Cygnus Opus: A Gift that Keeps on Giving

In a previous post, I wrote of a book on history by Susan
Wise Bauer. I was so impressed by her writing that I looked up her other books.
Not surprisingly, she has a book called, The Well-Trained Mind (and several others), which is based on her and her mother?s experience in educating their children. Ms. Bauer?s mother was compelled to take her children out of the public education system for a number of reasons and began teaching her children at home. This was well before home schooling was popular and The Well-Trained Mind discusses the methods she created and used to turn out three very intelligent and fulfilled children.

If Ms. Bauer is any indication of the efficacy of her mother?s home-schooling system then educators would do well to copy her successes.

I do not home school nor does this book force the issue of home-schooling above all else, but it is still a valuable resource. The book focuses on a ?classical? education called the ?trivium.? (wikipedia defintion of Trivium: ?In medieval universities, the trivium comprised the three subjects that were taught first: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.")?

This book can obviously be used as a home-schooling guide but also as a supplement to a regular public education.

Fortunately for me, we?ve had incredible schools and my children have gotten a fantastic education, however, I do feel there are things I can continue to teach them at home that will enhance their lives and learning.

I suppose that?s the revelation I?ve realized--educating my children wisely will be the greatest gift I could ever give them and one that won?t waste away, get broken or die:

My children are curious about so many things, so it?s natural to reward that curiosity with good knowledge and worthy information. It seems I can see so clearly now how the expansion of their minds will expand their world, increase their opportunities, and enrich their lives. Even math, a subject I despised in school, has taken on new meaning for me.

We have a DVD called Donald in Mathmagic Land (brief intro below) and I love it. It?s simple but teaches basic math concepts and how math is all around us. One of the parting lines is attributed to Galileo Galilei and says, "Mathematics is the language with which God wrote the universe." If so, math is a skill that we will continue to use well beyond mortality. The Well-Trained Mind talks about a program called Singapore Math. Basically a system that introduces children to the language of math, something our culture doesn?t promote as say others cultures?hence the name ?Singapore? Math.

Other countries are outpacing the U.S. in math and science and I think it?s a shame that our children aren?t being taught the beauty of these two fields in a way that makes them desirable and even attractive.

Even if my children choose a field outside of science or math, I still want them to feel they can navigate these issues with clarity and ease. Their world will be more enriched from doing so.

Another idea that The Well-Educated Mind discusses is the usefulness of studying Latin. I agree. I picked up a Latin book a few weeks ago simply because I was interested. I learned much about my own language.

Latin has a sentence structure that easily designates Subject from Object and makes the learning of English a bit easier to understand when you get to the irritating chapters on diagramming sentences and such. Not only that, but it is the basis for many of the words in our own language and the mother of Spanish, French, Portuguese, etc. Learning Latin would make learning any other Latin-based language much simpler.

As I was going through Latin, it became clearer where JK Rowling got the inspiration for many of her incantation names and why they sounded so real ("Accio Firebolt" for example. "Accio" is Latin for "to call to", or "summon"). In fact, I suspect that JK Rowling had a classical education to some degree as her novels pull from history both ancient and modern and incorporate them into a world that ?magically? works with ours (Rowlings characters such as Nicholas Flamel is a real character from history and the sorcerer?s stone is from historical legend; the Deathly Hallows symbol is a reference to the swastika symbol which had a history and a totally different meaning long before the Nazis.).

Whether you like Rowling?s works or not, she was able to create a believable world, like Tolkien and Lewis (both educated classically I might add) in a way that resurged the world?s interest in books. There?s something to be said for giving a child the type of knowledge that allows them to create worlds either on the page or in a future life.

And you know, through the process of seeking to educate my children in words or wisdom, I have found my own understanding and knowledge expand. It?s been an exciting journey for me and a break from the monotony that keeping house can sometimes bring. It?s been a gift that gives back.

Source: http://cygnusopus.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-gift-that-keeps-on-giving.html

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