One of the characteristics of an Indy Car driver and a musical maestro, both masters of their respective skill, is self-discipline. Were they undisciplined in pursuing knowledge and practice of their craft, they would never have risen to the heights of master. We want our rising classical scholars to exhibit self-discipline especially when they are ready to tackle the weightier ideas of life. But successful young adults don’t just wake up one day with a cheery smile and say, “I’m going to be self-disciplined today!” No, long before your home school child is ready to transition to the supervision of subjects, you have something to teach them besides language, critical thinking, and communication skills. In addition to content, you will gradually teach them good habits which will prepare them for Step 3, Supervised Study of Subjects.

Look at the word “self-discipline,” it’s easy to see that “self” refers to the individual, but the really interesting thing about the etymology or origin of the word “discipline” is that it comes from the latin noun disciplina (instruction) and the latin verb discere (to learn). A very familiar word to Christian parents also derives from these latin roots: disciple. So, in the simplest sense discipline is really instruction given to a disciple! As a parent, you are not just discipling your children to follow Jesus, but you are also discipling them to govern themselves.

Progressive Responsibility

When the kids were young, there was no homeschool schedule (at least one they knew of). I made all the decisions about the content, but over time, I gradually disciplined the children to take more responsibility for their work. In the beginning, I did not tell them what we were going to do that day. Schedules were flexible and depended quite a bit on how long I could hold their attention. As they got older, I began to give them a daily schedule with tasks that they were to complete. They enjoyed crossing out the task as it was finished, and it gave them a sense of accomplishment and motivation to keep plugging along until the entire day was done!

When I felt they were ready to handle more responsibility, I developed a weekly schedule of assignments by day which I expected them to tackle. Inevitably, some tasks were not accomplished and were postponed to the next day, but overall, it was a good way to show them the whole week at a glance and teach them longer term planning.

Later, I began to give them a weekly schedule, but this time, I did not tell them when they had to get the work done. In other words, I told them they were mature enough to budget their own time and could choose to do all their math lessons on Tuesday if they wanted or spread them over the week.

Finally, the summer before Meredith’s freshman year, we spent several hours in a visionary session where we went to the websites of a couple of colleges that she’s interested in, and we looked at the minimum admission requirements for her possible major and minor. We then chatted about what she had to accomplish to meet these minimums, and sketched out a very loose, four year strategic plan to get there. Then she decided, with our blessing and counsel, which subjects she wanted to study in detail for the next two semesters. So, she was now responsible for a semester plan which was totally her own responsibility. In effect, David and I had discipled her over the years to supervised independent study.

Appropriate Consequences

In a perfect world, the disciple would do exactly what he or she was supposed to do, but we know from the Gospels, that even Jesus’ disciples veered off course. Peter denied knowing him in the courtyard, and Judas arranged his arrest. Over the years, you’ve been teaching your child certain patterns of behavior, but every now and then, as the disciplinarian (another derivative of disciplina, “instruction”), you have to enforce order. David and I have found that it’s much easier to establish the consequences before the infraction is committed.

For instance, when the kids were younger, I didn’t punish them for missing one of my task deadlines. I am often overly ambitious, and I chalked the delays up to my optimism in setting the schedule. But now that I know what they are capable of doing, and now that they are older and more mature, they do receive consequences for failure to meet expectations. Connor, my almost-fourteen year old, is still operating with a weekly schedule, so if he doesn’t complete one of the tasks on the schedule, he has to keep working until he gets it done. This might mean extra hours in the afternoon or on the weekend. Meredith, my fifteen year old, didn’t finish her Algebra 1 this semester because of our overwhelming debate workload, so she’s working this summer (on her own timetable) to complete the Algebra 1lessons.

Consequences can be negative or positive. Sometimes the kids have cranked to get something done, and I’ll give them the rest of the week off as a reward for hard work. Incentives are not manipulative or coercive; they are more like unexpected rewards for good behavior or stellar performance. I think of them like a bonus for long hours or excellent work that your boss might give you at year-end.

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Self-discipline is not just about assuming personal responsibility for a work schedule and experiencing consequences for missing or making deadlines. Discipline over learning, the role of the supervisor, and four helpful hints for your disciples are the subjects of my next post.

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Parents who read aloud to their children contribute more to early language development than any other factor. Quantity and quality of literature plays a significant part in whether you will raise early readers or not. According to reading expert Marilyn Adams (Beginning to Read):

“the most important activity for building the knowledge and skills eventually required for reading is that of reading aloud to children. In this, both the sheer amount of and the choice of reading materials seems to make a difference.”

You want to raise classical scholars. The books your kids will be reading as teenagers and young adults are complex in both content and language: classic histories, classic philosophies, classic political treatises, classic science theories, and classic literature. Pave the way to future reading comprehension and enjoyment with these eight suggestions:

Read as often as possible.

