God's Word and God's World
This time I've tried to plan ahead. Every year since I began homeschooling, I've wanted to do something special for holidays. But, time gets away from me in my busyness. I decide to do something at the last moment. This year I decided to dig in.
I have been re-reading my copy of The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach by Robin Sampson. If the copy was a paper copy, it would be dog-eared by now. Instead, I have a digital copy on my Nook... and I keep reading it over and over. My switch to Ace has helped me tremendously by allowing my independent, older girls to work without my constant supervision. Using Ace has also given me and my children the time to add some additional learning to our studies.
I had been using The Weaver Curriculum from Alpha Omega to add some additional Bible time and reading into our studies. For now, I am going to take a break from Weaver before we begin to delve deep into the Exodus. Instead, for Christmas, we are going to go through the Christmas Unit Study by Amanda Bennett. I am planning to go through the study with my older girls, and maybe do some of it with my Kindergartener. Christmas is such a chaotic time of year. The focus of many around me isn't Christ, it's presents and things. I want the focus in my family to be about Christ.
I'm also adding in a study that has been on my heart for awhile. Last year I purchased Wisdom: An Internet-Linked Unit Study by Heart of Wisdom author, Robin Sampson. The study sat on a back burner for awhile as I re-figured my curriculum and approach to teaching. While Ace may seem to be the opposite of the Heart of Wisdom approach, it has given me the time and my kids the stability we needed while I prayed through things. Ace also satisfies the courts for my step-daughter because its traditional approach is easily testable and measurable. Now, I feel comfortable adding in unit studies without feeling pressured. I don't have to worry if I'm doing enough or not enough.
The Heart of Wisdom teaching approach (HOD) is a bit different in its approach. It is definitely different than Ace. However, I don't think at this point the two will clash. Eventually, if we delve into other HOD studies, I might have to back off of an Ace subject here or there. But, that isn't a decision to make right now. I don't want to be jumping around from one curriculum to another with my children. (Been there, done that. Need a stable core for now for them and for me.)
One thing the Heart of Wisdom approach has that I love is what Robin Sampson describes as "God's Word and God's World". The day is split into those two categories.
"The Heart of Wisdom approach begins with the Bible as the center of education, with all subordinate studies brought into the circle of light radiating from there. Academics play an important part, but they are secondary. Students spend half the school day studying God’s Word and the other half studying God’s world. This approach can be used for all grade levels." Robin Sampson
Using a Christian curriculum is wonderful. There are many on the market. Homeschoolers have more selection now than ever before in history. For most of us, homeschooling was a major decision. We want to give our kids a top-notch education. We want great things for our kids. Academics are important. However, for those of us that are sold-out Christians, we also want our children to be grounded in the Word. We want them to develop a faith in Christ that is unshakeable. We want them to know what they believe, why they believe it, and how to defend it against the attacks that are sure to come. I have come to believe that, if I want that for my children, it won't happen by having the Bible being only a class they take. It won't happen by having some Christian stories and verses in their other subjects. It won't happen by just making sure they are at church once or twice a week. It will only happen by prayer, example, and making a life with Christ important.
If my children spend three or four hours a day on academics, and maybe 45 minutes on a Bible study, what is being shown to them to be most important? Yes, academics are important. We honor Christ when we use the brains God gave us. However, I also believe that we place a lot of importance on knowledge. Education is never wasted, but I believe God calls His people down a different path than just academics. That is where the world places it's focus... knowledge and money. We may need an education, for God calls us to all sorts of vocations, but our grounding... our daily bread... is His Word. We should want to feast on it. We should feel so hungry for it that we will give up that TV time, that internet surfing, that time spent on useless pursuits to get time with our Lord, in prayer and in studying His Word. I believe that study is a form of worship. As we read and study and pray, as we learn more and more about our Savior and grow closer to Him, our hearts open to His Love, His Revelations, His Holy Spirit flooding our very souls. There is no knowledge that the world can give that can compare. It is only a cheap imitation. Knowledge is a tool to do what God has asked us to do. Even beyond knowledge, we need to know how to learn what God asks us to.
Before I have a lot of comments that counter this point, let me state that I believe in a quality education. I believe in a well-rounded education. A person never knows what situation they may be placed in or what God may call them to do. I never thought I would need a knowledge of biology. Now, with two daughters with diabetes, I have had to learn a lot about things I never thought were important when I was younger. I am glad I knew how to learn, how to research, and how to help my daughters. When a doctor talks to me about my daughter's health, I know what he or she is saying. I know what the antibody test is. I know what AC1 and DKA mean. I know how to count carbs and how to read blood sugars. I know, when my daughter is sick, what level her ketones need to be. When my daughter's blood sugar is falling, I know how to bring it back up. I know the side effects of different insulin and different delivery systems for those insulin's. I even have a rudimentary knowledge of an insulin pump, so that if it stops working, I know what to do.
I look at education as preparation. Academics is preparing for whatever callings God places on my children. Yes, they will have more than one calling. I am not just a mom. I am a wife, a mother, and a teacher. I've also ran businesses. My greatest calling is that of a servant of Christ. God uses all sorts of things to prepare me for what he has planned. Some of these plans are hidden from me until they happen. If I'm prepared, then I will be ready when God shows me His plans.
I need my children to be prepared for the life ahead. We live in a society that often mocks Christ and Christians. My children need to be prepared. They need to be ready to stand for what they believe. They need to know how to do the things, or how to learn the things they will need, to do what God calls them to do. They will need wisdom. They will need to know their Bible and their Savior, so that they can find Him or recall His Word when necessary. And trust me, it will be necessary. It is necessary now, for every believer, to be strong in their faith, to be prepared for what God may ask us to do for Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment