The Secret to Homeschooling Freedom

I recently downloaded an article from Homeschool Freebie of the Day (you can still get the article here) entitled, "The Secret to Homeschooling Freedom" by Joanne Calderwood. It's subtitled, "How the self-teaching method can revolutionize your homeschool!" We've all heard of self-teaching, as homeschoolers, and I'm sure we all have varying degrees of understanding as to what it truly means. I remember early in my homeschooling days, being told indefatigably, that all homeschooled children would be teaching themselves by fourth grade! Like it just automatically happened as a result of homeschooling! No planning for it by laying the proper foundation. No practicing it with an eye toward any "goal". And no specific direction for reaching that point. Personally, we've used "on-your-own" time, and I confess to sometimes acting as though it was my vacation! Subsequently, those times were sporadic and admittedly neglectful.

I have to say, I'm beginning to understand more correctly, the need, motivation, and results that may come from having children self-learn. Sure, there are extra benefits of more time for mom to get that laundry done and bake bread, or more importantly, be with younger siblings, but what are we really talking about? Instead of the issue being all about "me", suddenly I'm seeing a different picture. One of excellence and purpose. This way of thinking and doing fits perfectly with our foundation of Biblical Principle Approach (The Principle of Self-Governing) as well as our desire to instill habit (good habits!) as a way of life.

Shame on me for never considering that my now fourth grader would need training to study. Or even learn the purpose of record-keeping. Shame on me for setting goals for my children and never letting them in on 'em. Shame on me for doing more for him than I should and thus, not allowing him to do all he could for himself!

As I consider the ideas put forth in the article, I realize that, like any good revelation, the thought process can be defining. I honestly feel as if God has given us a gift of revelation! After I absorbed the information from the article and prayed it through, I sat down with son and told him what I was seeing. He didn't bat an eye, but rather considered it as the next logical step in his "growing up". So, game on!

I'm now working on his own record-keeping pages for his notebook, then I'll be transferring some of my planning sheets for the next quarter over to him to use for his daily work. We'll take a step-by-step approach at first, with him beginning by checking off and owning each task. Then, he'll record his daily efforts. Lastly, he'll plan for his own days. I'm not certain how much time will be between these efforts. We'll take it a week at a time and see. We will also still do a few subjects together: Bible, History read-alouds, and Math. Also possibly Science (Exploring Creation With Botany) as daughter has listened in on our lessons and has picked up quite a bit that she is obviously interested in!

I believe son will truly blossom (do son's blossom?) with this thinking. I'm also encouraged that it will allow our time together to be less taskmaster driven and more Mommy driven, as this has bothered us all from time to time! I'm sure it won't hurt daughter, either!

Now daughter, who just turned "the mighty FIVE", will also begin her training by checking off each subject she accomplishes each day. That will be her job.

If you can't tell, I'm really excited about this next step in our homeschooling journey. God always provides a way, the resources, and the grace and mercy we need to live each day. It doesn't get much better than that!

Leading Ideas

I've been revisiting some of the basics of Biblical Principle Approach as I continue to work on developing our Bible lessons. In particular, discovering leading ideas in passages of scripture. I am, by no means, an authority, however I have gleaned enough from other BPA sources and friends to be dangerous!

So, what is a leading idea? According to the Foundations for American Christian Education (FACE), "A Leading Idea...is an idea that leads the reasoner down a pathway." This comes from researching the word "lead" in Webster's 1828 Dictionary. Some might argue that there is not much difference between a leading idea and a Biblical principle. They could be the same, however a principle will not be as "passage specific".

I really enjoyed Mandi's (can't find the specific post) write-up on "how to tell if you have found a principle" (or a timeless truth, as she calls it). Basically, she asks the questions...

1. Is it a statement about God's character? God never changes.
2. Is it reinforced in the New Testament? Then it's transcultural.
3. Is it a statement about the nature of man? We're still sinners.
4. Is the original audience very broad? Transcultural again.
5. Is it a reason for something? Reasons are often principles.
6. Is it given as a superlative statement? Always, never, everything...etc.

