Homeschool Helps

Teaching Tips & Links by Thematic Unit

Today is Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Heart of Wisdom Approach: An Overview

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.

God’s Word	God’s World
Direct Studies	Derived Studies
Bible and Bible study tools	Thematic unit studies, living books and the Internet
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.
Writing and language skills are integrated into all studies

The Heart of Wisdom approach begins with the Bible as the center of education, with all subordinate studies brought into the circle of light radiating from there. Academics play an important part, but they are secondary. Students spend half the school day studying God’s Word and the other half studying God’s world. This approach can be used for all grade levels.

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
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.
Scrapbooking to Learn	Students create scrapbooking pages and folders (lapbooks) as they work through the unit studies. Clcik here for more on Scrapbooking to Learn

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. 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!

Whatever approach you decide to use, we hope our materials encourage you to lean on God and devote your homeschooling to Him.

For more on 4 Steps see Teaching Around the 4MAT® Cycle: Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners with Diverse Learning Styles by Bernice McCarthy

Tweet This Post

There Are 3 Responses So Far. »

Pingback by Major Change of 2009: Multi-level teaching « Weathertop Homeschool on 22 July 2009:

[...] finally found my answer in a book I picked up at the library: The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach by Robin Sampson. Mrs. Sampson very clearly explains exactly how to set up a homeschool for [...]
Comment by Vicki Bentley on 1 February 2010:

I didn’t realize this was a regular comment field — thought it was a Contact Us form. So sorry! Please delete my previous comment!
Comment by Wareen Mac Isaac on 15 March 2010:

Dear Advertising Representative,

My name is Wareen MacIsaac and I am the secretary of our chapter of THEA (Tennessee Home Education Association). Our chapter is called Mid-East THEA.
We are putting together 100 of our “Goodie Bags” / Complimentary Gift Bags – filled with advertisements – for our Book Fair on May 28th here in Athens, TN.
Our advertising price is $.10 / insert – a $10.00 charge to you. If you should want to advertise with more than one insert, any additional ones will be $.05 each.
The check can be made payable to: Mid-East THEA.

The check and 100 catalogs/inserts can be mailed to :

Wareen MacIsaac
c/o Book Fair
137 Co Rd 651
Athens, TN 37303
(423-746-1798 or 423-506-1895)
Our deadline is May 21st for receiving boxes.

If you should need any further information or time to ship to us, please call me at 423-746-1798 or 423-506-1895.

Thank you.

Sincerely serving in His Kingdom,
Wareen