Miss Mason's Nod- Part 2

Yesterday I mentioned an article written by Charlotte Mason. Her writings have helped me greatly in evaluating our educational goals and priorities. As I mentioned, Bookworm entering the High School years seemed like a good time to think about her future and the kind of person we hope she will be.

In the article CM mentions priorities. She lists Bible and History first. I concur! Please read the article for yourself, it's very good. The link is in yesterday's post.

Last summer when the economy was failing, more natural disasters were being reported, and our country seemed to be taken to the tool shed by the world and our President, I thought about what would help a person get through all of this.

Here is my short list:
1. Know who God is.
a. Read His word.
b. Spend time with Him in prayer.
c. Memorize scripture, ponder His words.
2. Know who we are-
a. Created by God
b. Saved through the blood of Christ
c. Our Christian Heritage
3. Know who we are as Americans
a. Know why our Country was formed
b. Understand our founding fathers and documents
c. Know our own history
4. Know World History
a. "There is nothing new under the sun." History repeats, look for the cycles.
b. Study Hitler's life and understand the how of things.

I am not into conspiracies and that but I do know that the enemy has dominion over the earth until Christs' return. What better way to get a hold of a people's heart than drawing them away from God's word than through busyness, technology and entertainment? What better way to have them forget who they are as Americans and their gained freedoms than by rewriting the History textbooks ala Texas? What better way to ignore the history of the Nazi movement than to stop teaching it and to start to make negative insinuations about the Jewish people?

So in light of all of this, what are we doing differently? Here is my disclaimer: my kids can all read, write and complete math at or above grade level, lest anyone question the roundness of their education. Both girls in fact are finishing their Math in the next two weeks, ahead of schedule and Busy Bee has finished all of his Language Arts for this year.

Our Top 10 List-
Here's what we are doing to accomplish our new priorities:
1. Reading more of God's word daily- outlining chapters
2. Reading a good Bible Commentary- taking good notes
3. Reading stronger Devotional materials- taking good notes
4. Challenging ourselves with more scripture memorization
5. Hymn Study- there is a lot of solid doctrine in hymns- completing narrations
6. Worldview- this is totally new to us and has been fabulous- written narrations and discussion
7. Current Events- we are easing into this- discussion
8. History- reading more first source documents and biographies
9. Government/Economics- adding this into every year of high school
10. Discussion, lots of discussion- all through the lens of God's word

If you haven't thought about this before, I hope this encourages you to educate with eternity in mind. We are blessed at this time to have so many great tools at our disposal. As we come into convention season, you may be able to look through some good materials. You can also use the writings of CS Lewis or Francis Schaeffer for starters. May God Bless you and your family!