Key Word Studies

I just published an article describing a lesson plan format for Principle Approach education. Within that article the parent/educator is directed to complete word studies. What follows here is a description of how to complete this task.

Within a given topic to be taught there will be certain key words that are critical to the understanding of the topic. Those words are the words to work with for this task. For example, if you are teaching fractions, an obvious key word is the word fraction--let's work with that for our example.

You will need certain materials for this task. You will need Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). This is available at www.facebookstore.com. This particular dictionary is important because it is written specifically for American English and because the dictionary was biblically researched and documented. It helps students (and their parents) to inculcate a biblical worldview. You will need and exhaustive concordance (like Strong's). A topical Bible can be helpful. You will need a Bible.

First, define the word "fraction."

Second, identify key words within the definition for fraction.
[note: choose only definitions that are appropriate for the context within which you are working}

Third, you may choose to continue identifying key words in the definitions of preceeding key words and defining them until you feel you should stop. You are the only person who can answer when this would be with God's direction (time constraint can sometimes be a valid reason for moving on to the next step).

Fourth, use the key words or synonyms of those words to find Scripture that illustrates the concept. You will use your concordance as a tool for this task. Look the word or a synonym for the word up in the concordance. Choose scripture within the context of the subject taught. This is the step where God will show you how He wants to use this concept as a parable to learn more of Him and His world. Here you will find the biblical foundation for the subject--as well as the principle for your lesson.

Fifth, write a personal paraphrase of the definition of the word from your point of view.

Lastly, write a paragraph explaining how this concepts relates to your life and what you have learned in your study.

This is the full word study. Given different subjects and lessons, you may choose to use all, or part of this study method.

Happy planning!

Sample Lesson Plan Format

This format came from the Foundation for American Christian Education (FACE). You can interact with them at www.face.net.

Sample Lesson Plan Format

Subject:_______________________Lesson Topic/Title:_______________________

Leading Idea:________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Key Words:__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

(These will be taken from your topic and leading idea and used in a word study. This will launch your lesson and help identify Biblical principles).

Biblical Principles:_____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

(Begin by identifying one of the seven principles of America's Christian Character where applicable and then relate any additional principles identified through your research of the topic citing related Scripture verses.)

4-R-ing

(Use you descretion based on time constraints and the age of your children to determine the amount of research that will be done before or with your children. For a tutorial, see "Designing Curriculum Using the Four R's," The Noah Plan Self-Directed Study in the Prinicple Approach, FACE, 2004, p. 110)

Research:

1. Written material assigned for reading and any other supplemental resources, ie., videos, audio tapes, etc.
2. Key individuals
3. Word studies or simple definitions
4. God's Word, the Bible

Reason:

1. Assign reason questions based on content
2. Assign reason questions relating content to God's Word (This step makes for good family/round-table discussions that can be done orally allowing for seemingly less notebook work. Predetermined questions from your lesson preparation may be needed.)

Relate:

The content should now be applied to the student's life through reflective work that may or may not include what is recorded in notebooks. Enrichment related to the study outside of the classroom will enable the student to relate the material with purpose and meaning. Guide you children in relating the lesson to the Word of God with relevance to their own lives. This can also be recorded in notebooks as a summary paragraph.

Recording:

Your child's learning should always be memorialized through notebook work that reflects his/her research, reasoning, and comprehension ability. This is where you may utilize any of the methodology components described on pp. 23-25 (The Noah Plan Self-Directed Study in the Principle Approach).

Sylvia Vrabec's Glass Analogy

Take three glasses. One is content. Another is the Bible verse, and the third is the student. Take the content of the lesson you are teaching. Research the vocabulary of the subject; then find a similar vocabulary word in a concordance which leads to a Bible verse. Then use that Bible verse in both teaching the lesson and applying it to the student's life.

Her idea is to fill each glass with the appropriate item: the content, verse, and student. The filling is the action which does require some work. The filling is internal and fills an internal need in the student.

This is an outline. More detail on this later.

Take Time to Refresh Your Knowledge

During the last two years I've been completing some graduate work. Although I completed that work at a Christian university, it has been helpful to study again to bring me back to my roots.

God blessed my university experience with increased knowledge and personal growth, but it was necessary that I study other philosophies of education and contrast them with the philosophy I have within the Principle Approach. This enabled me to better understand what exactly has been happening in our public school systems as well as in some Christian education as well. We are so thoroughly indoctrinated in secular humanism that we often don't see the falacies within humanistic systems of instruction. It is also difficult to see things we do within teaching our children in our homeschools now as being apart from God (this is my greatest concern). These studies were beneficial because they helped me to further define my own, individual philosophy of education as I learned about the presuppositions of early educational philosophers.

