Educating Your Children Series by Connie Du Toit

Educating Your Children Series
By Mrs. du Toit
I release a portion of my copyright for this series for free distribution, in all
or in part, as long as proper attribution is provided and no fee is charged
for the copies. I provide this document containing this series for this
purpose. This partial release of my copyright for this series does not
release copyright for other works, except as may be noted elsewhere. For
questions, please contact me (email: themrs –at– mrsdutoit –dot– com).
Connie du Toit
Educating Your Children Series
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................1
I: Masters of Their Own Destiny ..............................................................................1
II: Choosing ...........................................................................................................3
III: The Big, Bad Secret..........................................................................................5
IV: Course Design ..................................................................................................8
V: Learning Styles .................................................................................................16
Regarding the Education Series - Momentary Interrupt ........................................19
VI: Learning Retention .........................................................................................20
VII: Curriculum Recap ..........................................................................................28
VIII: Learning Inventory ......................................................................................30
IX: Teenagers .......................................................................................................35
X: Ethos ................................................................................................................38
XI: Gatekeepers ...................................................................................................43
XII: The Beginning and the End and Three Rs ......................................................44
Course Worksheet .................................................................................................49
Course Objectives Checklist ..................................................................................50
About the Series and Bio: Connie du Toit (aka “Mrs du Toit”) .............................51
Disclaimer: I am not a professional educator; I just played one on the Internet. You use this material, if
you use it at all, at your own risk. There are no guarantees about outcome or anything else.
Educating Your Children Series Mrs. du Toit
different attitudes about the relationship we should

have with our children. Different doesn’t mean
Introduction better or worse or good or bad. While some
Mrs. du Toit parenting styles and relationships are bad, the fact
From: Education Series that there are different methods to achieve the
same goals, should imply that there are many
When I asked for blog topics, the most frequent
ways that will work.
request had to do with homeschooling. It is a huge
topic. Over the next several weeks I will attempt So what do we mean by work? If there are many
to write about the various aspects of the subject, methods that will work, we have to define what it
documenting our experience, and the experiences is we’re trying to achieve.
of those I met in our homeschooling travels.
What do you want for your children?
At the time of this writing, our three children are in
college. They’re in the local community college, all When our children are babies or toddlers, what we
pursuing Associate of Arts degrees. What they do may be thinking about is the short term. We may
after that will be up to them, but what they decide look forward to them saying their first word, taking
to do was always up to them. It’s their life and their first step, or sleeping through the night.
they have to be masters of it. Those are milestones. They aren’t goals.
That’s the best and most appropriate place to start. When we’re talking about what we want for our
children, our goals, we have to think long term,
Posted: 10/26/2008 | 09:06 AM beyond the minor and major milestones that we
tick off as they mature from infants to young
adults. More specifically, we need to think about
I: Masters of Their Own Destiny what type of people we hope they’ll be, what their
adult lives will be like, and what we value in others
Mrs. du Toit
From: Education Series (and ourselves).
Where I used to work (a large university) they had Parents can have dramatically different desires and
“brown bag seminars.” These were very brief many ways to define success. Some parents may
seminars over the lunch hour, on a variety of want their children to be Captains of Industry,
topics (not all having to do with education). I was doctors or other professionals, or to be upstanding
a young mother at that time, working full time. members of their community to the extent that
The seminar I attended had to do with raising they may be president of the United States some
children and choosing day care and nursery day. Other parents may have more modest goals,
schools. Since I was in the target market for that, such as their children being able to support
I was anxious to hear what they had to say about themselves, and having families of their own.
the subject. Few of us define our goals specifically, to the
Much to my surprise, the initial portion of the extent that we have isolated a specific profession
seminar had to do with what we wanted as or career or an address where our children will
parents. It would be incorrect to say that it was live. If we’re honest with ourselves, however, we
about parenting, but that was close. It had more have fantasies about that. Some dads may want
to do with who we are as people, and what kind of their sons to be famous athletes, football or
a relationship we had with our children. baseball stars. Some mothers may want their
daughters to be fashion models, famous actresses,
The relationships we have with our children will marry a royal to become a real princess, or
(generally) come close to the type of relationship challenge stereotypes to become a specialist in a
we had with our parents. Despite the fact that medical field that might end a particular disease.
many of us may not want to be the parents our
parents were, or not repeat their same mistakes, It is important to distinguish between what we
our general attitudes about children and how to want for our children specifically, and what we
raise them did originate from our parents. want for them generically. It is also important to
Everyone doesn’t have the same experiences and remember that people like Tiger Woods are
so we can be very different kinds of parents, with exceptions. For every Tiger Woods, there are
hundreds of children who were taken to the golf
© Copyright 2008 - 2011 Mrs. du Toit. All Rights Reserved. 1

course and hated the game, or had no particular Some parents might answer “a lot of power, but
aptitude or skill for it. We need to keep in-check less power than an adult.” Another parent might
our disappointments that our children may not be answer “very little, until they have shown
able to live up to our fantasies of them. A parent discipline, aptitude, or self-restraint.” Some people
may be disappointed that their child will never be a might break it down, and have different answers,
Tiger Woods, but the child may be happy about depending on the subject, such as “power to decide
that. The disappointment the parent might feel what interests them, but their behavior must
should not convey a disappointment with the child. conform to an acceptable standard.”
That’s the parent’s problem and issue to deal with,
not the child’s. There is no right or wrong answer. The goal is to
find a center/school where their answer is as close
That is not to say that motivating a child is a bad to the parent’s as possible.
thing. I’m also not suggesting that a parent might
need to be there to keep a child focused on After speaking with the owner/manager of the
something longer term, when they temporarily school, then the parent was to validate the
waiver, or are bored with something. Discipline is answer. Observe the classes or the relationship
also an important thing to instill in our children and the teachers had with the students. If it wasn’t
stick-to-it is part of learning discipline. When I was consistent with the answer given, it was a clue that
a child, for example, there were times when I something was wrong.
didn’t want to continue doing something. When it This was a tool and there were (obviously) other
came to the violin, my mother let me set it aside considerations, such as the student-teacher ratio,
after one semester. When it came to being the cleanliness of the facility, and the cost.
uncomfortable at a new summer school, she told
me I could quit in two weeks, but I had to stick it So… how much power should a child have?
out for those two weeks. What happened to me is
that after two weeks the newness and discomfort I spent many years thinking about that question. I
wore off and I continued on without trouble. Those was probably more permissive in my original
are often small hurdles to overcome, and parents answer, because one of my concerns was that my
can come up with methods to help their children children’s passions could be extinguished if they
get over them. weren’t given a lot of wiggle room to figure out
what their passions and skills were. But there was
If I had been gifted at the violin, my mother’s one of my mother’s memes always floating in the
attitude might have been different. She might back of my head: A parent’s job is to raise a child
have told me I had to continue for one more so she is capable of standing on her own two feet.
semester, until I realized my own gift. At some
point, however, a parent has to allow a child to Some day your children are going to leave home.
make some of their own decisions… and how soon, They’re going to have to support themselves, have
in what arena, and how pervasive was the subject relationships with others you don’t know, be able
of the brown bag seminar. to perform their job so they don’t get fired, or
make enough income so they aren’t starving or
How much power should a child have? unable to pay their debts. They’re going to have to
be able to do all of that without looking over their
That was the question the speaker asked all of us. shoulder for your approval- or disapproval-face to
We weren’t expected to answer on the spot, but it guide their decisions. They’re going to have to
focused on the core issue, and gave us something have your approval- or disapproval-face in their
to think about. Once we had decided for ourselves, heads, with enough experience in making decisions
it was to become the primary question we would that they’re capable of doing it with confidence.
ask of daycare centers and nursery schools (and of
any school where we were considering sending our My answer (through years of thinking about it)
children). was:
The answer to that question allows a parent to I want them to have as much power as they can
decide if the center or school believes that the handle, while still keeping them safe from
amount of power a child should have is in concert unnecessary harm. I don’t want to have them
with how much power a parent thinks a child experience failure or defeat simply to “toughen
should have. them up,” but so that they can feel pride when

they do succeed, and do make the right decisions. cost. It depends, however, on your goals. We
They don’t have the power to make decisions about were interested in what today’s parlance considers
the household or household rules, or how the an “elite” education, a classical education, focused
parents live their lives, but they have some input. almost entirely on classic literature, a study of
I will provide them a safety net, within reason, but history, and the basic mechanics of everyday life.
I may not always be around, and they need to be We were not at all interested in our children
able to live a successful, honest, happy, and moral learning from school how to use a day planner,
life without my constant guidance. They have to studying the “art” of things like hip-hop or graffiti,
be allowed some latitude to screw up, make or to become brainwashed in social- or moral-
mistakes, and may have to make restitution of relativism.
some sort if they screw up too badly, but until they
screw up, or demonstrate that they’re incapable of When Thomas Jefferson set about the goals for
handling the trust that has been extended to them, public education, he focused very closely on what
I will trust them. The most important thing we were trying to achieve for our children:
between a parent and child is trust, and from that To give to every citizen the information he needs for the
earned trust, all is possible. transaction of his own business;
Within the framework of the above, parents can To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express and
begin thinking about what it means to them when preserve his ideas, his contracts and accounts, in writing;
we say that a child will become an adult who is a To improve, by reading, his morals and faculties;
“master of their own destiny.”
To understand his duties to his neighbors and country, and
And from that, we can begin to make educational to discharge with competence the functions confided to him
decisions to meet the goals we have defined. by either;
Posted: 10/26/2008 | 09:07 AM To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice those
he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those
he delegates; and to notice their conduct with diligence,
with candor, and judgment;
II: Choosing And, in general, to observe with intelligence and
Mrs. du Toit faithfulness all the social relations under which he shall be
From: Education Series placed.
Despite what might be assumed in reading about —Thomas Jefferson:

our decision to home-school, I do not advocate it. Report for University of Virginia, 1818
What I do advocate is making sure that your In a nutshell, we were interested in ensuring that
children get the best education possible. I do not our children were as BS-proof as possible, to be
know of a decent public or private school, and price able to express themselves in discussion and in
is a factor with the latter. Some schools, such as writing, and to have sufficient grounding in history
religious schools, may be better, but they’re very and literature to understand the path of the
close to being as bad as (and sometimes worse Enlightenment, and why that was so important.
than) their public-school counterparts. Our children’s minds were not constrained, nor
My two children attended public school until they their language (to the shock and astonishment of
were 11 and 9, respectively. My husband’s son some), but their behavior was strictly controlled in
attended Catholic school until he completed the terms of etiquette, respecting deserving elders,
eighth grade. Despite the differences in manners, and their personal presentation
ownership, they used the same textbooks and (grooming, clothing choices, etc.).
methods. While husband’s son did have the While the etiquette and manners lessons continue
experience of a smaller, more intimate school, almost in perpetuity, the lessons of being BS-proof
there was no measurable difference between where are closer to completion. They can (generally)
he was at any specific grade, compared to the spot a fraud when they see it. They are also able
other two. We had a lot of catching up to do, once to think logically, and see through logical fallacies.
we started homeschooling him.
Their experience in community college has been
Homeschooling isn’t the best option, on its face. interesting. Early on, they each resigned
Homeschooling is often the best option, based on themselves to the fact that the majority of their

classes, from a learning perspective, were a waste Above all, it should be noted that we do not
of time. When a subject was of great interest to consider university degrees to be an end or goal
them (usually the second semester of a subject), for our children. Rather, we consider the education
they were angered when the professor taught them of our children as an end. University degrees are
nothing, or had nothing to offer. They went-along- simply a useful byproduct of that education.
to-get-along and got the A’s, doing whatever
ridiculous work the professor required. They’ve I mention this personal experience, and our latest
also been astonished at the drop-out rates for the endeavor, to demonstrate that it is always possible
advanced-/second-tier classes (finding themselves to supplement a mediocre education, if a child is
in class sizes starting at over thirty and ending up motivated to learn. Maintaining that motivation,
with under a dozen), and disappointed that third- most especially the love and desire to learn, is
tier classes have been unavailable. what can be most at-risk by traditional educational
institutions, i.e., public or (awful) private schools in
My daughter, for example, was unable to continue K through 12 and college/university level. That
her Japanese language studies after Beginning I love and desire to learn is unquestionably the most
and II, and has been struggling to maintain her important thing that a parent can instill and
Japanese literacy during the forced “blackout” nurture in their child—as important as any specific
period until she can take it up again at a four-year learning, in fact.
school. Middle son will not be able to go beyond
Philosophy II, to his utter disgust. Daughter took a In choosing an educational program, then, the
piano class to fulfill the “music” requirement, but most important aspect is to guarantee that a
the teacher never bothered to teach them how to child’s natural curiosity and passion for learning are
read music, so she was forced to teach it to not blunted, but not coddled either. More than
herself, describing the class as nothing more than anything, the drudgery of all children doing the
play along with the teacher, who gives no guidance same thing at the same time is the biggest
whatsoever. “I could have done that myself” she problem with most K through 12 institutions.
reported. Children are taught not to excel, not to do better
than their classmates, and certainly not get ahead
They have all endured the horrors that are the of them, because the idea that they could test-out
general art and music classes which, despite the of some subjects is impossible. They will have to
broad and thrilling subject matter, manage to be endure entire semesters of content they already
distilled into the most horrendous and boring know, regardless.
classes offered. Our daughter was able to get the
Dean of the Art Department to allow her to bypass Children should be challenged, but not
the general art course (which was rubbish) by overwhelmed. Accomplishments should be earned
substituting the various (and more challenging) and individual not graded on a curve nor achieved
drawing courses she had taken. through “team” scores. (Sports are where team
skills are developed and winning or losing to other
This has meant that we’ve had to fill in the gaps, teams is the extent of grading “curves.") Grading
with assistance on reading music, philosophy on a curve serves the purpose of grading the
recommendations, and a plan to send our daughter teacher’s performance, not the performance of the
and youngest son to Japan for (at least) three students.
months, for an intensive “college fluency level”
Japanese language course. We are not certain if Competition is a good thing, as it teaches children
they will choose to get their bachelor’s degrees in how to win humbly and lose graciously. Not having
Japan, but it is an option they want to leave open, the experience of losing sets a child up for a
and their desire to speak the language fluently is a lifetime of being fired for bad performance, in a
personal goal for both of them. In order to manner that can be devastating to their adult self-
overcome the nonsense of the general art- and esteem, and their acquisition of wealth or stability.
music classes, we’re taking the children to Europe It is during childhood that they should experience
(one last time) to the romance capitals: Rome, competition in its most brutal form, but not with
Paris, and Vienna. We are hoping that we can cruelty, to develop their spines and stamina.
overcome the bad taste left in their mouths from Given those goals and desires (customized to your
the “general” courses they were forced to attend, preferences), choosing where a child will be
but hated. educated becomes an easier decision. If we’d been

able to afford it, our children would have been sent III: The Big, Bad Secret
to great educational institutions for their K through
Mrs. du Toit
12 educations. Our fall-back was to home-school
From: Education Series
them. When their passions and interests exceeded
our expertise or ability to guide them properly, we Before I get to the fun part of homeschooling, I
sought the expertise of others, as tutors and want to go over the not-so-fun stuff.
mentors… not different from how we are
approaching their college years. If you, as a high school graduate, decide that you
want to go to college, you need to have your high
What is most important to accept and recognize, school transcripts sent to the college, to verify that
however, is that the outcome of your children’s you have a high school diploma (and that you took
education is still your responsibility. It is not the the classes required for completion of high school
teacher or the school’s fault if your children are in that state). You fill out some sort of form, pay
dispassionate about learning, unable to read, the processing and postage fee, and in a few
incapable of doing math, or cannot comfortably weeks your official transcripts are sent to the
hold their own in a group. That is the parent’s college.
fault. Delegating their education to a public or
private school, or adopting a correspondence-style Now let’s say that you were home-schooled. What
program, does not get the parent off the hook school has your official transcript?
either. What some home-schoolers have been doing, to
Delegation is the act of giving the task to someone get around this, is to go to colleges with a paper
else to perform. The responsibility for ensuring bag. It contains all the pretty pictures you painted,
that the task is completed successfully, and of the the papers you wrote, the quizzes and tests you
highest quality, is always with the parent. If those took, a list of all the books you read and the book
in whom we have delegated the task are not reports about them, and the admissions counselor
performing as they should, then we must fire at the college looks at the stuff to see if you did
them, and find someone who can do the job… or as what you said you did.
a last resort, do it ourselves. That has got to be the most ridiculous and asinine
thing I have ever heard of, but people do it. And
Actions for parents:
then we wonder why so many people don’t take
1. Think clearly about how much power a child should
have. home-schoolers seriously?
2. Determine your broad educational goals for K through Not all high schools are accredited, not even all
12, such as those defined by Jefferson (What must government schools. Some colleges and
they be able to do at “graduation”?) universities require that your high school diploma
come from an accredited school (so parents of kids
3. Research the institutions available to you (including in government schools might want to verify if their
considerations of cost and location) to determine if local school is accredited).
there is an institution that matches the above.
The accreditation process is a bit difficult. The
None of the above steps can or should be skipped. If you school is investigated for their teaching and
begin with the decision that you are going to home-school, grading methods (as well as auditing their record-
without researching all your available options, then you’ve
keeping processes). If they meet acceptable
cheated your children.
standards, then (and only then) do they receive an
If you have done the above, and determined that accredited status, and it is something they have to
homeschooling is the only option available to you, then do routinely, to maintain the status. If the school
you must begin designing your school, planning and doesn’t pass the accreditation standards, the
choosing which curriculum to use, becoming the educator school doesn’t have to close. It can keep doing
and facilitator your children deserve, and becoming all what it was doing, without it. The school can issue
things administrative and regulatory. diplomas that will have no meaning at a college
that requires an accredited diploma.
That is the direction this series will go in future posts.
Posted: 10/29/2008 | 11:46 AM
People often confuse “licensed” (as in, a permission
to do business) with “accreditation,” and they are
not at all related. Home-schools, in some states,

