Dominion Family

My philosophy of education in a nutshell as stated by David Hicks in Norms and Nobility.

“General curiosity, imagination in forming hypotheses, and method in testing them, then, mark the classical spirit of inquiry. This bent of mind allows the educated man to go on educating himself or extending the realms of knowledge for his fellows. In the process of asking a wide range of questions, of forming hypotheses and of testing their consisitency with known facts, the student learns about the nature of his subject and about the methods appropriate for mastering it. This process- because it is the indispensable tool for unearthing all human knowledge- is the only true basis for a classical, or universal education.
Only the person whose mental habits conform to this generous pricess can be said to be “educated” in a universal sense. This is the person who, as Aristotle writes in his essay On the Parts of Animals, ’should be able to form a fair off-hand judgement as to the goodness or badness of the method used by a professor in his exposition,’ This is the person competent to judge what the experts say without being an expert. “

Prize for the first person to stumble upon this and comment.

  Leave a Comment »

Many people who try and read Charlotte Mason from a Christian worldview get bogged down right out of the starting gate. Charlotte’s first 2 points are:
1. Children are born persons.
2. They are not born either good or bad, but with possibilities for good and evil.
(From Preface to The Home Education Series book 1 Home Education)

This didn’t bother me too much. I believe children are born persons and that all children are born good and bad. Good because they are made in the image of God and bad because they are born with Adam’s sin nature.

In Norms and Nobility, chapter 3, Teaching the Father of the Man, David Noble discusses the teacher Isokrates.
“…..Isokrates’ educative aim was to form and adult, not to develop a child, and his method was to teach the knowledge of a mature mind, not to offer relevant learning experiences at the level of the student’s stage of psychological development.”

I personally believe that we develop strong character in our children when we respect who they will become in the future by avoiding insipid pandering. There is always a tension between whetting the appetite and feeding the monster.

Many problems arrive in older homeschooled children when they feel cheated of a good education. I began homeschooling with that anger directed at my own public education.
David Noble says, and I verify this to be true in all of my children so far,

“Children, he (Isokrates) recognized, want to be brought up; they do not want to remain 12-year-olds. The healthy child wants to become an adult, just as the mature adult wants to be and adult.”

It is very important that we recognize this need to mature in our children and that we do not impede it with idealistic expectations and a lack of respect.

It is no surprise that Ambleside Online uses Norms and Nobility to construct their upper levels. Charlotte would love that book.

  Leave a Comment »

I picked up the tiny antique-looking book beside my bed. I was not sure how it got there but I perused the title, The Continual Burnt Offering by H A Ironside. It appeared to be a daily devotional like Spurgeon’s Morning by Morning. I turned to June 9th and read. There at the bottom of the page was the hymn Beneath the Blood Stained Lintel. Funny, I had always thought someone at HSC had written that song. Now I see that I was wrong. I don’t remember reading Rick’s words before. It has even been recorded by Phil Keaggy.

And the little book by my bedside has the name and address of the Grandmother who died when I was a baby. So many times she reaches across time to lead me toward Christ. I never knew her but little things she left behind leave a testimony of the faith of a simple woman. She died at 43. I am 43. I hope some day that my grandchildren will find the things that I have left behind lead to Christ, even if today I take my last breath.

Beneath the blood-stained lintel I with my children stand;
A messenger of evil is passing through the land.
There is no other refuge from the destroyer’s face;
Beneath the blood-stained lintel shall be our hiding place.

The Lamb of God has suffered, our sins and griefs He bore;
By faith the blood is sprinkled above our dwelling’s door.
The foe who seeks to enter doth fear that sacred sign;
Tonight the blood-stained lintel shall shelter me and mine.

My Savior, for my dear ones I claim Thy promise true.
The Lamb is “for the household” - the children’s Savior too.
On earth the little children once felt Thy touch divine;
Beneath the blood-stained lintel Thy blessing give to mine.

O Thou who gave them, guard them, those wayward little feet,
The wilderness before them, the ills of life to meet.
My mother love is helpless, I trust them to Thy care!
Beneath the blood-stained lintel, oh, keep me ever there!

The faith I rest upon Thee Thou will not disappoint;
With wisdom, Lord, to train them, my shrinking heart anoint.
Without my children, Father, I cannot see Thy face;
I plead the blood-stained lintel, Thy covenant of grace.

Oh, wonderful Redeemer, Who suffered for our sake,
When o’er the guilty nations the judgment storm shall break,
With joy from that safe shelter may we then meet Thine eye,
Beneath the blood-stained lintel, my children, Lord, and I.

  Leave a Comment »

Recently, quite by accident, I found that 3 more books had been published in George Grant’s Leaders in Action series. I have been buying this series for years and my Dad has been enjoying them also. Both of us agreed there was only one dud among the 9 we have read so far: Patrick Henry. It is hard to believe the guy who said, “Give me liberty or give me death,” could lead such a boring life.
The newest titles are:

All Things for Good, The Steadfast Fidelity of Stonewall Jackson by J Steven Wilkins
(I believe this one had a bit of controversy keeping in from an earlier publishing date.)

A Place to Stand, The Word of God in the Life of Martin Luther by Gene Edward Veith

Forgotten Founding Father, The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield by Stephen Mansfield
This has been out for a few years but I just found it.

This is a great little series of easy-to-read books. They are not complete biographies but they bring out the character and leadership qualities of each person.

I know Gary Demar at American Vision carries a few of these bios.
They also make great Father’s Day gifts. I am still trying to decide which of these new titles my dad would enjoy the most.

