edited by lmj
MikeJaqua@worldnet.att.net
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
In Defense of Classical Education
Art Ideas for the Grammar Stage
In Defense of Classical Education
Teaching Art in the Grammar Stage
The comments below were made in response to a recent article in
Homeschool Digest "Questioning Secular Classical Education" by Earl and Diane Rodd
The Trivium
Classical education, as defined by the
Trivium, comprises an
understanding of how children learn.
The Grammar, logic and rhetoric stages are stages
of learning. As a
developmental model, the Trivium, can be used by
anyone wishing to teach
children. Just as a mop can be used to clean a
floor both by a Christian
and by a non-Christian, so believers and pagans
alike can make use of the
tools of learning. The foundation of a
CHRISTIAN classical education, is Biblical
philosophy, Biblical morals and
Biblical teachings along with the Trivium.
We can provide both a Biblical and a classical
education for our children
Mr. Rodd states many either
or's. Either the Hebrews or
the Romans, Jesus or Shakespeare, Paul or Plato.
Does it have to be a
choice? Why not do both? Is a thorough knowledge
of Biblical and historic
Christianity as well as world history mutually
exclusive?
They write, "can we imitate Paul as he imitates
Christ?"
I ask, was not Paul educated classically? When he
came to Christ, he didn't forget how to think or
how to form a cogent argument. His intellectually
ability was used by our Sovereign God who knows
the end from the beginning.
"Every Sabbath (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue,
trying to persuade Jews and Greeks." Acts 18:4
Paul's training in logic and rhetoric was (and is
through the epistles) used by God to advance His
kingdom.
Yes, Paul counted his learning as for
naught once he found
Christ. If you had to choose there is no
contest. But do we have to
choose between intellect and Christianity?
The Rodds' lament the neglect of Abraham Isaac
and Jacob, in favor of
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in classical
education. I would ask them:
When did Abraham write a definitive treatise on
rhetoric? Did Jacob
define a system of deductive logic ? Many of the
Ancients were the first to
define and study the educational tools
employed in the Trivium, such as Aristotle's
"Rhetoric" and logic as
expressed through Plato's writings of Socrates'
last days. The Bible
contains examples of logic and examples of
rhetoric as applied to
specific situations, but
not step-by-step textbooks on any of those
subjects.
The Role of Ancient Mythology
Ancient literature was preserved through the Dark
Ages by monks, men of
God, who faithfully copied every manuscript. Given
the tedious method of
reproduction, they copied only what they
considered worth while preserving.
Much of our knowledge of the ancients, we owe to
these friars. Our
understanding of ancient Greek and Roman cultures,
values, triumphs and
failures come partially from studying their
mythology, their legends and
histories. None of us emulate or embrace their
worship.
Yes I DO think
there are good reasons to be
familiar with the myths and classical references in
literature besides making little
pagans.
Democracy didn't spring up from Jewish thought.
They were under monarchs
and held slaves, ideas we find abhorrent. To try to be
Jewish, I think,
is [attempting to create some perceived] ideal world.
Yes, they were God's
people, but they were
also in perennial skirmishes and still are! We can't
deny the place Greek and
Roman thought have had in making this country.
From
Romans we got the Pax Romana,
we got advanced road systems without which there
might not be Christianity
today. The
goal of education is to take the best
and leave the rest
We will cover the myths and
the great civilizations.
We will focus on times and
peoples and issues most
relevant to the Faith.
I find erroneous [ to say ]that
the problem of our goverment breakdown
stems from our forefathers' classical education.
Does [it follow] that if our forefathers
had a TOTAL biblical education with no other
influences, our goverment
today would be God-Centered and enlightened by the
Holy Spirit!?! Not if you
believe in original sin. Sin is the key to ALL
disorder. Judas Iscariot
walked with Christ as his Apostle;living,
walking, and breathing BESIDE
GOD didn't change his sinful nature. No education
can keep a man pure of
heart. Not even a biblical one
Know thine enemy
How can we stand up to the likes of Hitler,
the population controlers,
the Darwinist unless we know their points of
view? These people aren't going
to change their minds because we stand in front of
them armed with the Bible
shouting ?cripture. They
dont believe Scripture to be
Truth. Would they even give a minute to listen?
The Pharisees didn't listen to
Christ.
I could'nt imagine Pope John
Paul II, who speaks several
languages, writing thousands of documents to all
Christians in his pontificat
with only a Biblical education. He would be the
wrong man for the job. He is
well educated on all cultures. This enables him to
see the problems that nations
and their peoples are having and respond with the
Light of Truth.
The role of Fiction
Classical
writings, which the Rodds define solely as
"those who have received
acclaim through the ages," namely fiction,
according to the Rodds can often be
a waste of time, and are
sometimes on a par with "watching R-rated movies"
and "reading trash novels."
Great fiction is often analogous
and can help role play
decision making and clarify thought. I think there
are better reasons to
read it than to kill time.
A quote from the article:
"Fiction is generally
written to entertain.
