I am soooo excited to share with you all that we have some new Biblical Principle Approach bloggers so stop by and wish them well and encourage them in their homeschooling/blogging journey!!

Karen over at www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffee4meplease

Summer over at www.homeschoolblogger.com/onwisdomspath

Renae over at www.reflective.homeschooljournal.net

They each have precious wisdom to share on how God has been moving in their homeschool through using the Biblical Principle Approach to delve into God’s word and uncover the delightful morsels of truth contained in His Biblical Principles!!  Partaking of God’s word in EVERY part of life, including education, is so rich and rewarding and satisfying to the soul of man…that is why God told us to ‘TASTE’ and see that the Lord is GOOD.

I’m telling y’all it’s GOOD over here!!!!!!

…not always easy..He didn’t promise that…but He did promise the reward of HIS WISDOM if we seek diligently for it.  So give these gals a shout out!!!

I think I am beginning to really appreciate and understand the notebook approach and the purpose of the student’s notebook. Much of the content in these workbooks can be recorded in a workbook as I teach. I see how that is possible and better(in my estimation) than having it printed in on a workbook page that u just ‘fill’ in the answers.

For example, in Abeka’s Spelling curriculum(which I use only parts of) they have some of the phonetic rules printed on the workbook page in the spelling text. I did not buy the Phonics text b/c I just didn’t ‘feel’ it like I did with buying the Arithmetic. But it dawned on me that since I did not have the Phonics text make her notebook her Phonics text. Record the phonics rules as we come across them, record the word lists, record any tests taken, record spelling lists, word analysis….and refer to these pages just like we would with a text when she needs to review something.

The same for arithmetic…for arithmetic record mathmatical principles, record addition families(in addition to oral drill), record counting by 1, 2, 5, 10 up to 100 or 200 and refer to these page
; keep in chart form, record 100 counting chart….

I’m beginning to see the value in notebooking and beginning to understand the term ‘notebook methodology’. Upon reading that section in GACE some months ago I always just thought it meant put what u learn in a notebook…I think it’s purpose goes deeper than that. What our children(or us for that matter) record by way of learning, or insight, or information, our reasonings, enable us to internalize what we write down. If WE write from our own understanding it then becomes ours, rather than a writer of a textbook writing it for us…we are so much the more ‘removed’ from the revelation of it if it comes from a ‘workbook’

I remember when I was in school when we used to have to write words 3x each or write addition facts and because I wrote it down I was able to remember quicker and what I spent time recording stayed with me. Now the only difference is that I desire to impart an understanding to my children about why certain words are spelled the way they are(phonics rules) or how we can see God in what we study(biblical foundation) or the explanation as to why 2 is an even number…or why 58 is greater than 49.(rules of arithmetic)

I guess I see now why in the SDS and even GACE it encourages you to write down your philosophy of education, government, defintions, your own study of each principles and key words…It then becomes yours and as u grow in understanding u can refer back to these writings and quite possibly glean even more insight and wisdom.

Well all I can say is that u can learn much by studying but you can learn even more by doing and allowing God to show u how to put into action what you studied.

I thank Him for leading, guiding, and instructing me……

Thanks to Kim(Hey Kim!!) I am now able to display our version of the Chain of Christianity. I have a copy for my dd’s notebook but with a timeline.

This is the view of all 10 links.

This next view is so that u can see the detail…I think it is neat…I’m excited to start lessons…

My heartfelt thanks go out to Kim who helped to make this possible….:-)

Well, looking at it in these pictures I guess we need to break on down and get a digital camera.  These were taken with my camera phone…oh well, hopefully u get the idea…it looks much better in person!!

I just wanted to share my philosophy of education. I wrote this up in the early days of studying about this approach. I”ve added bits and pieces as my mind was renewed little by little…

MY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

GOD

I feel that my children need to be instructed in the ways of
the Lord. They need to receive
instruction from the Word of God in how they are to live lives pleasing unto
the Lord.

