Omnibus

A few years ago, while working on my second book, Talking of Dragons, I decided to send the manuscript to Doug Wilson, a pastor and writer I have much admired and appreciated for a number of years. I sent an email to him, asking if he would be willing to read the manuscript, and, if he liked it, to consider writing an endorsement to appear on the book’s cover. I didn’t know Doug, and didn’t expect much from sending the book his way, knowing how extraordinarily busy someone in his position must be.

But I was wrong. Doug replied, stating that he would be happy to read the book, and that, moreover, he might be able to point me in the direction of someone else who might be interested in my work. I didn’t know at the time what that meant, but I was greatly encouraged by the email, so I sent him the manuscript. Doug did read it, and wrote a very kind blurb that did appear on the book once it was published later that year (you can read Doug’s endorsement here).

Then I found out what Doug had been talking about as far as pointing me towards his contact. He sent his blurb via email to Marlin Detweiler, founder of Veritas Press, and publisher of the Omnibus great books curriculum for 7^th – 12^th graders (Doug is one of the editors of the series, and had listed my book in the recommended reading section of a couple of the essays he had written for Omnibus II). Doug suggested to Marlin that I would be a good writer for Omnibus. Long story short, I was invited to write for Omnibus III: my task was to write the introductory material and general essay for Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.

Since then, I have also written essays and class sessions for Omnibus V (Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, Marco Polo’s Travels, and Shakespeare’s Othello), and, most recently, the final volume (due out sometime this year), Omnibus VI (C.S. Lewis’ Ransom Trilogy, McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom, and Melville’s Moby Dick).

I love and highly recommend the Omnibus series (and not just because of my involvement in the project). Omnibus (meaning “all-encompassing”) is an integrated approach to the study of theology, literature, and history. A student who goes through all six years of Omnibus will get a thorough education in the great books of the Western world, as well as going through every book of the Bible. The historical eras of our civilization are covered twice in the six years, following this pattern:

Omnibus I: Biblical and Classical Civilizations

Omnibus II: Church Fathers Through the Reformation

Omnibus III: Reformation to the Present

Omnibus IV: The Ancient World

Omnibus V: The Medieval World

Omnibus VI: The Modern World

We educate our kids at home, and my oldest child, Grace, is ten. When she’s about twelve, we plan to start her in on Omnibus I. I for one am greatly looking forward to it. This series provides great benefits to adults as well. A friend of mine recently told me he was planning to start going through Omnibus on his own, just to have a good guide through many of the great books that he has always wanted to read—and we are reminded here of Mark Twain’s true witticism (though he was quoting someone else) that a “classic” is a book that everyone wants to have read, but no one wants to read.

Each chapter in Omnibus focuses on a single “great book” or “classic.” The chapter begins with a Prologue, which is a “hook” to get the reader interested: sometimes written in fictional form, sometimes just invoking a fascinating question or scenario, as a way to spark the interest of the reader.

Then follows several General Information sections: Author and Context, Significance, Main Characters, and Summary and Setting. This is then followed by the main “meat” of the chapter: the Worldview essay, which explores the work from a Biblical and Christian worldview. The chapter concludes with the class sessions (question answers and additional material are available on the teacher’s CD-Rom, included with the teacher’s edition of the book). 

The classes encourage discussion, deeper delving into the artistry, worldview, and historical context of the book, and often creativity on the part of the student (through writing assignments, including poetry and short stories, and the like). This was challenging for me, as an Omnibus writer, because, if I assigned, say, a short story in one of the classes, I had to write one myself, to serve as an example for inspiration.

The number of class sessions depends on whether the book is a Primary or Secondary book: “Primary” books are the Biblical books, books of history, and literary or theological works of particular significance. “Secondary” books are those works that, while important, are not quite as central as the Primary books.

Students are always reading two books at the same time (well, you know what I mean): one Primary book, and one Secondary book. Omnibus is a serious education in itself, drawing students into the Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Worlds, but with a critical eye: there is no slavish bowing before important books just because they are ancient, or written by Greeks, or whatever. Students learn to think: to think like Christians, about every aspect of the world. As Christians, we hope to raise, not just kids who can grow up to get a cushy job and make a good living, but kids who can grow up to be dangerous: who can leave their mark on the world, for the glory of God. Omnibus is a key part of our family's strategy for doing just that.

Writing for Omnibus required a high level of excellence from me as a writer. I hope I produced chapters worthy of this fine project. My thanks to Doug Wilson, Marlin Detweiler, and editors Ty Fischer and Gene Edward Veith for the opportunity to be involved in such a worthy endeavor.

