If you have always wondered what The Principle Approach® is all about, now is the time!

There are several yahoo groups you can join to learn more about the Principle Approach®, but one group you may want to join NOW is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sdssupport/

Karen Brummett has taken over as the moderator of the group and I know she will bring into it a new lease of life. Brenda Mac Menamin did a great job last year but unfortunately I dropped out after a few weeks due to other commitments.

I have not abandoned learning more about the approach though.  I've been reading and studying on and off the following:

Mr. James Rose : Guide to American Christian Education (GACE)

Mr. Burt Burtness: The Third Althernative

The Noah's Guide to Teaching Mathmatics published by FACE.

America's Providential History published by Providence Foundation

I've also been blessed by Lisa Hodgen's Freedom and Simplicity in His Story.

Maybe after nearly two years of skimming on the surface, I'm ready to finally dig deeper into it. I know several of my BPA friends are excited about this. Won't you join us?

There is no stress. The discussion starts sometime in mid-April but you can take your time and not feel left behind. All of us are different with different amounts of responsibilities. I think Karen will ensure that anyone can drop in any time and no one need to feel pressured to do what she is not able to. We are all at different seasons of life, aren't we? And the Lord will show us how we can incorporate study into our busy lives when we let Him!

Description of the Self-Directed Seminar Support Group (sdssuport)

Word Study

I thought I could share a little of what I'd been learning from the SDS.

When I studied “Lesson 2 – Gaining the Mind of Christ in Education”, it hit me so strongly again that truly, the Principle Approach was what I'd been seeking all these years of foraging through tons of different curricula. I'm just so blessed to have “met” Anna-Marie last July when I “chanced” upon her PA blog. But we know there are no coincidences...I was just primed for it, by being at the right place at the right time...thank you, Lord!

Well, back to what I have learned in this lesson. I love that the Principle Approach inculcates the habit of research by beginning with the Bible through the Word Study.

Word Study Format

The Word Study is more than going to a dictionary to look for the definition of the word in question.

It is the tool of biblical scholarship that places the student on the pathway of reflective thinking and deductive reasoning derived from the elevation of Scripture.

God's Word is hence the center of learning.

So how does one do a Word Study?

The SDS has a sample Word Study based on the word, “heritage” on page 26.

I have written the following steps based on the sample Word Study and my SDS reading to aid me in my own Word Study. I also plan to use these steps when I do  Word Study with my daughter.

1. Define the assigned word by using the Webster's 1828 Dictionary.

2. Define key words within the Webster definition.

3. Record relevant Scriptures that use the assigned word. A Bible Concordance is needed for this. Doing a “Word Search” found in www.biblegateway.com could be used instead.

4. Relate the assigned word to my life by writing its definition in my own words.

5. Deduce Biblical principles from the study of the assigned word. This is what we usually describe as “reasoning out” in BPA parlance.

6. File the written record of the study on my notebook for future reference.

The most challenging aspect of the Word Study must be step 5.

What this entails is, based on the Biblical facts (from the relevant Scriptures), we draw out or deduce Biblical truths and identify them in the form of principles to the word being studied. The reasoning builds upon truth already researched.

The above steps represent the sequence used by the model Word Study. They are however not meant to be followed in a “lock stepped” fashion. For example, relating and reasoning (steps 4 and 5) can be or are usually done simultaneously.

In this lesson, one of the assignments was to complete a Word Study for the word “renew”. I was also to reason and relate Biblical principles in light of my study on education.

This was how I did my study.

Word study on “renew”

1. I defined the assigned word from the dictionary and underlined a key word from the definition which I had wanted further clarification.

RENEW', v.t. [L. renovo; re and novo, or re and new.]

1. To renovate; to restore to a former state, or to a good state, after decay or depravation; to rebuild; to repair.

Asa renewed the altar of the Lord. 2Chron. 15.

7. To make new; to make fresh or vigorous; as, to renew youth; to renew strength; to renew the face of the earth.

Ps. 103. Is. 40. Ps. 104.