might need some sort of license, but they will and would ensure that their children’s options in
never be accredited. life would not be stifled by the parents’ decision to
home school. Our target market was older home-
As the owner/manager of a school, you have to schooled children, with parents who took their
keep records… the same records you would expect decision seriously.
any school to keep.
Well, it sounded like a good idea. We were always
A lot of people who home-school don’t do this, hearing that there was a huge number of home-
because they live in a state where record-keeping school families (over two million), and because of
(or any government purview) is not required. They that, and our belief that most other parents took
believe (and many believe quite strongly) that their statutory responsibilities as seriously as we
keeping records is a bad thing… and since it isn’t did, there would be a never-ending supply of
legally required, they don’t do it. customers to keep our business functioning and
Now that works out all fine and dandy, as long as prosperous.
the child in that home-school never intends to go After we had the basic systems and programs
to college, or get a real job. Most parents, defined (working with a handful of diligent home-
however, aren’t interested in limiting their child’s school families to test and design it), we began
future that drastically. Most parents understand advertising the business. Finding home-schoolers
that the decision to home-school comes with was difficult. There isn’t a home-school phone
statutory responsibilities that have nothing directory. For many reasons, home-schoolers
(whatsoever) to do with their parental rights not to hide. What we did was to contact as many home-
do any of it. school groups as we could. We sent them a letter,
If a home-schooled adult had a parent who telling them about our service, and asked if we
disregarded their responsibilities, they aren’t left could come to the group (at some future meeting)
totally in the cold. They can go through the to describe the service, and to find parents who
process of getting a GED, attend a community would be willing to test the service… for free.
college (to get an AA degree from an accredited Where we had a phone number for a group, we
school) and use that to get into a 4-year degree called them to follow up.
program later. The person without records still has What was the most common reaction (besides
options. ignoring us completely)?
A few years back, I was involved in a new business That we had gored their sacred cow! We got
venture to help home-schools plan their curriculum earfuls of (loud and screeching) complaints that we
(and lesson plans), and to help them maintain their had the audacity to suggest that a home-school
records. Part of the development of that business needed to have standards. The tinfoil hat brigade
included researching the transcript requirements in came out in full-force against us, some even
each state, as well as spot-checking what colleges suggesting that it was some sort of secret
and universities required. The purpose of that was government plot to “prove” that home-schools
to provide to subscribing-parents (ie, our future were inferior, and the information would be used
customers) with something to work towards, and as a means of discrediting them, and outlawing
fancy/pretty reports and graphs that detailed their home-schools.
progress. If the parent knew what was required
for a diploma in the schools in their state, then Geesh!
they could set about to design their home school’s
curriculum to meet/match it. They could only Some, who were willing to share a little bit more
exceed the requirements (which is something information, were quite adamant about not keeping
many home-schools hope to do), if they knew what any records, and since it wasn’t legally required,
the minimum was. they weren’t going to do it. Many had religious
reasons for this, and they are entitled to have
The goal was not to provide accreditation to home- those opinions/reasons.
schools, but to allow them to act (in good faith) as
if they were meeting all the requirements of More time and money would have (eventually)
accreditation. This, we believed, would go a long overcome these initial concerns and suspicions, but
way in improving the reputation of home-schools we learned something (we had not known) about
home-schools:

Most parents quit. Most parents don’t see their education possible. If, however, parents are
children through the equivalent of high school. At choosing to homeschool because they think that
around the equivalent of the seventh or eighth millions and millions of other parents are doing it
grade, most parents bail/panic and enroll their successfully and well, they need to rethink that. It
children in a more traditional program (including is possible to do it well, but it is hard work. It isn’t
home-based correspondence or on-line schools, anything close to “fun” when it gets to the higher
where someone else chooses the curriculum, grades, and parents should know and realize that,
grades the papers, and keeps the records). There before they decide to step on the home-school
were a number of reasons for this, but the main path. It is rewarding, but it is hard.
reasons were that it wasn’t as fun and freeeeeeee
as it had been. It started to get more difficult, and It should not be inferred that parents who don’t
serious, and parents began thinking about what take their decision to home-school and their
they were doing, and were uncertain they had the statutory responsibilities seriously end up with
ability to do all that was necessary to provide their young adults who have no ability to function. Most
child with high school (and middle school) level home-schooled children, despite the ineptitude and
work. inadequacies of their parents, still come out ahead
of their public-school educated peers. That says
That huge pool of potential customers, in the two more about how bad the public schools are, rather
to three million range, had collapsed to something than how wonderful home-schools are. You have
closer (based on our revised estimates at the to work hard at being worse than the public
time), to about one to two hundred thousand schools.
(roughly 10% of the total pool). The vast majority
of home-schools were teaching only young For those who were serious, they already figured
children, to the age of 10 or 11. The number of out a method of record-keeping and documenting
parents who stuck with it, when it got difficult, their lesson plans, so they didn’t feel the need to
dropped precipitously, and parents abandoned the change it. Some of these parents, the few we
idea when it required that they actually take were able to find, were THRILLED with the service
seriously their decision to homeschool. Meaning we offered, because it took most of the hassle and
(much to our shock and disappointment), when drudgery out of the tasks, but a few hundred
they actually had to behave like a serious school, customers could not support a business like ours…
and do serious work, they quit… because up to that Parents who start out home-schooling, quit when it
point, they’d been goofing-off and screwing gets difficult, put their children at a disadvantage.
around. It is not at all unusual for their children, once
There was no business there… and among that few placed in a traditional school, to have to repeat
hundred thousand was a substantially large pool of grade levels and work, to prove they have
suspicious, religious-based home-schools, who had completed the fundamentals. This is made more
no intention of ever documenting a single thing difficult (and common) because the parents had
their home-school taught or their children not kept ANY records at all. The parents who did
performed. They had no desire for their children to keep records, didn’t put their children at this
go on to college, or leave the farm, or plan for disadvantage.
them to have the option to leave the hometown in In my next post in this series, I’ll detail how we
which they lived. They were more about closing and they did it.
doors for their children, rather than home-
schooling for the purpose of opening as many
doors as humanly possible.
All the stereotypes of home-schoolers came home

to roost. Most were not serious, and those that
were made up a small fraction of the larger pool.
Kim (my husband) and I haven’t want to disclose

this big, bad secret, because it would do a
disservice to the minority of home-schoolers who
do take their job seriously, and are committed and
dedicated to providing to their children the best

Actions for Parents: delivery, and I’ll note how to do that, and all
parents (even those keeping to a rigid structure)
1. Think clearly about your feelings about children and will need to do and document some of that.
power.
Let’s first define some of the terms I used above:
2. Determine your broad educational goals for K through
12, such as those defined by Jefferson (What must Student Textbook: This the material the student
they be able to do at “graduation”?) receives. It doesn’t have to be a textbook, per se.
3. Research the institutions available to you (including It could be any source material the student uses or
considerations of cost and location) to determine if receives, including workbooks, worksheets, books
there is an institution that matches the above. (such as literary selections), or something as
mundane as Wikipedia. This is WHAT you’re
4. Rethink your decision to run a home-based school teaching and could be more loosely described as
based on your dedication and willingness to live up to any reference source or course content the student
your statutory responsibilities. If you cannot commit to uses or sees. If you were teaching a course on
12 years of hard work, don’t do it. It is perfectly farming, the course materials would be your seeds,
reasonable to be nervous about it, but if you know dirt, and shovel.
today that you don’t have the stamina for 12 years of
hard work, save yourself (and your child) the Teachers’ Guide: This can be a printed book
inconvenience. (and often is, if you buy a packaged course). It is
HOW to teach WHAT you’re teaching. It teaches
Posted: 11/01/2008 | 09:02 AM
the teacher the subject matter, and how to teach
the course. It generally contains important items,
key points, methods, and additional background
IV: Course Design information (in case the student asks a question or
Mrs. du Toit wants more in-depth information to support a
From: Education Series point).
Not all parents who home-school design their own Lesson Plan: The lesson plan details WHEN
courses. Some use pre-packaged textbooks, with you’re going to do X or Y, but it isn’t date specific
teachers’ guides and lesson plans that do most of (yet). It is a guideline for timing, such as Day 1,
the heavy lifting. Most textbooks and packaged Day 2, Day 3, or Week 1, Week 2, etc. It says
curriculum are horrible, with a capital H, so some what a student should do at a particular time in the
knowledge about how to do it yourself, even if only course’s duration, including lecture summaries,
supplementing, is important. Knowing about it will assignments, homework, quizzes, reviews, and
also help a parent evaluate packaged curriculum. tests. It might look something like this:
In this post, I’ll describe some of the major
Day 1:
highlights of course design, and how that feeds
into your record-keeping system.
Provide a general overview of the course, detailed on
(I do this for a living, although not in the pages 7 through 10 of the Teachers’ Guide.
educational institution arena. I could work in that Introduce the textbook to the students, referring to pages
11 through 14 of the Teachers’ Guide.
arena, but I don’t. I am an instructional designer, Read aloud page 1 of the Student Textbook. Explain the
by profession, but my customers have always been quiz methodology on page 2 of the Student Textbook,
corporate, or equivalent. The process is the referring to page 15 of the Teachers’ Guide.
same/similar, regardless of the Allow students a minimum of 15 minutes to complete the
audience/customer. Other professional quiz and then review answers as a group.
instructional designers may nitpick what I’m going Assign pages 3 through 7 as homework.
to describe, but they should be aware that I’m
speaking to a lay audience, and provide their nits The lesson plan can be as detailed and specific as
with that perspective.) above, or it could be a list of important
points/highlights to cover about the material. If a
As with most things, we have a what, why, when, literary selection is going to be used as the student
and how scenario. We need to define and expand, material, it could be a list of pages to assign each
based on where we are in the process. This week, with discussions or exercises at the end, or
method can also be used by unschoolers, post during the reading assignment period.

In more generic terms, the Lesson Plan keeps the combing multiple disciplines into a macro-course.
teacher honest, and it is like a tickler file for the For record-keeping (and sanity purposes) however,
teacher so they know what they need to we need to keep them separate. How we assemble
know/prepare/do before they involve the student. the course (what we teach, how we teach it, and in
what order) comes LATER.
I am not suggesting (AT ALL) that a course you
might design for your home-school get as detailed From experience, you really need to start at this
as the above. I’m providing it as a guideline. As a first step, thinking in broad strokes about individual
home-school course designer, you’re doing these disciplines and then categorizing them. You might
things at a much more summarized level. For try to skip this first step, but I will guarantee that
most home-schoolers, the thing we’ll focus on the you’ll regret it, get frazzled, and get distracted.
most is the Lesson Plan, because we’re using other
materials as Student Workbooks. Most often, there We’ll start with the categories.
will not be a Leaders’ Guide. That you’ll have to do There are only a few, which makes our life a bit
in your head, and will flesh-out when you do your easier. They are:
Lesson Plans.
But we’ve gotten WAY ahead of ourselves… and Arts and Letters
that is what is most important to note. We are Sciences
Life Skills
going to end up with some combination of the
Extracurricular
above (in whatever detail is required to reach our
objectives), but we don’t know what we’ll need
Next, we break it down a bit further:
until we define our objectives, and objectives are
Arts and Letters
what defines the outcome we hope to achieve. o Arts
Thinking about our end result, we need to define o Letters
Sciences
courses by some sort of broad title (we’ll
o Life Science
categorize them next). This broad title may not be o Physical Science
something the student ever sees, or knows about, Life Skills
because we might refer to things in a friendlier, o Practical
less formal education-sounding way. This would o Foundation
include course names we all know: Extracurricular
o Sports
History o Extramural/Volunteer Work
English o Hobbies
Mathematics
Science We have the beginning of our transcript. It sounds
Health fancy-schmancy to call it that, but that’s the idea.
Biology We’re using terms and words that are recognized
Social Studies by established educational institutions, because We
Civics
R 1.
What you’ll notice in the above list is that there is Now we can begin exploding some of the sub-
overlap. Health and Biology are part of a broader categories. “Life Sciences” would expand to
umbrella of Science. Mathematics is a broad include Health, Biology, Ecology (if you were so
category that includes basic arithmetic and inclined), Botany, etc. “Botany” could be expanded
advanced subjects, such as algebra, calculus, and to include Farming or Gardening.
trigonometry.
“Physical Sciences” includes things such as
Whole studies 1 courses make this even more Mathematics (broken down into Arithmetic and
complicated, because in whole studies, we’re then Advanced Mathematics), Physics, Chemistry,
etc.
1 interdependence of its parts. (Not to be confused with

Whole Studies is an Interdisciplinary Course, Holistic Studies.)
emphasizing the importance of the whole and the

“Arts” would expand to include Dance, Music, above, so don’t go too crazy. You can redefine and
Theatre/Drama, and Fine Arts (which could be expand your categories if you find that your initial
expanded to Painting, Sculpture, etc., and beneath structure isn’t working. Working with your spouse
that, for example, it could include under Painting: on this may lead to arguments, so keep in mind
Oil, Mixed Media, Water color, Life Drawing, etc.). that you might not immediately reach consensus
and agreement. Do your best. You can also refer
“Letters” includes anything with words, foreign or to college course catalogs, and model your list on
domestic, and is more broadly “Humanities” (call it what they do (but what you’ll find is that there are
that, if you prefer). It would include English and slight variations from school to school).
Literature, which may be further divided into
Writing, Grammar, etc., Foreign Language, which Have a good time if you decide to teach a course in
could be broken down by the specific language. “Earth Sciences”! The ridiculousness of that course
History, Culture, etc., also belong in this broad heading will only become apparent when you try to
category, broken down further (if so desired) into place it in a category above.
Social Studies, Civics, Government, etc. It would
also be the place to include a broad category such Now that we have our categories, we can begin
as “World Religion” from a cultural perspective, as thinking about our broad course titles. If we start
opposed to Religious Studies which belongs under with something like “English” then we have to think
the “Life Skills” category. about what aspect, which is why the categories
come in handy.
“Life Skills” is sort of like a dumping ground and
can get a bit overwhelming. Within “Practical” If we’re starting out with a young child, we’re
we’re including things that are job or career going to be focusing on things like the alphabet,
related, so they could include Bookkeeping, early reading (phonics), and penmanship.
Statistics, Diplomacy (which could include things If we’re focusing on an older child, then we’re
like Etiquette), Home Repair and Maintenance, going to be designing courses in sentence
Construction, Plumbing, etc. On the “Foundation” structure, forms of speech, more broadly under a
side, we would include things like Household “Grammar” heading, versus literature, and writing
Management (Sewing, Cooking, Decoration, prose or poetry.
Budgeting), Religious Studies, etc.
With even older children, we’re teaching courses in
Under the “Extramural/Volunteer Work” sub- Debate, Discussion, and Oration/Speech. Use
category, this is where you’d keep track of things those sorts of titles to help you focus on your
like youth clubs (Boy Scouts, 4-H) and could objectives and goals.
include church activities, such as volunteering at a
soup kitchen. The idea of separating The benefit of a home-school is that we don’t have
“Extramural/Volunteer Work” and “Foundation” is: grade levels, necessarily. You might have to adapt
one feeds the wallet, the other feeds the soul and to a grade level concept, if you live in a state that
is character building. regulates home-schools. But even there, we have
some fudge and fiddle room. It is a good idea,
“Hobbies” can be ANYTHING and don’t discount the however, to keep the transcript by year, noting the
importance of keeping a record of these things. courses that are completed by some sort of annual
Activities in “Extracurricular” and “Life Skills” are designation.
often not included when calculating scores or grade That might be easiest to understand with a course
point averages. Think about that when you begin for a yougin’ in “Beginning English.” That course
assigning courses to a category. If they are scored might last three years, or you could (to make it a
at all, they are more often pass/fail, rather than bit easier) break it into I, II, and III. In the first
letter-graded. course you’re working on the alphabet (recognizing
The above is not fixed in stone and you can define letters and numbers) and early penmanship (which
your categories in a way that makes the most may involve tracing or drawing simple symbols as
sense to you, keeping in mind that the above was preparation for later drawing letters). In II, you’re
gleaned from extensive research of transcripts and practicing the alphabet, drawing letters, and
record-keeping methods (as well as helping in forming simple words. In III, you’re focusing on
course design). You could spend WEEKS on the early reading, and introducing sentence mechanics,
such as periods, capital letters, etc.