I believe they should also be taught and led into having an
intimate relationship with God as they learn line upon line, precept upon
precept how to submit their will to the Holy Spirit living within them.

GOD’S WORLD

They should also be educated about the world God created for
us to live in. and it’s history(His past workings and dealings in the lives of
individual men/women and nations) so that they may be enabled to obey the
commission given by God to “…subdue the earth…”, “i.e. acquire a knowledge and
mastery over his material environment to bring it’s elements into the service
of the race.” P. 3 NIV Study Bible.

In studying the “academic subjects” of God’s creation my
children need to be able to see it’s origins and biblical purpose in the word
of God. My desire is for them to be able
to research God’s Word(the origin of all things) and to be able to reason from
the scriptures and discern the governing principles that have been established
by God in each and every subject/topic that is studied FOR THE PURPOSE OF
applying what they learn of these principles to their lives so that their lives
would testify of Christ. This will form
a worldview with Christ as the Alpha and Omega of all things; of all of life; whereby
the child will see the Providence of God(or see the Hand of God always present
and active) in “…all things pertaining to life and godliness.”  This will also equip them to govern themselves in a godly manner in whatever station in life they are called to.
Any education that divorces God, His purpose, and His
principles from it’s course of study(curriculum) is a DEAD education; it has no
life, no inspiration, no hope-and that type of education will NOT impart any
life-giving sustenance NOR a love of (excitement about) learning.

It is God’s Spirit that quickeneth or gives life to ANY and
ALL things. The letter killeth

2 Cor. 3:6

Who also hath made us able ministers
of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter
killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

It is the principles of the Word of God, identified and applied (to each life-being a DOER of the word and not a hearer only…) that gives life to the human spirit(internal), then eventually the whole being of man(external)

The LETTER of education is academics without God

The SPIRIT of true education has Christ “…and Him
crucified..” at the beginning, middle, and end of academics…and all that God purposed in Christ realized in the life of every Christian.

…Christ being the
reason FOR there being any “academics” to study at all!!

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

In my previous post on How would education look in your home using the BIBLICAL PRINCIPLE APPROACH I mentioned that as you continue to study, pray, and wait on God for revelation and understanding He would begin to form in you His vision for education in Your home. I just wanted to clarify this for those who may not understand what I mean. What I mean by that statement is that as God gives you HIS vision for your family with regards to education you will begin to know what your family needs educationally, emotionally, and spiritually, even physically…and you will begin to understand how to meet those needs. God will give u the TRUTHS to teach because He will be teaching you…and as you learn and receive you teach and give out.

These TRUTHS will, of course, be based in His word and you will begin to have confidence to teach them b/c you’ll understand HIS precepts and how to apply them to your children’s education, to you and your children’s life…for Life IS education…the question is are we living it/teaching it the way God would want us to, in a way that would bring glory to Him and would position our children for entering into God’s purpose for them?

I believe this approach gives you a method for how to accomplish that. School and God are not separated. This approach unifies all of life and finds its origins in God Himself.

I see it like this….If you make a cake you

1. dump all the ingredients in the bowl and start to

2. mix it…pour it in the pan…

3. put it in the oven and see what emerges.

The Biblical Principle Approach has been the same way for me…the process I went thru was this…I…

1. dumped all this info. in my spirit and head by reading ACE by J.
Rose, T&L, CHOC, all the FACE guides, join the BPA yahoo group, ask
questions, PROVE EVERYTHING THAT I STUDY FROM OTHER BOOKS IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE!!!(The
bible was my standard before coming to learn of the Principle Appr. and
is even more so now that I know about it-don’t just accept that what
someone wrote is true…..prove it to yourself FROM THE WORD OF GOD!!!)
and most of all pray. Those are the ingredients to the recipe for
writing your curriculum. STUDY(mainly the bible)!!!

Take the information in. ABOVE ALL PRAY every step of the way…ask
God questions of what u don’t understand…He will answer you. I know
He will b/c He answered me. If you seek Him sincerely You will find
Him and the answers you are looking for-and that is for ANYTHING in
life, not just BPA or education.

