I have been fairly happy and comfortable "doing" Classical and Charlotte Mason but have recently become interested in incorporating the Principle Approach in our home education. This blog will reflect my journey and learning process using the Principle Approach. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:12:00 -0500 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:12:00 -0500 Congressman Forbes asks the questions "Did America ever consider itself a Judeo-Christian nation?" and "If America was once a Judeo-Christian nation, when did it cease to be?" on the floor of the US House.   Watch you-tube below: Judeo-Christian Nation http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/700685/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/700685/ My PA journey is facing a little crisis now as I'm returning more to my CM roots this year. I'm still being trained though and maybe I will have more to say after this year is up. I'm also working on strengthening and deepening my marriage. No crisis here, but it's good not to take things for granted. Meanwhile, meet me here. :)   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/592652/ Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/592652/ No, I didn't fall off the brink of the earth. And no, I haven't given up on the Principle Approach. Far from it!  Blogging, like many things, has to be a habit. Once you get out of the groove of things, it takes a while to get back. Well, I got out of the groove big time I guess.  Then there was also the time factor. I had wanted to spend more time being a nurturing mom than just talking  about being one. A little review: Since the beginning of the year, I haven't been very consistent with my JBC. For a while I also ran out of ideas when it dawned on me that all I really needed to do was to apply the keysheets. Anyway, I'm now ready to take a break from it so I recently bought Walking with Jesus (WWJ)  when FACE had a nice sale. DD will be in 5th grade next year and WWJ is supposedly for fourth grade but that doesn't really concern me. We're still using The Mighty Works of God and I think that's written for 1st and 2nd graders?  Talking of which, we finally completed our Daniel Boone Lapbook (took us 3-4  weeks). I think that's going to be the last lapbook we'll do for His Story in a while. We tried to make it a BPA Lapbook  that has more meat and all that, but man, it did take a while.  I may stick a picture of it here as soon as I can. DS starts Kindergarten next year and I'm seriously wondering if I should just succumb and get the Noah's Plan for him. If you have experience with the NP for Kindergarten, I would love to hear from you. Oh, we're having a little blast making mini-books for our math. That has been a great motivator for my number-phobic dd.  Each day, we also do a little scripture study on why God is concerned with numbers. She gets to write the reason and the relevant scripture on a page of the mini-book. Pretty cool. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/504979/ Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/504979/ We completed our JBC Week 6 today. I found another map of Abraham's journey today. I like it lots more. We will role-play the journey tomorrow. Anyway, I thought I could share the leading ideas my daughter came up after we were done with the key sheet on Abraham. She had minimal input from me and I thought they were pretty cool! :) Here they are. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/390801/ Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:49:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/390801/ We were supposed to have started on Week 6 last week, but things fell on the wayside. But well, the lovely thing about homeschooling is you can just pick up and go! One of the things I love about JBC (and every other subject using the Principle Approach) is that we must continually come back “to teaching concepts and principles and reasoning skills.” (Burtness, page 12). Each week, as I prepare my lessons, I have to remind myself that. It's so easy to get bogged down with details. Maybe this will become more part of me one day! We had quite a fruitful experience with Theme 1 and I now look forward to starting on Theme II. In the next two months, we shall be looking at how God prepared the key characters for “Godly self-government and liberty”. As part of my own preparation, I shall be doing key sheets for myself. After two years, I'm just getting the hang of it. Boy, I'm a slow learner! But like what dear Ms. Katherine Dang says, “IV-drip”, and “kernel by “kernel” and I claim those wonderful picture reminders for myself too. Some notes Based on this chart. Noah was still alive when Abram was born. He died when Abram was 58 years old and Shem, the son of Noah, died 35 years AFTER Abraham died. Can I assume that Abram must have heard about the flood many times? So while his father was not a good example, he probably had other godly influences.  