be at home with you, rather than “out in the

world”, will not give them a Biblical Worldview. It will not give them

the foundation they need to stand strong in their Christianity in an

ever-growing anti-Christian society. (I hope this strong Christianity,

this Wisdom, is what you want for your children.) Resorting to

educating with whatever free or cheap resources you can find that cover

the topic, using a hodge-podge of resources with no thought to the

worldview they’re written from, will only give your child an

inconsistent Worldview; a shaky, unstable foundation at best (no

foundation, or a faulty non-Christian one at worst); especially if you

don’t have a solid Biblical Worldview yourself to recognize and counter

those views presented in those resources.

Purposely educating your children from a Biblical Worldview will give

them the foundation, to not only stand as Christians, but to make

inroads in changing this world; to affect the lives of those around

them – however large or small God makes that scope – for the Kingdom of

God. This is why L.E.D. exists for YOU, and not just as a philosophy

for educating our own family. Our desire, through L.E.D. (and all of

Me and My House ministries), is to help disciple you to lead (disciple)

your family into a Biblical Worldview, through home educating by

Lifestyle methods; even as we ourselves are growing in grace and the

knowledge of our Lord and Savior and His Word.

Some people (maybe you) may still be saying, “Lisa, I still don’t get it. Just exactly what do you do, and how do you do it? Tell me simply , what does L.E.D. consist of.” You’ll find this information spelled out in our L.E.D. Seminar, R Road “how to” guide and other books, but we’ve reduced it to its simplest form here.

In the Beginning …
The concepts and methods of Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™ may be so totally foreign to you that you look at the philosophy here and say, “I don’t have a clue how to start, where do I begin?” If that’s you–you agree with what we’re saying, but need to see it spelled out simply, this page is for you.

Sola Scriptura — Everything we do is based on Scripture alone. That doesn’t mean the Bible is the only book we use in our home. It does mean that the “earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” We do not study anything without looking at it from God’s point of view and looking for His hand in it.

Journaling — We record what God is doing in our lives. This isn’t just a diary or log, but anything He’s laying on our hearts and minds–what we are thinking about and what we are learning.

Phillipians 4:8 Life-changing Literature — Family read-aloud time is the foundation of our learning. In addition to the Bible, we read real interesting stories of faith and virtue–biographies, historical narratives, even historical and virtuous fiction, to learn of God, His World, His Plan and Ways in this world and in our lives.

Copywork and Dictation — We Copy the great writing of those that have gone before us–to learn both content and how to write.

Narration — We re-tell the stories we read–to learn to be good speakers and writers.

Notebooks — We compile our loves and our learning to create records and presentations of our Life Message.

It really is that Simple, and really brings much Freedom.

** This comes from the L.E.D. Freedom and Simplicity™ Seminar – a 7 session seminar presenting not only the Philosophy, Principles, and Practical Application of L.E.D., but also Times of Refreshing, Relection, and Renewing the Mind. Hands-on Discipleship yoU! exercises will help you integrate L.E.D. into your own life. Sessions include:
“Times of Refreshing”
“All your children Shall be Taught By the Lord” – Introduction to L.E.D.
“The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom” – 8 Principles of L.E.D.
“I Show You a More Excellent Way” – 7 Pillars of Excellence
“Wisdom Has Built Her House” – 7 Pillars of Learning
“When You Rise Up and When You Lie Down” – An L.E.D. Day in the Life of Me and My House
“In the Beginning …” – Getting Started with L.E.D.

[Note: Seminar sessions have been revamped. Same information, just rearranged and sessions renamed.]

Would you like to arrange a seminar for your group?