A great resource that I have, and hope to use more is, The Encyclopedia of Bible Truths, by Ruth Haycock. I can't even begin to explain to you all that is in the now four-volume set. Suffice it to say, it gives Biblical leading ideas, through scripture, for most areas of study.

Personally, my objective is not only to teach Biblical principles and foundations, but to more thoroughly examine the heart issues of our daily walk with Him who is greater than all our sin. I say "our", because this as much involves myself, as my children!

I made up a leading idea sheet for our notebooking, to cover our growth through these scriptural leading ideas. The second page can be copied multiple times as you continue your Bible reading. I wrote this, at the top of the first page, so I wouldn't 'forget' what we were doing!:

A Leading Idea is an idea that leads the reasoner down a pathway.
It is a thought that stands out in every single passage of God's Word.
It is always true.
It might be different each time you read the passage
(because of the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit).
And, it will always spur you on to reflection, prayer, and action.

Preparing Judah Bible Lessons Using E-Sword

Finally! Here is the much requested post on how I use E-Sword to prepare my Judah Bible Curriculum (JBC) Lessons. (You can read about our Bible lessons here.)

If you've already downloaded E-Sword, check for updates (they just had one at the end of Feb.) and you'll be set to go. If not, you can do that here. Of course, you'll want to familiarize yourself with it a bit, but you'll find it very user-friendly. I'll share some of my own tips and tricks along the way.

The Setup:
After downloading the original package, I selected the versions of the Bible that I wanted to use. ESV (English Standard Version) is our main version. I also had to have Webster's 1828 Dictionary, Strong's linking to the KJV (which comes with the main download) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK). These were "musts" in my book! Without them, I couldn't find what I needed for teaching. All are available for free from E-Sword. And much more!

I have my Bible and Dictionary (on the left) of about equal size. [Oh yes! You can adjust the size by clicking on the outlines and dragging, just like in Windows!] The right is reserved for Topic Notes, Commentary, & Study Notes. This is my biggest, because this is where all the work comes together.

I set my lessons up in what is called the Topic Notes. Here you can title your study and keep it. Other options include linking it directly to the passage of scripture, but this doesn't work for more than one verse. I usually title my lessons like this: JBC 3:3:6. This tells me it's JBC (Judah Bible Curr.) Year 3, Theme 3, Lesson #6.

After I put an actual title on the blank topic notes page, with the actual names of the theme, lesson and the scripture passage, I begin with Day 1. I have found that by breaking the lesson into days (I number them), prevents me from trying to cover more than one IDEA each day. This is a Biblical Principle Approach (BPA) thought that has kept me from overwhelming my children.

I do not usually follow "weeks" as JBC is scheduled. Though I TRY to stick to a week, for continuity's sake, if a lesson takes us 10 days, or three, so be it. This will usually be apparent as soon as you review the scripture passage to be studied. There are certain things that I include in every lesson. I have broken those down by days, or daily.

Narration:
We narrate at the beginning and end of each portion of scripture read. At this point in time, we are only using oral narration, but will be adding written beginning next year (4th grade). I could go on and on about this, but I'll send you over here, for the sake of brevity.

Timeline:
Looking at where on the timeline, or Chain of Christianity (COC), we are with this passage. My COC looks like the following and is a combination of the original COC, and my own thoughts on the importance of certain historical times and places. We look at this briefly for each lesson (or week). We especially note how God's Word may tell the story of a "prophet", but also include the last link--the "Restoration: As for Me and My House" link, as we ask what lessons God wants us to learn. My links on the chain have changed as we've grown. They now include:

Creation
The Patriarchs
Moses and the Law
The Flood
Prophets, Priests and Kings
Jesus and the Cross
Paul, and the Early Christian Church
The Bible Restored
Columbus, and the Explorers
The Pilgrims
One Nation Under God
Westward Expansion and Erosion
Restoration: As For Me and My House

