Have you ever noticed that when one person is laid up, the entire family slows down? At least, that is the way it works in my house. My husband sliced his heel on a boat cleat and can’t walk (I’d explain, but I’m not really clear on how it is even possible to do that), so the entire family is having a lazy Monday afternoon. This has given me some quiet time to begin my annual summer re-evaluation of our school.

I love the beginning of the new school year. It allows us a fresh start, and I find that one of the keys to our school running well is my own before school planning.

The first step I like to take is reminding myself of my own philosophy.
Why do I choose to teach in the way that I do?

As you can see from last week’s post listing 6 Keys To Increasing Lesson Retention, I have done quite a bit of research about how the brain works in relation to education. The science of learning fascinates me, and I have attempted to tailor my teaching to best utilize strategies that purposefully engage as many facets as possible. We have found a comfortable balance by using a combination of Classical Education and Unit Studies.

Caveat: Choosing a teaching style/method is a very personal process. Every student has their own needs, and every teacher their own preferences. This is a description of what works for us. It has changed some over time, and it will probably change in the future, but for my kids, at this moment, this is our style.

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Breadth of Study – Classical Education

Classical Education takes advantage of the natural stages of intellectual development that children go through. This allows for appropriate challenges as kids develop both in academics and character. Material is presented in a logical order and repeated with increasing depth.

In the youngest grades children’s brains function much like a sponge, soaking in and retain an amazing quantity of factual information. It makes sense to capitalize on this as memorization is naturally welcomed and enjoyed at this stage.

Older students naturally become more independent and abstract in their thinking as their sense of logic improves with the changes happening in their minds. At this stage it makes sense to challenge students to detect connections and fallacious reasoning, utilizing their normal tendency to debate (*sigh*).

The oldest students of the classical method focus on rhetoric. They exercise all forms of reasoning to express themselves as they are challenged to discover the meanings and implications of various forms of knowledge, and to learn how to adequately support their conclusions with evidence.
What I love about the classical approach is that it focuses on teaching children to become well-rounded scholars, capable of analyzing and articulating their viewpoint. It give students a broad background of context with which they begin to understand and incorporate the interconnectedness of the world.

Depth of Application – Unit Studies

Unit studies are much more relaxed and interactive in nature. Children (with guidance from Mom) choose one topic to study in great depth and combine many different traditional subjects into their study of that topic. This is where my children’s passion and excitement for learning becomes truly apparent. Because interaction is a key form of information processing, engaging in these types of activities helps students to retain what they are learning. By allowing my children the opportunity to choose projects and work on them in great depth, they are able to use all of their learning systems to take in information.

Our unit studies focus on the time period that we are covering in history and/or science, and are able to create context, giving my students a comprehensive view of the period from multiple perspectives. Lessons are hands-on, and are designed to ignite the student’s curiosity.

Organizing it all

If you are anything like me, you will find the idea of interest driven education through unit studies enthralling. It seems so gentle and relaxed. In reality, interest driven education is far from relaxed. It requires copious amounts of time, effort, and diligence in order to plan and implement a great unit of study. Sometimes those commodities are plentiful, and at others they are not. Combining “relaxed” unit studies with the more organized Classical Education allows for a very necessary balance. We have a path to follow as we go. Having that structure allows me to be flexible with the specifics because I know our ultimate goal.

Usually we are able to fit in two 6-8 week studies per year (we school year-round). They are our break from regular school and they add excitement to our routine.

The brain is intimately involved in and connected with everything that educators and students do. My aim is to intentionally engage the total mind, helping my students to apply all facets of their reasoning. The combination of these Classical Education and Unit Studies provides my students with the opportunity for repetition, analysis, integration, and internalization. I believe these elements allow for not only a thorough education, but one that is thoroughly enjoyable.

If you haven’t already, please remember to sign up (in the sidebar on the right)to receive free updates so you don’t miss any of the upcoming posts!  The next few weeks will walk you through exactly how we get ready for the school year.