I strongly encourage every parent to make Omnibus a part of your child's education, whether you homeschool, or just want to supplement what they're learning in the classroom. Check out a free preview of Omnibus III (including my chapter on Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea) at Google Books. 

And when you're ready to go for it, you can pick up the books at Christian Book Distributors.

Classical Education

If you’ve been around the homeschool world more than a few days, you’ve probably heard about something called the Classical Education model. What is it, and should Homeschoolers make use of it?

My family has chosen to follow the Classical model, and in the interests of full disclosure, you should know that my books are carried (though not published) by Veritas, one of the major Classical publishing houses. I have also written for several volumes of the Veritas Omnibus series, a Classical theology/history/literature curriculum. And one of the blurbs on the cover of my book, Talking of Dragons, was written by Douglas Wilson, considered by many to be the father of the modern Classical Christian movement. So what follows may be considered biased in some ways. But keep in mind that, like you, I had to wade through the various philosophical and methodological options available to Homeschoolers (see this post for some thoughts on the process of choosing), and all this was before I had ever met Doug Wilson, or worked with Veritas.

That said, our family’s approach has several important elements in common with Classical Christian Education, yet is also distinct in a few respects.

We can be considered classical in the sense that we believe there is much wisdom in the Medieval Trivium. For those new to Classical education, the Trivium refers to three stages of learning: Grammar (learning the facts, rules, and principles of each subject; roughly ages 5-11), Logic (learning to think through, question, and understand the facts, rules, and principles of each subject; roughly ages 12-14), and Rhetoric (learning how to speak and write in eloquent ways in defense of the facts, rules, and principles of each subject; roughly ages 15-18).

Imaginative Bible Teaching

One thing we have experimented with is encouraging our children to imagine themselves as characters in whatever story we are reading. This can obviously be overdone, to the point where you’re almost ignoring the story itself, but in moderation, it can be helpful. We have tried it with Bible, in particular. As theologian James Jordan points out, there really are not two “Testaments” (Old and New) in the Bible, there are four. These four “canons” or testaments, were books revealed and written during a span of time, and followed by a “silent” period, during which no new revelation was given:


First Canon: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua. This Canon was completed in am (anno mundi, “year of the world”) 2553, with Joshua just a few years later. Following this was a gap of 350 Years.

Second Canon: Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Canticles (Song of Songs), Ecclesiastes. This Canon was written over about a century, from am 2905 to 3020. Following this was a gap of almost 200 years.

Third Canon: Isaiah, Kings, Jeremiah-Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, The Twelve (minor prophets), Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah (what Jordan calls Greater Chronicles). This Canon was written over 300 years. The following Gap was about 400 years, until around ad 30.

Fourth Canon: books of the New Testament.

During these “gaps,” where there was no new revelation, the only Bible the people of God had was whatever had come before. So we talk to our children in this way:

“Imagine yourself as a righteous priest in the days of the Judges. The people of Israel have turned away from God…again. You desire to turn back to the One who brought you and your people out of the land of Egypt. You search for him in the Scriptures, the Bible. But what is the Bible, to someone living during that time?”

“Or again, imagine you live during the time of the divided kingdom of Judah and Israel. What Bible would your people have?”

“Or if you lived during the 400-year ‘intertestamental’ period? What would be the Bible you would hear read on the Sabbath?”

Now as we do this, we don’t ignore the books that came later: after all, we are blessed with a complete Bible, and part of our teaching consists in showing our children how Christ is in all of Scripture. But it is interesting to think of going through the loss of a loved one without Psalm 23; or bringing up boys without the aid of Solomon’s Proverbs; or suffering persecution without the comfort of Revelation.

God’s revelation to us is progressive, and we are given what we need when we need it. Even today, the Church is not yet as wise in our understanding of the complete Bible as we will be some day. We live now with the insights that have been given, not those that will be given. If we remember our brothers and sisters from past ages who did the same, we will be encouraged, and our understanding of God’s Word will be deepened.

Our Philosophy of Homeschooling

I linked to this post on the Raising Homemakers website for their link-up day. Please visit them sometime. So many interested in the art of homemaking are also interested in the art of homeschooling. For us, educating our little ones at home is an integral part of creating a home of goodness, truth, and beauty. In the article below, I give the basics for why we homeschool.

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In this post, I want to discuss the educational philosophy of Saint George Academy (our family homeschool). It’s important for everyone to know why they do what they do. Many who have opted for other educational methods often wonder why people make the choice to educate at home. They see a variety of potential problems with homeschooling (some legitimate, some, eh, not so much), and even those considering homeschooling themselves worry about some of these potential problems.