Putting the Week's Lessons Together:
First, I look up the passage that I'm lesson planning. Once I have it selected and before I copy the passage over, I mark it up! I'm a big "marker". I write all over my Bible (& books) when I read. Underlining, circling, highlighting. You can do some of this right in E-Sword and it will remain there! Then when you copy the passage(s) over to your lessons, the markings will be there. Then, of course, you can add more marking as you consider the relevance of your lesson and the ages of your children. As I copy the passage of scripture over to the topic notes [*Hint*: You have several options for copy and paste, including drag and drop. I like the "2 papers with red star" button, above your "Bible" that allows you to choose the format you want your verses to appear in.], I also use my actual paper Bible! I have so many of my own notes and marking there that are a great reminder of previous thoughts and prayers. Since I've learned that this process can be long, it's nice to know the passages ahead of time and study them throughout the days and weeks; keeping notes with my more portable paper Bible, before I sit down to prepare the lesson. My husband has taken to only using his laptop now. He even takes it to church with him. Weirdo! :) Now, once the scripture is copied over, I mark some more and even add in my own "spoken" commentary. I do this in red so I don't...ummm...get confused! Ha!

Leading Question:
After I've reviewed the whole passage, I will come up with a Leading Question. The leading question is the ONE thing for the whole lesson that principally stands out. In other words, if I could only have them learn one thing, what would it be. Another way to look at it, is something that "leads" the child through the lesson to a particular conclusion or thought. It is usually not looking for a specific answer, but a process of reasoning that builds their knowledge, heart and character in the Lord. Examples would include: "Why is the past important to understanding the future?" "What is our responsibility toward God?" "How does God reveal Himself in times of peace?" This was one of the more difficult things I had to learn, because I was used to "yes" "no" questions. It takes practice, for sure!

Discussion & Notebooking Questions:
After I have the scripture in place and marked, I will add any other thoughts & questions I wish to share or discuss. Then I'll finish that days plan with a question geared toward that particular section of scripture. I do this for each day, leading up to answering the leading question. I take all the questions for the week and put them on a Word doc with writing lines. Son answers each days question as it comes and then adds the sheet to his notebook. Here is an example of that.

Bible as Literature:
Now, on Day 1 of the lesson, we always cover "Bible as Literature". This is something that I also learned from BPA and since we read a lot but don't yet do "Literature" as a separate topic, I add in this bit.

Basically, we just look at five elements. We identify the type of literature: letter, biography, historical narrative, poetry, etc; and who penned it for God. We'll talk about the setting for our passage, and the plot and theme. Discussing the theme is a good way to perpetuate the leading question. They are usually linked. Lastly, we'll talk about the characterization, or who God is dealing with in this particular passage. This really takes no time at all and gets us thinking about the Bible as a whole story and message from God.

Scripture Memorization:
On Day 2 of the lesson, I introduce the memory selection. Son will write it out on a 3x5 card and insert it in his memory box. You can read more about our memory box system here.

Biblical Principles & the Providences of God
Our Judah Bible lessons would not be complete without looking at the Biblical Principles of the lesson, and the many Providences of God throughout the passage. These are key elements to Biblical Principle Approach. You can read about the seven foundational principles here.

We do this on Thursday, where ever that may fall in our lesson. Because God is so awesome and His word so perfect, we could easily cover every principle we could think of with each lesson! I've done this...it's time consuming, to say the least! I recommend selecting one or two principles as the focus. As you begin to learn the seven foundational principles, you will begin to see other principles shine forth: another benefit of this Bible study methodology. When you find yourself with a profound Biblical truth, you have a "principle". We have a particular one that we are focusing on at least for this year. It's even on my blog. It is something that the husband shared with us and God has used to greatly guide us in all our daily activities.

"A loving relationship always equals obedience,
but obedience does NOT always equal a loving relationship."

We've had a few "wow" moments with that one, and that's the idea of learning and focusing on Biblical Principles!

When we look at God's Providences, we are also looking at the nature of God; who He is and how He works. We do that by focusing on the five P's:

God's Promises
God's Purposes
God's Preparation
God's Protection
God's Provision

As you learn these, you will see evidence of them throughout every subject in HIStory and, of course, the Bible. It truly reinforces how Mighty is our God!