2. Prayer and TIME mixes what is in your spirit and as revelation and
understanding come your faith will grow and you’ll study more, seek
more, pray more and WAIT some more…give it time and keep praying over
what you have read…read some more…wait for understanding and
revelation…and keep studying and did I say pray some more??
Keep studying…and let patience have her perfect work so that you’ll
understand what you are doing and allow time for God to FORM HIS vision
in you while you WAIT, PRAY, AND STUDY. Then you would have grown and
be more mature in you understanding and able to accomplish what God
puts on your heart in the way of educating your children.

3. As God impregnates you with His vision(just as a woman is
impregnanted and the baby begins to form…we don’t know what the baby
will look like until it is born) He will begin to FORM that thing in
you. It will eventually begin to take on a FORM and SHAPE. That shape
is the beginning of YOUR INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSION of the application of
the BPA in the education of your children. Like I said it is the
BEGINNING, not the full-blown complete version. I believe as the years
go by and we continue to grow in our understanding of applying these
principles to our lives our vision, this FORM, this “baby” God has
entrused us with will also continue to grow. Just as a newborn is not
done growing when it comes out of the womb so your newly-birthed vision
is not fully grown. But if we remain willing and obedient we shall eat
the good of the land and receive the rich reward of understanding the
precepts of the Lord and God’s purpose and origin for education and
that should consist of…and passing that down to our children and then
to our children’s children. Isn’t that a goodly heritage? Isn’t it
worth the TIME and the EFFORT that the Biblical Principle Approach
demands?

What say you?

Just this week as I was in the process of planning for next year I was asking my dh what he thought the children should be learning in their bible study..what topics should I cover. 

Now his response surprised and delighted me…this comes from a man who does not know what The Principle Approach is..nor who Katherine Dang is.  Ms. Dang’s seminar on CD is a total blessing to me and that is where I first heard that God requires us to teach what we know.  He does not expect us to teach our children what we don’t know but what we do know we pass that on and impart that body of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom along to our children.

My dh responds by saying ‘just teach them what you know’.  I stared at him for a moment and then started smiling and rejoicing inside.  I wanted to jump up and down and ask him did he realize what he said?  I didn’t b/c he would not have realized it…I take that as a Holy Blurt from inspired of God to remind me that this does not have to be hard or complicated.  Just teach what I know and He will be pleased with that…and that is what I shall do.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-31

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good–not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.

This says to me that when we do things God’s way it is not burdensome…that is not to say that we won’t feel the weight of the responsiblity at times but God will always provide a way for us to bear His yoke and what He provides is His strength.

I praise God for truly leading me and guiding me in the way that I should go.  I thank Him for teaching and instructing me how to even plan my lessons for next year.  I am grateful that He counsels me and never takes His eye off of me(Psalm 32:8)…How worthy of praise are you Lord!!!

A Guide to American Christian Education written by James Rose  addresses how the Principle Approach is applied to education.  This is the part I understand and have fallen in love with this approach to teaching, learning which both comprise homeschooling. :-D  Quoting from ACE guide by J. Rose:

“The Principle Approach is America’s historic Christian method of Biblical reasoning which makes the TRUTHS OF GOD’S WORD the basis of every subject in the school curriculum.” 

That is a summary of a very scholarly approach to teaching the ‘academics’ that our children need to know and it is rooted in biblical principles therefore it is very life-giving.  I’ve never experienced such ministry to my heart outside of a church setting or church-related topic.  In teaching this approach and applying it to ‘academics’ one is edified and built up in the knowledge of God…and this is just in teaching ‘academics’…you will begin to see a more unified view of God and how God relates and is the ‘LIFE’ in every good thing there is on this earth.  He is the reason for EVERY principle that operates on this earth FOR GOOD whether seen or unseen.  All of this cannot be understood merely by the mind it must be revealed to the spirit of man by the Spirit of God…

I Cor. 2:13-15-

And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].

    14But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.