So it’s worth answering the foundational question of why we do it. Later, we can talk about objections to homeschooling, and deal with those potential problems. But first we need to establish that home education is a legitimate choice; and in fact that it is much more.

People from a wide variety of religious (and “non-religious”) backgrounds homeschool their kids, so I need to establish here at the beginning that what follows is written from our family commitment to the historic Christian faith. We are what some would call “conservative” Christians, which means we believe in the truth of the doctrines and history of Christ and His Church. We believe the Bible as written, and take the historical sections (including accounts of the supernatural) as history, the poetical sections as poetry, and the whole Bible as the Word of God, without error and without anything that should worry or embarrass faithful Christians.

With that said, our philosophy of education—why we do what we do—begins in Deuteronomy 6:4-9:



Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.



Here is the basis for all education: "thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

Moses here commands the people of God on this wise:

1. Education consists in teaching children to love (v. 5) and obey (v. 6-9) God.

2. Education is the responsibility of parents (v. 8).

3. Education is an all-day, every-day enterprise (v. 7).

Public School Quotes

Here are a few interesting quotes. Let's see if any of you out in Facebook Land or Blog Land agree:


 "That erroneous assumption is to the effort that the aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence....Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States, whatever the pretensions of politicians, pedagogues, and other such mountebanks, and that is its aim everywhere else." - H.L Mencken, The American Mercury, April 1924


“Our schools have been scientifically designed to prevent over-education from happening…The average American [should be] content with their humble role in life, because they’re not tempted to think about any other role." - U.S. Commissioner of Education William Torrey Harris, 1889


"A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another: and as the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the predominant power in the government, whether this be a monarch, a priesthood, an aristocracy, or the majority of the existing generation, in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by natural tendency to one over the body." - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

"Academies that are founded at public expense are instituted not so much to cultivate men's natural abilities as to restrain them." -- Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677)



So, do you agree, or not so much? Is public education really just a way for the government to produce cookie-cutter citizens who can't think for themselves?


If so, what are the implications for your family, if any? It's a controversial subject, sure, but discussion and learning are the best parts of this online world we're all a part of.

A Birthday Poem for Abigail

That's Abigail in the picture above, climbing our Magnolia tree at home. Continuing with celebrating the birthday of my two-year-old daughter (let’s see if I can get this right, Homeschool Moms: dd2?), here’s the poem I wrote for her on her first birthday (for those of you just waking up, that would be last year). Around the time this was written, I was reading N.D. Wilson's Notes From the Tile-a-Whirl, which I highly recommend to you. The ideas in my poem were influenced by his book, which in turn was very deeply influenced by my favorite writer, G. K. Chesterton (who I would recommend to you, if there was any point; but if you've never read Chesterton, there's just no hope for you!). 

Hokay, Jupe, here we go:

Abigail’s First Poem

Given on Her First Birthday

By Her Father

Your hair is curled, your eyes are blue,

You love to dance, for you are you.

You might have been another child,

Who hated dance and seldom smiled;

Or one with hair that doesn’t curl;

Or one who’s even not a girl;

Or doesn’t eat each thing she finds;

Or one of many other kinds.

But you are you, I say again:

Your Maker thought you should have been.

And so you’re here, for all to see,

He spoke, and you could not not be.

You’re learning words (at least a few),

But listen: this is strange, but true:

You are yourself a spoken word

(And one I’m very glad I’ve heard).

Your God is talking all the time:

Sometimes in prose, sometimes in rhyme,

His words, unlike the ones we say,

Turn into worlds, make Night and Day;

His words are hills and skies and wood;

And boys and girls (the bad and good).

His words are sharp, like sword or knife;

His words are real, they come to life;

His words are Story, spinning tales,

Of love and war, and crosses’ nails.

And you, my daughter, you yourself

Are in His Book—but on no shelf:

This Story’s always being told;

We watch each day the Tale unfold.

Which character is Abigail?

A faithless girl who won’t prevail?

Or will you be a noble lass,

Whose virtue no one can surpass?

Will you be mean? Or true and kind?

A noble woman who can find?

Your story’s still in Chapter One:

The scene is set, the tale’s begun.

Story: Abigail's Birthday Adventure

Today is the birthday of my youngest child, Abigail Christiana Newsom. She is two years old. Her name means, "joy of her father," and I don't know any better way to describe what she means to me. Happy Birthday, Abigail!

