Simply possessing information won’t make your homeschooled child intelligent. He needs to learn how to analyze, organize, evaluate, and apply information so that he can make intelligent judgments about daily life. The Ancient Greeks and Romans didn’t consider a person fully educated until the three skill sets of the classical trivium were mastered.

Language, step one of the trivium, has the power to represent thoughts, feelings, and experiences using symbols. Therefore, language is the most important thinking tool your child has at his disposal. Language is not just for communicating but provides the structure for critical thinking, step two of the classical trivium. That’s why the ancients began the education with learning the primary language. The three skill sets of the trivium are related as follows:

Clear language that is specific, precise, and accurate results in clear thinking which is focused, coherent, and analytical which results in clear communication which is articulate, organized, and persuasive.

You should begin teaching the child to think critically before language acquisition is mastered. In an earlier post, “What is the Purpose of Reading?“, I recommended that you have the child narrate the meaning of the read-aloud story to you. This step is actually a critical thinking exercise! To be an active thinker, she has to use language to articulate an idea (the meaning of the story), evaluate the quality of the reasoning (is the child’s narration based on the pictures and on the text?), and refine and improve the thinking process as you respond with leading questions for more understanding. In simpler terms, the child gathers information, processes the information, and creates meaning from the information:

• Gather
• Evaluate
• Conclude

What does your child need to become a critical thinker? He or she needs keen observation, quality information, and analytical tools. Allow your child to work through problems, make mistakes, and improve over time. Developing critical thinking skills is a process not an event.

Keen Observation

Encourage your child to pay attention to details. When you take walks in the woods, stop and look at the creatures, the stones, and the decayed logs. Listen to the rustle of the leaves in the wind. Smell the fresh scent of dirt in spring. Touch the rough tree bark. Taste the sweet nectar of a golden honeysuckle. Ask lots of questions along the way. Teach him how the multiplication tables advance with each number so that he starts to see patterns. Talk about the details of the story that you’re reading like character, setting, and conflict. Train him to ask probing questions and be patient when listening to others. As he ages, have him write about what he sees, hears, touches, smells, or tastes.

Quality Information

If the information is corrupted or inaccurate, a valid conclusion cannot be reached. Give him the best possible experiences and data. Train him to find quality texts at the library and bookstore. Teach him how to research, consider the credibility of authorities, and evaluate evidence. Expose him to alternative possibilities so that he learns to be open-minded and empathize with other people’s perspectives even if he doesn’t agree with them.

Analytical Tools

There are lots of tools for developing critical thinking skills. In the earliest years, start with storybooks and narration. Play lots of games, and work puzzles. Use manipulatives when teaching mathematical concepts. Teach scientific concepts with hands-on activities. Ask questions throughout the day.

Around the ages of 9-12, introduce thinking matrices like Mindbenders by Critical Thinking Press. (My kids preferred the software to the books.) Usborne puzzle books were a favorite at this age, too. Sodoku puzzles range in difficulty and teach systematic analysis. Formal logic can be introduced for high school credit as early as 7th or 8th grade if your child is disciplined enough to tackle the formal syllogism. In my opinion, Memoria Press offers the clearest formal logic courses.

Learning how to structure a paragraph with a topic sentence and supporting sentences is another analytical tool that teaches organization skills. Older kids should be writing their observations and interpretations. According to Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, “I write to understand as much as to be understood.” Writing helps clarify our thinking (more on this later under step 3 of the classical trivium).

One final requirement

Finally, in order to raise a critical thinker, you need to model critical thinking yourself! Demonstrate critical thinking on a regular basis. When you read the newspaper editorials, discuss the issues with the kids and point out bias, alternative perspectives, and possible solutions. If he is stuck on a math problem, sit down and work on it together. Walk him through the steps of analysis. Teach her how to write up a scientific laboratory observation and conclusion. Share what you are learning and thinking about the book or magazine that you are reading in your personal time. Do you keep a written journal of your learning? Show the kids so they can see how important critical thinking is to you. Model the behavior, and provide the tools that they need to practice, and soon you’ll have young adults who know how to express a clear thought in an influential and persuasive manner.

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Do you have other ideas for how to give your children practice at thinking critically? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Next post…evaluating beliefs and evidence in “Know Why You Believe What You Believe.”

 

 

Tags: classical trivium, critical thinking, effective communication, homeschool, learning the language

Writing consists of two skills: first, the child practices the mechanics of developing correct letters and putting them together in properly spelled words, and secondly, the maturing child practices incorporating meaning into the composition. In this final post of the series, “Learning the Language,” step one of the classical homeschool trivium, I’ll give you concrete steps that you can implement which will help your child master the mechanics of writing. Writing with meaning will be covered later when I discuss step three of the classical trivium, “Communicating Effectively.”

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Setting the Stage

You’ve been encouraging your child since birth to expand her spoken language abilities by surrounding her with music, conversations, nursery rhymes, and reading. You’ve gently corrected her when she made mistakes and always respond to her attempts to communicate with praise and excitement. You, your spouse, and her siblings are good role models in that you all love to read. She sees you reading all the time for pleasure and for learning. You read to her every day, and you answer every question with enthusiasm and maybe even more information than she wanted. You’ve looked at the pictures in the books and predicted the story plot line. You’ve shown her that the text moves from left to right and down by using your finger to point out occasional words. You’ve already taught her the Alphabet song. You’ve diligently laid all the necessary groundwork of a rich, literate home where printed text is meaningful and pleasurable to read. Somewhere around the age of 5 or 6 years old, she’ll be ready to acquire another critical skill of language development: writing!

