On My Way To Heaven

It is Friday again, and again it is a good time to sit and relax and “listen” to my dear friend, Eileen. She has been sharing with us great insights about her own experience homeschooling her precious daughter. (Part one is here, Part two is found here, part three is here, and part four is here)

“The excavation of Troy reminds us how foolish it is to assume ancient history is nothing but myths and fables and that only modern historiographers can get it right.”

-Douglas Wilson

Five Cities That Ruled the World.

“He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:    “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

Because he has anointed me…”’

(Lk. 4:16-18)

God’s Word is taught from the pulpit, but how can you know more of God or of the world He has created, if not through reading?

The ability to read is probably the single most important aspect of education for any child. I have heard statements such as, “My child isn’t a reader,” or “Reading just doesn’t interest them.” Have we ever pondered why? Are we lovers of stories, of history, of our Bibles? Do your children see you reading?

I know in our busy lives as wives, mothers, and teachers, there isn’t much time leftover in the day to sit down with a good book outside of our Bible time. But if we want our children to love what we love (reading, in this case), they have to see us loving it.

We all have noticed that when our children are very young (0-2 yrs.), they understand much more than they are able to speak. From the moment they are born, we talk to our children continuously, sharing thoughts, ideas, and opinions.  Even though they do not have the ability or the vocabulary to respond to us with words, we still recognize that they do understand us. The child stops when you say, “Hot”. They totter over to the door when you announce it is time to go outside, or they clap their hands together when you mention “park day”. And so it is with reading. Long before your child is able to recognize letters and say their names, your child can understand many of the words, the story, the tone and inflection of your voice, the excitement of the adventure, the beauty of the flow of the words (especially rhyming words).

There is no rule of thumb when to begin teaching letters and reading, but if you see your child turning pages in a read-aloud book and she has most of the story memorized, you should strongly consider that it is time to begin. I am not going to recommend which reading program to use because you know your child’s frame and I do not. However, I would advocate that those little magnetic letters that stick to our refrigerators are a great place to start. It is an exciting time on the floor with your child, moving the colored letters around and making the sounds of the letters. Begin easy; begin short; begin with familiar words. Eventually, your child is able to run to the refrigerator and point out which word says “papa”, or “mama”, or “God”, or even their name.

Once your child is able to read, fill them with good books. The author, G.A. Henty, is one I highly recommend whether or not you have a son or a daughter. They are historically accurate, but the hero is usually a made-up fellow. These are stories filled with men-of-honor, of chivalry, of ladies of character and courage, of battles, of families, of covenantal blessings. What better way to learn and fall in love with history than through well written stories. These books are advertised for readers about the age of ten. However, if your child is consuming every book in her path, don’t wait.

As your child matures, and you are looking for books worthwhile to read, I would strongly recommend turning to the classics. (Again, pay attention to your child’s frame – some of the themes contained in the classics are rather ‘dicey’.)

I have received two educations in my life. The first began early and finished when I graduated from college. The second is a classical Christian education, which I have received through teaching our daughter. She is now in tenth grade and is already far ahead of where I was when I was her age. This is good! Not that we strive to have our children puffed up with useless knowledge, but rather we desire them to be filled with Godly wisdom.  “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Pr. 2:6)

The love of reading will open times and places we may never get to visit. The love of reading will bind friends together who have enjoyed the same books. The love of reading will open up job opportunities. The love of reading will open up recipes, mechanical engineering, history, languages, automobile maintenance, even love letters.

The love of reading will open up God.

Eileen

This entry was posted on Friday, March 26, 2010 at 3:00 AM and is filed under Guests, Learning at Home with tags Books, Homeschool, Just Friends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.