Using Definitions in the Lesson:
Let's face it, there are some pretty "big" words in scripture! I find myself checking definitions just to make sure "I" know what they mean! This is important to BPA lessons (which, if you haven't figured that out yet, Judah Bible is). It builds a foundation of understanding and reasoning through research. This is a great way for kids to begin to see that it's easy to find out about something you don't know. You could go a bit crazy with this, but I try to limit it to 1-3 words per week. I'll use the Webster's on E-sword and copy over the entire definition [drag & drop!]. Then I'll go through and delete any that don't pertain to the particular use of the word. Next year, I'll have son (who will be 9) begin to look up the words himself in the BIG Webster's! This will be a great notebooking exercise.

Using Hymns or Choruses:
Often times the Lord will bring to mind a hymn or chorus from the passage we are studying. I'll just include the lyrics somewhere in my topic notes so that I remember it. [It's great that you can highlight and copy from almost any program, or the web, and paste it into E-Sword.] I love this opportunity to more fully embrace what the Lord is teaching us; to bring it "home", so to speak, and make it our own. We sing daily and can't get enough.

Using Greek or Hebrew:
This is somewhat new to us. I'm beginning to get a better grasp on understanding that our English translations don't always have the same fullness of meaning as the original languages. With the Strongs #'s linking to the original languages, you just roll over the # and see a box pop up with the info! It's very helpful! They don't have duel languages, side-by-side, yet. At least that I know of!

Character Lesson:
We've been incorporating character lessons in our week for about two years. This year, however, I'm using our Bible lesson as the catalyst. We either examine a particular character trait from the main figure in the scripture we are looking at, or a character trait that we are being directly instructed about. [We use the "Bible" (see top menu), "Search" feature.] It is also adding a great personal emphasis to our learning! There are a lot of sources for various character lessons, but the main one we began with was characterjournal.com. After using these lessons for awhile, it's easy to see the main components and come up with your own lessons. They will always include:

A definition
How the trait is demonstrated
Scripture
Examples
"I Will" or application statements

We do these lessons on Fridays.

Other E-Sword Elements:
I've already mentioned the Bible versions, the Dictionary, and even the Greek and Hebrew (which are also available through E-Sword). Another thing I occasionally will look at is Matthew Henry's commentary, though I'm not a big fan of commentaries for they are fallible. It can help your thought process.

I enjoy the TSK because you can see what other verses in the Bible deal with the same info. I like to have other passages, especially from OT & NT, whenever possible--it is one book! These things are very easy to use in E-Sword. Any time you highlight a verse in the Bible window, then click on the supplement, it'll open up to that passage, or reference point. Everything is copyable into your topic notes. Can't beat that!

Another thing I use a lot is the Search feature. If you click on "Bible" at the very top, then "Search" you can fill in and find just about anything you want. This is particularly useful with the Character Lesson, for you can do a key word search, or if you can't remember where a verse is!

There are so many helpful tools available, I've only begun to check them all out and I've been using this program for almost three years.

Another thing I'll mention is fonts. I changed my Bible font, and Dictionary font to be different from the default Topic Notes font. That way, when I copy scripture over, and type my own notes between, you can more clearly see where one ends and another begins. You can do this under "Options".

Using a Template:
Since I use the same elements each week, including the formatting, I created a template that I "fill in" each week. This keeps a bit of continuity for me and helps me remember things such as when I want to look at the Timeline, or when to narrate. You can do this by creating the format (which is just a lesson without the content), saving it under the name "Template", then opening it, and copying the contents to a new topic.

Printing:
I print out the entire lesson and keep it in my notebook, but you don't have to. In the topic notes, if you don't wish to print your whole lesson, you may highlight a certain section, then when you press the "magnifying glass on paper" button, you can print just what is highlighted. This really helps if you are only printing one day's worth at a time.

If you are using Windows Vista, you may have printing problems. The best solution, in that case, is to copy your document over to Word and print from there.

