May 06, 2009
Our family loves going to museums. My husband and I love looking at the multitude of exhibits. Our sons, however, take museums to a whole other level. They want to read the entire exhibit, hear everything on the phones, do all of the hands-on stuff - skipping NOTHING! Even my husband and I get tired of looking at the displays before they do.
I think this is at least partly because of the difference in the way we are educating our sons. In the course of our homeschooling day, my sons are encouraged to spend as much time a they'd like on things that interest them. They are about to spend much longer periods of time studying subjects they enjoy, reading books by authors they love, and working on projects they are enthusiastic about. This is in comparison to our public school education, where We were shuffled through subjects at a pretty rapid pace learning a little bit about a lot of different things but not really delving into too much.
Homeschooling has given us the ability to raise our boys to love learning, to study subjects in depth, and to take time to ponder - versus rushing through life. The next time you find yourself tempted to "hurry up and finish lessons", don't. Remember what you are trying to do with your children, think of your priorities, and slow down. Your family and the education of your children will be the better for it.
In This Issue:
1. Reading Living Books
2. Notebooking and Lapbooks
1 - Reading Living Books
I recently checked out a book from the library called "An Introduction to the Classics" by Louise Cowan and Os Guinness. As I was looking through the book, it brought to mind different excerpts I had been assigned to read from English textbooks through the years as part of my public school education.
Unfortunately, it also made me realize how few actual BOOKS we read for class. I only remember reading one full book a year in 7th grade and 8th grade, one of which was "Where the Red Fern Grows"... and that was about it. And in high school we only had to read 2 or 3 books each year. The rest of the time we read excerpts from textbooks.
I started out doing the same thing with my boys - having them read textbook readers because that's the method of learning that was familiar to me. I had heard the terms "classical education" and "living books" and was very intrigued.
Living books are defined by Charlotte Mason as "whole books, firsthand sources, classics, books that display imagination, originality, and those having the 'human touch.'" The thought of having my children learn by reading real books was very appealing to me. It was also very scary to think that I wouldn't be following a "professional's" educational standards (i.e., teacher's manuals).
So I started our homeschool experience using textbooks and teacher's manuals and felt safe. That is, until my sons started to complain about how they didn't like to read. They had always LOVED it when I read to them so I was shocked to think that they might not grow up to be readers themselves.
When my oldest son found a book he enjoyed reading on his own and devoured it, but still complained about the reading I was making him do for schoolwork, I knew something needed to change.
Now that I've switched my boys to reading real books, they are enjoying it so much more. They beg to read additional chapters every day. They never wanted to continue reading when we were using textbooks - and they were reading LESS pages in the textbooks.
I highly recommend throwing out the textbooks and picking up some regular books. We do use a textbook for math - but that's it. I can't tell you how much more my boys are enjoying school since we've made the switch! Take a leap, give it a try, and reap the rewards.
2 - Notebooking and Lapbooks
Earlier this year, I was at a friend's house and she showed me a notebook that her son was creating with his schoolwork. As she taught her son different subjects, she would have him journal what he could remember from the lesson and draw illustrations to go along with his text. She would save these notebooks from year to year and her son would be able to refer back to what he had learned and see how his education was progressing.
This idea intrigued me and I decided to give notebooking a try. We ran up to the neighborhood store and bought some 3-ring binders and a pack of plastic sheet protectors... and then I was in business. I went through each subject, one at a time, and came up with ways for my sons to incorporate notebooking into their lessons.
From the first day, the notebooks were a great hit. My boys were excited even just creating cover pages for their books. They thrilled with each assignment and were amazed as their notebooks grew larger and larger.
We now have notebooks for Bible/history, geography, literature, and astronomy. Your imagination is the only limit to what you can use notebooks for.
You can purchase curricula which are set up to use the notebooking method, such as Apologia Science. Or you can research topics on the internet and come up with your own lessons. Either way, give notebooking a try and watch your sons light up as they learn.
Thanks for reading this month's newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it! See you next month...
Michelle Caskey
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