There’s no deadline for any of that, but you want Course Objectives:
to keep progressing, and detailing that progress At the end of the course, the child will be able to
under major course titles… and this is where course demonstrate their ability to:
design comes in.
We need a title for the course. For our transcript Say the letters of the alphabet in its spoken name and
the sound it makes.
purposes, it would be recorded under the “English” Understand that letters are the building blocks of words
heading. Below the “English” heading, we have the Recite the alphabet
courses listed that were taught that year, as part Draw the lower-case form of all letters, a through z,
of that year’s curriculum. Your child may not know including the proper order of strokes and curves.
the official course title, such as “Introduction to the Draw the upper-case form of all letters, a through z,
English Language I.” You will refer to it by including the proper order of strokes and curves.
something your child understands. You might say Draw the numbers zero through ten, including the
proper order of strokes and curves.
“it’s time to practice your letters” so call the course
“Letters,” and you file that in your category list
where it belongs, under the more formal title, That’s enough to illustrate the point and it doesn’t
noting that it is part of “Introduction to the English have to get any more complicated than that.
Language I.” “Letters” is the friendly course title, When the child is able to demonstrate that they
but it belongs (for transcript purposes) under the can perform the objectives, they “pass” and they’re
category of “English.” That’s what outsiders would ready to move on to the next course. As the
see if you produced a transcript. If they want school administrator, you note when they’ve
more detail, you’ll have that, too, which is where mastered the content of that course, and can
we’ll go next. assign the child either a pass/fail or a letter grade
to your record book.
2007:
It would be a good idea to document the above,
English say a single sheet of paper (or spreadsheet) to
o Introduction to English Language I include the Course name, Goal, and Objectives,
“Letters” and then detail when the child started the course,
the date they completed it, and the course grade.
Now that we have a course called “Letters” we can You can file away the “tests” (which don’t have to
begin defining what the child will have to be anything other than worksheets the child has
accomplish to pass it, so we know when we’re used) in a folder with that same heading. You
finished with it, and ready to move on to the next would also note when they met an objective, in the
course. These are referred to as “Objectives.” We detail lines for the class sheet. If you were reading
begin writing our objectives with a broad goal, to the child, for example, and they were able to
such as: point out the name and the sound of a letter in a
word, you would note on your course record (for
Course Short Name: Letters that objective number) the date they completed it
Formal Course Title: Introduction to the English (because you have no other source document
Language I except the note of the date they performed it
successfully). Your sheet for each course could
Transcript Category: English
look something like this:
Goal: Recognition and replication of the letters of the
alphabet and numbers

Course Name: Letters
Course Title: Introduction to the English Language I
Transcript Category: English
Goal: Recognition and replication of the letters of the alphabet and numbers
Objectives:
1. Say the letters of the alphabet in its spoken name and the sound it makes.
2. Understand that letters are the building blocks of words
3. Recite the alphabet
4. Draw the lower-case form of all letters, a through z, including the proper order of strokes and curves.
5. Draw the upper-case form of all letters, a through z, including the proper order of strokes and curves.
6. Draw the numbers zero through ten, including the proper order of strokes and curves.
Objective
Objective Attachment
Date Detail/Description Complete Grade/Score
Number Yes/No?
Yes/No?
Spoke the letters A, B and C both by

5/6/2007 1 No.
name and phonetically.
Spoke the letters D through H both

5/10/2007 1 No.
by name and phonetically.
Spoke the letters H through Z both by

5/31/2007 1 Yes. 100% No
name and phonetically.
Course Start: May 1, 2008

Course End: July 25, 2008
Final Grade/Score: 97%
Notes:
With the above, you can keep track of when each the fact. You might not record the details, but
objective has been met, and the fact that all have start and end dates, with a final score/grade.
objectives have been met.
The final score/grade is noted on your transcript,
You don’t have to use a sheet like the above, but which is kept (roughly) by year, either by following
something like it helps to chart your progress. It a school fiscal date structure, or by calendar year.
will also blow the socks off of any school By keeping track of the courses in a transcript
administrator, if you should desire to later enroll format, you can average a grade or score for each
your child in a traditional program. You’ll have school year.
proof that they’ve mastered subjects, reducing the
chance that your child will be required to repeat The advantage of home-schooling is that we don’t
them. stop a course until the child has reached “mastery”
level, so they can always get A’s or 100%. But be
Unschoolers or parents that haven’t been keeping FAIR and responsible. If your child hasn’t met the
records, can back into the above by writing it after objectives, don’t give them a score of 100%. Note

those things they still need to work on to reach read in the next two or three months. When the
“mastery” level, and score them appropriately. child has read the book, they’re assigned a book
The next course in your series will include some report to write, or you have a debate/discussion
time for review, so the child will have the about the material.
opportunity to repeat and to master the content
they’ve learned previously. From your perspective, that’s all one BIG course.
It is a “whole studies” course (a “macro-course")
All of the above can be kept in a notebook. The and we might have a sheet, just for that course.
files of the child’s work don’t have to be kept, but it In addition to that, we have discrete subject
is fun for the child to see that their work has value courses ("sub-courses"), each with their own title,
(because you’re keeping it) and it also allows them goals, and objectives. The big course is cross-
to look back at their progress to see what they’ve category (or more accurately “cross disciplinary"),
accomplished over the years. but we’re not recording it as one course on the
transcript.
We can also back into a Lesson Plan in the same
way. Instead of recording when something did English
occur, we can create a list of what we’re going to Literature
American Literature I
do, and in what time frame. That encourages
Reading
discipline on the part of the parent and the child. Writing
You should have some expectations of how long to Grammar
allow a child to do something, and children Debate/Discussion
desperately need to have a sense of
accomplishment. You may not like structure, but Essentially, with a program like that, the child is
your child really needs to know that they’ve done doing four or five courses at once, including
something important, and can tick off a list of what writing, grammar, reading, literature, debate/
they did during the day or week, even if you do it discussion, etc. When you record those on the
post task completion. transcript, you’re not recording it as one course.
You’re recording it based on the academic category
With older children, you might be designing a list you created above, and you have goals/
course in Literature, and your Lesson Plan might be objectives for each individual course. Those
nothing more complicated than page number individual sub-course sheets are combined to make
assignments. When the child has read the book, up your macro/whole studies course. If the literary
then you assign them a book report, or have a assignment was non-fiction, that could also
debate/discussion about the content. Your student blossom into a sub-course in culture, history, or
assignments are the version of the lesson plan the social studies.
child sees (or is assigned):
English
American Literature I Student Assignments: Literature
American Literature I
Reading
Week 1: Chapters 1 through 10 of Adventures of
Writing
Huckleberry Finn.
Grammar
Week 2: Chapters 10 through 20 of Adventures of
Debate/Discussion
Huckleberry Finn. History
Week 3: Chapters 20 through 30 of Adventures of American History
Huckleberry Finn. th
Social Customs of America in the 19 Century
Week 4: Chapters 30 through 43 of Adventures of American Indian Tribes
Huckleberry Finn. Slavery
Week 5: Write a book report about Adventures of Geography
Huckleberry Finn. Western Hemisphere
Week 6: Research the impact of Adventures of Rivers and Waterways
Huckleberry Finn and the critique of it at the time it was
written.
A book such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has
Etc.
all sorts of branching opportunities, before or after
the child as read the book. It could lead to
This is where it gets fun (and complicated). explorations into slavery, literary criticism,
In the above example we’ve designed a course in geography of the South, a study of the Indian
literature, that includes reading (say) 5 books to be tribes that lived in the region, etc. Each of those

other subjects are launched from the grounding The reward/punishment structure doesn’t have to
provided in the book. The ideas is not to have a be penury or difficult. It might be that the child
child read a book and then file it away and forget can’t watch TV or go out to play with friends until
it. The idea is to bring the book to life, and to all the work is done. If the child finishes early (or
study the background and details. For many of the sooner than you planned) then allow the child the
classics, the heavy-lifting of course design is “reward” of more free time.
available on the Internet (that you can use and
incorporate into your “American Literature” type Some tasks will be time-assigned, such as “read
courses). for 30 minutes” instead of assigning specific
pages. You’ll have to closely monitor that,
Your children might not see their transcripts until however, because children can get a bit lazy about
they’re much older. It is a difficult concept and it that, and dilly-dally, and not make any significant
is likely to confuse them. But when they’ve progress. If your child can generally read about 10
reached the appropriate age, it is important for pages of a book an hour, then assign them pages,
them to see what you’ve been recording on their rather than a time.
behalf, and understand that they (like their
traditionally educated friends) have been taking Children normally have issues with short attention
English, History, Math, and Science, even though spans, and you’re helping the child to learn to
they’ve been doing it in a more whole-studies focus on things longer term. A child under the age
method. of 5 may not be able to focus on any one activity
for more than ten minutes. Assigning them a task
What your children do need is daily assignments for 30 minutes is an unreasonable expectation and
(and I know that runs counter to what those who sets the child up to fail. Start with 10 minutes and
“unschool” prefer). Your child needs structure and then expand/adjust over weeks and months to
discipline. No one, but a billionaire, goes through stretch their attention spans.
life without having assignments and tasks they
need to complete each day. Using time-based assignments also helps to teach
a child the concept of time, and develop an internal
Children, as early as possible, need to begin sense of time. If you have a reading time (when
practicing this, because instilling discipline later is you read to your younger children), set a timer and
harder. Children also need immediate stop when the timer goes off. Learning to sit still
reinforcement (both correction and praise). A day and pay attention is as important a lesson as
or week later is too long to wait (and with really learning about what is being read. Don’t miss
young children, a hour is too long to wait to get those opportunities to teach concepts and behavior
feedback). If you begin each day with a list of rules with the same assignments.
assignments, the child can cross them off as they
complete each one. The assignments can be Just don’t go nuts and have timers going off all the
generic, such as “writing, reading, gardening” but time. That reinforces and creates attention-span
the child needs something to tick off, as a way of difficulties. Mix up assignments based on time and
feeling like they’ve made progress that day. A assignments based on task completion.
child also needs to know when the day is done, and Tasks that can be time-assigned might include
when there is a chance for “free play” time. flash card drills, reciting multiplication tables,
More appropriately (for parents using a more music practice, or any on-going practice activity.
structured method), this is where you list your Assignments that are better served by task
lesson plan assignments for the child each day, completion are worksheets, reading, writing, and
combined with their daily chore list. If the child creative tasks, such as drawing, dancing, or
doesn’t complete the task, it rolls over to the next singing.
day, reinforcing that you can’t escape a task by not You know your child. You will know if they have
doing it. productive bursts throughout the day. Generally,
If you tie a reward/punishment structure to the however, children do best when analytics are done
completion of assignments each day, all the early in the day… often first thing after breakfast.
better. Math is a good assignment to begin the day, where
reading is best at the end of the day, because it is
a more passive, relaxed activity. There is generally

a period, mid-day, when they will have a Setting the table is an opportunity to study culture,
productivity fall (after lunch, generally). That is a and setting the table the American way or the
good time to assign more creative tasks, without English way an opportunity for social and cultural
so much brain power required. studies. Decorating the table when you’re
preparing ethnic food, is also a great way to
You can be flexible, and that is where home- explore different cultures.
schooling is really beneficial. You might have
assigned pages 200 to 250 for the child that day, You could make cookies, for example, and then
with the completion of book assigned to the next create a worksheet that asked the child to double
day. But the child might be absorbed in the book the recipe and write down the new amount. You
and want to finish. Allow that flexibility and run could bake a pie and serve it, following up with an
with their interests and passions! They just have assignment to define how many pieces of pie you
to negotiate with you and decide which task they’re get with 2 straight cuts, and then 3, or 4. Then
not going to do so they can finish reading the expand on it, and ask the child to pick from a list of
book. That unfinished task will be pushed to the how to describe that piece of pie, such as one-
next day. fourth, one-fifth, and one-sixth.
Other days, your child might be out of sorts, not When you make a sauce and it thickens, you are
feeling well, or just tired. We all have good and introducing your child to chemistry. When the
bad days. Allow for that, too, and come up with a coals on the barbecue go from black to red, that is
method that allows you to push assignments also science, and depending on what you discuss
forward a day or so. Allow a child to catch-up on and include in that task, it might be part of an
better days, or just extend the course a few days. introduction to chemistry or physics.
You can use a computer to generate the lists,
pushing forward what wasn’t done from one day to You could write the course sheet (goals and
the next. You can also write out the assignments objective) as well as your Lesson Plans after the
on index cards, which allows your child to move fact, because your failure to document something
the cards from a “To Do” pocket to one that is pre-performance should not be a deficit to your
marked with “Done” or “Completed.” That also child. The child has mastered a concept, skill, or
allows a working parent to look through the pocket completed a task, and that should be recorded (in
of “Done” items to praise the child for what they educationalese) on their official record.
did that day, and have a method for a working Everything you do at home could be a learning
parent to remain involved, even when they aren’t opportunity.
there during the day.
You can design, build, and plant a garden, and
What you assign will be a mixed bag… a later use those ingredients to prepare meals.
combination of chores, assignments, and That’s a macro-course opportunity! Art,
spontaneous activities of the day. arithmetic, life skills, and home management are
When you make dinner, for example, include your all embedded in that activity. You could spend
children in that task. Don’t eliminate that as a days poring over garden books, and classic garden
learning opportunity and not record it on as designs, introducing your child to the concepts of
“school” activity. There is much course content to art, design, and architecture. When you move to
be found in ordinary things, and the retention of building it, you’re including math, because you’re
content learned is this way is not something to using tools to measure and cut materials. When
discount. you’re watering, you’re studying botany, and when
you factor in the amount of water necessary,
If a child is learning how to measure ingredients, you’re introducing climatology. You could test the
double or triple recipes, divide cookie batter or soil! When you cook the food from the garden it is
slice a pie, they’re learning math concepts. You chemistry… which then leads to biology, because
can use these exercises as your “lecture” for you can discuss and explore the nutrients in the
arithmetic studies, and then design worksheets food, and how that food passes through the body.
that allow the child to practice, outside of the
kitchen. You can eat an orange and use that as your
“student materials” to introduce arithmetic, or use
it as the basis for the fundamentals of geography

(orange slices make wonderful examples of 7. Use tools, tasks and ordinary home-based activities as
latitude). Cut that orange horizontally and you the basis of your initial course designs, supplementing
have core samples or longitude. with worksheets and additional reading materials to
reinforce the concepts learned.
Your job as principal, administrator, course 8. Record, record, record what your child has
designer, and teacher is to document your child’s accomplished and share their progress with them by
activities in a manner that is professional and allowing them to tick off the completed assignments for
accurate. If you think schools aren’t doing exactly each day.
what I’ve described above, you haven’t been
Posted: 11/02/2008 | 07:00 AM
paying attention!
Your child would be bored stiff if you made a point

of telling them that they just completed an V: Learning Styles
objective in geography by discussing the latitude of
Mrs. du Toit
an orange slice, or the spheres of the whole fruit. From: Education Series
Don’t bother. Just teach and record, and present
them with assignments in child-appropriate I’m going to mix up a few concepts and combine
language. Design to your heart’s content, using them under the heading “learning styles,” but they
the world and your daily life (and the aren’t all the same thing, although the end result
library/Internet) as your course materials. Follow (for our purposes) lumps them all together.
up those tasks with worksheets and practice,
putting into fixed terms and concepts what your First let me focus on learning styles a bit, to define
child can practice, and master. what that means, and I’ll try to keep it simple.
It may sound hard, because you have some Some people like to read books. They enjoy the
structure to build, and discipline to establish. And activity of holding a book, turning the pages, and
the best place to start with instilling discipline in reading in that way. Other people enjoy books on
your children is to start with practicing it yourself. tape, or reading an e-book. The two actions, while
Get busy! similar in the outcome, are very different methods
of getting there.
In the next in the series I’ll explore learning styles and how If we expand that a bit, and focus on how people
you can know if what you’re doing is having a lasting read, we’ll also find that people have different
effect, and when it’s time to change course. styles. Some people read the first page of a book
and the last, to see how it turns out. To others,
Actions for Parents: that would be like “cheating.” In addition, some
people pick up a book and don’t put it down until
1. Think clearly about your feelings about children and
power. they’re done, while others like to read more slowly,
2. Determine your broad educational goals for K through savoring each word and page.
12, such as those defined by Jefferson (What must Those are all examples of learning styles. One style
they be able to do at “graduation”?)
is not better than another. They’re just different.
3. Research the institutions available to you (including
considerations of cost and location) to determine if In approaching how we teach then, we have to
there is an institution that matches the above. take into account how someone learns, based on
4. Rethink your decision run a home-based school based the methods they prefer. There are both
on your dedication and willingness to live up to your environmental components (learned behavior) and
statutory responsibilities. If you cannot commit to 12 genetic (assigned behavior/abilities) that play into
years of hard work, don’t do it.
it (and I’m not going to address intelligence, IQ, in
any of this).
New, from this post:
Older people, in general, grew up at a time when
5. Design your category structure broadly, and then
things were quieter. They read more and were
define it for each academic year.
6. Create your macro-courses, including your goals and expected to read. Younger people have grown up
objectives for mastery/completion by each academic with television, and are used to having things told
subject/formal course title. to them (or read to them), with visual stimuli
(pictures/graphics) to keep them focused. The

