Today's post is taken from the companion book to the TJed book I have been talking about. It is called "A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion" by Oliver and Rachel DeMille and Diann Jeppson. In an essay entitled "Attention Span: Our National Education Crisis", Oliver discusses the fact that Americans today have very short attention spans. All of the information we want to get has to come to us in very short "sound bites" as he calls them. We have been so used to watching TV and surfing the net for our information that we have gotten away from sitting at a task for very long periods of time.
I know that to be true for myself. If I can't read something in a few minutes and get out what I need, I tend to pass it by. I have definitely fallen prey to this problem and I see the effects of it in my children, too. That is why they all hate math: it is difficult and you have to sit there for a long time sometimes in order to get it done. They would rather look at the problem, realize they don't understand it, ask me to help them (which usually means that I end up solving it for them) and be done rather than take the time to look back in the book in order to relearn the parts that they don't understand and figure it out for themselves.
That is the whole point that Mr. DeMille is trying to make. He makes the statement that, "a person lacking attention span must either develop it or he will not become educated, and a nation without attention span - and by extension, education - must either gain it or lose its freedoms." (p. 137) A pretty strong statement as to what our country could be in for if we do not learn how to buckle down and stick with hard task of really learning.
In the rest of the essay he states how "the medium of the electronic screen teaches at least five deadly fallacies about education, and consequently freedom:
1. Learning must be fun
2. Good teaching is entertaining
3. Book, texts and materials should be simple and understandable
4. "Balance" means balancing work with entertainment
5. Opinions matter (pp. 139-143)
Remember that the above are all errors, and Mr. DeMille does a great job at explaining just why he thinks they all are. I like the statement he makes during one of his explanations: "I am not saying that everything that is hard has value, but I am saying that most things of value are hard." (p.141)
I've been reading this essay to my kids and we have been having some interesting discussions. Hopefully all of this will help us to transform the learning in our home into something that we can all be excited about and remember as something we all enjoyed doing together.
God Bless!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
A Thomas Jefferson Education - Part III
My heart really sank when I read this list of negative traits that occur in students who are forced to learn something. I noticed far too many of them in a lot of my children. Here goes, hope you do better than I did:
When forced to learn, the author says, children will:
~ Do the bare minimum
~ Learn that learning means pleasing the authority figure
~ Learn that learning, schooling and studying are no fun
~ Learn that playing is when you don't have to learn
~ Think that to be a good student they have to study somebody else's interests
~ Think that their own interests must be pursued on their own time and that they aren't as valuable as the accepted topics of study
~ Realize that if nobody is making them study, they would rather be entertained than learn
Instead, Mr. Van DeMille suggests that we should redo our methods of teaching so that we can inspire our children to learn things that interest them and then they will actually learn more. Here is his list of lessons learned by the person who is inspired to get a great education:
~ There is so much to learn and it is so exciting
~ Learning is more fun than almost anything
~ I can learn on my own, in a group, or with help from a teacher or parent
~ All I need is a book and I can learn
~ In fact, I can learn even without a book
~ I love learning!
~ If I do more than is assigned, I'll learn more and have more fun.
~ My thoughts and ideas are as valuable as anybody else's. (pp. 42-43)
I would love to have my children think that learning is fun on a REGULAR basis, not just once in awhile. I can say that since we have been doing more unit studies and have moved away from the workbook approach, I am seeing a bit more enthusiasm. I am finding that it is hard at this point to keep them motivated to seek out learning. If they happen to stumble across it, that seems to be okay, but not too many of them are actively seeking out learning situations. There have been many years of bad habits, so I guess I cannot expect them to disappear instantly.
Tomorrow I would like to summarize for you the five falsehoods that the author sees in our country regarding education. He believes that they have been brought about by the fact that American's have been moving away from books and getting most of their learning from TV and the internet. It is a fascinating essay!
God Bless!