I have mentioned before that for several years I’ve had a tradition of writing poems or stories for my wife and children on birthdays and anniversaries. For the next few days, I’ll be posting things I’ve written for Abigail.

Before I do, let me again encourage parents (especially fathers) to do something like this. Homeschool Dads need to engage their children’s imaginations, and one great way to do that is by creating things just for them. Not everyone has the same talents and gifts, of course—there’s a very good reason I don’t paint pictures for my kids on their birthdays. So this kind of creative endeavor can take many forms: songs, poems, stories, pictures, letters, sculptures, hand-carved toys, or tree-houses. Maybe it’s as simple as buying your son a new camping knife and putting a good edge on it. But whatever you do, use it to bless and encourage your family. This was the practice of G. K. Chesterton’s father, and it left a profound mark upon his son, who would go on to shake the world:

“One of the sports of the imagination, a game I have played all my life, was to take a certain book with pictures of old Dutch houses, and think not of what was in the pictures but of all that was out of the pictures, the unknown corners and side-streets of the same quaint town. The book was one my father had written and illustrated himself, merely for home consumption…He was the sort of man who likes to try everything once. This was the only book he ever wrote; and he never bothered to publish it…the same sort of invention created for children the permanent anticipation of what is profoundly called a Surprise…His den or study was piled high with the stratified layers of about ten or twelve creative amusements; water-colour painting and modelling and photography and stained glass and fretwork and magic lanterns and mediaeval illumination…He never dreamed of turning any of these plastic talents to any mercenary account, or of using them for anything but his own private pleasure and ours. To us he appeared to be indeed the Man with the Golden Key, a magician opening the gates of goblin castles or the sepulchres of dead heroes…If my father had been some common millionaire owning a thousand mills that made cotton, or a million machines that made cocoa, how much smaller he would have seemed…All the things that happened in the house, or were in any sense done on the premises, linger in my imagination like a legend…”

The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton

Now that I’ve ridiculously prefaced my own work with Chesterton’s, here at last is Abigail’s story. It says many things that I want her to know, especially for one just starting out on the journey of life.

A Birthday Adventure

A Story for Abigail on the Occasion of Her Birth

By Her Father

This story happened when Abigail, who was the youngest of the children in those days, had just been born. Mother was lying back in bed, weary but very happy, and Father was beaming like that sun-face on the Raisin Bran boxes. The older children (Abigail had two older brothers—Nathanael was two and William was five—and a seven-year-old big sister, whose name was Grace) were trying to get a peek at the newest initiate into the World of the Little People, and Nurse Waters was talking to Mother about Weight and Length and What a Good Strong Voice She Has.

The whole thing started when William accidentally knocked his plastic cup of water off the table in the corner. It was one of those great and terrible Moments for a five-year old, fraught with the kind of temptation and hidden danger that fills even the most ordinary events with unexpected grandeur and nobility. But William of course didn’t know all that, nor would you or I if it happened to us. For him it was a rather commonplace temptation: no one saw him spill the water, and he didn’t much feel like cleaning it up. He hesitated, perched on the edge of a cliff that was a good bit higher than he realized, his Spider-Man tennis shoes sending bits of broken rock plunging into the unseen abyss below. He glanced up, saw everyone’s heads turned the other way, and walked away from the spilled water, upon which his young conscience begin to pelt him with rocks from the gorge, a process it would continue for the next hour or so.

On Learning Styles

The Homeschool Village is promoting a Link Up today on the topic of learning styles. So I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts on the subject.

For the past thirty or forty years, there has been a great deal of theoretical work done on the idea that people have individual learning styles. The models take various forms, but probably the most recognizable is some variation of the VAK model, which categorizes learning styles something like this:

1.    Visual Learners.
2.    Auditory Learners.
3.    Reading/Writing Learners.
4.    Tactile Learners.

This is the version I am most familiar with, having encountered it for years at work. I only write books and such at night and on Saturdays: on weekdays, I work for an insurance company in the training and development department. A lot of discussion goes on about adapting our classroom environment and methods to appeal to this variety of learning styles.

And we do live in a time when our ability to cater to a variety of learning styles has greatly increased. This is a good thing, on the whole: we homeschoolers should (thoughtfully) take advantage of at least some of the new technologies out there. One example is virtual or online classes, some of which, like the Veritas Press self-paced courses, are ideal for those who enjoy learning via a more visual approach.

The concept of learning styles, from one perspective, is based on the simple fact that people are different, with various strengths and weaknesses. This in itself is certainly true, and wisdom would require us to pay attention to such things.