latter is not just television, but an entire world language skills or the abstract knowledge to
where we’re bombarded with moving images, understand what they mean. What the child knows
accompanied by sounds (sound effects, music, and is that they are being cuddled, soothed and
voice). protected, and whatever bad things happened in
their dreams while they were sleeping, are not
This is best illustrated with music. People over 50 happening now. It is the change in situation and
grew up listening to music. People who are under our calming voices and actions (not the words we
40 grew up watching music, in music videos. say), that help a child calm down after having a
While older people might have gone to a symphony nightmare.
or watched a recording of a band or orchestra
playing music, what they were watching was the We help a child learn to distinguish between reality
musicians playing their instruments, not a novella- and fantasy by not making the monsters real. For
like story while the music played. example, the worst thing a parent can do, if a child
has expressed the thought that there is a monster
The various mediums have responded to these under their bed, is to validate it. Some parents will
changes. Films no longer have long cuts, with tell the child that they’ll look under the bed, and in
actors delivering soliloquies. Instead, we have fantasy-play, kill the monster. That has validated
rapid cuts, short lines, and a focus on the facial the monster, and confirmed for the child that what
expression and gestures of the actors. was in their imagination is real, because their
The other changing dynamic is special effects, but parent saw it. What a parent must do is reinforce
here we have a learned behavior based on that there is no monster, and use words (that the
expectations. Folks who grew up watching child will come to understand) that reinforce that
Saturday serials were not distracted by the visible thought does not equal real. There is no monster.
strings attached to the rocket ships. The wobble of Many of us have had the experience of seeing a 3-
the hand-held string was not a distraction either. D movie. The audience will laugh when one of the
They were absorbed in the story and the poor shapes or characters comes towards us rapidly,
quality of the special effects did not break the veil and we move out of the way in response. We
of their suspension of reality… entirely. laugh, because we know intellectually that nothing
The veil of reality was broken, however, and it is a really came at us. Our response was subconscious
very important distinction. Let me switch focus for and instinctive and we laugh about being fooled,
a bit to provide background on that. and unable to overcome our instincts. That’s as
close as we come to seeing the world as a child
Children learn to differentiate fantasy from reality. sees it, unable to differentiate reality from fantasy,
They don’t come out of the chute with the ability to and responding to everything around us
do it. It is learned. A cartoon to a child of 5 is instinctively and subconsciously.
neither fantasy nor reality. It just is, because
there is only what is to a child that age. The 3-D is very different from 2-D. Our brains know
monster who makes noises at night is real, even if the difference. Our brains also know the difference
the child never has visual proof that a monster between graphics and film, with film being closer to
lives under their bed or in their closet, because reality than video graphics. Because the
everything is real. Everything in a young child’s translations of pixels to images happen so quickly
mind is real. They experience it, so it is real. in our minds, we’re not necessarily aware that a
Dreams are not illusions of the mind. They are translation has occurred, but it has. Our brains
events, playing out in real-time to a child. This is know that when we look at a computer generated
why they’re more susceptible to nightmares, graphic image that it is a series of colored dots and
because even when they wake up, they cannot lights. Our brain translates what we’re seeing into
differentiate what happened in real life, versus the shapes represented, and then processes it
what happened only in their imaginations and based on similar shapes/colors that are stored in
dreams. our memory and that exist in reality.
Using words such as “it’s not real” or “it was only a That nanosecond delay, while our brains are
dream” to soothe a child who has had a nightmare translating the images, clues us into the fact that it
are complex and sophisticated concepts. We say is not real. What we’re seeing is not real life, but a
them, but the child has not yet developed the representation of something unreal, ie, a fantasy.

This is why young children who watched Buck method that requires a suspension of disbelief or
Rogers weren’t bothered by the wobbly space ships fantasy. For people who do not like to suspend
or saw the string tied to it as an indication that the belief, analogies (unless practical and fixed in
space ship wasn’t real, and wasn’t flying into outer reality) will not help them learn a new concept.
space. First, they don’t know the difference They will be stuck on the fact that it isn’t real, so
between fantasy and reality. Second, their brains what does it have to do with something that is?
have already adjusted to the fact that they’re
watching a 2-dimensional image. They’ve Similarly, some people are not easily manipulated
suspended reality intentionally by accepting the by emotionalism or melodrama. There is
images projected from their TV screens. something akin to a switch in their brains that they
will turn-off if they sense their feelings are being
In essence then, we could better describe these manipulated. For those people, any method that
actions as a willingness to be vulnerable… a uses manipulation will be a turn-off, even if the
willingness to be gullible. skill or concept being explained in that way is
valid.
Children love to do this, but aren’t making a choice
to do it, as adults are. Adults choose to go with it On the flip side, there are people who prefer
and allow themselves to be carried away in a emotionalism and melodrama, and will choose
fantasy. We’re willing to suspend belief, unless the learning methods that allow them to suspend
suspension becomes too different from the reality reality, to become something closer to a “free
we know. When something happens in the thinker,” able to think out of the reality-box. The
broadcast of the film, such as the film breaking or downside of that, of course, is that they’re not
scratches or distortions, children are more upset by always able to kick-start their analytics and see the
that than adults. Something has happened that faults in the fantasy… able to immediately
forces the brain to focus on the fact that it is a 2- recognize that something that may work in fantasy
dimensional image, and the suspension of reality is (or on paper), does not work in reality. They’ll
lost. follow the fantasy path over the cliff, not wanting
to lose the feeling of liberty in seeing the strings or
Many of us, as adults, love to watch films for the wobbles in the space ships.
children, because it allows us to remember the
innocence of childhood, and to be carried away in Combined with the above, some of us are naturally
that suspension of reality. There was a liberty in more sociable, or desiring of social situations.
that, of something akin to flying, and a freedom
that existed in not knowing what was real and what For people who are shyer and introverted,
wasn’t. The world was full of greater situations where they’re asked to speak, express
possibilities...endless, floating, and infinite. Peter their feelings, or share an experience will be
Pan was real and if we were lucky to have him visit painful to them. Some of us may be sociable, but
us, we could fly to Neverland with he and we have limits, and reject situations where our
Tinkerbell… and many of us sat by our windows to person or personal feelings are exposed.
keep Peter-Pan-watch, not wanting to miss that Some children will want to perform—to dance, to
chance. We tried to stay awake on Christmas Eve, sing, or play their instruments for us and
not wanting to miss the chance to see Santa. We Grandma. Other children will abandon an
looked around for the Easter Bunny who brought instrument or any activity where they’re required
us chocolate chicks and candy eggs. to perform, because they’re shy. They might like
As we got older, however, we stopped waiting for playing the piano, but they want to play only for
Peter Pan to come. We had no expectation that we themselves. They may like to read, but don’t like
would ever take three running steps and be able to to read aloud.
fly, and soar above the trees. Our innocence was These attitudes can also be shaped by experience…
lost, and depending on how that sat with us, our if a parent mocks a child or laughs at them when
desire to replicate that feeling as adults could be they do something wrong/silly, they will balk at
one of enjoyment and reminiscence, or something situations where they might lose face. This is
that we reject as childish and unappealing. especially important if a child has siblings, and may
That is learned behavior, and influences how we recognize that their brother or sister does
learn, and how we evaluate the effectiveness of a something better than they do. They do not want

to be reminded of that, and will avoid methods and about our child, and find out which learning styles
situations when that may occur. Some children that work for them.
don’t want to engage in an activity where they’ll
lose/fail, and will suspend interest in any activity
when they cannot control the outcome, or assure In the next post, I’ll apply the science of learning retention
victory for themselves. to the above—what it is and how to measure it, which
allows us to determine if what we’re doing is having the
So, we’re all different. We’re different in our gene intended result.
mix, our learned behaviors, and our attitudes
about emotions, reality, and fantasy. There are no new tasks for this post, other than to think
about how you prefer to learn, and your learning stylesH
When we go about trying to teach someone then to think about how your children may learn differently,
something, or explain something, we’re not always based on observation.
going to be successful. We’re able to reach some Posted: 11/03/2008 | 05:32 AM
people, but the exact same method may fall flat
with someone else.
Our own attitudes about reality and fantasy, about Regarding the Education Series -
emotionalism versus just-the-facts-ma’am, are Momentary Interrupt
going to color the way we choose to teach, and
we’ll have difficulty understanding why someone Mrs. du Toit
else doesn’t have our same preferences, and learn
in the same way we do. I’m writing this series because it was the most
common request I received when I asked for
For our purposes then, as home-educators, we
input. It may not be exactly what people asked
have to accept that our children are not us. They
for, but that’s the danger of asking a question: You
may not have the same learning styles as we do,
might not always get the answer you wanted or
or the same preferences.
expected.
For those of us who have had more than one child,
Along the way, I’ve gotten additional emails about
we’re all too aware that what works for one child
the subject, asking for input and advice, as well as
may not work for the other. In approaching how
suggestions for later topics.
we teach each of our children then, we have to
apply that and accept that a brother may learn As I see it now, I have about a dozen more posts
very differently from the way his sister learns. Two to write in the series, with about 27 days of
sisters may not learn and share preferences. Even blogging left. Please add in comments additional
the subjects that interest us may be very different. subjects or suggestions. I may already plan to get
there and cover it, but it never hurts to add your
It is, as I said above, a mixed bag of genetics,
questions to the list.
preferences, and learned behaviors.
Along those lines, I received this email, asking for
We want to create sparks for our children… for
some clarification. I’ve deleted the personal details
them to be passionate about learning. They are.
and am providing it as an example. Reading it will
With rare exception, children are passionate about
give you a gist of what others have asked for, and
learning… but they may not be motivated to learn
may stimulate other suggestions.
in the same way we do.
Given that I have every intention of homeschooling through
Simply put, if a child is not passionate about high school, what is your opinion on at what point the
learning a subject or what we’ve taught hasn’t record-keeping should be taken as seriously as you say in
stuck, it is because we haven’t packaged it in a your post? My gut instinct is that it’s not that important until
way that is appealing to them and works with the high school, since that is what college admissions people
are going to want to see, but I’m curious what you think.
way they work.
I also want your opinion on how old the kid should be
It is our job, as educators, to find a mix of before introducing a more structured study environment like
packaging that work, and find subjects that flatter what you’ve described. My goal at this point has been to
the way their brain works. While our child is have the kids reading, writing, and doing basic math
learning about the world, we need to be learning extremely competently by the time they are about 3rd grade
level, while “ignoring” the rest of the subjects until then. I

almost feel like that is an early school “graduation” point, In looking at the raw statistic (that we forget about
since I expect the structure of school to change 75% of what we’ve been taught), it should not be
dramatically then. Now, they get impromptu lessons in
applied to the universe.
EVERYTHING, science, geography, history, you name it,
just because they ask questions and we discuss random
We should not, for example, take that statistic and
things in the course of daily life. But none of it is formal yet.
assume that we forgot 75% of what we learned in
Right now, I tell my son he has to do two things a day, and Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade (K-12). The
he gets to pick those things. His options are read a book reason is that K-12 is not a series of new learning
that’s appropriate for his level, do some math workbook and new subjects taught each year. It is highly
pages, do some spelling/grammar workbook pages, or do
some writing. If he chooses the same thing too many times
repetitive. We may forget 75% of what we learned
in a row I make him switch it up, but that is rarely in one year, retaining about 25% of it, but when
necessary. It’s pretty unstructured, but he enjoys it, and we repeat the content in the next year, we retain
he’s doing VERY well with it. more of it. We may forget 75% of what we learned
last week, but if we repeat the same content the
Last week, I realized that he’s at a second grade level in
reading and math, and in a normal school, he’d be in his next week, we’ll retain more of it.
second month of kindergarten. I don’t push him, other than
to make him aware that slacking off is not acceptable. His The easiest way to understand that might be with a
spelling is still atrocious, just because there are 4 letter picture. If we think of the graphic below as the
combinations that make the same sound and there is no universe of knowledge we’re supposed to have
rule for what to use when, he just guesses. Everything he learned when we graduate from high school, what
writes is phonetically correct, so really he just needs to we learn in any given year is a partial repeat of
practice and memorize. I’ve been steering his workbook
what we’ve learned before.
choices toward spelling practice, just because those skills
are a bit behind the rest.
I’ll revisit the above and your suggestions as I go

forward with the series. I’ll try to answer the
above type stuff in the series to give my
opinion/recommendation. Nothing I am writing Although our progress is slow, with much
should be taken as Gospel. What I’m including is repetition, the line is moving forward.
based on my experience, my research, and my
professional knowledge… but your mileage may It is possible to improve the percentage of content
vary! retained, based on the methods we use. A good
multimedia training program (as an example) can
Posted: 11/03/2008 | 11:45 AM
increase retention to about 70%. It is also
possible to do worse, and traditional lecture
training ("stand up” or “platform” training in my
VI: Learning Retention professional lingo) has about a 5% retention. The
Mrs. du Toit 25% figure is an average, but if the methods used
From: Education Series most frequently are those with lower retention, the
average retention will be lower.
I am hoping that this post on learning retention will
resolve some of the outstanding questions on There are a few important wrinkles in all of the
course design and learning styles. above, and make up the list of known facts (from a
discipline perspective) about how we learn:
Learning retention is, by definition, actual
learning… the content has been stored in the brain Recall: Remembering something in one setting
for later use, and the skill mastered. does not mean that we will remember it in another
setting, where it may also be useful or applicable.
Most content we teach in a traditional method is
not retained; roughly 75% at any one sitting is Long-Term Retention: Remembering something
lost/not remembered. The art of teaching is to short-term does not mean we’ll remember it long-
improve those percentages, and to do that, we term.
have to know (at any given time) what has been
Prior Knowledge: Someone may have already
remembered and what has been forgotten.
known something before we teach it to them, so
the fact that we have taught it, and the student is

able to demonstrate mastery of it, does not mean of those tools and parrot the words you’ve used,
we’ve done anything. but the child has not mastered their use. It is
literally a “monkey see, monkey do” situation.
Prerequisites: Adults never learn anything
entirely new. Our brains are only capable of Children want to please us, and will repeat the
learning a new wrinkle on something we already behaviors they’ve been given praise when
understand (after about age 5). demonstrated, but they haven’t really learned
anything they can use or apply.
Application: The ability to apply something we
have learned in one context/method for one (or In addition, the ability to categorize is something
more) application does not mean we’ll be able to toddlers don’t understand, even if they are early
automatically apply it to another application, unless readers or talkers.
we understand it fully.
Categorization skill is a basic foundation to many
Not all knowledge is useful or applicable, even if it other subjects and is why we give children building
may be interesting. blocks of different sizes and shapes to play with,
and why we look at picture books of (say)
The way we are able to evaluate how well we’re animals. It is why we give them puzzles, so they
doing, what we should be doing, and how well the can begin to understand that pieces (or discrete
student is doing, is by testing. elements) can be assembled into a new entity,
Keep in focus that I’ve described three aspects of which is a “whole.” It is why we read them stories
learning that we test: about animals and human families, so they can
understand (and have language) to begin to
1. How well we’re doing as educators. describe discrete categories. It is why we read
endless stories about puppies and adult dogs, so
2. What we should be teaching.
they can understand that “dogs” can look different,
3. How well the student is doing (what they’ve retained) even if we categorize them the same, and have
different words to denote sub-categories of major
What is also critically important to understand is categories.
that “testing” does not always mean a test, such as
we might think of a final exam (administered with Puppies are baby dogs. Dogs are animals. Jumpers is a
mommy dog. She has 4 puppies, Jasper, Spot, Rex, and
formality, with examination books, multiple choice
Fluffy.
questions, or essays). “Observation” is just as
viable and reasonable a method of testing as any Understanding the plural form of words is also a
other, as long as the observer knows what they’re requirement to understand categorization.
doing, and is honest.
I have a family. I have a brother, who is in my family. I
The key word we use to describe this, in the have sisters, who are in my family. I have a mommy and a
instructional design realm, is “demonstrate.” A daddy. They are my parents. I have a grandmother, who is
in my family, but does not live with us.
student must demonstrate that they’ve mastered a
concept or skill. How they demonstrate that Reference book usage requires an understanding of
determines the type of testing method/instrument those abstract concepts, as a prerequisite.
we use.
In that example, I’ve intentionally used an obvious
Before I expand on testing and how to do it (and one of teaching a concept too soon, before the
which method/instruments to use), I want to prerequisites have been mastered. Other
switch gears and present another concept I examples are not as easy or as obvious.
mentioned above, prerequisites.
Our teaching methods may be marvelous and our
Let’s say that you wanted your child to be able to student attentive, but our student is not able to
use reference materials effectively, such as an learn the concept (yet). Another student, taught in
encyclopedia, dictionary, or atlas. Would you begin exactly the same way, who has the prerequisites,
teaching a toddler to do that, before the child knew will master the concept… It is (therefore) critical
letters or words? that we are careful in evaluating our teaching
method and effectiveness to ensure that our
I hope not, because it would be a complete waste
student was “learning ready” for what we teach.
of time. The child might be able to mimic the use