When forced to learn, the author says, children will:
~ Do the bare minimum
~ Learn that learning means pleasing the authority figure
~ Learn that learning, schooling and studying are no fun
~ Learn that playing is when you don't have to learn
~ Think that to be a good student they have to study somebody else's interests
~ Think that their own interests must be pursued on their own time and that they aren't as valuable as the accepted topics of study
~ Realize that if nobody is making them study, they would rather be entertained than learn
Instead, Mr. Van DeMille suggests that we should redo our methods of teaching so that we can inspire our children to learn things that interest them and then they will actually learn more. Here is his list of lessons learned by the person who is inspired to get a great education:
~ There is so much to learn and it is so exciting
~ Learning is more fun than almost anything
~ I can learn on my own, in a group, or with help from a teacher or parent
~ All I need is a book and I can learn
~ In fact, I can learn even without a book
~ I love learning!
~ If I do more than is assigned, I'll learn more and have more fun.
~ My thoughts and ideas are as valuable as anybody else's. (pp. 42-43)
I would love to have my children think that learning is fun on a REGULAR basis, not just once in awhile. I can say that since we have been doing more unit studies and have moved away from the workbook approach, I am seeing a bit more enthusiasm. I am finding that it is hard at this point to keep them motivated to seek out learning. If they happen to stumble across it, that seems to be okay, but not too many of them are actively seeking out learning situations. There have been many years of bad habits, so I guess I cannot expect them to disappear instantly.
Tomorrow I would like to summarize for you the five falsehoods that the author sees in our country regarding education. He believes that they have been brought about by the fact that American's have been moving away from books and getting most of their learning from TV and the internet. It is a fascinating essay!
God Bless!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
A Thomas Jefferson Education - Part II
One of the parts of this book that I found very intriguing was when the author, Oliver Van DeMille, discussed the most common type of education in America today. He termed it the "conveyor belt method". See if this sounds familiar:
"Most public schools use what I call the "Soviet conveyor belt method. They are set up like a factory: everyone in the class gets the same education at the same age from the same textbooks and they are tested the same and graded based upon the same scale regardless of their individual interests, talents or goals.
In this system you go down the factory line, first grade, second grade, third grade, with a factory worker at each station, being assembled with certain parts (the curriculum) at a certain point in a certain way from a common book or manual. Of course, all of the products (students) are fitted with the same parts (called "education") as everyone else on the conveyor belt. When you finish the twelfth grade, you get a stamp (diploma) on your forehead signifying that you are a finished product ready to be sold to the job market.
The Soviet part of it is that standards and grade levels are set at a low enough level that virtually everyone can get through and be a finished product. What happens if you try to get ahead? A factory worker moves you back into place. What happens if you get behind? A "special" worker pulls you up to speed." (p. 25)
I know that this is the kind of education I received. I definitely was taught well how to play the game. You did your work, spit it back on the test, got good grades and never really asked too many questions. I was one of those students who really didn't care why I was learning something, I just wanted to learn it well enough to get a good grade on the test. I remember trying to help my brother with Algebra and he kept asking me why I was doing what I was doing. My response was, "I don't know, this is just what you are supposed to do!" Needless to say, he never really did well with math because there was no one there to take the time to explain the "why" to him.
Unfortunately, since I was schooled in this type of system, this was all I knew. When it came time to begin homeschooling my own children, I looked to the only model I had and set up the public school in my own home. It worked for a while, but as I added more children to our school, I began to see the flaws in the system and that is when I began my quest for the something better that I knew had to be out there.
Tomorrow I'd like to share with you a section on what happens when you require and not inspire your children to learn.
God Bless!
"Most public schools use what I call the "Soviet conveyor belt method. They are set up like a factory: everyone in the class gets the same education at the same age from the same textbooks and they are tested the same and graded based upon the same scale regardless of their individual interests, talents or goals.
In this system you go down the factory line, first grade, second grade, third grade, with a factory worker at each station, being assembled with certain parts (the curriculum) at a certain point in a certain way from a common book or manual. Of course, all of the products (students) are fitted with the same parts (called "education") as everyone else on the conveyor belt. When you finish the twelfth grade, you get a stamp (diploma) on your forehead signifying that you are a finished product ready to be sold to the job market.
