Echo in Celebration: A Call to Home Centered Education, by Leigh Bortins (founder of Classical Conversations)

This great little book was easy to read, yet filled with challenging ideas and inspirational thoughts!

From the back cover:
"Ms. Bortins believes that anyone can be taught the basic tools of learning and how to apply these skills to embrace new adventures in both academics and life. Practicing the tools of learning allows students to take the talents they have been given and quickly adapt to new situations and new information. It is crucial to empower children to become world leaders and agents for change.

This book challenges parents to believe that they are created to competently pass on the love of learning about life tot heir children. True learning occurs when parents know that they, an not a principal or headmaster, are responsible for the education of their children, whether they personally teach their
children or carefully choose their children's teachers and mentors."

p. 12
"Home-Centered Education" refers to a middle ground between go it alone homeschooling and letting an institution make all the choices for your children's education.

p. 16
According to the government's own statistics...
-Until the 1950s education cost practically nothing; and the US had a literacy rate of 90% or better. Today, the District of Columbia spends over $13,000 a year per student; and...
-Less than 50% of American high school students graduate as proficient readers.
-Less than 15% of American high school students graduate as proficient mathematicians.
-In 2006, only 60% of high school seniors graduated.

p. 38-41
She talks about visiting a Jamaican Christian School where the first graders sat for an hour per day copying cursive scripture from a blackboard. She was appalled at first, but then realized ALL of them:

-could sit quietly
-could read every word
-had memorized lots of scripture
-had developed fine motor skills
-had the hand strength to hold a pencil for an hour
ALL of them had beautiful handwriting!

p. 43
"Do you ever find that young people, when they have left school, not only forget most of what they have learned (that is only to be expected), but forget also, or betray that they have never really learned how to tackle a new subject for themselves?"? (The Lost Tools of Learning- 1947, Dorothy Sayers)

p. 44
Good teachers have always fully understood that learning any information is a three step process...

I must first learn and practice the basic vocabulary, ideas and concepts of something new. Every subject has its own lingo, jargon, or grammar...

p 45 I have the skill to learn anything if I know how to:
-memorize vocabulary and rules (grammar stage)
-process new concepts (dialectic stage)
-clearly explain the grammar and dialectic to others (rhetoric stage)

Together, these skills are referred to in Latin as the "trivium" or "three roads."

can be re-named for non-academic subjects:
-input information
-process information
-output information

Proverbs 24
3 By wisdom a house is built,
  and through understanding it is established;
4 through knowledge its rooms are filled
  with rare and beautiful treasures.
5 A wise man has great power,
  and a man of knowledge increases strength;

The FIRST tool of learning is to learn the GRAMMAR.

She describes how everyone has an incredible capacity to memorize information and ability to store and manipulate large amounts of grammar. "Imagine the grocery store you shop in. If I asked you to tell me where the eggs are so I could run right in and grab them, would you be able to do so? Of course you
could. The average grocery store carries 30,000 items and you can quickly tell me where to find most of them. Why? Because it is organized by category and you've shopped in similar stores repeatedly. In other words, you've seen those items over and over again in an organized way making it easy for you to memorize the store. You can categorize 30,000 items in one location."

p. 48
"I propose a good education teaches a child how to build a grocery store of the mind for every subject."

p.50
Education through DIALECTIC:

"Dialectic is often referred to as logic or critical thinking skills.I prefer to think of it as a dialogue to clear reasoning...

Dialectic skills are best learned through puzzles, discussions and group interaction led by an enthusiastic teacher... This is where we need to copy Jesus' model of discipling a few students at a time to be effective."
 
p. 53
Education through RHETORIC:

"Rhetoric has come to mean "sound bite" and propaganda to moderns. To classical, Christian students, it means to practice specific skills in order to be the most persuasive in expressing truth, goodness and beauty."

Chapter 5 Learning for Life

"Parents often ask for a complete subject scope and sequence for implementing the classical model. That question reveals a lack of understanding about the classical model. Instead (she has a chart that lists) a simple scope and sequence of skills taught in a classical education. The focus is on goals that
develop a free, competent human, able to confidently confront and conquer new ideas."

"The classical model is skill-based, not merely subject-based."

Chapter 6 Home-Centered Education has 3 guiding principles:

1) I am going to work hard and consistently as my child's primary discipler. She encourages reading aloud for over an hour daily and to restrict (or get rid of) TV and video games. Tell stories, play games... Controlling technology is one of our hardest challenges.

2) I am going to concentrate on teaching my students the tools of learning anything.

"The key to a classical education is modeling."

Most students don't really know what they are to master, why they are to master it, or are given the skills to master the information. Academic goals for inexperienced students should be clearly defined tasks, starting with mastering basic skill.

3) I am going to find many resources that challenge my child's mind and heart as well as finding a like-minded companion for the journey. She talks about how to find friends and mentors for our children.

Chapter 7 The Purpose:

Studying to Glorify God
"Catechism comes from the Greek meaning to resound or echo, to celebrate or initiate, to repeat another's words or deeds...... All of the educational models throughout history until the Enlightenment emphasized the idea of catechesis. It began with memorizing a set of facts and having the student echo the facts to a teacher. Then a discussion could begin that celebrated that information as God
given and used to initiate a student into a new world of thought.... Resounding scripture, seeing it in larger and newer contexts, and teaching it to someone else allows us to echo His joy. Catechesis!"

p. 105: "True education should prepare us to love learning and to see the world from God's side of the sky. Learning should affect the heart as much as the head. We should help our students look for challenging mentors more than easy textbooks. The original role of education in the church was to have students discipled by someone who looked out for their whole heart- a lover of Christ who transferred his or her delight in the Lord, somehow to show the students that they could receive His blessings now."

"We celebrate our life's purpose- to know God and make Him known!"

And from the final chapter:

"It is very hard work ro teach children 'to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him' in a home-centered environment, but the Psalms say that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Since every reference in the Bible about teaching is given to parents or church leaders, it follows that Christians should provide the
majority of a youth's instruction. To think otherwise is to trust non-Christians to teach your children the wisdom of God. I want my children to know I value sharing Christ and His creation with them and that there is no greater honor for me than being God's play-fellow with them. This may sound impossible to you, but if you seek first the kingdom of God, you will have those magic moments when your children know their home resides on holy ground."   wow! ;-)

I was so inspired by reading this simple, easy to read book. I highly recommend you read it for yourself to gain a better, more complete understanding of a *Christian* approach to classical education. You can purchase the book here:Classical Conversations Bookstore
or there is also a copy available at the Southeast Christian Church Children's Library (which is open to non-church members.)

All for His glory,

Terese Cooper
www.classicalconversations.com