Similarly, we have to be careful about making We couldn’t remember where he’d left off. What
judgments about our student’s ability to learn we always did when (when we got a new textbook)
something, if they lacked the perquisites. If we was to start with the chapter tests. Rather than
have not provided the prerequisites, the “F” grade going through each chapter, our kids could “test
we apply to the outcome should be recorded to the out” of some of them. If they could get 100% on a
teacher, not the student. chapter test, then they didn’t have to ready/study
the chapter. They started the textbook at the
In general, if a student is unable to demonstrate chapter where they were unable to get 100%.
mastery (and we will assume that they do not have
behavioral issues that would be a hindrance, and That’s what we’d have to do with the biology book,
we did a reasonable job at teaching) it is because to find where we’d left off.
they did not have the necessary prerequisites. It
isn’t what we taught or how we taught it that So, son set about to take the chapter tests. He
failed, nor was it (necessarily) the student’s failure was a bit perturbed that I demanded that he start
to apply themselves. It is when we taught it that at chapter 1 and was shocked, knowing that he’d
was in error. gone through at least the first 6 chapters at 100%
previously, that he wasn’t able to pass the tests,
*** even the first chapter. And when I say he couldn’t
pass, I mean that he failed miserably. His
Time for a few anecdotes. percentage of correct answers would have been
My daughter was convinced that she was terrible at higher if he’d thrown a dart. The only answers he
math. She always got A’s or B’s, but when was able to come close to getting correct were
arithmetic advanced to mathematics (pre algebra), multiple choice, but any testing methodology that
she started to have a hard time. Had she hit a demanded complete mastery was about 10%
wall? Had she reached the end of her mathematics correct.
ability? “Why?” he asked. Was he dumb?
This occurred at about the same time we started to This boy had been in traditional school longer than
home-school her. I watched her “attack” method. our other two children (good reason, not
Her attack was flawless, but her answers were relevant). He had learned to fake it, as most
wrong. In reviewing her problem, it had nothing to traditionally-educated children do. He’d learned to
do with her ability to understand and apply pre- read textbooks with an eye for the questions that
algebra concepts. It was because she was using might be asked on a test. He had taught his brain
the wrong answers to multiplication. We worked to learn for short-term only, because he had never
on her multiplication tables (reciting them). In the been back-tested in the way we were testing him.
interim, I gave her a cheat sheet of the
multiplication tables. Then she was able to solve The general rule for retention is a month… if
the pre-algebra problems correctly. someone cannot pass the same test a month after
passing it before, true learning has not occurred.
Our middle son thought he had an interest and The person was able to retain the content for a
aptitude for science subjects. He had also been short time only, and then it was forgotten.
told he had an aptitude for it. He was using a Application and practice can improve that, but
biology textbook, and moving through the course students who have been traditionally educated with
at a steady pace. tests immediately following the learning (and no
Our rule was always that a chapter test of 100% delayed and follow-up testing) do not develop the
was required before they could move on to the skills and methods of long term mastery, ie, real
next chapter, so he’d “mastered” everything as he learning.
moved through the chapters. Do you like biology… does it interest you? we asked
We took a break from biology (don’t remember him. It took a while to get at the truth, because
why and it isn’t important) and he had to go back somewhere in his mind he had gotten the idea that
to the biology textbook, after about three months we’d be disappointed if he didn’t. In addition, the
of ignoring it. idea that he would have a career in one of the
sciences had sort of been decided for him, or he
thought that to be the case. He had also done well

in science subjects when at a traditional school, This was a child who had mastered the art of
and it was a source of pride for him (but it also was passing multiple choice tests, and they had become
a way that he kept his grade point average up, a crutch that he would no longer be allowed to
against subjects where he did not excel). use. Every test moving forward was either an
essay or a discussion, where he had to express
It was eventually made clear that he had no whole thoughts, make logical connections, and
interest in the subject at all… in fact, it bored him demonstrate mastery of language in writing and
to tears. The admission of that, however, would speaking. There, too, he attempted to fool us (silly
require that he go back to the drawing board on rabbit), by inserting personal style and humor in
career possibilities, and the Gantt chart of his life his writing, with smart-alecky retorts. No style.
(the one he carried around in his head), had to be No humor. Present facts and logical conclusions
redrawn. It was at that time that we administered only, focusing on grammatical structure. Only
an entirely different series of tests… aptitude and when you can do that will you be allowed to insert
preference tests. your style and personality into your writing.
Aptitude and preference tests are similar, but not You’d have thought we were torturing him, and in
exactly the same. There is overlap on what we do a way we were, but it was a hurdle that he had to
well with what we like. Duh! We like doing well at overcome… and he had to re-teach his brain to
things and we do well at the things we like, but work in a new way… and that’s hard. It would
they don’t always correlate so perfectly. have been easier for him had he never learned the
What became clear in the aptitude tests (for this bad habits he’d acquired in traditional school, but
boy) was that what he had been doing well in, that was the boy we had to work with.
grade-wise, was exactly the opposite of his Before I move out of anecdote mode, let me share
aptitudes and interests. He thought he would be a that this boy, the one who could not and would not
man of science, but what became (all too clear) read, is now pursuing a career in [drum roll]…
after taking these tests, was that he was destined
to be a man of letters. ...Philosophy (goal: college professor).
But he couldn’t read. His aptitude and interests merged into a passion.
Now we can’t get him to STOP reading. He grabs a
He could read, technically, but that was another philosophy book off the shelf to amuse himself,
subject that is not (normally) a focus in traditional and casually reads a few chapters of complex
schools. They work on the mechanics of reading, philosophical writing as “pleasure” reading.
but not the art of reading. His reading was at
about a 4th grade level (and he was at about the Math (logic), an interest in culture/religion (social
9th grade, age-wise, when we tested him), but his anthropology), leadership (social relationships and
interests for careers with Letters as the backdrop, empathy) and literature combined, IS philosophy.
were as high as they could be. He shied away It couldn’t have been more obvious, except that he
from Letters subjects, not because he had no had not been able to read properly.
interest in them, but because his complex
analytical skill with reading was behind, as well as I mention these anecdotes to demonstrate that
his concentration skills (overlap in both of those). testing can be tricky and infinitely valuable.
Sometimes the results will not be what you or your
We spent the next two years doing little besides student expects, but you must respond to what the
reading… and that was a HUGE challenge. He tests are telling you. Often, you’ll have to peel the
resisted it at every turn, using every excuse under onion, and keep peeling it, until you find the
the sun to avoid it. We began by allowing him to wall/obstacle that is preventing your child from
read anything, with only a half hour a day spent on moving forward.
reading important literature. The only subject that
we required he also maintain was math (where he With some children, there comes a point where you
had both interest and aptitude). It took two years, can’t find a root cause, and have to accept that
but he was finally able to focus his brain, to they’ve hit a wall. That might be a temporary wall
understand the concepts of what he was reading or one of lack of aptitude or intelligence. You
(and retain them and discuss them) and then (as must, however, educate the child you have, not
they say), living was easy. the one you hope you had, or the one you hoped
he would be.

We’re not all of superior intelligence. We’re not all you’ve assigned the child to read, then ask the
physically gifted. We’re not all good at child a simple and straightforward question, “So,
everything. Your job is the figure out what your tell me about the book?” Ask additional questions
child is capable of doing, what they’re good at and to advance the discussion, such as “Why did he do
they like, and to do whatever is required to help that?”, “What did he when that happened?” or
them reach their potential. “Where did he go then?” That is referred to as
passive inquiry. You’re continuing to ask questions
*** that are non-judgmental, but showing your
Now let’s talk about testing. continued interest (to keep the person talking). Be
careful not to lead the witness by asking loaded
If you’re working with a younger child, you might questions such as “Why would he do something as
be focusing on letter recognition. Can your child wrong as that?” or “When he went there, what did
identify and say all the letters? That’s a test. You he find?” Those imply the answer you’re wanting to
don’t have to drill the child to find out. The best hear in the question, and redirect the
method is to observe and pay attention. You just conversation. You can also ask prodding questions
have to write down all the letters and quietly tick (especially with classic literature that has a
off the letters your child has identified correctly or moral/character building purpose), “Have you read
incorrectly. If they got it right once, but got it another book that is similar to this one?” or “Was
wrong later, it was a guess, so don’t mark it off as that character’s struggle similar to any other
done. you’ve read?” The most telling questions involve
before and after scenarios, such as “Describe what
At some point, they will have mastered all the kind of person he was when the story began, and
letters, and you’ve tested it (by observation and who he was/what he believed when the story
informal discussion). You can use something like a ended.” “What events influenced those changes?”
hash-mark method to keep track of the right and
wrong attempts at recognizing letters. You might When evaluating how well your child is able to read
decide that if the child is able to recognize the (once beyond the mechanics), you’re not as
letters 5 times in a row, without a mistake, it interested in what, where, when as you are in why
means they’ve mastered that letter. and how. Understanding the character’s
motivations and influences is the second tier of
The example below is a chart of each letter. When the
child has an opportunity to demonstrate his ability to reading comprehension… one of understanding the
recognize a letter, the parent puts a slash in the appropriate story in principle, rather than in details.
column. In the correct column, if the series of slashes is Remembering and reciting dates, character names,
broken by an x, it indicates the child made an error on that towns, etc., are not important in literature studies.
n of attempts. When the child has correctly identified the (It is more relevant in historical studies, but not as
letter 5 times, in a series, the letter is circled, indicating that
important as public schools would have you
the child has mastered that letter.
believe.)
Letter Correct Incorrect
Attempts Attempts After the child is able to demonstrate they can
understand literature by discussing it, then you can
A ///x //x ///// // move on to having them write about it. If you
B ///x //x // have them write about it too soon, they’re likely to
develop the habit of what, where, when in their
C ///x x x x x ///// writing style (and those are superfluous facts, not
D /xx //
the meat of the story). Focus on the moral of the
story, why a character did what he did, not what
E ///x ///// / he did, and what he learned that altered his
attitude and behavior.
By chartering, we can also see areas where the child may In testing fixed answer subjects, such as
be having difficulty, such as with the letter C above. There
may be vision issues to explain the difficulties, if, for
definitions, mathematics, spelling, etc., these are
example, the child is also having problems with other best tested with traditional testing methods. Even
circular letters, such as O or Q. with something like mathematics, however (as my
anecdote about my daughter illustrated), getting
You might be working with an older child on the wrong answer doesn’t mean they don’t
literary criticism and analysis. Read the book

understand the inherent concept. If the child A word bag game is a good way to teach and test
scores badly, then you’ll have to switch to word mechanics and sounds. Write word endings
observation testing to see where they’re making on a piece of paper (or an index card), such as -at,
the errors, and see if there may be a problem with -og, -oy. Have the letters of the alphabet on other
prerequisites. pieces of paper (preferably a different color
paper)… another set of cards (keep them separate
Many people knock rote memorization and the from the word endings).
ability to recite memorized details, such as poetry
or arithmetic. (They’re daft and don’t listen to The child is asked to pick a word ending from the
what they have to say.) There is a benefit to word-endings paper bag. They need to read it (say
training the brain to remember (it is a muscle that it out-loud). Then they pick letters from the
increases in strength through exercise), and some alphabet bag to see if they can make a word. If
things ARE recalled abstractly and by rote. they’ve picked “-at” as the word ending, they
attempt to make words by putting a letter in front
Throughout our lives we are able to recall what six of it. C becomes cat. B becomes bat. If they pick
times six is, and we have to be able to pull that D, they’re still asked to read it, but told it isn’t a
fact out of thin air. We have to be able to recall word. The new, actual words they make are
what two plus two is, without performing a written on a new card (of a third color) and put
calculation on paper to get there. We’ve into a third, “Words” bag. The words bag becomes
memorized the answer and don’t perform a way of building flash cards for practice.
arithmetic to recall it. We use that recall to
process other calculations… we can figure out 400 There are a number of observable tests occurring
x 4 (in our heads) by reducing the 400 to 4, and in the above game:
recalling our answer (16) and then add two zeros
to it (1,600). Without the ability to remember and The ability to read words out of context, or not
instantly recall 4 x 4, every calculation has to be memorized, is being tested. Children will often
performed on paper, or with a machine. memorize their favorite books and might be able to
discern words by memorization and aren’t really
We do the same thing with many words when we reading. Testing their ability to read in the
read. The, then, a, I, if, when, etc. become abstract is an important benchmark.
symbols until themselves, and we don’t literally
read them when they appear (they become Letters can have different sounds, depending on
something akin to hieroglyphics). We skip reading the word (such as a hard or soft C). This gives the
them and focus on reading the less common child the opportunity to practice saying the letter in
words, ones we haven’t memorized as a shape. different ways, to make a word connection.
There is a benefit, then, to flashcard approaches to Their ability to read the words they’ve made is
reading, especially with children who are reading. being tested, to determine if they’re parroting, or if
There is a silly test to see if a child is actually they’re really reading.
reading or if they memorized the shapes of some As the child advances, the “new words” bag will
words. Ask them to count the number of F’s in a grow. The 3-letter words they’ve mastered can be
paragraph. If they miss some, it means they removed from the deck, once they’ve
skipped over words they no longer see as words, demonstrated that they can read them with ease
but as symbols, such as if. That’s not a bad thing, (note hash-marks on the back of the cards, as your
and the purpose of testing it is not to force them to child reads them correctly—after 3 correct
see the F’s they’ve missed. The purpose is so that attempts, without an error, they’ve mastered the
we can properly evaluate their reading speed (if it word). When they’ve mastered 3-letter
is too slow for their development). If they do not combinations, you can advance to four (-ite, -ipe, -
skip some of the F’s, that means they’re still ape, -ake, etc.). You can later introduce
reading every word. That’s the time to introduce a diphthongs to the endings bag (-oin, -ouse, -one,
flashcard-approach for those simple words. We etc.). Your alphabet bag can grow to include
want children to read words until they get beyond multi-letter combinations, such as th-, tr-, and sh-.
basic reading skills, but after they’ve done that, we
want them to memorize some words as The game becomes both a learning and testing
shapes/symbols. There are other tests you can to method.
do help with that development.

If you are also working on writing letters and not the same as way the information was provided
words (after the child has mastered the in the test.
prerequisites), the child can make the new
flashcards, or make a wall-chart of all the words Many studies confirm this. If someone is standing
they know. Rewarding them with praise, such as on a beach and told to remember 10 abstract
“you learned 15 new words today!” are great ways words, they are able to do it (with about 90%
to keep them interested. (And don’t forget to accuracy), as long as they stay on the beach. If
count the words in the word bag, reinforcing their asked to do it again, say 30 minutes later, their
ability to count). You can also reward in a tit-for- retention is still high. But if that person is taken
tat method, such as a penny for every new word, into the water, their retention drops. If they put
or a minute of TV time for each word, etc. on a snorkel and swim, it drops further still.
A child that has played a game like this can be This is because of the way our brain stores
introduced to games like Scrabble, which will information. We attach an index to what we’ve
reinforce the concepts. If a child has siblings, they stored, based on where we are and how we use
can play it with each other or at the same time, that information. If the environment changes, that
each having their own word bag, for testing and index is no longer applicable, and we’re not able to
scoring. They take turns being the teacher and the recall it.
student, giving the “teacher” the chance to This is also why we can get on “information
practice/reinforce what they’ve learned. overload.” We have to file what we’ve learned, and
Everything your child does can be an observable we also have to make our indexes. We might do
test, for the purposes of determining their the file part, but our index was not completed
retention. With repetitive exercises, such as the before our brain had to switch to filing again.
word bag, you can validate that a child can still Learning must happen in the right dosage, or what
read the words a month or more later, which is the we’ve learned cannot be recalled. Periods of
demonstration of mastery… and real learning. repetition (saying nearly the same thing more than
once) slows the process, and allows the person to
Cognitive Learning
make sure they filed the facts correctly, and have a
As I mentioned earlier, the ability to express a fact chance to build their index to it.
in one context, does not mean that it can be
This means that it is very important that we learn
applied in another context.
to do something when it is useful to know it, such
Some years ago there was an elaborate validation as learning fractions by doubling a recipe in the
of a medical school (and the methods used in kitchen. Someone may be able to do it
medical schools, in general). What they found was successfully (and flawlessly) in the kitchen, but
that there was no relationship between a medical when given the same problems on a math test,
student’s ability to do well on tests and their ability they’ll fail it miserably.
to use that information with a patient. There was
This comes up in the corporate training realm quite
no correlation between good and bad doctors,
frequently… where someone is able to demonstrate
based on academic scores.
they understood a concept or a task by reading
A medical student might be given a written test about it in a written manual, but they aren’t able to
that asks them to diagnose a condition, based on a perform the task once they get back to their desks
list of symptoms, and do quite well on that test… or workstation. This is because the environment
but when a patient tells them those same changed, ie, the context changed.
symptoms, they’re not able to make the same,
To combat this problem, we use case-study
simple diagnosis. The medical student might know
approaches or self-study (where the person goes
that the occurrence of conditions A, B, and C
through the material at their desk or workstation).
generally means X, and can be confirmed with a
Rather than having a medical student diagnose on
particular test, but they cannot do this when a
written tests, they’re taught through case-study
patient is sitting in front of them.
approaches, with someone playing the role of the
This is because the environment has changed, and patient, reciting a litany of complaints.
the way the patient is providing the information is