The timeline here is different from above. Too bad I don't have the time to compare all the various time charts and to reason out which is more accurate. The point is whether Abraham had interacted with Noah or Shem, he did get the account of the flood first hand! It was possible too that Noah had at least a second hand account of the creation because his father Lamech was 58 years old when Adam died. I enjoyed this article. JBC: Year Two Theme II Week 6 “God prepares a people for Godly self-government and liberty” For the coming week, the theme focus will be based on the following passages: Genesis 12:1-4 Genesis 12:4-9 For this lesson, I'll bear in mind the following concepts. (My personal study of Abram will go beyond the recommended passages for my dd.) Hand of God in history God is sovereign and He had supreme authority over Abraham. I enjoyed reading this lesson as part of my preparation. Notice the covenantal view of the relationship between grace and works here.  “God clearly takes initiative with Abram.  God’s favor falls upon Abram and it is not Abram’s fault.  But Abram has responsibilities in this relationship.  Every relationship, by definition, is bilateral.  There are responsibilities in any significant relationship in life.  There are responsibilities on the part of both parties and Abram’s are frankly spelled out first here in Genesis 12. “ Why did He ask Abram to leave his country? Hand of God in the life of Abraham a) How did God prepare Abram? b) Godly influence/s on Abram? c) Godly character developed? d)Abram's contribution in God's purpose Relationship between individual (Christian) character and national liberty. This is related to 2d above. Okay, how will I be approaching this lesson? I plan to complete it in four days. Laying the Foundation I will print out the timeline and we will go over it. (Since I'm more familiar with AIG over the other two websites mentioned above so I'll use their timeline for this lesson). Presentation We will take turns reading the passages. We will do some mapwork. Map 1 and map 2. Quite cool. Check out this too. Discussion We'll use the key sheet on Abraham for this. Documentation She will document on the keysheet Other Activities 1. She loves to color and do crossword puzzles so I'll search for some of these worksheets for her. 2 Josh loves to role play, so we'll involve him in the journey Abram made. I'll have write out the various destinations based on the given passage, stick them around the house and we can recreate the journey. Let's see, we will have : Ur, Haran, Schechem, Hill Country and Southern Desert. The southern Desert is not the end of the journey, but we'll end there. Each time they reached a “destination”, Abram built an altar and worshipped God. Maybe we could all kneel and give thanks when we reach each destination. Application This will come to me while we're doing the lessons. :) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram waswere then in the land. seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/387688/ Sat, 8 Sep 2007 17:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/387688/   JBC : Year Two Theme 1 Week 5 For the coming week, the theme focus will based on the following passages: Genesis 6:13-22 Genesis :7:1-24 Mt. 24:36-39 Actually, we've already started work on the Key Sheet for Noah last week. DD read the passages and extracted relevant information for each category of the Key Sheet. She also had to give supporting evidence (book, chapter, verse) for each statement. We will discuss the above passages based on the following framework: The hand of God in history – God is sovereign. He has the supreme authority over the affairs of men and nations. The hand of God in Noah's life. The importance of Christian self-government Questions: Event : flood. What did God do and why? God has a plan for all our lives. How did God fulfill His plan in Noah's life? How did Noah's choices contribute to and affect God's plan? What was the result of a lack of self-government during the days of Noah? What will people be like before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? Point out verses in the passages that vividly reflect self-gratification. We will complete the Key Sheet after the discussion. Application: Does God have a plan for you? How do you know? How will your choices affect God's perfect plan for you? Reflect on some aspect sof your life that needs self-government. Other activities: A wonderful poem by John Piper. DD and Josh to make a mural together. Jan Brett's pages are always gorgeous. Another Jan Brett's activity my children will love. More for Josh but hey, I know I'll enjoy it too!   Genesis 6:13-22 13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. Genesis 7:1-24  1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. 2 You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; 3 also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” 5 And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. 7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, 9 two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— 14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. 