Special Note on Saving Your Work:
Be sure to periodically hit the "disc" button to save. Though it operates on auto-save, I have lost whole lessons before when my computer has died. It's not quite what Blogger auto-save is. It never hurts to be cautious.

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Here is a sample of a finished lesson. I hope that this has been, and will be, helpful to you. I had planned to do this with screen shots, but getting into that was more than I bargained for. If there is anything that I've left out, or if you have more specific questions, feel free to ask me in the comments. I'll answer them there so that I can keep track. JBC is great, E-Sword is great, and God's Word can't be beat! Put 'em all together, with the leading of the Holy Spirit, and you can have some great Bible lessons! God bless your time in the Word!

Teaching Bible

For the last two years we have been using the Judah Bible Curriculum. This, to me, is more of a scope and sequence based on Principle Approach, than it is a "curriculum". There is nothing "done" for you, other than the topics laid out over a four year rotation. The notes are a guide for teaching principally and historically, with one objective being to see all of scripture as ONE story.

When we bought it, it immediately became apparent that it was going to take work. I was committed to teaching principally and Biblically. I wanted my children to understand God and scripture in a way that many adults don't. I yearned for their hearts to be wholly His and their wisdom to be of heavenly things.

But it takes work. It takes weekly effort. Often hours of preparation. The thing is, it's His Word. It's not planning a lesson on Mozart or Little House on the Prairie. It's His Word. To me, there can be nothing more important.

It saddens me when I hear people wanting to find something easier. I know I struggle with this in many of our subjects, but with Bible I can't go there. It's that important to me. That time as much nourishes me, as I know it will nourish my kids. The idea that God has as much for me to learn as two little ones, humbles me.

Very early on I realized that it wasn't so much about teaching the Bible, or even learning the Bible, it was about growing relationships rooted and grounded in the King of Kings, the Creator, the Alpha and Omega, the Son of Man, the Lamb of God.

I know that many believers just don't know how to go about teaching Bible. I know I've struggled at different times and to varying degrees with my own time in the Word, and imagine that most do as well. This was, therefore, an opportunity to change that. Because I'm practical by nature, having the scope and sequence was a great start. Also, having a meaning to our homeschool--a methodology which both exemplifies purpose and learning style, gave me the "how". This was our Principal Approach. From there, I knew it had to be just me and the Holy Spirit. And no! that's not always comfortable and it's definitely not easy. And yes. Sometimes I look at "packaged" programs and my brow furrows, but I say "no". And sometimes I even try to do it in my own power. It doesn't work.

The other day on a loop I saw someone selling Judah Bible and their comment was that they were replacing it with a history program. Bible is HIStory but Bible is not "History". They are very different for learning purposes. I was telling my husband that if I could do nothing else, I would do just Bible and it would be enough. Historically speaking, folks used to only have the Bible to teach with. They learned to read with it and they learned about life from it. Why is it not often good enough?

When we talk to people about homeschooling and hear the inevitable "I could never do that", I always tell them truthfully that God gives you what you need to accomplish the task set before you. Whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually, He supplies.

One resource I feel very blessed with is E-Sword. If you are not familiar with it, it is a free Bible package download. A ton of different versions are available as well as Webster's 1828 Dictionary (which is the only legitimate dictionary, as far as I'm concerned! :)), commentaries like Matthew Henry and the really awesome Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. You can have the Septuagint, the Textus Receptus and much more.

I can start a "topic" for a new lesson, drag and drop scripture, definitions, and commentary notes right to it. I can write all my own notes and questions, search the scriptures, highlight and change the layout, then print it. In other words, it's invaluable! We may think we are starting with a bare slate when we choose a program like Judah Bible, but with God there is no BARE slate.

Maybe the fact that many don't want to teach it is a reflection of what is happening in many churches. I don't know. It seems like that makes sense, but it's sad for whatever reason. My hope would be that in any homeschool community, whether at home or via computer, that mom's would help, support, and lift up each other in teaching God's Word. Share your plans, your struggles and your light bulb moments. Share how the children are growing in their relationships with the Lord. AND that they would never settle for "good enough".