Three educational philosophies

Three educational philosophies by Karen Sargent

We live in a world of three competing educational philosophies: Greek, Roman, and Hebrew. It's vital that you know the difference.

In the Greek model, knowledge was the highest good. Socrates said, "There
is only one good—knowledge, and only one evil—ignorance." One need not look far to see that model in popular homeschool curriculum choices, authors, and convention speakers.

In the Roman model, power and entertainment were the prizes that life had to offer.
For Caesars and citizens alike, to rule the world and then enjoy the spectacle of gladiators and lions in the Coliseum was the highest goal. One need only look at
popular American culture to see that the Roman model is alive and well today.
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Never doubt that we are making disciples through the process of education. So are private schools and public schools. The only difference is which master each disciple will serve.

We all serve a master—
and so will our children.
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The Hebrew model placed the highest value on the dual objectives expressed by Jesus when asked what was required to have eternal life. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and “. . . Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matthew 22: 37, 39b)
In Hebrew thought, having a vital relationship with both God and our fellow man was the highest priority. The Bible goes on to praise knowledge. Proverbs 18:15 exhorts us "The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge." In Colossians 2:2-3 Paul says, "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Did you follow that? God says if we're wise and discerning we will acquire knowledge; we will seek it out. But He also tells us that the treasures of all wisdom and all knowledge are hidden in Christ. If we're to acquire wisdom and knowledge, Christ must be a part of our homeschool planning process, because all wisdom and all knowledge are hidden in Him. And if our ultimate goal is to produce disciples of Him, we must teach our children to love God and to love their neighbor.

Which philosophy are we to embrace: Greek?
Roman? Hebrew? As Christians, I trust most of us can agree that the Hebrew model ought to be the basis of our educational philosophy. Power and entertainment are passing pleasures of this world which serve no eternal purpose. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge, the Bible says, simply makes us proud and arrogant. In 1 Corinthians 8:1 Paul says, "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." Both the Greek and Roman models are hollow.

I am posting after a two-month absence

I am alive. I have been extremely occupied! We have been busy with school and a lot of other things. We went to Kentucky Down Under on Friday. We had a great time. I will post soon about it.

I updated my other blog, A Butterfly in My Stomach!


Have a great day!

Your Child's Love Language

Determining your child's love language will enable you to achieve family closeness and provide a solid emotional foundation for your child while homeschooling with your curriculum from Alpha Omega Publications®. One simple test you can use to find your child's love language is to ask your child this question:

"If I was gone on vacation for several weeks, what would you like me to do when I returned home?"


• Tell you how much I missed you. (words of affirmation)
• Bring a gift back for you. (gift giving)
• Spend the day playing together. (quality time)
• Make your favorite meal for supper. (acts of service)
• Give you a big hug and kiss. (physical touch)

Although your child may say he would like you to do all of these, ask him to pick out the one action he thinks is most important. This will allow you to pinpoint his particular love language and enable you to communicate your love to him more effectively.

So, what are some practical ways of meeting your homeschooled child's need for love? Depending on your child's particular love language you might do the following:

Words of Affirmation - Mean what you say. No flattery allowed.
• Write encouraging comments like "great job" on daily papers.
• Offer sincere compliments when he demonstrates positive character qualities with siblings.
• Be polite and use "please" and "thank you" liberally.
• Praise him verbally as often as you can for both his efforts and successes in school.
• Pray aloud with him daily and ask for God's blessing on his life.

Gift Giving - It doesn't need to be expensive, just thoughtful and age appropriate.
• Purchase items (favorite candy bar, coloring book, etc.) from dollar-value stores to use as daily rewards on schoolwork.
• Choose a gift or plan an activity he has been wanting and give it as a reward for a successful school year.
• Create a surprise love bucket. Each week, fill the bucket with educational items like art supplies, an educational computer game, a new reference book, a new notebook, or other study items.
• Make homemade gifts. These gifts may even spark an interest in carpentry, sewing, photography, gardening, and other life skills.

Quality Time - Undivided attention required. No multi-tasking allowed.
• Cherish learning together. Don't hurry through school lessons.
• Take all the time necessary to work through questions he doesn't understand.
• Plan an individual homeschool field trip covering one of his subjects.
• Skip school and plan a regular date once a month to do something fun.
• Watch a movie, play a board game, or read a book together.
• Play a seasonal sport activity together for physical education class.
• Work together on a hobby he enjoys.

Acts of Service - Be creative. Go beyond the normal duties.
• Help him paint and redecorate his room.
• Plan a special party or activity for his homeschool friends.
• Wash and wax his car.
• Volunteer to help in his Sunday school class or youth group at church.

Physical Touch - Warning! This love language is not for young children only!
• Give kisses and hugs without measure!
• Cuddle in a chair while you share a book.
• Give a backrub while he is studying at the computer or the table.
• Give a pedicure or manicure as you study lessons on health.

Winter Wonderland

We had a fun time in the snow...The wind was brutal so we didn't stay out too long!




Caleb brought his push mower out to "mow" the snow. It was a hard job!



Noah loves playing with Buttercup, Peebles, B-dog, and RoseBud! Such an animal lover!



Here are some pics of the day...I am so glad, I just found my connector to the computer to upload pictures! Yay me...









Abigail found a stump seat, so I had to take a pic!




John made snow cream and it was great too! Yum Yum, now we are going to have a Wii bowling game...I hope I win!




This is the main road! Very much snow-covered!

Enjoy!

Giveaway @ The Dress-up Drawer

* These are a sample of the things TDD is giving away*


The Dress-up Drawer has a lot of giveaways and they end the earliest around February 1st! Hurry up and go over there before the cute items are gone!

Enjoy

Let it snow - quick craft to welcome snow in!

Here is a link to my new *BLOG* . There are items around your home that can be put together and made into a quick craft. It is so much fun to create and it is a visual reminder of what is coming--SNOW! It is coming if I love it or not, so I am getting really excited. I am elated that it is not ICE!

Enjoy!

Cute...Skirt refashioned into an apron dress for Abs

I had a skirt that was just too high above the knee for me (yes folks it is possible), so I refashioned it into something for Abigail. I just cut a backward "C" on both sides. Then I made a very long bias of a coordinating fabric and I sewed them to each side. I added a pocket as an embellishment...Abigail loves the pocket. This looks cute with jeans or leggings underneath. The dress can even be used as an apron....I keep all kinds of old clothing around...you never know when a REfASHION will hit you!


Here is a complete layout of the skirt-turned-into-apron-dress. I cut each side for the armholes and just made bias for each side....Had all the material...yay!



This is proof that this was my skirt!



One side tied into a bow the other side loose...



Here is my angel striking a pose...she is so camera shy ;-)