Coming up hard and fast on a new school year, rather than a newsletter, I wanted to share something with you.
I read this a long time ago on my message boards and printed it out then to keep in my devotional. It came up again recently, this sort of message gets remembered and recycled, and I asked permission to use it here. My virtual friend Tracy in Ky from the Well Trained Mind Forums, kindly gave me permission to use it.
Thank you Tracy!
(In a humorous homeschooling side-note, her email to me stated that she had forgotten it herself and would post it on her own refrigerator. I loved that.)
"I am training my children
in the way they should go. I am teaching them when I rise up and
when I lay
down and when I walk. I am teaching them that everything they do
must be
honorable to God and to His glory. I am training them to think biblically and
to memorize scripture and to analyze culture in the light of
scripture. I am
teaching them that they must prefer God, and that taking the
gospel to the
nations is glorifying to God. I am teaching them that the glory of
God is the
point of the universe.
I teach them that they must master grammar because language is the
medium
through which God gave us His word. If they are to correctly
understand the
Word of God, they must understand grammar. The Word of God is
comprised of
words and phrases and clauses and nouns and verbs and indirect
objects and past
tense verbs and present tense verbs and modifiers. They must
master this so
that they know what God has said. Further, in order to take the
gospel to others
we must be able to articulate it in the language we are speaking.
Grammar
exists for God.
I teach them that they must become good spellers so that they can
communicate
the gospel clearly when writing. Spelling exists for God.
I teach them Greek so that they can read God's word in the
language He
communicated it so that they do not have to rely on other people
to tell them
what it says. I want them to read it for themselves in the
original language,
understanding all the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances in syntax
and grammar
and word meaning and logic so that they know what it says for
themselves,
because they have seen it for themselves in the language given by
God.
Therefore they can worship over God s Word and communicate clearly
and with
confidence to others what God has said. Greek exists for God.
I teach them history as God's working out of his plan in the
universe, to His
glory and for His purposes, thereby teaching them about their
awesome God who
frustrates the plans of the nations and sets up kings and deposes
kings and
wages war and determines history. My children are being taught
that God rules
sovereignly over history that nothing in history happens apart
from the
sovereign rule and purpose of God. As they see their God more
clearly, they love
Him more dearly and become jealous to see His name proclaimed
among the
nations. History exists for God.
I teach them logic as God's design for correct thinking and
reasoning, so they
can think clearly and reason well. If they are trained in correct
thinking and
reasoning then they can see better the beauty of the mind of their
God as it is
revealed in scripture. And then, as they take the gospel to
others, they will
not be misled by false doctrine. They will see through the
humanistic
mechanisms of our culture. They will understand better how to
explain the truth
of God in the face of the depraved and distorted thinking that so
characterizes
the world we live in. By teaching them logic, I am teaching them
to protect
themselves AND to better reason with those who are deceived. Logic
exists for
the glory of God. "
"My goal in homeschooling, as tedious as homeschooling can
sometimes be, is the
glory of God as I fulfill the role He has given me. So in a
fascinating way,
the goal/point/end of the universe is the same goal/point/end of
my life--to
glorify God. I glorify Him by doing what He has put me here to do.
My aim is that my children spend eternity in heaven with Christ,
glorifying Him
forever. So I strive to do everything I can to help them see Him
more clearly
and love Him more passionately. This is very glorifying to God: He
is glorified
and shown to be magnificent as we make Him the center of all we
do. He is
worthy of being the center of all we do.
So everything I do--whether it is grammar or phonics or logic or
cooking or
sweeping or holding my tongue--has a weight to it: the weight of
eternity-- the
weight of the glory of God. That helps propel me forward and gives
significance
to every single thing I do. And that makes me very happy deep
within. I am
blessed in that doing what God has given me to do *does* make me
happy. Even on
the bad days and hard days, the significance of what I am doing is
big enough
and outside of me enough to keep me from despair or throwing my
hands up:
sorrowful yet always rejoicing maybe?
Read more...
and individual lit. guides for
background info/springboard into discussion/analysis. We also enjoy practicing
analysis by analyzing films -- looking for themes and symbolism; repeated
imagery; etc. -- which overlaps a lot with literary analysis and is often an
easier place to start "seeing" how to find themes.
: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to
Reading Between the Lines (Foster)
(Adler)
(from IEW) (gr. 8-12)
(gr. 7-12)
" is not only a great list
of traditional literature to consider covering in high school, but gives very
helpful background on each author, his/her times, and on the specific work as a
springboard into better understanding the work.