The younger your child is when you begin reading to them the better! Make reading a daily tradition like brushing teeth. Read at bedtime, and read throughout the day whenever the kids ask for a story. Even if the entire day gets sidetracked due to unforeseen obligations or distractions, don’t drop reading from the schedule. Sometimes when I’ve had to take care of emergencies, I’ve just told the kids to read until I can get back to them. Set aside time each day for the kids to read on their own. Young children can “read” story books during naptime (even if all they are doing is looking at pictures and turning the pages), and older kids can read for 30 minutes once they’re in the bed before lights are out. Show them that reading is a priority in your household.

Use real books.

Many homeschool convention vendors sell “readers” which are artificial stories built around phonics lessons. Please don’t use these for your daily reading time! My experience with them is that they are rarely as entertaining and meaningful as “living” books. Use these phonics readers occasionally when you want to reinforce a phonetic sound. When the kids are young, start with colorful hardbound stories then move on to novels. As they get older, have Dad pick a great book to read aloud like a biography of an historical figure or original source documents like The Declaration of Independence. Even if the kids are reading on their own, try to incorporate some oral readings regularly.

Be patient as your child learns the art of listening.

Don’t rush the reading. Take your time so that your child can hear all the sounds and point to all the words. This is an important step in acquiring the language as well as critical thinking. Kids who haven’t developed good listening skills rarely communicate effectively. Answer all their questions, and ask them some questions to train their listening abilities.

Put down a book that is clearly uninteresting.

Only read books that you both enjoy! Nothing is more miserable than slogging through a book that you both find boring. We all like different stories. Sometimes your homeschool friend may recommend a book that just doesn’t appeal to your child. If you find her yawning or unengaged, put that book down and find another one. In fact, let her choose the book that she wants to read.

Vary the length and subject matter.

Don’t be too predictable. If the kids think that every time you sit down to read, they are going to have to endure hours of the same topic, they will begin to dread reading time. Keep them on their toes by doing the unexpected. One day read a story. The next day read a newspaper or magazine article. Then read a longer novel. Once you start the novel, you (and the kids) will likely want to keep going through the chapters until you finish the book, but then vary the content by reading some poems. Read about all of life, not just “academics.

Plan enough time for questions.

If you’ve read my post on Socratic Dialogue, you know that asking questions is the way classical homeschoolers teach. Don’t tell them what the story means until after you’ve asked enough probing questions to determine their level of understanding. Let them try to figure it out. Leave enough time for questions both before and after the reading. Before you get started with the story, look at the book jacket, inside cover, back cover, title page, pictures, and ask the kids to predict what the story is going to be about. Or with an older teen, have them look at the table of contents with you, and let them summarize the author’s thesis. After reading, ask questions, too, about the characters, plot, events, or other meaning.

Express yourself.

Bland, dry reading is tortuous! Imitate the voices of actors who have pleasant reading voices (James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, and Meryl Streep come to mind) by adjusting your pace, pitch, and volume to fit the narrative. For instance let’s say you are reading a scary scene where the character is worried about what’s in the bedroom closet. Slow down and quietly whisper the words leading up to the climactic moment when the closet door is opened and the mystery revealed. Change your tone to match the content. Effective delivery makes all content more memorable.

Lead by example.

You know that our kids are great imitators. They are watching us all hours of the day, and they will naturally do what we do. So if you are not reading on a daily basis, don’t expect to raise kids who love to read. Make sure that they see how important reading is to you. When we go to the library, I get a stack of books, too. Right now, I have 11 library books stacked up on my table three of which I have opened to passages that I’m comparing. When Meredith walked in a few minutes ago and asked me what I was working on, I was able to read a quick section to her and explain what I was learning. Plan little breaks in your day so that you can read for pleasure or for home school preparation. Share interesting things that you are learning from your reading, or let them hear you chuckling over a good passage.

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In today’s culture, reading is an integral element of gathering knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Set your children on the road to discovery by reading aloud to them!

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The number of home school moms who are actively involved in the daily academic routine of their kids is disproportionately higher than the number of homeschool dads who are involved in the same activities on a daily basis. Shocking revelation? Not really. If you’ve ever been to a homeschooling convention or participated in a home school cooperative, you’ve probably noticed that the parent more frequently in attendance is a mom. Although our culture’s position on this is changing, for our generation, men were raised to assume the roles of provider for and protector of the family, and this is good. However, unless the dad works at home, he is physically absent for most of the day making a living for his family while the homeschool mom stays home to take care of the kids.

I couldn’t find any hard statistics to support my premise, but we all know that in the United States, the modern homeschooling movement has been primarily carried by the women. Now don’t get excited…that’s not to say that our supportive husbands have not been bolstering us, encouraging us, and equipping us behind the scenes. In fact, I would suggest that within the Christian homeschooling community, most men believe that as head of the household, the education of their children is ultimately and finally their responsibility. I read a homeschooling Dad’s comment once that he was “just as responsible, just not as available.” As such, it takes a creative Dad to overcome the demands of a busy career to impart knowledge and wisdom to his children on a regular basis.

