Posts from — April 2007

We spent the entire day out today, and had a great Easter together.  We didn’t get home until 7:00, and as soon as we walked in the door, Shea went over and sat on the floor to look at all his books, while his brother began clearing the table off to chisel a rock into a spear for his “ax”.  They both have their “thing” that they enjoy.  For Shea, it’s looking at his books and for Gage it’s creating anything from bows and arrows to bird feeders to paintings or drawings.  So, we have a bookworm and an artist.

Last night, we experienced our first passover feast with some fellow seminarians.  I want to write about it, but I honestly feel speechless.  Our friends, who hosted it,  have been doing this for a few years now, and decided to carry on their tradition here at Covenant, and share it with some friends.  We are so inspired!  It was so well put together.  I can’t even describe it.  And, what is so awesome about all of this is to see how God led our family.  Yesterday, I had a few recipes to prepare for the feast, and I decided to let Gage help me in the kitchen.  I am so impatient, and usually don’t even let him help me with cooking.  So, yesterday, I decided to make it part of school, since I had so much that I needed to do.  He did so well helping and I was so proud of him.  As we were eating at the feast, I began thinking about how neat it was that yesterday just happened to be the day I chose to let Gage help.  It was so fitting!  From what we read about in the bible, wouldn’t you picture all of the kids in the family helping prepare for the passover meal?  During our feast, Gage was given the honor of reading 4 questions, that were then answered by all of us (we were reading!).  He felt so included, and really special b/c he was the only kid there.  All of this was so good for him.  He is such a tactile learner, and this experience allowed him to “act out”, taste and touch all that we read about in scripture.  It made it real for all of us, but especially for Gage.  This morning, after he ate, I told him to go get started on his “list” of things that he has to do every morning before we start school.  (He got tired of me telling him to do the same things every morning, so I wrote it down, and now I just have to say “go do your list”).  He stayed back there for a long time and it was really quiet.  I decided not to bother him, and after a while he came out in the living room and grabbed “The Child’s Story Bible” by Catherine Vos (awesome) and went back to his room.  He stayed in there for an hour reading!  I was amazed.  This child does not read unless I make him, and he chose to read his bible on his own!  Last night was extremely significant for all of us, but especially for Gage.  I am so filled up with thankfulness today.

“He is educated who knows how to find out what he doesn’t know.”

~George Simmel, German philosopher

“I think this wise; the greatest service we can do to education is to teach fewer subjects.  No one has time to do more than a very few things well before he is twenty, and when we force a boy to be a mediocrity in a dozen subjects we destroy his standards, perhaps for life.”

~C.S. Lewis

“He who sees things grow from the beginning will have the best view of them.”

~Aristotle

“Let them get at the books themselves, and do not let them be flooded with diluted talk from the lips of their teacher.   The less the parents ‘talk-in’ and expound their rations of knowledge and thought to the children they are educating, the better for the children…Children must be allowed to ruminate, must be left alone with their own thoughts.”

~Charlotte Mason

These are some quotes Joanne Calderwood passed out at her vendor workshop.  I knew I liked her as soon as I started reading the quotes because I love Charlotte Mason’s ideas.

There was a homeschool expo here in St. Louis this weekend. It was right down the road and I was able to spend some time there thanks to some great friends who helped with the boys, since Jared was working. I’ve been to a much larger homeschool conference in the past, and I found that this one was much less overwhelming. I think I prefer it that way. Since we are right down the road, I was able to swing in and out quickly and pick the things that I most wanted to hear about. The first thing I attended was the vendor workshop by Joanne Calderwood on self-teaching. I feel like it added another piece to the puzzle for me. I told Jared that I feel like I’ve been on a search for just the right combination of ideas to make Gage’s homeschooling experience fit him best. I think this is going to be great for Gage. Our goal has always been for him to become a self-learner. We want him to search for answers when he doesn’t know them, rather than always asking someone else. So, I’ve decided to make a schedule for Gage every week. We’re going to fill it in together, and I’m going to let him make some choices about what he does and fill those areas in himself. Then, he will be responsible for checking off the things he completes. I think he needs to feel more control and freedom in his schooling and that this will help him in feeling this way. Ever since reading the book “Edison Trait: Saving the Spirit of Your Free-Thinking Child in a Conforming World” this summer, I’ve been trying to give Gage choices in his schooling and let him feel a sense of ownership over his education. The book was so good for me and helped me understand Gage more than I ever have. I’m sure many of you have heard me say that he is difficult or challenging. He has always been this way. But, for the past year or so, I have been on a quest to figure him out and tailor his education to fit who he is. It’s been an interesting journey, one that I am really passionate about. If you’re interested in reading about the Edison trait, click on the link to find out more. I’ve found it to be really helpful in parenting Gage. I don’t own the book because I checked it out at the library. But, I plan to buy it and re-read it as soon as I get the chance.

Friday night I attended a seminar by Mark Hamby, entitled “The Strong Willed Parent: Bring Them Up, Don’t Crush Them Down“. If you click on the link, you can hear his message. I came home so excited. He is literally the best speaker I’ve ever heard. The message I linked to is not the actual one from the conference, but it gives you the idea. I bought the CD, so if you’re nearby and want to borrow it, or want a copy, I’d be glad to do that.

Saturday morning I attended a vendor workshop and then spent 2 hours at the book fair, mainly gathering ideas and writing down book titles. I’ve taught myself to check our library first, before buying, because most of the time, they have what I’m looking for. Works out great, considering we rarely have spare money to buy books! So, now that I have some new ideas, it’s time to put them into practice. I’ll let you know how it goes!