While reading fiction may help develop reading
skill and vocabulary, it is
NOT the same as reading what is true. In the end,
fiction DID NOT HAPPEN. "
Who isn't aware that fiction didn't happen? What
is the relevance of
whether it really happened? Did not Jesus
speak in parables? Did
they "really happen"? Were they "true"? Did not
the crowds marvel at his
teachings?
Without fiction, how can
one understand the emotions, culture and thinking
of one's fellow man? How
can we learn from the mistakes and embrace the
successes through the ages ?
The mark of great literature such as classical
writings, is not solely
based on continued "acclaim through out the ages"
as stated by the Rodds'
unnamed classicist. In addition, the writings
should display excellent
grammar (knowledge of the subject at hand), good
logic, impressive rhetoric
as well as a worth-while topic in the great debate
of who we are and why we
are here.
Why do we employ Great fiction in our
homeschools? Reading,
copying and narrating great writing, produces
great readers, great writers
and great thinkers.
The education of thinking,
persuasive Christians
I contend that we have an abundance of
Christians not trained (or trained not) to reason
and persuade. Is the prevalent emotional appeal
superior to an intellectual appeal?
Augustine says of his boyhood
education:
""I was forced to learn the wanderings of one
Aeneas, forgetful of my own, and to weep for dead
Dido, because she killed herself for love; the
while, with dry eyes, I endured my miserable self
dying among these things, far from Thee, O my God
my life. For what more miserable than a miserable
being who commiserates not himself; weeping the
death of Dido for love to Aeneas, but weeping not
his own death for want of love to Thee, O God."
Paul, Augustine, and I think all of us, vehemently
"count all things but loss, for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus." If not, we have
not embraced the faith we profess. Faith and
intellect can indeed co-exist but we certainly
prize one above the other.""
In conclusion
Ignorance of world history and
ignorance of true and faulty
philosophies through the ages, create
narrow-minded Christians who are not
able to look beyond the trappings of their own
culture to truly KNOW that
which is of God.
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My Personal Plan for Practical Art Class by KC
I have always started out with Drawing with
Children (DWC) by Mona Brooks. Iagree, it's not that user-friendly,
but once you've made some additional worksheets at
the various levels, it works well. The
reasons I have stuck
with DWC are two:
(1) you can do a broad age-range
to start with and even include 2-year-olds with
the initial exercises, and
(2) I read once that
all "art" should be preceded by "drawing", since
all forms of art (types of painting, clay, batique,
etc.) all START with sketching/drawing. Not
to mention the asset to science lessons, etc.
We go to the "Drawing Textbook" by Bruce McIntyre as children
finish the "5" DWC lessons. This is a
simple, inexpensive ($8)
textbook to provide 36 lessons of drawing to teach
principles of
surface, size, lines, overlapping, shading,
density, foreshortening,
directions, alignment, and combining these
principles. It is appropriate
to start at around age 6-8.
By MEDL
Bruce McIntyre's Drawing Textbook isn't a
textbook at all, rather, it's
60pg's on heavy cotton paper stapled together.
What it teaches is invaluable though. The 37
lessons cover all areas of drawing. It uses the
foreshortened circle and square technique to draw
anything, along with teaching the elements of
drawing ie, Surface, Size, Surface Lines,
Overlapping, Shading, Density, Foreshortening: The
tools of Perspective Drawing. It doesn't teach
Perspective Drawing by aligning everything to a
single vanishing point. Mr. McIntyre refers to
this as Alignment. I learned this form of
perspective drawing in Highschool. It is utilized
in Architecture. But before you can reach that end
it is neccessary to know how to draw what you
visualize. This is where the drawing textbook
comes in. Even if you cant draw, this book will
teach you how. It doesn't get into complicated
drawing techniques and can have you finishing a
three dimensional apple or table in minutes
including the shading. You can also purchase this
from Rainbow Resource for $7.50
by KC
My plan is to go to "Draw Today" after completing
the Drawing Textbook. This program combines some of
the
oldest methods of art instruction
(DaVinci, Durer, Van Gogh...) with
some modern methods. This is a good plan for
a minimum of 3rd grade (but probably more like
around 10-12 to start). When your child
is starting to get frustrated with his or her drawings
not looking realistic enough, it is a good time to
start this program. The program is intense with regards
to the attention they need to
pay to the lessons. The company has a toll-free
technical assistance
line you can call when giving the lessons, and a
video tape of instructions. They can be emailed
at sbg-@artskills.com for more
information, or their
website
"How Great Thou ART" by DH
My sons, ages 6 and almost 8, just attended a
three day workshop taught by Barry Stebbing,
creator of "How Great Thou Art". There is a
of work and it is not great for kids under 7 who can't
sit still all morning. [My chidren]learned so much.
Christine Miller's homepage recommends Stebbings materials.
Stebbing's books would fit into classical
homeschooling
because it is challenging, emphasizes
fundamentals, "line upon line, precept upon
precept", focuses on good attitude and discipline.