Since we have the tendency to forget most of what what took, or spend the time to observe what
we learned, practice and reinforcement is might be missing for one child, to get them over an
necessary. It is not unusual, for example, for obstacle. In addition, most of the learning that
someone learning how to use Microsoft Excel, to occurs in the classroom is abstract, in a textbook
learn how to amortize a mortgage, but if they or lecture form. This reduces retention
never use that in their work, they will have dramatically.
forgotten it, as well as the mechanics of creating
formulas in Excel, because the case-study was Homework is supposed to change that dynamic,
irrelevant to them. What is taught, the examples but very often the homework is badly written, or
we use, have to be a close to real life as we can doesn’t reinforce what was presented (the teachers
make them; otherwise, we’re just wasting the have been told they have to assign X number of
student’s time. minutes of homework each night, so they do, but
they’re often clueless as to why they’re supposed
Timing is also important. If someone is being to do it, or how to design homework assignments
taught how to use Excel, but it will be six months that are useful).
before they’ll need to use it, the student will forget
everything they’ve learned, because they had no As a home educator, you don’t have those
practice and reinforcement (in their work problems. You can repeat something until your
environment) immediately following their training. child masters it and then move on. You can teach
People can translate knowledge from one something when your child has the prerequisites,
environment to another, or from one application to not waiting until an entire classroom is ready, or
another, but that reinforcement must occur within avoid teaching something too soon.
a week or two from learning it or it is lost. All of this is why home-schooled children appear to
This is why “whole studies” in the educational learn things more easily and with better mastery
arena are so important and valuable. Learning (higher retention), because the learning has been
about fractions, while applying that learning, adds customized to them (what they’re being taught,
relevance and importance, as well as the ability to how it is being taught, the increased opportunities
recall the rules when needed. This is also why we for real-world practice and replication, and when it
need to move the knowledge out of the classroom, is being taught). A child in traditional school is
and into the real world, as soon as possible. taught arithmetic for six years, but the entire
subject can be taught to a child who is “learning
We might practice fractions in the morning (on ready” in as short as two months, with application
paper) and then repeat the same calculations in and constant practice.
the kitchen, with a cookbook as a reference, rather
than an arithmetic worksheet. If the child can do Do not think, for a moment, that you should
both well, they’ve not only mastered the replicate what occurs in a traditional classroom.
mechanics, they’ve really learned it. We know You don’t need to spend six years teaching a child
they’ve learned it because they’re able to apply it to do arithmetic. Start it when they’re ready and
in different contexts/situations. they show an interest, and then it can be done
quickly. Repeat it to reinforce and strengthen
A child’s ability to score high on a written test on memory, not because it takes long to learn the
fractions does not mean they’ll be able to easily basic concepts. If it is taking a long time or the
perform the same skill when asked to double a child isn’t retaining what they’ve learned, they’re
recipe in the kitchen, or add two measurements not learning ready. Stop and wait for readiness.
together when building a raised-bed garden.
As a home-educator, all of this creates a problem
A group of children, sitting in a traditional for you. Your child will have to be able to do well
classroom, are not all “learning ready” for what on written/formal tests, and where learning is
they’re being taught. Some will have some or all random and abstract. In addition, you want them
of the prerequisites and some will have some or to have knowledge that is useful, practical, and
none. This is why the traditional classroom is applicable. This means that your child will have to
boring, much of the time, and why learning in that do both. You can use effective learning methods
environment must be so repetitive (more so than but follow-up with written tests, similar to those
your home-school). It’s a hit or miss approach in a your child may be required to pass if they ever
traditional classroom, and the teacher cannot know need to attend a traditional school or go to college.

In the next post in this series, I’ll re-cast

cast the last three back to their jobs to demonstrate
nstrate they’ve learned
posts (learning styles, course design, and retention) in a what was expected of them.
let’s put it all together now. I’m working on improving
YOUR retention of what you’re being taughtH first You don’t have to “like” your teacher for them to
establishing the prerequisites, and then repeating it in a be effective, nor does the “comfort” of the training
case-study
study approach...and now you know why. room mean that knowledge transfer occurred. But
because these are often the only testing
Posted: 11/06/2008 | 05:00 AM
instrument used to evaluate the trainer, trainers
know how to get high scores on these evaluations.
VII: Curriculum Recap Similarly, when you evaluate your child’s progress
in home-school,
school, often parents will judge their
Mrs. du Toit effectiveness by how happy or attentive their
children are. This, too,
oo, has no educational
In the last three posts in the series, I talked about purpose. That is not to say that a happy and
curriculum, testing, and learning styles. I did this attentive child is bad thing, only that it is separate
from the perspective of creating your own courses. from our effectiveness at teaching to the goals and
The real benefit of understanding these objectives.
components is in evaluating the courses designed
A related problem occurs when a person is very
by others, and being able to execute what others
knowledgeable about the
he subject matter. Just
have done. We have a lot of hours in each learning
because someone is smart, it doesn’t mean they’ll
day, and we need to fill it. But with what?
be able to communicate that knowledge to
In my profession there are lots of trainers
trainers—Lots of someone else.
people think they can teach. It’s not that difficult,
Because of the variables of the learner, however,
really.
determining how well we’re doing as educators can
If we go with the broadest definition of what be difficult to gauge, so we fall back on irrelevant,
education means, it is the transfer of knowledge
knowledge, dipstick measurements.
but how effectively we do it is where we separate
Studies like this one (at Home Life Academy)
Academy at tell
the novices from the pros.
us that, as a whole, home-schoolers
schoolers are doing an
Also in my profession, there are many people who excellent job. Right?
think that being able to entertain a classroom of
students, to get them to like them, or keep them
from falling asleep, is the mark of a “good”
trainer/teacher. It is no such thing.
Most folks have attended some sort of training

class. At the end of the session, the trainer will
hand out a course evaluation sheet. These are
usually a single page with questions such as, “Did
the trainer demonstrate they understood the
course content,” “Were the materials well
organized” or “Was the classroom comfortable.”
Training organizations often evaluate the trainer
based on these evaluations.
In the training world, these are called “Smile

Sheets.” They have no purpose other than to judge
how popular and friendly the trainer was. They
serve no educational purpose whatsoever and do
not test anything important. The only important
measurement is if the trainee is able to do what
was taught, and we won’t know that with any Wrong.
certainty until they leave the classroom, and go

What these studies tell us is that home-schooled school our children, even if we do a terrible job
children do better than their public-educated (within reason), our children will still be better off.
peers.
Curriculum
The comparison is not against how well a child
should be doing, or what they’re capable of You can buy boxed curriculum. I’ve known a
doing. It only tells us how well the children are number of home-schoolers (over the years) who
doing, compared to schools that do it badly. have.
Given that home-schoolers are going to be a mixed I didn’t actively participate in a lot of homeschool
bag (some great and some terrible), the fact that groups (I’m not by nature a joiner), but through a
they are doing better (as a whole) than their public variety of methods, I talked to quite a few.
counterparts, the only thing those studies confirm It’s a totally mixed bag in terms of method and
is how really terrible the public education system curriculum choices. Some I would not replicate.
is. Most people buy curriculum packages when they
A typical learning day in the public realm contains start out. There are a number of them available,
just over two hours of actual education (public and most have support groups on the Internet.
education lesson plans and semester scheduling is Most home-schoolers will also share (once you get
evaluated on subject teaching of that amount of to know them) that they bought a number of
time). It is the lesson plans that use the two-hour packages, only to abandon them. Most are boring
benchmark. The other four or five hours a child or more closely replicate the overview learning
spends in school is time spent going from class to methods chosen by public schools.
class, taking roll, or having lunch and snacks. What many in the home-school realm seek out are
There is a considerable time spent on classroom old textbooks—materials written before 1950, after
overhead, and on repetition. which the educational system became the bastion
The other dynamic, as we explored in other parts of nincompoops and social re-engineers. A 1920s
of the series, is that the two hours of learning that arithmetic book will be much more effective than
day might be for the slow-learners, or a review of the colorful, maudlin textbooks you’ll find today.
something taught previously. The net time, when The child’s progress through these old materials
something new is taught, will be closer to zero will be quick, because the superfluous content and
minutes. Children are held back by their peers and “busy work” included to keep a classroom of
classroom overhead. Worse, children are told that children on the same track won’t be in there.
they’re in school to learn, and the inventory of When a child has completed one of these old
what they learn each year is the benchmark of textbooks, the parents will often worry that they
their achievement. They’re being taught that did it too quickly, so they must have short-changed
learning very little makes them a good student and their child. WRONG! It is because it is now done
“smart.” so badly, and so slowly!
What studies like that also show is that home- (To save you from years of garage sales and book
educated children are generally one to two grade bins, looking for this older stuff, the Robinson
levels above their public educated peers. Take out Curriculum is [basically] scanned in versions of old
the overhead and wasted time, and the reasons for materials and textbooks or literature in the public
this are not difficult to explain. domain. While I would not replicate this program’s
If a parent, for example, were to spend one hour of method or technique [I think their sensory
quality teaching time with their children each day, deprivation methods and approach are rather
with a careful balance of review and new content freaky and extreme], the CDs provide a lot of
(based on knowing what the child already knows), valuable content to use.)
the child is almost guaranteed to be above the A set of 1950s World Book Encyclopedias will have
grade level, compared to their public-school more actual, usable content than the 4 years of
educated peers. Meaning, you can do practically textbooks children get in public school.
nothing, and still do better than public schools.
If we’re focusing on science and technology, these
We need to be better than that. But we also need older books won’t be very helpful, but if we’re
to be confident that when we decide to home

learning history, history doesn’t change! If a dwarfed by only providing an hour’s worth of
parent were to assign a child to read from the repetitive, dumbed-down crap from a boring
World Book and then discuss the contents (or write textbook. Be creative and unconventional! You
about it), the parent has exceeded the educational have enough information from this series now to
goals of the public education system, and has understand how to design curriculum, how to test if
provided to the child more meaty and substantial your child learned it, and how to evaluate if your
content than they’ll ever find in a modern child’s learning styles are causing a problem.
textbook. A complete set of encyclopedias can be
Posted: 11/16/2008 | 10:34 AM
bought on CD for about $10. Parents don’t need to
buy textbooks to get good content.
Even buying an old-fashioned paper soldier war- VIII: Learning Inventory

gaming set, allowing a child to recreate the battles
of the Civil War, or the skirmishes of WWI or Mrs. du Toit
WWII, will result in the child knowing a heck of a
lot more about any of those subjects than they’ll As I’ve mentioned many times in this series, you
find in a modern textbook. have to have Goals and Objectives. It is what you
use as the basis for finding materials, evaluating
And don’t rule out television. Networks such as
them, as well as a method to test you and your
Discovery, History Channel, Science Channel, or
child’s success and progress.
Animal Planet provide more substantive content
than you’ll ever find in a modern textbook. The What are your educational goals?
great advantage of these programs is that they
focus on a single issue or topic, in greater depth. I don’t know what YOUR goals and objectives are.
I can’t evaluate if they’re good or bad, or if you’ve
Your learning day can incorporate these shows chosen good sources.
quite easily. If you watch them in advance (or
with your child) you can also design tests to What I’ll attempt to do in this post is provide a list
determine if the content was retained, or use them of goals and then expand it. You will have your
as springboards for further exploration in subjects own lists, but can use this as a model for
and issues your child found interesting/exciting. developing your own.
You can spend $80 for a textbook or buy a
As I’ve included before, here is Thomas Jefferson’s
complete TV Blue Planet series for $50. Which do
goals for public education, and they were OUR
you think will have more content and better
goals (as I saw no reason to reinvent the wheel):
retention?
To give to every citizen the information he needs for the
Civilisation: The Complete Series (1969) can be transaction of his own business;
purchased on Amazon for $60. (There’s even a book,
Civilisation, by Kenneth Clark that details the series To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express and
preserve his ideas, his contracts and accounts, in writing;
contents.) If you use the book and DVDs as the
basics, you can supplement with reading material To improve, by reading, his morals and faculties;
from each period, and you’ll have an entire year of
To understand his duties to his neighbors and country, and
content that will be better than ANYTHING you can to discharge with competence the functions confided to him
buy in a textbook, and better than most boxed- by either;
curriculum on the market.
To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice those
What would YOU rather do? Re-read the history he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those
textbooks you read in school, or watch a TV series he delegates; and to notice their conduct with diligence,
by Kenneth Clark? What about a choice between with candor, and judgment;
your old textbooks or a year spent reading the And, in general, to observe with intelligence and
dictionary or World Book? Do you think your kids, faithfulness all the social relations under which he shall be
by being vulnerable and subject-to-your-whim will placed.
be different?
The above were the goals for our home-school, the
There are a lot of hours in a day and your home- point when we determined if we were “done.”
schooled child’s education doesn’t have to be Education is never “done” but we’re providing a

cutting off point equivalent to a high school The entire discipline of mathematics, of which
diploma. The above list is the last point in our arithmetic is a basic building block, is a language.
home-school, but it is age specific. It is a language, just like English or any other
spoken and written language. It has rules, the
By exploding each point, we can establish equivalent of grammar, and exceptions to those
objectives. They will be broader, more like rules. Beyond the basics of it as a language and
milestones than learning objectives. the ability to perform it (beyond understanding it
Let me illustrate with the first one: theoretically), it requires mental calisthenics
(calculations). Those building blocks can be further
To give to every citizen the information he needs for the broken down, such as adding, then subtracting,
transaction of his own business; then multiplication, and then division. All of those
That single line can be exploded into the following skills have rules and special symbols and words.
courses work: You can teach your child to recite “two plus two
equals four” but does he understand what he’s
Mathematics saying and what it means? Does he understand
Arithmetic, bookkeeping, accounting, and taxation the synonyms of “two and two are four” or “two +
Business
two = four”?
Marketing, sales, and advertising
Fiduciary responsibility: That’s a lot to learn!
Law, licenses, and permits
Business Correspondence and contracts But children generally do this so easily and at such
Hiring, mentoring, and payroll a young age that we tend to gloss over just how
much language they’ve acquired and understood in
If we take the above to an extreme, it could lead to order to be able to do it. How easily they do it
Masters in Business Administration, or it might depends on how consistent and precise we are with
involve focused studies in Agriculture, language.
Manufacturing, or the Arts. That’s not our focus in
K through 12. What we want to provide in K-12 They also have to be able to recognize and write
are the foundation skills, and more theoretical and those symbols, requiring that they’ve developed
practical knowledge. That is our end point with the small motor skills to hold and control a pencil.
each of the above, provided broadly. We need to Is the child mature enough to hold a pencil without
example the goal and determine what is necessary risk of them sticking it in their eye or eating the
as prerequisites so that our children have all the eraser? If not, start with a crayon! Dexterity and
skills necessary to get to that. maturity are required. You’d no more give a six-
month old a pencil as you would give a seven year
If our child is five years old, we’re not going to try old the car keys and ask them to drive to the store
to teach them accounting, or even bookkeeping. for a gallon of milk.
We have prerequisites to learn, before we can get
to those subjects. But that’s the direction we’re Before you teach the child to drive to the store,
heading, with the prerequisites as learning they have to learn to make transactions with
milestones. others, understanding the concept of currency, tax,
and change. If you give a five-year old a $20 bill,
Let’s look at ONE of those, arithmetic, and explore will they come home with the right change? How
what is necessary as prerequisites to it: would they know if they were short-changed?
Can she write? The point of detailing the above is not to be
Does he have the small motor skills to hold a pencil? verbose (OK, maybe a little), but to illustrate that
there are dozens of dozens of prerequisites to
Has she demonstrated that she understands the concept of doing things we think of as easy and common. We
numbers, beyond the ability to recognize and name the
shape?
might remember the first time we got short-
changed, but do we remember how we were taught
Has she demonstrated that she understands the difference to do it ourselves, so it doesn’t happen to us
between a whole number and a fraction? again?
Does he have the ability to count, beyond simply In addition to being able to calculate the cost of
mimicking?
something and determine if we were short-

changed, there are other aspects of language that These are social customs, combined with legal
allow us to engage the seller in the transaction. “I customs, based on an honor system. But it is
want a glass of milk, please” told to a waiter, is a complicated!
contract. Children can learn to state the basics of
contracts by having to order what they want at a Children can learn about those customs by seeing
restaurant. They learn this by modeling the them modeled and being asked to take the money
language and behavior of their parents, which is and the check to the cashier, and having to bring
why it is so important that parents are consistent back the right amount of change. Does the parent
in how they do these things. review the check, making sure that they were
charged only for what they ordered and received,
If one parent always does the ordering (although a or to see if the tip was included? Are you
common custom in etiquette) the child might get explaining what you’re doing when you look at the
the idea that the parent will always order for them, bill? Can your child do it?
or use shyness as an excuse not to have to do it
themselves. Did they forget the “please”? Did These concepts and customs make up the basics of
they forget to specify the “size”? Did they forget to a civil society, and provide the basic building blocks
include special considerations or preferences, such to understanding boilerplate contracts and the idea
as “medium well,” “plain,” “ketchup only,” or “no of “unwritten rules.”
onions”? When looking at a menu with pictures, parents can
I’m not suggesting that children learn “the hard talk about the fact that the Fruity Tootie special
way” for everything, forcing them to live with the doesn’t look exactly like the picture when the
consequences of a hamburger delivered with pancakes arrive. That’s marketing and advertising
onions, but these things are learned gradually, with basics. “Yes, the picture looks appealing, but if
lots of prompting and reminders from the parents. you’ll remember, you didn’t like it the last time you
If the child can say “I want a hamburger, please” ordered it.” This helps a child learn about deceptive
they should be congratulated when they do that advertising, and matures in being able to short-
(with a big smile and nod of approval the first time circuit their impulsive instincts, which prepares
they do it). The parent can add “plain, please” and them to read the small print in contracts.
then tell the child at a later point that they can say In providing a learning inventory by age level, the
“I want a plain hamburger, please” to make sure it above illustrates how much more is learned and
gets to them the way they want it. required in order to do things we think of as
When we order something at a restaurant we have simple.
engaged in a verbal contract with the business. A child isn’t born knowing that they need to add a
When we order something we have committed to minimum of 15% to a restaurant check for the tip,
paying for it, even though we don’t say “I would nor are they born knowing how to calculate
like a plain hamburger for $2.95, and I will pay for percentages. They have to be taught these things.
that hamburger if it is delivered within a
reasonable time, and as specified.” That’s implied. Playing a restaurant game, with the child and
Does the child know that yet? If they bring a parent taking turns acting as the waiter (creating a
peanut butter sandwich instead, do you have to menu, having a cash register, etc.), are GREAT
pay for it, if you ate it? ways to teach a child these things, including having
the savvy to be able to speak up for what they
There is also a contract with the wait-staff. We are want to order.
required, even though it isn’t written down
anywhere, that we will pay them 15% to 20% in What happens when the waiter leaves the table,
tip, if they deliver it to our table. How much above and goes to the kitchen to get your order? Where
15% we tip them will be based on the quality and does the food come from? These things don’t
speed of the service. Does the child know how to happen by magic. The parent (or the child) can
determine quality or speed? Does the child know become the restaurant chef, preparing the order,
that the tip percentage is different (10% to 12%) if and then having one of the role-players deliver it to
it is a buffet service? What about “to go” service at the waiting customers. If the parent complains
a traditional restaurant versus a fast food place? about how the food was served or that it took too
What are the standard rules for tips, and when long, the child learns empathy, and has an
they apply? understanding of how long it takes to prepare food,