The Soviet part of it is that standards and grade levels are set at a low enough level that virtually everyone can get through and be a finished product. What happens if you try to get ahead? A factory worker moves you back into place. What happens if you get behind? A "special" worker pulls you up to speed." (p. 25)
I know that this is the kind of education I received. I definitely was taught well how to play the game. You did your work, spit it back on the test, got good grades and never really asked too many questions. I was one of those students who really didn't care why I was learning something, I just wanted to learn it well enough to get a good grade on the test. I remember trying to help my brother with Algebra and he kept asking me why I was doing what I was doing. My response was, "I don't know, this is just what you are supposed to do!" Needless to say, he never really did well with math because there was no one there to take the time to explain the "why" to him.
Unfortunately, since I was schooled in this type of system, this was all I knew. When it came time to begin homeschooling my own children, I looked to the only model I had and set up the public school in my own home. It worked for a while, but as I added more children to our school, I began to see the flaws in the system and that is when I began my quest for the something better that I knew had to be out there.
Tomorrow I'd like to share with you a section on what happens when you require and not inspire your children to learn.
God Bless!
Monday, June 16, 2008
A Thomas Jefferson Education
A friend of mine came across a treasure of a book at our homeschool conference in May and let me take a peek at it a few weeks ago. I was so impressed with the little I saw that I ordered my own copy so I could highlight and mark it up as I pleased. The book I am referring to is called "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver Van DeMille. I have read the entire book already and am in the process of reading the companion book to it that kind of ties it all together. This book puts a name to the vision I have had for our homeschool for a very long time.
I have spent some time here discussing unit studies and how I think it has brought a lot more love of learning into our home. However, I have still had this desire to see us spending most of our days learning things as we come about them in life, or by studying things in a more natural way. Unit studies are definitely a step in this direction, and I believe that the Lord has led me on this path for a specific reason. After reading "A Thomas Jefferson Education", though, I can see that other people out there have had this vision of learning and have, in fact, been pursuing it since before the founding of our country.
The book discusses learning through the method of reading the classics and having a good mentoring relationship. Apparently this is how most of the founding fathers of our country all learned. The author of the book calls it Leadership Education and says that if America doesn't embrace this method of education soon, our country will inevitably fail. I think if we take a look at the overall "health" of our country right now, it is not too hard to imagine this failure.
As with a lot of things, I seem to come across some life changing bit of information after some of my children are past the point of benefiting from it. This book would be an absolute treasure for someone whose children are young. The author makes a good argument, however, that it is never too late to adopt this method of learning. In fact, he states that it has to start with the parents. They are the most likely first mentors of their children, so it is up to them to begin to dive into the classics and start learning, and all the while setting a good example for their children. This gives me hope that even my older children can still benefit from the educational model laid out in this book.
I hope to be able to share some of the things that I found very interesting in this book over the next few posts. I am also planning on adding a page to my website about it, with a link to where you can order it from. Not sure when that will happen, though... In the meantime, keep checking back here for more insight into this incredibly intriguing way of learning!
God Bless!
I have spent some time here discussing unit studies and how I think it has brought a lot more love of learning into our home. However, I have still had this desire to see us spending most of our days learning things as we come about them in life, or by studying things in a more natural way. Unit studies are definitely a step in this direction, and I believe that the Lord has led me on this path for a specific reason. After reading "A Thomas Jefferson Education", though, I can see that other people out there have had this vision of learning and have, in fact, been pursuing it since before the founding of our country.
The book discusses learning through the method of reading the classics and having a good mentoring relationship. Apparently this is how most of the founding fathers of our country all learned. The author of the book calls it Leadership Education and says that if America doesn't embrace this method of education soon, our country will inevitably fail. I think if we take a look at the overall "health" of our country right now, it is not too hard to imagine this failure.
As with a lot of things, I seem to come across some life changing bit of information after some of my children are past the point of benefiting from it. This book would be an absolute treasure for someone whose children are young. The author makes a good argument, however, that it is never too late to adopt this method of learning. In fact, he states that it has to start with the parents. They are the most likely first mentors of their children, so it is up to them to begin to dive into the classics and start learning, and all the while setting a good example for their children. This gives me hope that even my older children can still benefit from the educational model laid out in this book.
