Your "Get Out of Jail Free Card."
Everyone, take a deep breath. Now all together, let out a sigh of relief.
Based on years of experience and work with homeschoolers, A Biblical Home Education: Building Your Homeschool on the Foundation of God’s Word by Ruth Beechick (B&H, 2007) is the breath of fresh air that has been so desperately needed in homeschooling.
Homeschooling can be enjoyable, easy, and even natural. Take the burden of expectations off of your child and yourself. Stop feeling pulled in all directions. Education begins, ends, and should be saturated with the Bible.
As Dr. Beechick points out, too many homeschoolers are held captive by “trying to follow too much of the world’s schooling system that has developed layer upon layer over the years.” Homeschoolers often continually question their motives, activities and success. Am I doing it “right”? Should history be taught chronologically? When should I begin a phonics program with my child? What preschool curriculum is the best? What type of homeschooler am I? What’s my child’s learning style? Should I use textbooks, workbooks, unit studies, Charlotte Mason, or a classical approach? What’s the best primary grammar curriculum? What should I buy at the next curriculum fair?
Read this book.
You can be free from the prison of a “narrow view of curriculum”. In fact, you needn’t be dependent on any one curriculum or philosophy, or even an eclectic mixture. You need the Bible, God’s people, and some common sense. This is the kind of homeschooling that every parent can do, whether they have one child or fifteen, whether they have a six-figure income or barely make ends meet. If the Lord calls your son to be a doctor or a janitor, this is the best education to prepare him for real “life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). When your daughter marries and leaves home, you will have confidence that you have done your best.
In many ways, A Biblical Home Education encapsulates most of Beechick’s teaching into one concise volume. In the first four chapters, she gives a biblical perspective on an education that starts with the Bible itself, and continues through the content subjects of world history, science, and worldviews.
While maintaining a big-picture view of education, Beechick does not neglect to give very practical everyday suggestions for applying the principles she espouses. Throughout are checklists and suggested activities that help you think about how to apply what you are reading in your home with your children. She includes specific suggestions for materials to use in each subject area and even has a curriculum shopping list at the end of the book to simplify choosing from the vast array of materials available. The endnotes are a wonderful shopping list in and of themselves. Additional advice is given for children with reading problems, and also those who have been labeled ADD. But don’t fear that you will feel overwhelmed with more expectations after reading this book. Far from feeding the curriculum dependence so commonly found among fearful homeschoolers, Beechick teaches you how to tutor your child, tailoring your teaching on his abilities and interests. She even gives suggestions for home-centered scheduling.
She explains how to simplify teaching important skills including thinking skills, reading, study skills (including memorization), writing, and grammar. And for brand new homeschoolers with young children just beginning the journey, one chapter is devoted to explaining the superiority of the “immersion” method, a simple, uncomplicated way to handle preschool and kindergarten.
This is not pie-in-the-sky educational theory. This is everyday life and learning…and how to wed the two. The methodology is family-based and may not always look “school-ish”, but will yield an education at its best. Get A Biblical Home Education; read it, study it, highlight it; and apply it in your home. If I could, I would send a copy to each of our subscribers with an accompanying “get out of jail free” card.