"Rules without Relationship equals Rebellion."

I believe in a similar concept concerning education:

"Instruction without Interaction equals Ignorance."

Assigning a number of pages to read in a textbook is not teaching. Dr. Bruce Wilkinson explains, in The Seven Laws of the Learner, "Talking in front of a class is not teaching. True biblical teaching doesn't take place unless students have learned. If they haven't learned, we haven't taught."

Only a very small percentage of children will learn if all you do is hand out assignments. Most children, 75% according to learning-style studies, need more. The Heart of Wisdom teaching approach is specifically designed to be a parent-child interaction program. It is at first parent-directed, then delight-directed, beginning with the parent teaching the student until he or she is internally motivated to study, led by the Holy Spirit.

At first—parent-directed—teaching the student until he or she is internally motivated to study, led by the Holy Spirit—delight-directed.

There are four basic steps in each Heart of Wisdom unit study lesson. The teacher is active in the first two steps.

1. In the first step the teacher is involved, asking questions and investigating where the child's level of awareness is (the child's knowledge base).
2. In the second step the teacher teaches the material. Teacher and student go over the material in books and/or on the Internet.
3. In the third step the teacher moves aside as the student completes an activity. Older students do further independent research.
4. In the fourth step the student presents the information learned to another person.

The Four-Step Lessons are explained in detail in another section of this book. It was mentioned here only to demonstrate that every Heart of Wisdom lesson includes teacher-student interaction.

Through interaction we are

1. Motivating:  Finding and pushing the student's "hot buttons," and making the lesson applicable to real life (as Jesus did when He talked to fishermen about fish, shepherds about sheep, etc.).

2. Evaluating: Watching to see if the student is "getting it" and adjusting or reviewing as necessary.

Learning together can be a very stimulating intellectual and spiritual experience. Much of the material in Heart of Wisdom unit studies will be new to the teacher as well as to the student. Teacher-student exploration will foster yet another bond between parent and child.

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