However, I do not think we should quickly accept the idea of learning styles as neutral data, nor as unchanging fact, nor yet as unmixed blessing. Let’s say a child is classified as a visual learner, with a real weak spot when it comes to auditory learning: should a parent simply accept this designation, as if we’ve found a label stuck on the child’s soul? Or should we seek to help him overcome his weakness, developing more of an ability to learn through conversation?

Charlotte Mason Review Part II

Continuing our review of the Charlotte Mason philosophy/methods, Susan Wise Bauer notes that, “Writing continues to be a weak area in the larger home school community; we need more, not less, explicit teaching in this area.”

Classical and Charlotte Mason are at odds here, as Charlotte Mason advocates minimal grammar and writing instruction (suggesting that children can learn by absorbing good literature), as well as waiting until the children are older to begin; while Classical advocates like Bauer want more, and earlier, writing instruction from the parents. I agree with Bauer here contra Charlotte Mason.

A few other suggestions that Bauer says are compatible with both Classical and Charlotte Mason: “choosing quality reading material, reading adult level books to children, making narration rather than testing the central method of evaluating learning…”). These ideas seem good and wise.

Charlotte Mason Review Part I

This post begins a series of articles on figuring out your homeschool philosophy. Note that there are a variety of options here: the “unschool” approach, which pretty much lets kids drive the educational process with little in the way of formal training. Then there’s the self-taught approach, which is much more academically rigorous, but with an emphasis on children learning to teach themselves. Another option is the Classical approach, which, though variously defined, places an emphasis on history, favors language-based study over image-focused study, and follows the pattern of the Medieval Trivium (Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric).

Then there’s Charlotte Mason, which we will be considering today. Charlotte Mason was an early twentieth-century educator who developed a philosophy of teaching that is followed by many home educators today. First, we should note that Charlotte Mason was herself a classical educator, so this method has much in common with the modern Classical movement. I recently gave a talk at the Veritas teacher training conference, and one of the other workshops was on the similarities between “Charlotte and Dorothy” (Dorothy L. Sayers, whose seminal essay, “The Lost Tools of Learning,” birthed the modern revival of Classical education).

So there’s a great deal of overlap between the two philosophies, and as we will be dealing with Classical education in a series of future posts, we’ll not cover all that ground now. But here is a brief summary of the Charlotte Mason philosophy, from Susan Wise Bauer, Classical home educator and author of The Well-Trained Mind (note that she is drawing this summary from the writings of a contemporary Charlotte Mason advocate):

“In her first chapter, Levinson summarizes the Mason method as relying on narration, rather than workbooks; on whole and living books, rather than textbooks; and as utilizing short morning lessons with the afternoon and evening free.”

Here are a few other details, from a popular Charlotte Mason website:

“Charlotte’s students used living books rather than dry textbooks. Living books are usually written in story form by one author who has a passion for the subject. A living book makes the subject ‘come alive.’ She taught spelling by using passages from great books that communicate great ideas rather than just a list of words. She encouraged spending time outdoors, interacting with God’s creation firsthand and learning the living ways of nature.”

There is much good here, and home educators should consider these concepts.

At St George Academy (our family homeschool), we do use some of these methods, but do not embrace the Charlotte Mason philosophy unreservedly. Indeed, I have some real concerns. Consider this, from Charlotte Mason’s A Philosophy of Education (emphasis mine):

The Vision of Home Education

Here's some worthwhile thoughts from Doug Phillips of Vision Forum:

"As R.J. Rushdoony has pointed out, 'Education is inescapably a religious discipline'...while many Christians have correctly focused on the religious nature of the content of education, they ignore the fact that the Bible also speaks to the methodology of education. Methods are not neutral. The rise of the home education movement is not merely a response to the failure of government education; it is an affirmation of a distinctively Biblical approach to both the methods and the objectives of Christian education.


"Unlike the peer-driven culture of the classroom, with its unbiblical approach to age segregation as a basis for training, home educators benefit from the one-on-one tutorial approach which allows parents to walk alongside their children while communicating faith, virtue, and knowledge, in that order. Home education, with its emphasis on relationship-driven training, is a distinctively Hebrew approach to education, while the modern classroom, with its emphasis on efficiency, is a distinctively Greek and pagan approach to education."

If Only I'd Known All This Fifty Years Ago...

I am linking this post to the "Works for Me Wednesday" link up over at the We Are That Family website. Give them a visit, sometime, eh, what? The idea is to link to a post that gives advice or tips that made life easier in some way. The article below details some thoughts and ideas that have made our lives as homeschooling parents easier.