and is able to gauge the speed and quality of the They learn another very important lesson: they
service they receive. By does this, they learn how recognize the amount of money being spent on
to evaluate the quality of the service (quality is them, versus the things that are provided to them.
often an abstract concept). They see the amount of the grocery bill and realize
they didn’t have to pay for it.
But as you can see, I hope, playing games like this
with your young children provide them with skills Our children’s allowances were quite high, because
they will have to have to get along in the world, as this wasn’t just “mad money.” The allowances were
well as providing a foundation for skills and not directly tied to a punishment/reward system
knowledge they will need to build on later. either, so there were no punitive dings if they
didn’t do their chores. Chores and household
You can play all sorts of games with young children responsibilities are required, and that was the basis
to prepare them for their social engagements. You for their having their food and shelter covered, not
can play the restaurant game above, going to the coming out of their individual accounts.
grocery store, and play department store from the
clothing in your closets. Since they paid for things, they treated their
clothing and personal items with a great deal of
You can learn about taking inventory of your respect.
pantry, before you go to the store, to make sure
you buy only what you need and like. The “Bank of Mom” also had an end date. Our
children knew that once they reached the age of
A child can learn about sales and how to calculate 16, the Bank of Mom and their allowances ended.
markdowns, by putting little stickers, such as “10%
off” or “50% off” on different drawers and racks in They had years of experience knowing exactly how
their closets, and then give them monopoly money much they needed to live on, so when they got
to buy a wardrobe. their first jobs, they knew that the $50 or $60 they
were earning a week wasn’t going to enable them
The list of preparatory games is endless! to live like millionaires… and let me tell you, when
One of the games we played in our house, which they saw the amount of money that was deducted
has endless benefits for a child (once they’re ready from their paychecks in FICA and other taxes, they
for it), was “The Bank of Mom.” were PISSED.
I’ve written about this before, but we gave each of They also understood that Mom and Dad weren’t
our children a check register (we all have extras going to continue to pay for their basics once they
laying around). It was a checkbook with only the had the ability to earn money. Their food and
check register (no checks). Each of our kids were shelter would be paid for (as long as they were in
given an allowance each week. Out of that, they school and contributing), but they had to pay for
had to buy everything (except their school books everything else. Dumping all of this on a child of
and groceries). They had to buy EVERYTHING else 18, before they’ve had any experience with
from their accounts: their clothing, entertainment budgeting and forecasting, is TOO LATE.
(toys, games, and movies), basic toiletries They quickly transferred the Bank of Mom skills to
(deodorant, toothpaste), etc. managing their real bank accounts and debit cards.
This meant that they had to take their checkbooks ***
everywhere, and their transactions were totaled
and paid for separately. I actually paid for The above explained the concept of prerequisites
everything, but the total of their purchases were applied to long term goals, broken up by skill set
subtracted from their checkbook balances. and age appropriateness. With those caveats, the
following is a basic guideline of what your children
I had veto authority, of course, but I didn’t have to should be learning, and by when:
exercise it very often.
Toddlers:
This exercise (that goes on for years and years)
teaches a child the basic mechanics of household
Small motor skills (to hold a pencil, dress
budgeting, but it also teaches them (very quickly) themselves, turn the pages of a book, navigate and
to be wise shoppers. use objects, such as the sink, toothbrush, towels,
and washcloths)

Spatial concepts (pouring, setting their place at the for presents, Holidays, and other social interactions,
table, holding fork/spoon and serving themselves) including setting the table, meal planning, and
Sit quietly and attentively (5 minutes or so) serving and seating arrangements
[Update: Please read this article about DI and the Begin writing and reading cursive, composing notes,
effectiveness of Direct Instruction (intensive cards, and letters and the appropriate contents
language instruction), more here.] thereof
Number and letter recognition Age 13 (or about)

Basic language skills (sentence structure: noun, Reading and writing to express abstract thoughts
action and multi-actions, such as put on your and ideas (understanding the abstract morals of
shoes AND socks, get a bowl AND pour stories, distinguish fantasy/fiction from facts, and
cereal/milk) and engage with strangers in social basic logic in writing)
settings (ordering at a restaurant, for example) Grammar fundamentals and language rules
and demonstrating basic etiquette of “please” (including spelling)
and “thank you.” Expanding vocabulary
Budgeting and forecasting money and time
Arithmetic readiness Humor, story and joke telling, literary criticism, and
Basic organization skills: knowing where things summarizing key points and restating important
are stored in their rooms elements, and the ability to make bulleted lists and
(clothing/toiletries/toys) and in the organization create outlines (categorization and inventory)
of the kitchen (knowing where the milk, cereal Basic route planning, map reading, calculating
and other items are stored and put away) distances, with time and various travel-modes with
fuel consumption
Health, hygiene, and basic maintenance (they should
Age 5 (or about) be doing their own laundry and maintaining their
Basic writing skills wardrobes and room organization, for example,
Basic reading skills changing their own sheets and making their beds,
Arithmetic language and keeping their rooms reasonably tidy,
Use more advanced objects in the house (the coordinating outfits, and keeping inventory of the
toaster, TV/DVD player, radio/stereo, and basic disposables they use/need)
computer skills, such as the use of a mouse, Keeping their word and commitments, and to
inserting and removing CDs/DVDs) negotiate time and responsibilities
Respecting the property and privacy of others Self reliance: ability to cook small meals for
(awareness of body) themselves and siblings (using the oven, microwave,
and stove top and follow recipes, ability to sew on a
Age 9 (or about) button, wash the car, complex chores such as
watering/mowing, follow basic instructions to
Reading and writing assemble toys), use tools, and make all purchase
Awareness of self and others (children, by age 8, types
should have a strong sense of self, different from Participate and carry on conversations with adults,
their parents/siblings, ie, their thoughts are not their showing respect, deference, proper manners, and
parents thoughts, nor are their preferences the same inquisitiveness
as their parents, and they should recognize and Basic attack and problem solving skills
understand pecking orders, sufficient to understand By the time a child is 13 (or about), they should be
that rules are different for adults/children or their self-functioning individuals, with the mechanics of
siblings from themselves, with REASONS) the broad disciplines of the Three Rs. What they
Tell time/read a clock and awareness of time in how haven’t learned entirely is to override their impulses
long it takes to get dressed, cook a meal, etc. and instincts, to be safe in all situations, but the
Engage in the world in small interchanges (buy basics (above) will prepare them for when their
something and get the right change, recognize forms hormones begin raging, and when they’ll need your
of currency and be able to add up the cost of guidance, kindness, and patience the most.
something before going to cash register to pay for
them) Age 14 and beyond will be addressed in the next post.
Spatial: Basic inventories and the ability to measure
ingredients, manipulate objects Posted: 11/17/2008 | 05:00 AM
Manners: Be able to sit quietly through a movie, use
proper table manners, and be able to cut their own
food. In addition, they should be able to make basic
introductions and understand the appropriateness of
clothing to a particular occasion, and buy and plan

IX: Teenagers IQs ranging between 80 and 120, with 10% lying below 80, and
10% falling above 120.
Mrs. du Toit
From: Education Series For IQs below 120, IQ is the best predictor of socioeconomic
status of any psychometric measurement. In more complex
I would probably do a better job writing this post if jobs, IQ is better than even education or experience at
I were drunk (but I can’t drink anymore). It is only predicting job performance. In her article “The General
Intelligence Factor”, Scientific American Presents “Exploring
through a stupor that I could write this section with Intelligence”, pg. 24, 1999, Linda Gottfredson states:
the proper degree of cynicism and honesty. It is in
this post that I have to bring up the dreaded topic “Adults in the bottom 5% of the IQ distribution (below 75) are
of IQ, and push everyone’s buttons. very difficult to train and are not competitive for any occupation
on the basis of ability. Serious problems in training low-IQ
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are a military recruits during World War II led Congress to ban
number of things we can do to help a child achieve enlistment from the lowest 10% (below 80) of the population,
and no civilian occupation in modern economies routinely
their potential. Nutrition and nurturing are facets recruits its workers from that below-80 range. Current military
of it. What is important to accept is that there is a enlistment standards exclude any individual whose IQ is below
fixed point, at the end of the potential line. That about 85.”
end represents a wall.
“Persons of average IQ (between 90 and 100) are not
We can’t get over that wall. We can and should try competitive for most professional and executive-level work but
are easily trained for the bulk of jobs in the American economy.
to get as close to it as we can, but there is a risk of
By contrast, individuals in the top 5 percent of the adult
diminishing returns if we keep slamming our heads population can essentially train themselves, and few
into it. occupations are beyond their reach mentally.”
It makes good sense to determine your child’s IQ “People with IQs between 75 and 90 are 88 times more likely
when they begin their teenage years. What you do to drop out of high school, seven times more likely to be jailed,
with that information, however, is what makes it a and five times more likely as adults to live in poverty than
people with IQs between 110 and 125. The 75-to-90 IQ woman
good or a bad idea.
is eight times more likely to become a chronic welfare recipient,
Captain Barbarosa (Pirates of the Caribbean) regarding and four times as likely to bear an illegitimate child than the
abiding by the Pirate’s Code: “They’re more like guidelines, 110-to-125-IQ woman.”
really.”
In his book, Straight Talk About Mental Tests, The Free Press, A
History gives us a number of examples of Division of the Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1981,
pg. 12, Dr. Arthur Jensen cites the following four IQ thresholds:
determining a child’s fate during this period in their
lives. (1) An IQ of 50 or below. This is the threshold below which
most adults cannot cope outside of an institution. They can
It is no accident that the Jewish tradition sets typically be taught to read at a 3rd or 4th grade level. However,
manhood and entry into the adult-club at age 13. they cannot normally function in the customary classroom
It is not an accident that the eighth grade was the setting, and they require special training programs.
(2) An IQ between 50 and 75. At this level of intelligence, they
traditional stopping point of schooling, when a
generally cannot complete elementary school. Most adults will
person’s life was at a crossroads. need smarter help in coping with the world.
(3) An IQ between 75 and 105. Children in this IQ range are
There is a kind of stability in a child’s development, not generally able to complete a college prep course in high
once they get to this age. (I caution those who school.
take exception to the generalities I’m referring to here, (4) An IQ between 105 and 115. May graduate from college but
and take them as literal/absolutes.) generally, not with grades that would qualify them for graduate
school.
A child with an IQ of 75 is not going to medical (5) An IQ above 115. No restrictions.
school:
The table below (also from the above referenced
The average IQ of the population as a whole is, by definition, site) provides some useful information for our
100. IQs range from 0 to above 200, and among children, to purposes.
above 250. However, about 50% of the population have IQs
between 89 and 111, and about 80% of the population have

Cumulative Employment
IQ Range Frequency Typical Educability
Frequency Options
Below 30 >1% >1% below 30 Illiterate Unemployable. Institutionalized.
Simple, non-critical household
30 to 50 >1%? >1% below 50 1st-Grade to 3rd-Grade
chores.
50 to 60 ~1%? 1.5% below 60 3rd-Grade to 6th-grade Very simple tasks, close supervision.
60 to 74 3.5%? 5% below 74 6th-Grade to 8th-Grade "Slow, simple, supervised."
Assembler, food service, nurse’s
74 to 89 20% 25% below 89 8th-Grade to 12th-Grade
aide
8th-Grade to 1-2 years of
89 to 100 25% 50% below 100 Clerk, teller, Walmart
College.
100 to 111 50% 1 in 2 above 100 12th-Grade to College Degree Police officer, machinist, sales
111 to 120 15% 1 in 4 above 111 College to Master’s Level Manager, teacher, accountant
College to Non-Technical Ph.
120 to 125 5% 11 in 10 above 120 Manager, professor, accountant
D.’s.
125 to 132 3% 1 in 20 above 125 Any Ph. D. at 3rd-Tier Schools Attorney, editor, executive.
132 to 137 1% 1 in 50 above 132 No limitations. Eminent professor, editor
137 to 150 0.9% 1 in 100 above 137 No limitations. Leading math, physics professor
1 in 1,100 above
150 to 160 0.1% No limitations Lincoln, Copernicus, Jefferson
150
1 in 11,000 above
160 to 174 0.01% No limitations Descartes, Einstein, Spinoza
160
1 in 1,000,000
174 to 200 0.0099% No limitations Shakespeare, Goethe, Newton
above 174
The table above gives us the outside edge of our are born more than two years apart, but it is an
wall—the child’s potential, based on their IQ. interesting phenomenon (that we can now
understand scientifically).
Expecting them to be able to exceed the wall is no
different from expecting them to grow taller than We don’t like to look at our children so critically,
their physical potential, for a girl to grow a penis if nor are we thrilled with the idea of having to be
we wanted a boy, or to suddenly start growing honest and direct them in a way that might be
blond hair, where their red hair used to be… just by contrary to our personal desires for them, or even
trying harder. It isn’t going to happen, no matter their own desires. We like to hold out hope for a
how hard they try. different outcome and so we leave all doors open
to our children.
At this point in a child’s development is when it is
often easier for someone else to make these I can’t support that idea, because it has no
decisions, because our role as a parent has to grounding in fact/reality.
change. Until the teenage years, when an IQ test
really is an accurate predictor of their potential, Sharing a child’s IQ with them has some risk.
we’ve been akin to You can do it! Now our role and Children with normal or low IQs can be discouraged
our job as a parent has to change. We have to or defeated. Children with higher IQs tend not to
become dispassionate (but optimistic) advisers, work as hard. Just because someone’s IQ is high
rather than cheerleaders. doesn’t mean they’ll achieve their potential. It just
means it is possible for them to aspire to the more
Since IQ was often related to birth order, customs heady professions and careers. They still have to
were developed around that. It was preordained put forth an effort. Resting on one’s laurels is
that the first son would inherit the family business, neither achievement nor success. A person can
the second son would go into the military, and the have a high IQ but still have a low degree of
third son would join the clergy. Birth order isn’t a stamina or discipline. This laziness tendency with
100% reliable as an IQ predictor, especially if sons smarter kids is partially learned behavior,

especially if they’ve not had to exert much effort in and what they’ll do when our home-schooling is
a public-type school environment. They’ve gotten “done.”
away with something, they think, but that early
laziness habit will be a difficult one to break. Some colleges offer trade school education, so
“college” can be a confusing term these days.
The nice thing about IQ is that it tends to be Many places (such as police or fire departments)
genetic. If parents have an IQ of about 100, odds have outsourced their trade’s instruction to
are good their children will too. This means that community colleges, so “colleges” aren’t
the definition of happiness and success of the completely ruled out if that’s the direction.
parents will be satisfactory to them, and any
disappointment they might have that their child In general, with the caveat above, if a child has a
won’t be another Einstein will be tempered by normal or lower IQ, their “education” stops at their
those definitions. Because it is a general tendency teenage years, and their “training” begins.
doesn’t mean it is the reality, so an IQ test will What becomes an interesting challenge is parents
provide definitive proof, and give parents an idea with children with IQs remarkably different from
of how to approach the teenage years. their own. A parent with an IQ in the normal range
Paraphrasing dialog from A Fish Called Wanda: “Apes can might not be the best educator for a child with an
READ Nietzsche. They just can’t UNDERSTAND it.” IQ of 120 or above. That child needs a mentor
who has similar capabilities, so tutors or private
If a child has an IQ in the normal range (about school should be considered. It is not as
100), it makes no sense to direct their academic problematic for parents with higher IQs and
pursuits with subject levels that will be beyond children lower, but that also presents challenges
them. As the quote above illustrates, they’ll be because the parents will have a hard time relating
able to go through the mechanics of doing the to how and why the child learns more slowly, and
work, but it won’t have any lasting impact, nor any retains less (or misses the “big picture” so easily).
academic purpose. Their response to Nietzsche will That parent will tend to get frustrated by their
be something along the lines of “Huh?” child’s abilities (or skip over basics, assuming the
It is at that point that their literary selections might child has them), and that isn’t a good thing for that
be better directed to Louis L’Amour, Judith Krantz, child. A child’s emotional development and their
or Robert Heinlein, instead of Joseph Conrad or well-being is just as important as their academic
Truman Capote. They can read Conrad and development.
Capote, because they’ll have the mechanics of What is also interesting about higher IQs is the
reading, but they’ll only understand them at a very tendency for empathy and compassion to be
superficial/literal level… which is OK, too, but lacking. Whether this is learned behavior (by living
reading it won’t raise their IQ, ie, make them any in a world with the majority of people so easily
quicker/smarter than they are, nor will they benefit duped by their smarter fellows) or whether there is
from the exposure to the writing quality, density, some sort of genetic synthesis isn’t really
or underlying message. important. What is important is to accept that this
IQs are similar to the capabilities of modes of tendency exists. Children with higher IQs need to
transport. You might be able to get a bicycle to go have character, empathy, integrity and honor
120 miles an hour, down a severe hill, but it can’t education, more so than their go-along-to-get-
do it on the straights (and you risk life and limb in along, lower IQ peers. If it is genetic, it probably
doing so). A bicycle won’t ever fly, as an airplane won’t be effective, but because we cannot be
will, unless you drive it off a cliff. A car is designed certain of that, we need to try.
to travel on highways, but depending on the car, it This, as I said, is a very difficult subject, because it
might not hold together (or be safe) above pokes at people’s egos and their sense of fairness.
80mph. It is also incredibly difficult for parents to direct a
Below an IQ of 110, children entering their teenage child away from things that might interest them, or
years need to be directed to careers in the trades, sound good on paper, when the child has no hope
not directed to college or university (in the of actually achieving it (even if they passionately
conventional sense). What we provide to them (as desire it).
their educators) is preparation for their careers,

