The Ingredients of a Sound Cirriculum

The latest book I'm reading is called Home Style Teaching by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. It has lots of gems in it to quote, but I'll just put the one that I read today. This book is focused on teachers in schools, as well as parents at home, and sums up what things are most important in teaching children in various settings. To quote from the curriculum chapter: (I will italicize what I think is most important)

"A common mistake made by some educators is to think of the curriculum only in terms of the basic skills, liberal arts and sciences, and similar so-called academic studies. But this would be like trying to bake a loaf of well-risen bread without yeast. Perhaps the most important ingredients of our curriculum should be those factors that make up sound character- integrity, dependability, industry, initiative, order and concern for others more than self. Of what use is a student brilliant in sciences or a genius in mathematics if he has not learned to practice the Golden Rule? ....

"Dr. Florence Stratemeyer of Columbia University, at the time considered the nation's leading curriculum authority, once said:
"The education that consists in the training of memory only and which tends to discourage self direction and independent thought has a moral bearing which is too little appreciated. The student tends to look to his peers instead of to sound behavioral standards. As this student sacrifices the power to reason and to judge for himself, he becomes incapable of discriminating between truth and error, and falls easy prey to deception. It is a fact widely ignored, though never without danger, that error rarely appears for what it really is."

"It is crucial in the development of the curriculum that both the teacher and the student have some idea why each is doing what he is doing. There must be some absolutes, lest the teacher or student be like waves which are driven and tossed by the wind. Most of us are easily led to follow tradition and customs. We adults, too, have become afflicted with the social cancer of peer dependency."

"For curriculum goes far beyond the 3 R's, ABC's and normal requirements for health and safety; it must center on the character education of the child. When this takes place, all the conventional items follow...Books are less important than practical and manual work, and service to others in the home, community and nation. No curriculum builds self-worth without this balance, nor does it bring fulfillment so complete."

Old Time Stuff

The other day I was looking for an empty photo album to put some new pictures in, and came across my old report cards from school. I looked through all 12 grades, and found that the same things held true for all my classes pretty much. Entirely mediocre grades, (60-70% averages) and comments like "Rachel would do better if she would apply herself" "Rachel needs to focus more, she could do much better" or "Rachel's lack of neatness makes her grades lower, if she took more time, she could do much better". I wondered how much of that is just my personality, since I'm a 'lick and a promise' kind of gal, and how much was just plain disinterest in school in general. Or how much was distraction from the other kids acting up in class? Or how much was my attitude "why try? I'm never going to get to the top, no matter what I do?"

The one exception was 4th grade. I did awesome. My marks were in the 85-90% range (excelling in math especially, which was my weak point in every other grade) and the comments were glowing all through. I couldn't put a finger on what it might have been, so I called my Mom, to see if she could recall. She didn't hesitate, she said, "You had Mrs. White for a teacher. That's why. Mrs. White found the good in every child, and brought it out. You weren't a number, she treated you like you were her own child." Even in our small little school where I graduated with 1/2 of the 34 kids I started 1st grade with, it was important. The funny thing is, I remember a lot from 4th grade, more than the others. I remember learning the solar system, and about the ocean ecosystem, I remember her reading to us every lunch hour (books like "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe).

My mom also told me that she (Mom) disliked taking us to the awards nights, because it was always the same kids that won them every year, and so many of the other kids didn't get recognized for anything because they didn't get good grades. And how little grades have to do with the success of a person. I know that the lack of good grades did damage many a kids confidence though. I never felt worth anything in school until 8th grade when I learned to ski. I remember getting an inner confidence (along with my best friend Angela) while we taught ourselves to ski. The exhilaration of no one keeping track, no one making fun of our mistakes, and challenging ourselves highly beyond our skill levels allowed (picture two 14 year old girls flying down the hills out of control on skis!). But, we were fearless and we became excellent skiers because of it.

I guess what I took out of the whole deal was how important it is that kids feel important. One book I recently read said, "make sure every child has a success every day, even if you have to arrange to make it happen." How wonderful is that for a child. How much we all rely on verbal reassurance and praise (so much more so than material). As I'm typing here, my dear husband just thanked me for supporting him in his newest endeavor (taking a motorcycle safety course so that he can pursue getting a motorcycle). He told me how my support encouraged him to do it, and he wouldn't have done it if I hadn't. I feel the same way about the cake decorating course that I took last month. I felt so good going, when I knew he was cheering me on. How much more is it important for our children to feel they are worth our time (not just the 'smart' kids, or the 'athletic' kids as I recall happening so much in my school days) I guess that is why I believe it's much easier to get to know a child's strengths and weakness' if the teacher/student ratio is as low as possible. Because most often, children don't even know themselves, unless someone points it out.

Home Grown Kids

This book is the first I read, before we had ever intended to home school. It was given to me in a stack of books, and was very thorough, to show parents (in a very practical sense) how to raise up "Home Grown Kids" (as they call them). It lists nutrition, sleep habits, what chores kids can do at each age level, etc. Although the book is 25 years old, most of the information is still very valid.

Although this book is not focused on homeschooling, it's main focus is more parenting. How to encourage your children to learn, to explore, to mature in healthy ways. I've lent this book out many times, and it's currently lent out, so I can't give any actual quotes. The Moore's are the parents in the whole home education movement, and were educators in the public system for years before deciding to venture off in an uncharted direction (at that time). I'm currently reading another of their books, so will review it when I get done.

http://www.home-grown-kids.com/

Very much worth any parents time to read, to realize where our focus' should be, and how to encourage whole family involvement in training up Godly men and women. Not to be influenced by the "ways of the world", but more concerned about what God thinks of our lives.