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Those considering home education might be daunted for a variety of reasons, some legitimate, some vague and probably unfounded. But those who have actually tried it are tempted to a host of specific worries and concerns. One of the most real and pressing of these is the question of which home education philosophy or method to follow. Charlotte Mason? Classical? What about the “unschool” philosophy? Perhaps something geared more towards self-directed learning, like the Robinson or A2 curricula? Or should we take the “school in a box” approach, with scripted lesson plans for every subject, instructional DVDs for the hard stuff, online games and quizzes, and blueprints for building an Egyptian pyramid in your back yard without slave labor?

Our family has certainly had our share of this sort of uncertainty. And I have brooded and fretted over the years—more than I should have—over which direction to take. There are two reasons why it was hard for us to settle on an approach to Homeschooling with which we felt a reasonable measure of confidence. The first was the simple fact that there are so many options, both in terms of philosophy, and of methodology, from which to choose. And even within each philosophical or methodological option, there are a myriad of practical choices to make, in terms of books and curricula. For instance, even if you settle on, say, a classical approach, will you use the books and curricula of Veritas Press, or those based on the “Well-Trained Mind” approach? Or something else entirely? Will you use Shurley Grammar, Rod and Staff, or Beka? Saxon Math or Math-U-See? Institutes for Excellence in Writing or Writing with Ease? In many ways, this can be simply overwhelming.

The second reason why it was hard for us to settle on an approach to Homeschooling was the realization that the Home Education movement is in about year 30 of what we hope to be a multi-millennial project. We are the infants of the Home Education movement. Our descendants a hundred, or five hundred years from now, will look back on us with (hopefully) thankfulness and honor; but also with a more mature wisdom than we now possess. They will have figured out a lot of things that are (or should be) dark and mysterious to us. A lot of the things we feel certain of now will be proven, by our descendents, to have been wrongheaded, or perhaps simply wrong.

But ironically, this second realization was what brought a measure of peace to us. It suddenly struck me like a thunderbolt that we cannot know what we cannot know. And with this insight came freedom. I cannot now possess the wisdom that will only come to our people a hundred years from now. I cannot now act on the insights that will only occur to our children three generations hence. But neither am I called to do so. God wishes me to lead and educate my children, now, with the wisdom and insight He has given to our generation, and to those who have gone before us whose wisdom we do have access to. And He has called me to do this in faith, believing that He is capable of bringing up a people of imperfect wisdom into Biblical and cultural maturity.

As I said, this realization brought freedom to us: freedom to work hard, to bring such wisdom as we have to bear on our educational choices; to actually make those choices; and to live confidently and faithfully with what we have chosen, making adjustments or even wholesale changes as new light is received. If I live to be, say, eighty or ninety, doubtless I will look at the advances of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the arena of home education, and say, if only I’d known all this fifty years ago… But I trust I will also be able to laugh at my own folly, and praise the obvious grace of God in the generations that have succeeded and surpassed me.

The Key, The Captain, and the Corsair

Here's a story I wrote for William last year, when he turned six. Again, the idea here is to cast your children as the heroes in stories, teaching them what goodness, nobility, courage, and so on, really look like. Love to hear any comments or thoughts on this or the other postings this week.

The Key, The Captain, and The Corsair

William Chad Newsom

Written for my son, William Alfred Alexander Newsom,
on the Occasion of His Sixth Birthday

This is a story that happened when our hero, William, was eight years old. William and his family had taken their vacation that year in the tiny port-town of Trelawney on the North Carolina Coast. Along with the usual beach activities, they were set to visit the Old Pirate Ship, which had been turned into a museum many years before. So William and his parents, his brother and two sisters, along with a camera or two, headed off that Friday morning to visit the Ship.

The Ship was called The Corsair, which as you may know, can mean either ‘pirate,’ or ‘privateer,’ and she was a captured, second-rate “man of war” ship with 90 guns. William loved her at once and couldn’t wait to get onboard.

Just beside the plank walkway that led to the ship, they met the Docent, or tour-guide, who was to take them through to see the sights. His name was James Benbow and he was a kindly, white-haired man of about sixty years of age, dressed in eighteenth-century sailor clothes. He smiled as he greeted them and took them aboard.

