Or – What does PA have to do with L.E.D.?
As I’ve shared in the first three parts of this series – below or here -> Our Journey TO Home Ed, and Our Journey THROUGH Home Ed, Our Journey through Alphabet Soup – Part 1 CM we have gleaned from other approaches to home education in developing L.E.D. One philosophy that is close to our own in many ways is the Principle Approach to American Christian Education, developed by Rosalie Slater, based on the research by Verna Hall, and taught now by many that Ms. Slater taught, and those that they taught.
My initial response to PA was probably the same as most people’s – somewhat like, “Wow, this sounds great. Whoa, it looks complicated.” I don’t think I really knew what to do with the Red Books at first, and there weren’t really many other resources except the various PA trained teachers we heard. Several times we heard a great speaker, or bought a great book that we didn’t realize was PA influenced until we got into it. It seemed it was coming up all around us. And gradually resources were springing up too.
Since I’d already developed a pretty strong Biblical worldview, and had read and listened to much on our Christian heritage, our philosophy was already pretty much in line with PA. There were still questions about the methodology. Part of it just didn’t seem to convert into practical application very easily – in my mind anyhow, and part of it seemed too rigid and structured for young children.
We began applying aspects of PA about 15 years ago with our older (teen) children, and applying the philosophy but not much of the methods with our younger children, and I just kept studying more, in particular in understanding why they utilized the methodology and structure they did, so I could determine how much of it I wanted to incorporate with my younger children, and how much I wanted to leave as we had.
Over the years I’ve realized that much of my thought process was very similar to PA, much had become internalized even without as much formal study and application as I would have thought. It’s application just didn’t always look like the same format.
For instance, I would’ve said, “I don’t really do 4 R-ing.” I would look at their structure and say that isn’t what I do. But yet, it is exactly what I do. Perhaps not always looking everything up in the 1828 Dictionary, and calling it by the names they did, but always with a concordance researching what the Word had to say on the topic, and discovering the principles, foundations, and rudiments, recording them, and developing courses and lessons based on this.
Although I would say I wasn’t doing PA, because I didn’t think it looked like what PA was “suppose to”, everytime I’d call FACE and ask about my understanding of certain aspects they would assure me that my thoughts were exactly in line with PA, I had proper understanding of it.
My goal has been to help others see that PA not only can, but is to be applied individually. It is not meant to be a hard “letter of the law” structure that brings bondage, but rather a vision of truth that brings a spirit of liberty.
When you pick up the resources and say, “Ugh, I don’t know what to do with these,” stop and take a breath and remember, yes, this is going to take work because it is renewing the mind. It is changing the way you think. We are working to change our internal thinking, not just external actions. But, the external changes will not be hard, once the internal has come. The internal has to come first. It is not an instant process. It will take time and study, but it is laying a strong foundation from which everything else can flow.
A foundational Scripture we use in our teaching, that I think PA would agree with, is 2 Corithians 10:24: “Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand.” Both L.E.D. and PA were developed to help you see Truth that would bring Freedom to your education, not put you in bondage. We pray that we may be a “helper of your joy” through L.E.D. and its application of A principles approach to education.