He suggested starting the week with Art,
a minimum of 1 hour of art per week when you start. If
your speedy son gets his
project done in 20 minutes, have back up lessons
ready so it still takes the 1 -1 1/2 hours that
you've planned on. Be diverse. Do drawing,
painting,
lettering, art appreciation, keeping an art
journal. For Art History, check out
the children's section at the library. He said to
paperclip the nudes, but "don't throw out the baby
with the bath water".
He suggested drawing with markers on poster board
(cut into smaller pieces) and using Berol colored
pencils. They are supposed to be much better than
Crayola.
If you have a homeschool support group that
wants to have him come teach a 3 day workshop
(with about 100-250 kids ages 6 and up) he
probably would love to talk to you. That's what
he's been doing the last few years. Teaching
these workshops all over the country and Canada
has made
him an excellent resource for homeschoolers! He
knows the kids' strengths
and weaknesses and what works for moms in the
home.
I purchased "I
Can Do All Things", which is a 3 year curriculum
for children ages 6 and up. It teaches
fundamentals of beginning drawing and beginning
painting along with a good introduction in how to
use colored markers and colored pencils. There is
also a section in the back of the text with an
introduction to art appreciation, glossary, and
examination, and a sketchbook. The student may
work directly in the text or it can be used by the
entire family (copies of the lessons can be made
within the family). A set of 38 8 1/2 x 11" paint
and marker cards comes with each text. These are
heavy, index stock cards
for each student to do the painting and colored
marker exercises on. The book
and marker & paint cards wa $43. The extra cards
were $15. So,
I have the curriculum for 2 children for 3 years
for $58.
There is also "Feed My Sheep" for ages 9 to adult.
and a 3 year curriculum
with much more than "I Can Do All Things" for $43.
This is supposed to be
geared toward beginner to intermediate artists.
For "semi-advanced"
artists there is "How Great Thou Art" (I and II)
for ages 12 through adult. There is also "The Book
of Many Colors" for ages 12-adult for learning to
paint and learning all about color.
For those between "I Can Do All Things" and "Feed
My Sheep", there's "Lamb's Book of Art" (I and II)
for ages 8-13. These complementary art texts
"teach
a well-rounded foundation in art. Subjects
include color theory, drawing,
perspective, nature studies, anatomy, portraits,
cartooning, lettering, creative wriitng nd more.
Lessons can be done directly in the text.
Although the program is for students grates 1
through 8, high school students will find most of
the lessons also enriching in building their
foundation in art. Lower levels (grades 1 and 2)
will need more parent/
teacher assistance." These two one-year texts are
$15 each.
There are is also a book for preschoolers and a
book for etiquette and good manners. Plus
instructional videos for several of the above
courses. They
are lengthy (4 1/2 to 7 hours long) and costly
($99 - $129)
Quote: "Our purpose
at "How Great Thou ART" is to teach students the
fundamentals of art by building upon the
fundamentals "line upon line, precept upon
precept." We
believe the most important quality in learning is
to have a good attitude; students need to believe
they can learn to draw, paint, letter, and so
forth. Art is not just for those we call
"talented". God has given all of
us, to one degree or another, abilities in art
which should be nutured. The
texts have been created to be both enjoyable and
educational, challendging the students while
preserving their sense of joy. Our curriculum is
"teacher friendly", or easy to understand and do.
Each lesson contains
specific learning objectives, teaching with an
educational purpose......"
Pointers for Art Class:
1 . Play classical music during art class.
2. Have
students look at their drawings in a mirror to
check for drawing mistakes.
3. Have them copy an inspirational quote each
class in their art notebooks or journals.
4. Set up rules and regulations and make your art
classes as structured as possible.
5. Have back-up lessons in case a student finishes
early.
6. The younger the child, the more
attention should be given during art time.
7. When evaluating artwork, balance praise with
constructive criticism.
8. Use your library to
study different artists and periods of time.
9.
Have your students keep an art journal. Also,
save sketchbooks for their
best work.
10. Teach the fundamentals. Look for art lessons
with specific learning
objectives.
11. Get involved! Do artwork alongside the
students.
12. Pick up your frames at yard sales and do the
artwork to fit into these frames.
13. Participate in a co-op art class with other
families once every other week.
Art With A Purpose By MEDL
I am using Art with a Purpose; Artpacs for
early elementery grades and
Bruce McIntyre's Drawing Textbook for the middle
grades. Both programs are quick, painless and take
little if any preparation time.
Artpacs contain 36 lessons that include the
Artsheets to be colored, cut,
deco-
rated, painted etc. Each lesson teaches a specific
skill. The skills taught
depend on the level used. I am using Artpac 1 for
[my boys ages 7 and 5 ]. It teaches coloring
techniques, mosaics, cutting, gluing, silhouettes,
tracing.....numerous skills. This program is
reasonably priced at $5. a pack. There are 8 pacs
(levels) in all. They can be purchased from
Rainbow Resource.
Try the
Sonlight Board in "Extracurricular" to get
discussions of various art
programs (
click here ) .
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