Blog Giveaway: Win The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach
Blog Giveaway
Three people will win The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach: Bible Based Homeschooling ($34.95 Value). To enter just leave a comment on why you are interested in this book. We are giving away one free paperback and two ebooks. See giveaway details at the bottom of this page.
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The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach
The foundation of the Heart of Wisdom philosophy is to give up man’s standards and lean on God for what He would have us teach our children. Matthew 6:33 is our focus, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” This approach and methods can be used with any curricula.
Free 60 Page Excerpt from this 500 page book
Homeschooling Nutritiously
The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach can be compared to a cookbook of nutritious recipes. I have worked on these recipes for over fifteen years; I have altered the ingredients, measurements, and methods (avoiding poisonous ingredients) and finally came up with nourishing and satisfying results that work well for my family. You can use my recipes as outlined, or adapt them to your family’s preferences. The most important thing is that you use nutritional ingredients. This cookbook not only provides the recipes but also gives a detailed account of the background of the ingredients and cooking methods to help you make the best use of them.
Section One: Lessons from Exodus
The first section of HOWTA (The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach) describes recipes and methods I tried that failed, and how I came to create the Heart of Wisdom recipes. The main problem with all the previous recipes I tried had to do with the man made poisonous fear ingredient. Any recipe that includes fear will result in disaster. I addresses the common fears of homeschoolers in this section by turning to the story of the Exodus, with the hope of preparing the hearts of homeschooling parents to wait and depend on God for all of their needs—and to be anxious for nothing.
Section 1 Chapters
- Our Homeschool Journey: Escape from Public School
- God Called You to be a Part of His Plan
- Focus on God, Not on Circumstances
- Only Be Strong and Very Courageous
Section Two: Rethinking Education
The second section explains the historical and cultural backgrounds of my recipes. Here you will learn how it is necessary to sift the proper ingredients and methods by looking at other recipes that have been tried through history. This section includes the origins and development of our traditional educational methods, from ancient times until today, (including an explanation of Classical education) with an appeal to return to biblical methods.
Section 2 Chapters
- What Is Education? What Is Wisdom?
- A Brief History of Education
- Christian Versus Secular Worldviews
- Greek Versus Hebrew Worldviews
- The Hebrew Educational Model
- Why Christians Reject Hebrew Ways
Section Three: Heart of Wisdom Methods
Section Three includes comprehensive descriptions of the ingredients and preparation methods you’ll be using in the recipes. Here the most popular homeschool teaching philosophies and little-known methods are described.
Section 3 Chapters
- Overview
- Learning Styles
- Four-Step Process
- Delight Directed Studies
- Charlotte Mason’s Educational Philosophies
- Writing to Learn
- Critical Thinking and Logic
Section Four: Heart of Wisdom Instructions
The fourth section contains the cooking directions—pulling it all together–how to decide on a meal plan, actually combine and prepare the ingredients, and then present the finished product to your students. In this section you will learn about the Heart of Wisdom four-year plan and philosophies for teaching each subject, as well as how to create your own unit studies.
Section 4 Chapters
- Overview of the Plan
- God’s Word: Bible Study
- God’s World: Unit Studies
- Creating the Notebooks
- Scheduling by Faith
Section Five: Resources (Nutritious Ingredients)
The fifth section includes book lists contained in the Heart of Wisdom four-year plan. This section explains the equipment that should be in every kitchen (books that should be in every homeschool library) and provides hundreds of books by grade level to teach the unit studies. Includes everything you need to teach Bible, literature, history, science, geography and more for twelve years (the four year plan three times). William Thayer addressed the importance of making wise choices in Gaining Favor with God and Man. He begins by quoting Henry Ward Beecher, nineteenth-century author as saying,
”Books are the windows through which the soul looks out. A home without good books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them. It is a wrong to his family. He cheats them. Children learn to read by being in the presence of books. The love of knowledge comes with reading and grows upon it, and the love of knowledge in a young mind is almost a warrant against the inferior excitement of passions and vices. But to select the books—that is the difficulty. Their number is legion.”
Thayer comments,
“Here is an opportunity to exercise judgment, wise discrimination, and criticism ,supplemented by all the good advice parents, guardians, and other friends can bestow. Under these circumstances the choice of books is not easy, but is one of the most important and difficult duties imposed upon the young or old. Yet it must be done, or reading will prove a curse.”
Our book selection should be based on Philippians 4:8: whatsoever is true, honest, just,pure, lovely, of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Section 5 Chapters
- Creating and/or Purchasing Unit Studies
- Choosing and Using Resources
- Resources
- Bible Resources
- History Resources
- Science Resources
- Life Skills Resources
- Biographies
- Classics K-3
- Classics 4-8
- Classics 9-12
Teaching Methods
The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach is a combination of several teaching methods organized around a two-sided curriculum base: God’s Word and God’s World. This method is specifically designed for multilevel teaching. This approach includes a four-year suggested course of study designed to be repeated every four years through three cycles. This approach can be used for all grade levels.