As they went along, he told them stories of the ship. The Corsair had been commanded by the famous pirate, Captain Jonas Flintlock (a well-known though underappreciated figure, in the Docent’s view). ‘‘Used to be a preacher in his young days, if you’ll believe me,’ he told them. ‘But God called him to take the good word to the Chinese, and he wouldn’t have anything to do with them at any price, no one knows why. The Captain was a most gentlemanly pirate, kind and considerate, even to those he plundered, though he could be fearsome enough in battle. Indeed, he often pretended to be a privateer, on the lookout for enemy ships, sailing for the King of England. Before we begin, let me also tell you something that you may or may not know. Today marks the two hundred and eleventh anniversary of the capture of The Corsair and the death of Captain Flintlock. Now, ladies and gentleman, we will begin our tour of the ship. And when we get back outside, I’ll have a question to ask you about Captain Flintlock, and if anyone answers it right, they’ll be awarded a very special prize.’

Another Birthday Poem

Continuing with posting things I've written for William (whose birthday was yesterday, you'll recall), here's a poem I wrote for William two years ago, when he turned five. His mother put on a "Robin Hood" themed birthday party for him; thus the subject matter of this poem. If you read yesterday's poem, you will note, after reading this one, a theme of nobility running through them. My heart's desire is that my children will be noble - by which I mean godly, Christlike, honorable, chivalrous, brave - now, not just when they grow up. It seems we always expect kids to be bad, but hope they'll grow up to be good. Then we're surprised when they don't.

I am nowhere near the father I want to be; I am merely sharing my desires, the things I am aiming for. And what I aim for is children who, young though they be, can withstand such pressures and temptations as their tender ages may encounter. That they will not be deceived by the same foolish lies that other children their age believe; that they will not be enamored of the same pathetic music and pop stars of their peers; that they will be repulsed by the same evils that attract many children of our culture. That they will love with fierce loyalty all that is good, true, and beautiful; and, of necessity, that they will hate all that is evil, false, and ugly. That is the motivation behind my writing for them. In this poem, I hope to provide another hero to inspire William's loyalty: Robin Hood, defender of the weak, loyal to the true king, enemy of the tyrant. These things I want and expect and look for in my children, even now, in their childhood. May God in His kindness grant these things to my family and to yours.

William Hood
A Poem For William on His Fifth Birthday

His King’s away, or so they say,
Yet I am not so sure…
That knight in black—is Richard back
From yon Crusading tour?

But since he left the throne bereft
Of lawful king and lord,
His brother John has set upon
The land with tax and sword.

Now Robin Hood, in green Sherwood,
Has taken vows to save
All poor and cursed—but fight and worst
The tyrant and the knave.

The Church—God’s Truth! he loves, forsooth,
As Friar Tuck has said
(Shalt bid that priest hold rite and feast
His Marian to wed!).

No more depart, great Lion-heart—
Return and hear us sing
Of one so good, our Robin Hood,
So loyal to his King.
 

***

Your King’s away, or so some say,
But don’t you be so sure!
Do you be good, my William Hood,
Be holy, brave, and pure.

Defend the weak, God’s blessing seek,
And knightly honour win;
Give every breath to fight to death
The tyrannies of sin.

In honour, dare, for Lady Fair,
And never trust to luck;
Your Marian you’ll marry in
The church of Friar Tuck!

With horn and drum, that Day will come—
Your King will reappear
To smite the foe, and overthrow
The overlords of fear.

Be valiant, son, till all is done,
Keep close your bow of wood;
An outlaw in this world of sin,
My noble William Hood.

By Alan-a-Dad

William's Birthday Poem

Today is the seventh birthday of my oldest son, William Alfred Alexander Newsom. Some years back I began a tradition of writing either a poem, song, or story for my wife and children on their birthdays. Throughout this week, I’ll be posting such poems and stories written for William (and maybe for some of the others). We’ll begin with this one, written for William’s seventh birthday today. This one is also for Nathanael, my younger son, who turned four on May 3. We’re doing combined birthday parties: one each year for the girls, one for the boys. So this year I combined Nathanael’s and William’s poems into one for the brothers.

As a side note, I encourage parents (especially Dads) to do something like this. You don’t have to be a great poet (if you read any poetry, you will quickly see that I am not) or storyteller. But just do this: write a simple story, whether in verse or prose, with one or more of your children as the protagonist (hero). Put them in situations in which they must choose to be noble in the face of temptations to do otherwise. You would be surprised how even the simplest tales take on new meaning to your children when they begin to see themselves as characters in the story. This is an important way to build a storytelling culture in your home, and, by doing so, to build character in the lives of your children. In a story-shaped home, the virtues, the fruits of the Spirit that you wish to see them develop will begin to seep into their bones. They will know them: not just the rote knowledge of memorization (important though that is), but a knowledge that is woven into their very souls.