    15But the spiritual man tries all things [he ^[a]examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].

Then once the teacher(mom) gets the necessary understanding of the biblical origin and purpose of whatever topic is studied(science, math, history, geography, etc.) then she ministers that knowledge about God and about the principles the make up the world He created(science, arithmetic, grammar) then the child is given that life-giving ‘food’ and nourishment.  How wonderful and awesome is our God!!

Now…

The Principle Approach applied to America’s Christian History and Government is where my trouble spot is.  Although I do see the relationship of educating a child in biblical principles so that they may know how to live a life pleasing unto the Lord.   Once a person learns to ‘govern’ himself(self-government) according to the Word of God he will then influence his surrounding community(local self-gov’t.) and eventually civil government. The bible bears the principle out in this verse..

I Tim 3:1-5

1This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

 2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

 3Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

 4One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;

 5(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

and also

Titus 1:6-9

If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

 7For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

 8But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

 9Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

These scriptures show forth the principle that one needs to be submitted to the dictates of God’s Word in their ‘daily’ life(not just Sunday life) and live a life(not for show to others) that is pleasing to God and then he will be able to hold greater and more influential positions in his surrounding community and affect a change for the upbuilding of God’s kingdom.

My question comes in when the statement is made that God wants to restore America to her ‘gospel’ roots or restore her to a time like unto when our founding fathers trusted in and established our gov’t. on the bible.  These men believed in God and while holding the office of President made known the fact that it was God’s providence that brought America, the New Land, into existence.

Maybe it has been my church teaching that says the world is not going to get better evil will wax worse and worse that keeps me from ’seeing’ and believing that God wants to restore America.  I always thought God wants to wrap this thing up so He can rapture the church, deal with the enemy, and come back victorious and glorious ruling and reigning with His bride beside Him.

This is where my search for the truth continues…is anyone else seeking the same truth? or have you attained some answers for yourselves?  If you don’t mind sharing with me some insights that you have from the bible and what God has shown you concerning this topic I would like to hear it them

Here is another EXCELLENT article from Marilyn Howshall.  This just echoes my heartbeat about God and what He is showing me about gentle, loving education.  I seek His aid in helping me to accomplish the ‘gentle’ and ‘loving’ part of the education

I’m sharing these articles b/c these thoughts are where God has me right now and are my heartbeat…His Way of doing things…

http://www.homeschooloasis.com/art_the_heart_of_true_educ_and_lol.htm 

I believe I am in a time of refreshing and even re-focusing in our homeschool journey.  This article written by Barb Shelton was like a breath of fresh air and it encouraged my heart.  Many of the things she discusses were a re-confirmation and just made me want to jump up and down and holler AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.homeschooloasis.com/art_refreshing_and_re-focusing_the_hrt_of_the_hser.htm

I believe this article serves as a word to me from the Lord especially the part about being liberated from what public schools do and even think about homeschool(ers)(ing).  I would find myself comparing our day with the public school and we would come up short each time-in my mind that is…how discouraging.  But thru this season of burnout and much discouragement that I felt God allowed me to go that far down so that I could really see what HE defined as education and what was really happening was that He was taking me on a road that was yes different from what public school was about-we did things different and think differently therefore that is why everytime I compared us with them we looked different.  Well, that is how we are supposed to look-that is how God was taking our homeschool.  After I came to the ‘end’ of myself(I had no idea what was wrong with me and had no idea how to make it better or how to get out of this ’stupor’ I was in) did the Lord begin to show me that His definition of education is different than what the world says…that is echoed in this article. 

In her 7 Pillars of Education Barb points out in item #6 she did not find that in the Word but I say it is in there…The ‘dominion mandate’ that God gave Adam and Eve(and to us) to have dominion, subdue, master our environment all to the glory of God will fit in with item #6 and #7.

I encourage you to take the time to read this article.  Barb has many, many articles on her website that just bless me and I’m sure will bless you too.

http://www.homeschooloasis.com/art_refreshing_and_re-focusing_the_hrt_of_the_hser.htm