God’s Word |
God’s World |
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Direct Studies
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Derived Studies
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Bible and Bible study tools
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Thematic unit studies, living books and the Internet
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| Half the school day is occupied with Bible studies. The family reads through the Bible each year utilizing Bible study aids while incorporating language skills though writing assignments (narration, summary writing, composition, etc.) and adding to a Bible portfolio. | History, science, and arts are filtered through divine truth. History is studied chronologically and science is studied in Creation order. All studies incorporate God’s Word. The unit studies incorporate language skills through writing assignments (narration, summaries, composition, etc.) and adding to unit portfolios and a time line book. |
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Writing and language skills are integrated into all studies
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The Heart of Wisdom teaching approach is a blending of popular home education methods. Read an overview below and click on links to learn more about each method.
Heart of Wisdom Methods |
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| A Return to Biblical Hebraic Education | The Bible outlines how we should teach our children. The Hebraic aim of education was ethical and religious. Study is a form of worship. The method of instruction in the home was oral, and learning was accomplished by practice. The Hebrew taught no distinction between sacred and secular areas of life. Every detail of life, therefore, must be set aside and consecrated to the glory of God (the opposite of today’s popular Greek approach). Click for more on Biblical education |
Charlotte Mason’s Philosophy |
Students should develop a love of learning by reading real books–”classic literature–as opposed to twaddle, or “dumbed down” literature. This method also incorporates narration: the assimilating of information (sorting, sequencing, selecting, connecting, rejecting, and classifying), and then retelling, and developing a “Nature Diary” (HOW calls it a Creation Portfolio). Click for more about Charlotte Mason’s methods. |
The Four-Step Lessons |
The Four Steps is a unique way to meet the needs of structured, scheduled homeschoolers and unstructured and informal homeschoolers. Students need freedom and structure. The Four Steps organize and structure the approaches listed on this page that are normally unstructured at the same time promoting the freedom for students to learn the way that is best for them. The For Steps comprise a cycle of instruction based on the four main learning styles adapted from Bernice Macarthy’s 4Mat system. Click for more on the Four Steps. |
Integrated Unit Study |
The term “unit” (or “theme”) refers to the idea of studying a topic as a whole instead of several separate subjects. A unit study takes a topic and lives with it for a period of time, integrating science, social studies, language arts, and fine arts, as they apply. Click to learn about unit studies. |
Lifestyle of Learning |
We emphasis parents relying on the Holy Spirit’s leading to provide the needed resources so the children can develop expertise in their individual fields of interest. We incorporate the Lifestyle of Learning approach outlined in Wisdom’s Way of Learning by Marilyn Howshall. Mrs. Hwshall explains how using these simple and natural tools (with the emphasis on the process of learning rather than the product of learning) will allow your children to begin to develop their own lifestyle of learning. Click for more on the Holy Sprit lead teaching. |
Delight-Directed Learning |
Students acquire basic concepts of learning (reading, reasoning, writing, researching, etc.) during the process of examining the topic they are interested in. Education ought to be about building learners’ abilities to do useful things. Click for more on the Delight Directed approach |
Writing to Learn |
Students think on paper “to discover connections, describe processes, express emerging understandings, raise questions and find answers, encouraging higher-level thinking skills. This method forces the student to internalize learning so they understand better and retain longer. Click for more on writing to learn. |
| Students create scrapbooking pages and folders (lapbooks) as they work through the unit studies.Click here for more on Scrapbooking to Learn | |
Our program is radically different compared to the public school system and from many homeschool programs. You’ll have to do some reading to understand our approach but you’ll find the methods make sense and are more natural that traditional methods.
So grab a cup of tea and browse through the links. Spend some time earnestly seeking God about your homeschool decisions.
Do not fret! God will lead you to the approach that will fit your family!
Remember these two promises:
- Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matt 6:22)
- In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6
Whatever approach you decide to use, we hope our materials encourage you to lean on God and devote your homeschooling to Him.
Is the Heart of Wisdom approach for you?
- Will this approach fit your family?
- Will it encourage you?
- Will it help you homeschool?
- Will it make your life easier?
We want to help you answer the questions above so we’ve provided a wealth of information on our site and a free 60-page excerpt from our 500-page book.
Blog Giveaway Details
- Entries must be received no later than Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 11:59 PM, EST.
- Leave a comment below explaining why you are interested in this book.
- EARN BONUS ENTRIES:
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Heart of Wisdom is having a Blog Giveaway. Comment to win “The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach” http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/?p=9472