However, after this experience, I have come home to study and grow further within my own educational philosophies. With that in mind, I am currently revisiting my old studies in Slater's Teaching and Learning America's Christian History: A Principle Approach and The Christian History of the Constitution, both Volumns I and II (Volume II also has a study guide all available from http://www.facebookstore.com/). I'm also reading again in Rose's A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School (available from http://www.achipa.com/). I have plans to go through the The Self-Directed Seminar (available from http://www.facebookstore.com/) again as well.

These studies are a form of revival for me as I reaffirm my roots and commitments for my children as well as my own life. It's good to come back to the basics from time to time. Satan will distract us from our purpose a little at a time if we don't take the time to revisit our purpose. Additionally, every time we study this again, God will take us a little deeper.

I know this blog is supposed to be reserved for planning ideas, but my planning is much more than simply planning the day-to-day lessons for my children. My planning is more of a preparation. My heart needs to be prepared just as much as the hearts of my children. I constantly need to be refocused in order to keep my eyes on God's goals for me, personally, as well as focusing on the needs of my children.

I Left a Out One of the Sites

www.philomathfoundation.com is a site with audio trainings by Katherine Dang. Very useful.

Information about the Websites Listed on This Page

http://www.achipa.com/ is the website for the American Christian History Institute. They are located in Northern California. They hold many trainings for traditional educators. home educators, and anyone else who would like to educate themselves in biblical presuppositional thinking.

http://www.alabacus.com/ is the website for the RightStart mathematics program. This is the program suggested by The Foundation for American Christian Education (FACE) in their mathematics curriculum guide. I use it personally with our boys and find that this curriculum, with the combination of instruction in principle using leading ideas, has taken our boys far beyond where they would be with any other curriculum.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/ is the website for the Answers in Genesis ministry. This website helps a lot with science studies. They even have many of their videos available to watch online. They offer a companion magazine called Answers. I use it regularly in my science instruction.

http://www.chec.org/ is the website for Christian Homeschool Educators of Colorado. I live in Colorado, so many of the people who may be using this site, at least right now, also live in Colorado. They are an excellent resource for knowledge of homeschool law in this state, for a school to work under if you need, for testing, for resources, . . . If you do not live in Colorado, connect with the homeschool association for your own state. They want to help, and they are a tremendous resource.

http://www.face.net/ is the website for the Foundation for American Christian Education (FACE). These people were my first link to the Principle Approach. They are the publishers of the original Red Books and the American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster (1828 edition). They are the home of Verna Hall and Rosalie Slater who revived this method and philosophy of education. They are always available for questions and encouragement. They offer resources and training in application courses for most subjects. Anyone attempting to pursue this methodology with their students should be on their mailing list.

www.principleapproach.org is a website operated by FACE. It offers articles and other helpful advice for Principle Approach educators. This site should be visited often.

www.seedsofliberty.com is a website put together by Lisa Sinnock, a homeschool educator who is very well versed in the Principle Approach. She has leads a Principle Approach homeschool coop and gives advice and suggests resources from the perspective of a homeschool educator.

www.spalding.org is the website of the language program suggested by FACE. I use this program in my personal instruction as well and can recommend it highly. My older son was introduced to reading in a public school kindergarten through whole language instruction. Even though he only had this sort of instruction in kindergarten, his teacher told him that spelling was not important. She didn't mean it would never be important, but the young child took her statement literally. He really struggled with catching up, but Spalding made it possible. The focus on giving children the tools to spell gave him the ability to spell even unfamiliar words. It shows us that our language does have order (in spite of statements in opposition to this idea). This order equips children to write, spell, and read more capably.

A Suggestion about Citing Sources in Student Writing

In my graduate studies I found a frustration among professors concerning students' lack of understanding of the American Psychological Association (APA) formatting of scholarly writing. For this reason I would like to suggest, as students begin to write actual research papers, they use the APA formatting.

This is a formatting that is best used gradually. I personally learned to use it best through my mistakes. Allow your student to write, using the manual, but to make note of the errors they make and correct them in future writing. The APA Manual is a black and white book and can be purchased from most bookstores. Although the book is not inexpensive, it is a book that can follow them through the university level.

I tried to use more brief synopses in textbooks that I have, but since I often use older books, I found that some of my citings were outdated. Also, the manual is simply more complete.

I personally find it easier to learn it the way I need to do it the first time rather than learning something over again.

There is another method of citation (MLA). However, since most collegiate writing uses APA, I would suggest using this option.

If anyone else has other insights concerning this matter, I would really encourage you to respond to this entry. This is a matter that needs more than my opinion.