8. In theology, to make new; to renovate; to transform; to change from natural enmity to the love of God and his law; to implant holy affections in the heart; to regenerate.

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12. Eph. 4.

2. The key word within definition (1) I looked up was “restore”. I wanted further illumination on “renew” by looking further into this word.

RESTO'RE, v.t. [L. restauro. This is a compound of re and the root of store, story, history. The primary sense is to set, to lay or to throw, as in Gr. Solid.]

4. To bring back or recover from lapse, degeneracy, declension or ruin to its former state.

- Loss of Eden, till one greater man restore it, and regain the blissful seat.

- Our fortune restored after the severest afflictions.

5. To heal; to cure; to recover from disease.

His hand was restored whole like as the other. Matt. 12.

9. To revive; to resuscitate; to bring back to life.

Whose son he had restored to life. 2Kings 8.

10. To return or bring back after absence. Heb. 13.

3. Relevant scriptures are recorded on “renew”

1. 2 Chronicles 15:8
   And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.
   

2. Psalm 51:10
   Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
   

3. Psalm 103:5
   Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
   
   

4. Isaiah 40:31
   But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
   
   

5. Lamentations 5:21
   Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

6. Romans 12:2
   And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

7. 2 Corinthians 4:16
   For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

8. Ephesians 4:23
   And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
   

9. Colossians 3:10
   And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

10. Titus 3:5
    Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

4. My personal definitions of “renew”

1) To be renewed means a fresh start, a new beginning, a return to what God had in mind for my life when He created me; it means to be aligned with God's will for me and my children. And this renewal is possible when I truly desire it, wholeheartedly long for it, deliberately seek after it, and when I patiently wait on the Lord. It is also only by God's mercy that this work of grace can be effected.

2) To be renewed means to have a mind and heart washed and cleansed daily so that I can walk in God's light, moment by moment.

3)To be renewed also assumes that I had moved away from a good state of something: relationship, position, standing. Over the years, my heart has grown cold and I've allowed sinful attitudes to creep stealthily into my life. I now want to be restored to the former relationship I had enjoyed with the Lord; I desire to re-establish what was good and virtuous; I need to replace what is wrong or corrupted with what is right and godly. I need to be healed.

5. Biblical principles deduced from word study in the light of education

1. I have the responsibility of renewing my mind before teaching my children.

2. I need to renew my understanding of what “education” is all about and to put away methods and ideas of education that are secular and not biblical.

3. God can and will help me be renewed for the task of educating my children.

4. I need to be continually renewed for the task ahead.

5. As my mind is renewed, my life will be transformed, and my approach to education too will be transformed as it glorifies more and more of Christ and less and less of man...

So there you have it. I'm sure your lesson outcome (if you are also doing the SDS) is not identical to mine, but one thing is certain, doing a Word Study is a blessing!

Thanks to Anna-Marie (I'm so saddened to see her leave this blogging community) who started the online study group and to Brenda for moderating and mentoring the group, I'm embarking on the Self-Directed Seminar (SDS) beginning this week.

So begins my real PA journey...

While I fully intend to continue with the JBC and TMWOG, I think I shall postpone posting any lesson plans/reviews based on these two curricula till I'm done with the SDS (April through August). Time is the main factor. Wanting to focus in another.

Last year, around August, my interest in the PA was piqued. So I acquired the JBC and jumped right in without really appreciating the PA. Not long after that, Ms. Katherine Dang's tapes made an impact on me. That clarified the approach so much better. A couple of months later, I acquired Mr. James Rose's ACE and of course that opened my eyes wider. I subsequently ordered TMWOG and also jumped right in...

But the time has come for me to pause. To rethink what I've been doing. To be renewed. To embark in earnest this PA journey...

SDS is what I need at this point of my journey.

I may share what I've learned when time permits, and Lord willing, I can report that I have joyfully completed the SDS come August.

I see lots of hard work ahead. But for my children's sake, I cannot do less.