Anyway, happy birthday to my son, William, who is growing into the noble boy I have always dreamed about.

Band of Brothers
A Poem for Nathanael, on the Occasion of His Fourth Birthday (May 3, 2010); and William, on the Occasion of his Seventh Birthday (July 19, 2010)
Given With Love, By Your Father

Nathanael:
Well, here we are, just me and you,
There’s only two of us.
We boys, I mean: there’s only two;
Two brothers: we are small and few;
Whatever can we hope to do?

William:
Now, don’t despair, don’t fuss!

It’s true that we’re not army-size:
We can’t besiege a town.
But like the knight who charges, dies,
With noble luster in his eyes,
That gold and silver never buys;
And takes the foeman down.

So you and I are richly blessed
With courage from our Lord;
I’ve seen you, brother, sorely pressed,
Yet rise with valor, meet the test;
And you and I shall meet this Quest,
Come fire, death, or sword.

Nathanael:
Thanks, brother; now I’m set to try
To take the heights above;
For just two brothers—you and I—
By God’s dear grace may crack the sky;
We may not win but we can die,
To save that which we love.

As Jonathan and his servant went
Against a mighty crew;
So now two brothers have been sent,
To force the wicked to relent;
‘Til all heart-treasures have been spent;
And hearts are piercéd through.

William:
Well said, my brother! Now look to
The sword of steel you wear;
Whatever can we hope to do?

Nathanael:
Nay, here were are, we happy few:
A band of brothers, small, but true;
A noble cross to bear.

Narrator:
Then bursting through the door to Hell,
Where Sorcery held sway,
Two brothers with a mighty yell,
Sent serpents spinning, beasts pell-mell;
And drave the Devil, tales do tell,
And nobly won the day.

Thus set they free their sisters twain,
Who, captured in the wood,
Refused the wizard’s cup to drain;
To keep their hearts from every stain;
And were enchanted for their pain,
For clinging to the Good.

And now the four walked hand in hand,
Walked in the dying gloam;
And knew not all that yet was planned:
Of twinkling stars and grains of sand;
That more would join their little band,
To grace their little home.

Something I Need to Remember Every Day

This brief scene recently unfolded with my four-year old, Nathanael, who came to me with his arms raised, wanting to be picked up:

NATHANAEL: Daddy, I need you.

ME (after picking him up): What do you need, son?

NATHANAEL: Just you.

Children Who Love the Standard

What is the practical goal of parental discipline? Obviously, the Christian goal is children who love God, and live holy lives. But we set up a Standard of expected behavior for our kids: with respect to that Standard, what is our goal? Here’s the best answer I’ve heard:

“The goal is not to get children to conform to the standard: the goal is to get children to love the standard.”

Thus Doug Wilson, in more than one place, I believe (don’t have the source at hand). And I agree wholeheartedly. We want our children to love the Standard of goodness, truth, and beauty we set before them. When they do, we know we truly have their hearts. We know they are not just outwardly conforming, but inwardly seething (“just wait until I’m old enough to blow this place!”). It’s fairly easy to get kids to outwardly obey. It’s much harder to get them to love obedience, to love being good, for its own sake. The question of course is, “how do we accomplish this noble task?”

I wrestled long with this, agreeing with the principle, but somewhat uncertain how to put it into practice. Here then are some beginning thoughts towards this end.

Independence and the Last Bastion of Freedom

Tomorrow is Independence Day in America, but my family will be celebrating it today with a cookout, games, maybe some music, and hopefully some good political and historical discussion. As we head for the ultimate American celebration of freedom, I find some thoughts brewing under my cap with regards to what I call the Last Bastion of Freedom in America—Home Education.

This may sound like a rash or extreme statement, but I stand by it. Here’s why.

First, though, know that I am writing from the perspective of a conservative (by which I mean “believing”) Christian. Conservative in theology. As to politics, I am not a groupie for the Republicans, but I could at least possibly vote for some of them, while my Christian faith would by no means allow me to vote for a Democrat, at this point in history. I don’t like the historical context of Right/Left distinctions, but have no problem also being labeled as politically “conservative,” provided the word is not used as interchangeable with “Republican.”

Most of my family and close friends are also conservative in theology and politics, including many Christian acquaintances from a number of different local churches. Which is why I have a hard time understanding why so many of these conservative Christians send their children to be educated by liberals.

But if their children are enrolled in public schools, that is exactly what is happening.