17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit[a] of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. Matthew 24:36-39 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,[a] but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/380258/ Sun, 26 Aug 2007 23:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/380258/ For JBC, we're now on Year 2, Theme 1 Week 4. Time does not permit me to write out my lesson plans. But as I go through my lessons, I try to keep in mind the following goals (as set out by Mr. Burtness in his introduction to the JBC). I want to help my daughter: 1) To learn to identify the sovereignty of God in the lives of men and nations. 2) To understand the relationship between individual character and societal liberty. 3) To understand the Biblical basis for Christian self-government. 4) To learn to research the Bible and use related reference materials. 5)To learn to identify Biblical principles and relate them to all of life. Mr. Burtness has other goals but the above is plenty for this year. I'm glad to say JBC is one of my daughter's favorite subjects. Little Josh enjoys  listening and contributing to the discussions too. I think it is also time to listen to the tapes again. They never fail to encourage me. Oh, we've started using the Key Sheets. Now that my daughter is older, they are really useful. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/378810/ Fri, 24 Aug 2007 01:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/378810/ It's amazing how time has flown. And I've not blogged here in a while. Actually, of all my blogs - this one, and this and that  (three! am I crazy or something?), I enjoy writing for this the most. Okay, I've finally laminated Lisa Hodgen's Chain of Christianity posters and have them posted on one of the walls. I kept vacillating between hers and the FACE ones. I finally decided I like Lisa's better. Besides, I don't have to reinvent the wheel since I already have her nicely done posters (you can get those from her at a great price). Since we stopped at "Paul" last school year,  we picked up "The Bible in English" link when we started school last month. DD wrote out salient points for John Wycliffe, Johannes Guttenberg and William Tyndale on three index cards and  taped  them  under the "Bible Restored to the People" poster. Great reminder. We'll now doing Christopher Columbus ("Link to the New World)" for history and it has been a thrilling study.  The main thing I'm emphasizing is how God prepares men and then He causes events. This leading idea is so beautifully played out in the life of Christopher Columbus. It is simply so cool too to see how he was providentially directed to individuals best suited to promote his cause. Oh, I was quite happy when DD asked , "So which link will we be studying once we're done with Christopher  Columbus?" I liked that she used the word "link", lol. I pointed her to the posters on the wall and she nodded with appreciation. This is really the first year I'm actually focusing on the Chain of Christianity. Oh, exciting days ahead. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/378808/ Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:06:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/378808/ I'm enjoying my SDS study. I may write what I'm learning if I have the time. How I love soaking myself in its study and in God's Word. How we need to be renewed in our mind day by day even as we face the challenge of teaching our children. As our mind is renewed day by day, learning and teaching become a joyful experience. A liberating experience. Meanwhile, we're making progress with our JBC. We're now working on ThemeV  Week 10. This past Friday, after we discussed Acts 4 and 5, I asked my daughter to document the leading idea and to create a poster based on the leading idea. Here was what she did. The poster is not clear as she used gel pens. I thought she did a good job. For the heading she had: TODAY'S POSTER: God is more important than man. On the pink rectangular box on the left, she quoted a Bible verse Acts 5:29. Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men” Then on something that looks like a blue tombstone, she wrote yesterday's date within a flower and stated: Remember: God is the most important. And on the bottom part of the poster she had a THINK! CORNER. She had this in the green box. God is more important than man. We must obey God, not man. God is more important. One thing I can say, she was able to pick the leading idea very quickly and the whole poster really zeroed in on that. The Principle Approach allows the learner to internalize lessons that worksheets and multiple choice questions can never do. It is very exciting. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/321750/ Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/321750/ 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) This group is for families going through the Self-Directed Seminar in the Principle Approach® from The Foundation for American Christian Education. We are open to those who are new and those who are renewing their minds again. Join and ask questions and offer insight as you progress through the lessons. While we love FACE, we are not affiliated with them in any way. This is a group for those who are working through the materials. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/307698/ Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:11:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/principledlearner/307698/