  Leave a Comment »

Having finished most of my winter reading selections….finally, Jamie Mcpheeters being the last book completed. I am moving on to my summer stack. Here is a list of books I hope to read this summer. Some have been on my list before. I usually try and read or reread one homeschooling book every summer. It gives me motivation and fresh ideas for the coming year. I also like to read a few fun books…novels and murder mysteries etc. So here is my list:

1. Norms and Nobility by David Hicks. I owned and tried to read this book once before right after my 4yos was born. This time, for some reason, it is much clearer to me and I am on chapter 6. This is a pricey book and I really don’t recommend it unless you are an education geek. Still it is a great book.

2. The Christian Philosophy of Education Explained by Stephen C. Perks
Wow, I did NOT pay $99.00 for this book. I think I got it from some Kuiper page but I can’t find it now.

3. I’ll Take My Stand, The South and the Agrarian Tradition by Twelve Southerners
Recommended by Rick Saenz and Carmon…so it better be good!! Really though I have a strong interest in this group of writers and a purely academic interest in agrarianism. Yes, yes I realize the last sentence is oxymoronic…but what can I say, agrarians never talk about rats.

4. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
Recommended by Ambleside Year 8. And by the way, don’t miss the Quiller-Couch books on Bartleby.

5. Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
I have read many of the other famous Russian novels but have never read this one. This is the book I am looking forward to the most.

6. Another Jasper Fforde, I really liked The Eyre Affair.

7. Another Alexander McCall Smith, probably the Scottish one.

8. And as always at least one John Buchan from our collection.

9. Debi Pearl’s Created To Be His Helpmate. I am a little nervous about this one. I can certainly use encouragement to be a better wife, I am just not sure this book will be the avenue. Anyone tackle this one yet?

10. Finally the children and I have found the perfect summer read alouds: Patrick McManus books, easy-to-read, funny & outdoorsy, the perfect books for reading around a campfire.

  Leave a Comment »

Yesterday I finished Norms and Nobility. I came away knowing I would be rereading this book again and again. Unfortunately, my thoughts are all tumbling over each other but I will make a few observations.

1. It was refreshing to read a book that discussed “Classical Education” which did not deteriorate into those overworn categories: grammar, logic, rhetoric.

2. I could never have written the book, but David Hicks says in 158 pages what I have come to believe about the soul of education.

3. This book has finally bridged the gap for me in my understanding of Christian education and classical education.

4. A Charlotte Mason education does more to meet the standards David describes than the typical WTM-type of structure.

5. Deputy-Headmistress is right: buy the book. The first few chapters are slow in laying the ground work but by the time you get to the end of the book it all comes together beautifully.

QUOTES:

Pg 130, ” Ecuation as paideia is not preparation for life, for college, or for work; it is our inherited means of living fully in the present, while we grow in wisdom and in grace, in conscience and in style, entering gradually into “the good life.”

pg 129, : The teacher’s true competence is not in his mastery of a subject, but in his ability to provoke the right questions….” Let’s hear it for homeschool moms !!

pg 127, ” Before he is 18, no one has time to do more than a few things well; therefore, better to teach a few subjects thoroughly than to force a child to be a mediocrity in many subjects, destroying his standards, obscuring the nature of mastery, and concealing the measure of his ignorance.” Ah, there is the rub. Those of you who conquer this monster will be the winners.

I would love to blog through each chapter of the book just to get my bearings straight but I won’t.

  Leave a Comment »

Last week, after I finished Norms and Nobility, I picked up The Christian Philosophy of Education Explained. My brain was over-worked after N & N so I didn’t get very far into the book. I decided I needed something light to read before returning to my summer list. It was at this point I spied a book that I had bought a few weeks ago and then promptly forgot about. I am a bibliophile but I do believe in reading. I hate having books on my shelf that someone has not read. It was clearly my duty to read my new purchase.

And so I began The Last Disciple by Hank ( the cow…) Hangegraff and Sigmund Brouwer. Both of them could use pen names. I am not a fan of Christian fiction so even though Doug Wilson gave this a thumbs-up I was still skeptical of my ability to wade through a silly Christian novel. “She walked into the room, immediately all eyes were upon her as her dazzling beauty filled the room.” I haven’t read another Christian fiction book (not counting Peretti) since reading a sentence like that in a Thoene book about 15 years ago.

But The Last Disciple, if not CS Lewis, is tremendous fun. The characters are well-developed and the plot works. I am not having any trouble turning the pages and will probably stay up late tonight to finish it. Then I plan to hand it out to all my pre-trib friends so that if I disappear in a twinkling….I mean… then I am going to hand it out to all my pre-trib friend so that they can have a visual picture of what it means to be post-millennial.

  Leave a Comment »

In light of my current reading of The Last Disciple, which I repeat was an enjoyable and spiritually uplifting book, here is a link to an open letter to evangelicals by The Wittenberg Door a group of well-respected theologians.

  Leave a Comment »

For those of you wanting more info on Norms and Nobility, Amy Natal has put together this summary. Hat tip to Beth from my favorite email list.

Summary of Norms and Nobility by David Hicks

  Leave a Comment »

After our supper tonight of corn-on-the-cob and peach cobbler and that’s all, my dh read-aloud from Redwall.
Martin and Brome are no different than us. We also dream all winter of simple summer meals. Nothing like a British author to make the stomach growl.

From Brian Jacques, ” Martin…’Does she cook anything nice?’
‘She cooks everything nice,’ Brome sighed longingly. ‘Mushroom and chestnut stew, wild onion and leek soup, spring vegetable pasties, nutbread, oatfarl, wheatcob, all piping hot from the ovens, She bakes blackberry and apple tarts, plum maple pudding, elderberry pie with yellow summercream, gooseberry preserv scones, hot with butercup spread-’
felldoh massaged his shrunken stomach as he wailed aloud. ‘Stop, stop! I can’t stand it. All that beautiful food.’”

  Leave a Comment »