Learning about Letters

Now that she can sing her ABCs reasonably well (even if she slurs the phrase “lmnop”), it’s time to start writing the letters of the alphabet. She may already know the names of some letters from your daily reading-aloud time. You don’t need to purchase an expensive curriculum to teach your kids their ABCs. Just purchase a unlined art sketchbook with smooth paper, or go to Kinkos and have them bind 100 pages in a spiral. You’ll put one letter on each of 26 pages then later you’ll add the letter blends like the sound “sh” and the sound “ck.”

Start with her name. Teach her how to make the letters of her name by saying each letter as you write. Be very specific when you show her how to make each letter. For example, to make the uppercase letter “T” say something like “draw a straight line across” then “now find the middle of the line and draw a straight line down.” Or when showing her how to draw the letter “B” say “start at the top and draw a straight line down” then “go back to the top and draw a fat tummy that points to the right and stops halfway” then draw a 2^nd fat tummy that starts at the center also points right.” Make sure you show her how to write both the uppercase and lowercase letter on the page. Be sure to use the words uppercase and lowercase instead of big and little when describing the letters.

Help her find pictures from magazines that start with each letter, or if you or she are good artists, draw a picture and color it like an apple for the letter “A.” So now you have one page with the uppercase and lowercase letter and a picture or drawing of an object that starts with that letter. When you are finding pictures for the consonants, select images that sound like the single consonant and not a blend. For example, pick a “sock” for the letter “S” and not a “sheltie.” You’ll be adding photos of blends later.

In addition to working in your ABC book, use magnetic letters on the refrigerator, dry erase boards, magna doodles, paint, sand, or play letter games. You can make an easy BINGO board game on cardstock with the letters and letter blends, but don’t just say the letter “D;” say “D as in dog.” I really appreciated the DIY games in Peggy McKay’s book, Games for Reading. Even as the kids got older, we played a reading game every Friday. Make learning the alphabet fun!

Putting it all together in 30 minutes a day

Now that she is becoming familiar with her ABCs, she is ready to begin reading out loud, narrating the story, then writing her synopsis. This will probably be hardest for you because it will take longer, and it might be painful at first as she struggles with pronouncing and deciphering each word, but it is worth the effort! Continue reading out loud to her, but give her 30 minutes a day of dedicated reading time where she reads instead of you. (Caution: many parents make the mistake of discontinuing read-alouds once the child is reading by herself, but this is a big mistake. They need to hear an advanced reader speak difficult words and add inflection, pauses, and emphasis where needed.)

Here are some constructive ways to spend that 30 minute daily reading and writing time. (Don’t worry if you spend more than 30 minutes in the beginning…they’ll pick up speed as they gain proficiency):

1. Select a familiar book that is below her reading level (easy.)

2. Have her read the book out loud.

3. Select a new book from your own collection or from the weekly library trip that is slightly above her abilities. (difficult.)

4. Have her read this book out loud, too.

5. Work on a letter or letter blend in your ABC book, or play a game.

When you think she has mastered her ABCs (both upper and lowercase), you can introduce a handwriting book or purchase a handwriting pad at the local school supply store and create your own contextual words and sentences for her to copy as she practices writing.

Adding narration, dictation, and copywork through stories

When you begin to notice progress, create another blank book for her stories and incorporate this step in the daily routine:

Write a short story together. Let her generate the idea. In the beginning, have her dictate the story, and you write it down. Spell the word back to her before moving on to the next word. Repeat the entire sentence as it is completed. As she progresses in her skills, have her copy your dictation. Eventually, she can write her own story. (It can be 1-2 sentences long in the beginning.)

Here are two options for the story book.

Option one: take a blank piece of copy paper and turn it so that the short side (8 1/2”) is north. Draw a horizontal line about 2/3 down the page. Then draw lines like wide-ruled notebook paper under the horizontal line to fill the bottom 1/3. First she will write the story on the lines, then she’ll illustrate the story above the text. (This is also great for narrating and dictating daily Bible stories.)

Option two: have Kinkos bind 100 blank pages like the alphabet book, but this time use one side for the draft and the opposing side for the final, proofed text. Open the book flat, turn the book sideways so that the 11” side is north and have her write the first draft of the story on the top page. Have her read it and decide if she likes it the way it is. Gently correct any errors with a red pen, and add any new adjectives or details that she wants to add in red. Then have her recopy the edited draft on the bottom page. This is valuable groundwork for the 3^rd stage of the Trivium, “Communicating Effectively.”

Have her read her story to Daddy when he gets home or to brothers and sisters after she’s completed it. Affirmation of her accomplishment will greatly contribute to her joy in her new skills!

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So there you have it, step one of the classical trivium, “Learning the Language.” Your children learn the language through hearing, seeing, speaking, and writing.* All efforts to teach the language should result in the ultimate message that language, both spoken and written, has meaning or purpose. Spend the early childhood years helping your child master the language so that they have the necessary tools for steps two and three of the classical trivium, “Thinking Critically” and “Communicating Effectively,” respectively.

Focus your energies on copious amounts of reading of great variety, and dump the public school myth that would have you believe you need to plop the kids down with workbooks and textbooks by subject!

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To recap, the posts of this series on “Learning the Language,” are:

 

Learning the Language through Listening

Reading Aloud: the Key to Language Development

What is the Purpose of Reading?

Is Phonics Instruction Really Necessary for Teaching Reading?

Practicing the Mechanics of Beginning Writing

 

*(For those of you who are wondering where “English Grammar” is in this laundry list, you’ll have to wait until step 2, “Thinking Critically.” ) If you think this series will encourage a friend who is already homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling, please tell her about The Classical Scholar by forwarding this post.

Tags: ABCs, beginning writing, classical trivium, communicating effectively, dictation, homeschool, homeschooling, language, learning the language, mechanics, narration, reading, The Classical Scholar, Thinking Critically