I hope to be able to share some of the things that I found very interesting in this book over the next few posts. I am also planning on adding a page to my website about it, with a link to where you can order it from. Not sure when that will happen, though... In the meantime, keep checking back here for more insight into this incredibly intriguing way of learning!
God Bless!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Banana Split Dessert
Here is a great recipe for the summertime weather!
1 c milk chocolate chips
1/2 c butter
2 c confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 c crushed graham crackers
5 bananas sliced
1/2 gallon ice cream - neapolitan or any flavor
1 c heavy cream, whipped
chopped nuts for garnish
In a heavy saucepan, melt together chocolate chips and butter; add sugar and milk. Cook at a heavy boil for 8 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add vanilla and cool. Cover bottom of 9x13 pan with graham cracker crumbs. Cover with sliced bananas. Slice ice cream and place over bananas. Cover with cooled chocolate sauce. Freeze. Serve with whipped heavy cream and sprinkle nuts on top. Yield: 12 to 16 servings
1 c milk chocolate chips
1/2 c butter
2 c confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 c crushed graham crackers
5 bananas sliced
1/2 gallon ice cream - neapolitan or any flavor
1 c heavy cream, whipped
chopped nuts for garnish
In a heavy saucepan, melt together chocolate chips and butter; add sugar and milk. Cook at a heavy boil for 8 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add vanilla and cool. Cover bottom of 9x13 pan with graham cracker crumbs. Cover with sliced bananas. Slice ice cream and place over bananas. Cover with cooled chocolate sauce. Freeze. Serve with whipped heavy cream and sprinkle nuts on top. Yield: 12 to 16 servings
Friday, June 13, 2008
When Plans Change
I have spent this past week trying to get ready for a big garage sale that the towns around my parent's home are having. All week we have been going through every room in our home and pulling out stuff that hasn't seen the light of day in the past year (or in some cases, up to five years). Yesterday we cleaned it all up, priced it and stuffed it all into the back of our big blue van. Even though they take a lot of effort, I do like garage sales. I like browsing them and even having one now and then (although most of the stuff ends up being donated anyway!!).
After a night of storms, it looked as if the rain was going to hold up today, so we were all eagerly anticipating getting out there and having some fun when I did something utterly silly: I bent over and tried to pick up a piece of paper off the floor. At that moment, the pain that shot through my back brought me to my knees and I had to crawl to the bed in order to try to stand up. Now, nothing like this has EVER happened to me before. My husband has this happen to him a couple of times a year, so I knew what to do immediately. Needless to say, our garage sale expedition was brought to a complete halt.
So here I sit, in my few moments of sitting before I go back to lying flat on my back, trying to take some good advice I got from a reader about what all of this means. My first response typically would have been something to the effect of, "Gee, I wonder why God didn't want me to sell my stuff and make some extra money to pay some bills" or "I thought I was trying to do the right thing by simplifying my life and ridding our house of unnecessary items". Instead I am trying to focus on just what it is God wants me to do with the current situation. I am also trying to live in the present moment and not thinking about what this means for our plans this weekend. I do have to say that it has brought out the best in my children. They have been waiting on me hand and foot, helping me to walk when I need to, driving me to the chiropractor, making lunch and taking over potty training our stubborn little three year old. It is moments like this when I get to see that they really have been listening to me all these years. Thanks, kids! Given what I know of myself, I only hope that I can maintain a peaceful attitude throughout this entire ordeal, and not just for a little while.
God Bless!
After a night of storms, it looked as if the rain was going to hold up today, so we were all eagerly anticipating getting out there and having some fun when I did something utterly silly: I bent over and tried to pick up a piece of paper off the floor. At that moment, the pain that shot through my back brought me to my knees and I had to crawl to the bed in order to try to stand up. Now, nothing like this has EVER happened to me before. My husband has this happen to him a couple of times a year, so I knew what to do immediately. Needless to say, our garage sale expedition was brought to a complete halt.
