I remember my summers...full of swimming, reading, playing outside, making up new games, and writing and illustrating my own mini-books. We didn't have to deal with the constant pull of devices calling our names. Now that official school in this house is on a severely abbreviated schedule, the electronics usage was starting to drive me crazy. So I am so glad I read a post on Facebook the other day that addressed this very issue!! I added and tweaked a couple of items and here is our new plan for the summer to reduce the time the kids are spending on "glowing screens". This includes tablets, ipods, iphones, computers, netflix, and television.
Posted by Brandy Ferrell on Tuesday, 17 February, 2015 in Articles, Classical Christian Education, Dialectic Stage (ages 12 to 14), Grammar Stage (ages 4 to 11)
What am I going to neglect and what am I going to pursue?
My last article left us with this probing question as we pondered Leigh Bortins’s words…
...And I see frustrated parents who have over-estimated their high school child’s elementary education, realize they have not prepared their child adequately at the grammar stage, and so lower their standards for their older child’s education just at the time the student is really ready to become a mature learner (Echo in Celebration, page 56).
So… how do I adequately prepare my children while they are in the grammar stage? What are the core skills to be established in elementary-aged children? And as we work towards establishing these skills, how do we inspire our children with a love of learning? For several years I have asked myself these questions as we have waded through the plethora of curriculum available, searching for that magic formula that will instill a love of learning in our children.
Simply stated, the core skills required for higher order learning include reading, writing, mathematics, and memory work. An important discovery I have made, however, is that each of these skills can be pursued in a way that inspires children to enjoy learning. In fact, my attitude about a subject has much more to do with inspiring my children than which curriculum we are using. The more appropriate question for me is how am I modeling a love of learning in my home? That question is much more convicting.