Classical scholars reject the traditional educational paradigm which states that learning begins and ends with the “school” day. Learning can happen at any time of the day or night, weekends included, in any circumstances (It’s really important to drive home this point when the kids are young or they might resent instruction on the weekends when they get older.) This is where Dad needs to be creative with instruction and take every chance he gets. (I know you’re tired, Dad, after a long day of work, but if you are alert to teaching opportunities, your brief interludes can yield multiple results!)

My husband, David, manages to creatively squeeze instruction into normal conversations with the kids by seeing every topic as a springboard for further review and learning. For instance, last week, I took notes during our morning Bible time reading the book of 1 Kings at the kitchen table just to show you how he covered more meaningful content in 45 minutes than I sometimes do in a day!

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Here’s the scoop. Although King David wanted to build Yahweh a house, the Lord told David no; his son, Solomon, would build the Temple in Jerusalem. The passage in 1 Kings goes into a lot of detail about the construction, and when we came across the measurement “cubit,” we checked the footnote to see how that converted to inches. Well, it turns out that a cubit is 18 inches in length, so David told our 13 year old to go to the whiteboard and perfom some “real-live” math. Connor groaned, but he knew what was coming because he’s used to our mantra that “all of life is learning.” He began calculating, and soon shared with us the dimensions of the Temple in length, width, and height. Well, that wasn’t too bad…after all these were linear dimensions and straight multiplication. Connor sat back down. But then, we read the next section which described the circumference of the pillars. Uh oh. Connor knew what was coming. David launched into a mathematical discussion of pi and the Greek philosophy behind their fascination with this unique number, and soon Connor was recalling the formula for circumference and calculating the pillar measurement.

During the course of our reading that morning, David used Socratic Dialogue (ask leading questions…don’t tell them the answer) to explore the following additional areas of learning that came straight out of the text:

• Literary analysis - David likes to closely read the text, so we talked about construction of the passage and how the writer made a general statement then went on to particularize that statement with details
• Religion - The writer mentions 2 pagans: Solomon’s Egyptian wife and King Hiram of Tyre who provided the cypress wood for construction of the Temple, so we briefly talked about the possible pagan influence especially the cows used in the Temple “bath” (the basin filled with water for offerings.) This bath was sitting on 12 oxen sculptures. Cows were worshipped in Egypt and Tyre as fertility gods. Remember the golden calf of the Exodus?
• History - Bronze is used in the Temple utensils, so we had a quick history on dating the text through the observance of weapons and tools (Bronze Age versus Iron Age)

Now none of that teaching was preplanned. My husband does it ALL the time. (The kids are always on the spot when Dad is home.) He just pays attention to what’s going on at the moment and uses what he already knows to lead a discussion. Sometimes he explains, but more often, he asks questions then explains. Dad can use all of life to teach and participate in the home school…whether he is playing racquetball with the kids, changing a tire, cutting firewood, or reading Scripture. All it takes is a Dad who is a lifelong learner and alert to the possibilities for learning.

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Dad’s involvement is only one of the 7 essential elements of a classical Christian homeschool. Learn more by clicking on the link.

Tags: christian homeschooling, classical scholars, educational paradigm, home school, homeschool, homeschooling, homeschooling convention, homeschooling movement, teaching opportunities

Welcome to The Classical Scholar! I’m Diane Lockman, your moderator, and I have over 9 years of hands-on experience in raising classical Christian scholars. Now I’m experiencing the dreaded but delightful high school years! My best friend and husband, David, and I spent the first 12 years of our marriage living the high life as yuppies (I’m a CPA; he’s an engineer and patent attorney), but soon after turning 30, I began to yearn for children. Tragically, our first son, Davis, was born with a congenital birth defect that doomed his precious life during infancy, but the good news is that Davis’ death served as a “wake-up call” for us which eventually resulted in two more healthy babies, Meredith in 1992 and Connor in 1994, and an unforgettable encounter with the Risen Lord in October 1997 that changed my life forever!

During 1999, we seriously considered moving overseas so that David could teach in some sort of mission role. Enrolled in a global missions course, I had been reading about American expatriots who sent their kids away to boarding school, and I cried out to the Lord because I couldn’t bear to part with them after waiting so long for children. Little did I know that the Lord who knew my deepest longings was about to reveal a new call on my life: classical Christian homeschooling. Soon thereafter, I read The Well-Trained Mind by Jesse Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, and David and I took the plunge!

During the early years, I carried most of the academic load, but as the kids have gotten older, David has assumed more and more responsibility. He has always taught them Scripture around the kitchen table every morning, but now that they’re doing high school work, he is leading them in Debate, Algebra, and Biology. David is the one who first mentioned the idea of a website where I could minister to other parents who were either already trying a classical Christian home education or were thinking about it. I was seriously hesitant because of the time commitment, but soon the vision began to take shape, and The Classical Scholar was born. It is our greatest hope that every guest who visits this website will be profoundly blessed. We are praying that you will experience life-changing insights and receive encouragement for the difficult journey ahead as you raise your own classical scholars!