I have several articles I need to get posted specifically for those who are learning the Principle Approach. One of the key ones is on How L.E.D. relates to PA. (Could be helpful, huh?)
But today’s post is on your initial study of PA (the Principle Approach) for those who are wanting to get started with PA resources.
===============================
Currently two of the main resources for getting started and understanding the PA are SDS and GACE:
SDS is Self-Directed Seminar written and available through FACE http://face.net – a short booklet that walks you through a (?9 lesson) PA study to learn about Biblical education and PA, using the foundational resources.
GACE is A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School: The Principle Approach by James Rose and is available at his website: http://www.achipa.com/ (click on publications) It is a big red book (like the foundational books) that has 4 major parts. The first 3 are learning about the PA: Part 1 – Rudiments of American Christian Education, Part 2 – Education for the American Christian home, Part 3 – The American Christian School at Home. Part 4 is applying PA to the curriculum – many chapters on specific subjects curriculum foundations.
GACE or SDS? I think it probably depends more on your personality/preference (what clicks with YOU) which you are going to get the most out of INITIALLY. The first 3 sections before the curriculum in ACE are learning the philosophy of PA, so that is what we are talking about in studying GACE (then section 4 gets into the curriculum stuff – for later, putting together your studies).
I haven’t sat down and put GACE and SDS side by side in what they actually teach – detailed content, to figure out if one is actually “better” than the other. I think GACE probably gives a better understanding of PA initially to a lot of people. But I like how SDS has you actually DO PA, so you not only learn about it, but you learn it. It seems to me that it is more on renewing the mind in educational thought to Biblical patterns than GACE is explicit about.
But for actually learning how to PA, I also love and highly recommend Rudiments (the Student Handbook from FACE). It walks you through the foundational study of PA, America’s Christian History and Government, by doing a PA study. IMO, it is a MUST for beginning teens and all moms. So you could do it that way, learn the philosophy through reading GACE, then applying/DOING PA through Rudiments. This was my way (before there was an SDS) – GACE and Rudiments.
But like I said there are many different options, especially now. And different people will probably assess what is “best” differently. Personally, I say, immerse yourself in as much of it as you can. The more you do the greater will be your understanding and internalizing.
Perhaps one “best” way, for those that have had trouble understanding SDS, is to read GACE first, then go back and do SDS. I’ll bet SDS will make more sense after reading GACE. Then of course you can proceed to Rudiments (or T&L’s study of CHOC). (T&L (Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History) and CHOC (The Christian History of Our Constitution) are the foundational big Red Books by FACE – that is the PA people at the Foundation for American Christian Education.
Enough alphabet soup for today.
For those wanting to get started with the SDS right away, there is a new SDS support yahoogroup starting next week to go through it.
For general discussion of teaching by Biblical Principles/PA in home education join the bibleprinciples yahoogroup.