So here I sit, in my few moments of sitting before I go back to lying flat on my back, trying to take some good advice I got from a reader about what all of this means. My first response typically would have been something to the effect of, "Gee, I wonder why God didn't want me to sell my stuff and make some extra money to pay some bills" or "I thought I was trying to do the right thing by simplifying my life and ridding our house of unnecessary items". Instead I am trying to focus on just what it is God wants me to do with the current situation. I am also trying to live in the present moment and not thinking about what this means for our plans this weekend. I do have to say that it has brought out the best in my children. They have been waiting on me hand and foot, helping me to walk when I need to, driving me to the chiropractor, making lunch and taking over potty training our stubborn little three year old. It is moments like this when I get to see that they really have been listening to me all these years. Thanks, kids! Given what I know of myself, I only hope that I can maintain a peaceful attitude throughout this entire ordeal, and not just for a little while.
God Bless!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
On Dealing with Others
One day I was having a particularly hard day dealing with my children. Maybe you can relate...day after day of children who want to argue with you about everything and don't do what it is you tell them to do. Well, I had had enough so I left and went to spend some time in adoration. When I got there, there was a book called "Before the Altar". This book was written in 1903 and 04 by Concepcion Cabrera De Armida. Concepcion was a mystic and a mother of nine. She was born in 1862 in Mexico. She was declared venerable by Pope John Paul II in 1999.
I sat down with the book and decided to open it up and see what the Lord might be trying to tell me. The first entry I opened to was this, which I immediately copied down and would like to share with you today. Maybe it will help someone else who is struggling, too. Our Lord said to Concepcion:
"I will explain to you the way to win souls...I never exaggerated the importance of those faults which were not due to malice, but usually to inexperience or to inculpable ignorance. I studied the different characters and adapted myself to them, leaving the grace of the Holy Spirit to act in them more or less slowly. I won souls more easily by gentleness of speech than by bitter reproaches. He sees his faults much better who considers the beauties of virtue set before his eyes, rather than the ugliness of the defects alleged of him. It is in this way that the wounds of the soul are healed by meekness and patience.
Never show annoyance to those under your direction. It would be a serious error to insist upon all being equally perfect. Shut your eyes to the weaknesses of the beginner. Come to his assistance and fortify him with good advice.
Never find fault with your brother in public and never take advantage of his kindness. Remember that people are won over more by honey than by vinegar. Never lay the blame for anything on your neighbor, but rather on yourself.
Derive from your prayers and meditations the gentleness which will make your heart like unto mine."
Needless to say, I took this all to heart and try to reread it quite frequently as it is full of things that I definitely need to remember. Concepcion then added her own prayer back to the Lord which was this:
"How much I would love to imitate you, O Jesus, and stop giving rude answers or showing bitterness in my speech, and giving up any tone of superiority in talking to others."
A prayer that I can definitely call my own!
God Bless!
I sat down with the book and decided to open it up and see what the Lord might be trying to tell me. The first entry I opened to was this, which I immediately copied down and would like to share with you today. Maybe it will help someone else who is struggling, too. Our Lord said to Concepcion:
"I will explain to you the way to win souls...I never exaggerated the importance of those faults which were not due to malice, but usually to inexperience or to inculpable ignorance. I studied the different characters and adapted myself to them, leaving the grace of the Holy Spirit to act in them more or less slowly. I won souls more easily by gentleness of speech than by bitter reproaches. He sees his faults much better who considers the beauties of virtue set before his eyes, rather than the ugliness of the defects alleged of him. It is in this way that the wounds of the soul are healed by meekness and patience.
Never show annoyance to those under your direction. It would be a serious error to insist upon all being equally perfect. Shut your eyes to the weaknesses of the beginner. Come to his assistance and fortify him with good advice.
Never find fault with your brother in public and never take advantage of his kindness. Remember that people are won over more by honey than by vinegar. Never lay the blame for anything on your neighbor, but rather on yourself.
Derive from your prayers and meditations the gentleness which will make your heart like unto mine."
Needless to say, I took this all to heart and try to reread it quite frequently as it is full of things that I definitely need to remember. Concepcion then added her own prayer back to the Lord which was this:
"How much I would love to imitate you, O Jesus, and stop giving rude answers or showing bitterness in my speech, and giving up any tone of superiority in talking to others."
A prayer that I can definitely call my own!
God Bless!
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