For parents with children in the higher IQ range, I series, someone used the word “ethics” to describe
suggest an academic program similar to the one what I was trying to convey.
detailed at the Great Books Academy (beginning
with grade level 7), with the focus on university Wrong. The concept I’m trying to address has
preparation, with the goal of a classical, liberal nothing to do with ethics.
education. For children with normal or lower IQs, I Ethics is to morality as logic is to thinking.
suggest some of the more traditional curriculum,
such as the Sonlight Curriculum,with the goal of Ethics relates to how one behaves in a business or
trade school. professional context, and from a scientific
standpoint. It is the heady version of thought, and
It is possible to get an accurate read of a child’s IQ the development of the mind in the intellectual
when they’re younger (and choose their realm, using the head as the device one reasons
educational direction sooner), but it should be with to determine right from wrong. Morality and
repeated at the entry to the teenage years (age 13 character come from the heart and the soul.
to 15), just to be certain.
Character/morals/integrity are the way one feels,
If we were living in a different time, it would be not the way one behaves. While there is some
possible to direct your normal child into the trades overlap and it can get confusing, the distinction is
and secure for them an apprenticeship. an important one.
Unfortunately, we are mostly prohibited by law
from doing that sort of thing now, and so these There are a set of behaviors that relate to codes of
efforts must be delayed until they are 16 or 18… conduct which I’ll refer to as E1. If we present
but that is what you can do to help that child, even ourselves as in compliance with E1, it allows us to
if it doesn’t sound as sexy or exciting. commune with our fellows in a manner that is
perceived to be beneficial to ourselves. It is similar
Understanding IQ and how it will impact your to how one behaves at the workplace, doing one’s
child’s education is critical. It’s an honest job well, so we will continue to be compensated for
assessment of their future potential, however our efforts.
painful (or encouraging) it might be to accept.
Your job as parent (and home educator) is to help There are another set of behaviors that relate to
your child achieve his/her potential, not your how we reconcile our inner worth, that I’ll refer to
dreams/goals, and not necessary his/hers as M1. If we behave in a manner that is consistent
dreams/goals, but what is achievable… to the best with M1, we feel good about ourselves, even if we
of their ability. derive no “worldly” benefit (and might experience a
negative consequence).
Posted: 11/18/2008 | 05:00 AM
I’ll attempt to illustrate with a few examples.
If we’re walking down the street and see that a

X: Ethos parking meter has expired, with a meter-maid
Mrs. du Toit writing tickets to other cars on the street, do we
From: Education Series drop a coin in the expired meter of the stranger?
What is interesting about discussions, especially There is no benefit to ourselves in the category of
ones that occur with the same people over a long E1, unless we are in the company of friends, who
period of time, is that we can have a disconnect in would see us perform the act. If we do it alone,
our use of language, but we don’t know it. I will with no one but ourselves bearing witness, it is in
often chain several (synonymous) words together the realm of M1. Further, the person who is
to encapsulate a concept I’m trying to address. determining to act based on M1 will seek to
Even with that, another person’s understanding of perform the act in secret, to guarantee that no
those words will lead them to conclude I mean worldly benefit will be derived from it; whereas,
something else. It can be quite shocking when you the person who is performing the act motivated by
discover it. E1, will attempt to grandstand the action, even if
the grandstand is full of strangers.
In this series I have strung together the words
character, morals, and integrity (and have included If a person finds a crying child in a store, a person
honor). In a comment to a previous post in the motivated by either M1 or E1 will attempt to find

the lost child’s guardians. A person motivated by washed their hands when they were in the
E1 will ask the child if they’ve lost their parents restroom alone. The latter were acting from M1
and seek the assistance of others to help locate the motivations.
child’s parents. The E1 motivated individual may
From a religious sense, it is common for people who are
take the child to a store manager, handing the psychically-religious to behave as if someone is always
responsibility over to someone else. A person watching, ie, God is always watching us. That individual’s
motivated by M1 may take similar actions, seeking reward (or punishment) for their behavior is not based on
out others to help the lost child. How the the judgment of their peers, but a higher authority, to which
individual relates to the child and whether or not they have an intimate relationship, awareness, and bond.
they stay with the child until the lost parents are The words we can use to differentiate E1 from M1 are
found, determine if the person is acting from E1 or physically versus psychically, respectively.
M1.
A person behaving from E1 motivations knows
In the latter example, the person driven by E1 is what is socially acceptable, and responds
using a derivative of logic, ie, a lost child needs to accordingly. The M1 motivated person has no
find her parents. The person driven by M1 is ability to respond in any other way.
feeling/sharing the child’s angst, not simply
relating to it. The M1 motivated person has A person who is motivated by M1 will run into the
assumed the child’s feelings as their own, as one street to prevent a stranger’s child from being hit
might put on a sweater. They will not be satisfied, by a car, giving no consideration (or a moment’s
relieved of those feelings of angst, until the child thought) for their own safety/risk. An E1
has been relieved of them, and will remain with motivated person may demonstrate the same “self-
that child, until the parents are found. The M1 less” act, but only when it is their own child.
motivated person has become the child’s angst, He who made us would have been a pitiful bungler, if he
and has become in an emotional sense, in one with had made the rules of our moral conduct a matter of
the child. The E1 motivated person has recognized science. For one man of science, there are thousands who
the child’s plight as a distinct and separate person, are not. What would have become of them? Man was
and assumed their social, not moral, responsibility destined for society. His morality, therefore, was to be
formed to this object. He was endowed with a sense of right
to respond.
and wrong merely relative to this. This sense is as much a
part of his nature, as the sense of hearing, seeing, feeling;
The E1 behaving individual is showing compassion
it is the true foundation of moralityH The moral sense, or
(and demonstrates a socially responsible response, conscience, is as much a part of man as his leg or arm. It is
but has the choice to stay or leave, once the duty given to all human beings in a stronger or weaker degree,
has been passed to someone else). The M1 as force of members is given them in a greater or less
motivated person is feeling compassion (and has degree. It may be strengthened by exercise, as may any
no thought of what is socially responsible [even if particular limb of the body. This sense is submitted indeed
in some degree to the guidance of reason; but it is a small
their actions are also socially responsible], because
stock which is required for this: even a less one than what
they have no option to stay or leave). we call Common sense. State a moral case to a ploughman
and a professor. The former will decide it as well, and often
It is also possible (and this is why examples of better than the latter, because he has not been led astray
these differences can be complicated) that a by artificial rules.
person motivated by E1 will wait until the parent is
found so that they can be thanked and —Thomas Jefferson, 1787
Exercising the Moral Sense
acknowledged by the parents. The person
motivated by M1 is not desirous of thanks, and When I describe morality, character, integrity (and
would be quite shocked (and honor), I am referring to the classification of things
humbled/embarrassed) if the parents offered it. as M1. When I am referring to manners and social
rules (duties and obligations), I am referring to
There are many examples of people motivated by
E1.
E1.
Both can be taught or exercised. Some will take to
Studies of public bathroom behavior are one
M1 without motivation (without implications of a
example. It was found that people washed their
negative consequence). Those who are lacking in
hands after using the toilet, in a much higher
the moral sense have to be dealt with, and
percentage, when someone else was in the
educated, differently.
bathroom. Only a small percentage of people

When [the moral sense] is wanting, we endeavor to supply others, there should be no question that his desire
the defect by education, by appeals to reason and for an heir (regardless of motivation) was an
calculation, by presenting to the being so unhappily
ethical one.
conformed, other motives to do good and to eschew evil,
such as the love, or the hatred, or the rejection of those
The questions of the Church of Rome’s motivations
among whom he lives, and whose society is necessary to
his happiness and even existence; demonstrations by are another facet to our discussion. When the
sound calculation that honesty promotes interest in the long Church of Rome was faced with a choice between
run; the rewards and penalties established by the laws; and ethics or morality, which does it choose? This
ultimately the prospects of a future state of retribution for would depend, of course, on how much value (or
the evil as well as the good done while here. These are the weight) they gave to the argument of Henry’s
correctives which are supplied by education, and which
marriage to Katherine of being moral or immoral.
exercise the functions of the moralist, the preacher, and
legislator; and they lead into a course of correct action all
Was Henry’s marriage to Katherine incestuous?
those whose depravity is not too profound to be eradicated.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1814 If you decide that their relationship was

incestuous, then the Pope’s decision not to grant
Henry a divorce was an immoral act, with the
A Man For All Seasons
outcome that the Church of Rome had lost its
In the history of Sir Thomas More we find a classic moral compass.
dichotomy of ethics and morals.
If you decide that their relationship was not
Sir Thomas More was a consummate politician—the incestuous, then the Pope’s decision not to grant
right arm of Henry VIII. As the King’s the divorce was moral, and the Church of Rome
Ambassador, Sir Thomas spoke before the Church maintained its function as an arbiter of moral
of Rome on behalf of the King in his desire to actions.
divorce his wife—properly (and ethically)
Clearly, God was denying King Henry (and
performed his duties as Chancellor. When King
England) an heir, but was it because of incest or
Henry decided to break his bonds with Rome, after
not? Was there incest?
the Pope refused to grant his divorce, Sir Thomas
resigned his position, and took no actions (nor Was the Church of Rome the Moral Center of
spoke of his reasons) against the King. He could Europe or was it the Ethical Center of Europe?
no longer perform his duties morally. His ethics
were trumped by his morality. These are heady and heartfelt discussions, of which
Europe was engaged during the duration of the
Sir Thomas More event (and for many decades following).
I think that when statesmen forsake their own private
conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead King Henry, a King by divine right, was the leader
their country by a short route to chaos. and ruler of his people. With that came duties and
In this wee bit of history, we find the penultimate responsibilities, ie, ethics. If the Church of Rome’s
discussion of morals and ethics. It is difficult to actions prevented King Henry from properly
find anyone acting immorally or unethically. The discharging his ethical duties, and based their
Church of Rome was (at least partially) basing their decision on one of ethics, rather than morality,
decision not to grant King Henry a divorce based Henry had a right to trump.
on the politics of Spain. In that sense, the Church There could be only one ethical leader of England.
was behaving ethically, basing their decision on It would either be the King or Rome, but not both.
what was right and proper treatment for the Prince If, as many believed, the Church based its decision
of Spain. King Henry, a ruler by divine-right had on ethics (and not morality), then the Church was
an ethical obligation to provide England an heir and trying to assert its authority over England, and be
believed (rightly or wrongly) that he was being its ruler from afar.
denied an heir because there was something
immoral about his marriage to his brother’s (the From this we derive the ultimate discussion
former King’s) wife. between the moral church and ethical state:
Now whether or not King Henry was motivated by “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and
lust, and used the argument of incest simply to unto God the things that are God’s.”
—Matthew 22:21
justify his immoral motivation to himself or to

God had made Henry King, and the Pope was King Henry VIII
defying God by not allowing him to discharge his No, Thomas, I respect your sincerity. But respectH man,
that’s water in the desert.
duties.
Because politics were involved, and there was a
Sir Thomas did not share that opinion. He believed
division among the Court on the matter, Henry had
that the Church of Rome had properly discharged
to solidify his base, by identifying those who were
its moral duties, leaving the Church as the sole
loyal to him (agreeing with his take on the matter)
arbiter on the question of incest. Therefore, King
versus those who were siding with Rome.
Henry’s actions to break with Rome were seen to
Sir Thomas as an immoral act, and because of that Every man had to sign a document declaring that
he could no longer perform his ethical duties. If they were loyal to Henry and agreed that the
you can no longer perform your ethical duties, your Church of Rome was no longer a moral body.
morals compel you to resign. Essentially, the document required that each man
The Duke of Norfolk declare that the Church of Rome was no longer the
Oh confound all this. I’m not a scholar, I don’t know whether spokesman for God on earth.
the marriage was lawful or not but dammit, Thomas, look at
these names! Why can’t you do as I did and come with us, Would you have signed that document?
for fellowship!
Sir Thomas More could not and did not. He was
Sir Thomas More executed July 6, 1535.
And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing
your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, Sir Thomas More
will you come with me, for fellowship? I am commanded by the king to be brief, and since I am the
king’s obedient subject, brief I will be. I die His Majesty’s
Henry and Thomas were friends and allies and good servant, but God’s first.
neither could be accused of not having England’s [to executioner, handing him his wages]
interests in mind, nor any question of their I forgive you, right readily. Be not afraid of your office: you
send me to God.
recognition and thoughtful execution of their
respective duties. They had “agreed to disagree” Archbishop Cranmer
on the issue of the motivations behind the Church’s You’re very sure of that, Sir Thomas?
decisions. Both were fully cognizant of their Sir Thomas More
relationship and duty to God. They were at an He will not refuse one who is so blithe to go to Him.
impasse… and so was the rest of England and
Europe. More was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886.
King Henry VIII ***

Oh, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas! Does a man need a Pope
to tell him where he’s sinned? It was a sin. God’s punished
me. I have no son. Son after son she’s borne me - all dead
Les Miserables
at birth or dead within the month. Never saw the hand of
The story of Les Miserables is fiction, written by
God so clear in anything. It’s my bounden duty to put away
the Queen and all the popes back to Peter shall not come Victor Hugo in the 19th Century. It chronicles the
between me and my duty! How is it that you cannot see? story of Jean Valjean, a convict who found
Everyone else does. redemption through an unnecessary act of
kindness, and Inspector Javert, who is duty bound
Sir Thomas More
Then why does your Grace need my poor support?
to find the escaped convict and return him to
justice. The story is sweeping, including the
King Henry VIII compassion shown by Jean Valjean to an orphan
Because you’re honestH and what is more to the purpose, girl, whose mother died as a direct result of him
you’re KNOWN to be honest. There are those like Norfolk
passing judgment upon her and firing her.
who follow me because I wear the crown; and those like
Master Cromwell who follow me because they are jackals Jean Valjean assumes responsibility for Cosette,
with sharp teeth and I’m their tiger; there’s a mass that
follows me because it follows anything that moves. And the orphaned girl, originally from a sense of ethical
then there’s youH duty and one of repentance, but comes to love her
as his own daughter… seeing in her God’s
Sir Thomas More forgiveness and compassion. Through
I am sick to think how much I must displease your Grace.
impoverished and revolutionary France, we travel
with Jean Valjean and Cosette as they try to live a

moral life, one step ahead of Valjean’s sordid past. Justice Antonin Scalia, in God’s Justice and Ours,
If Valjean were to go back to prison, accepting his examines the topic in a method wholly different
ethical fate, Cosette’s life would be in ruin, and his from Inspector Javert, but his reasons and conflicts
sacred promise to her mother to protect her would derive from the same source of conflict.
be broken.
So it is no accident, I think, that the modern view that the
While the book could provide a dozen summaries death penalty is immoral is centered in the West. That has
little to do with the fact that the West has a Christian
and debate questions, there is one aspect of the
tradition, and everything to do with the fact that the West is
story that is especially appropriate for this purpose, the home of democracy. Indeed, it seems to me that the
and that is the experience of Inspector Javert. more Christian a country is the less likely it is to regard the
death penalty as immoral. Abolition has taken its firmest
In every sense, Javert is a moral and ethical man, hold in post-Christian Europe, and has least support in the
properly discharging his lawful duties. Jean church-going United States. I attribute that to the fact that,
Valjean is an escaped criminal and it is Javert’s for the believing Christian, death is no big deal. Intentionally
duty to find him, and return him to prison (where killing an innocent person is a big deal: it is a grave sin,
which causes one to lose his soul. But losing this life, in
he was lawfully sentenced to life, under the ethical
exchange for the next? The Christian attitude is reflected in
laws of France). Through a series of events, Javert the words Robert Bolt’s play has Thomas More saying to
is saved from being killed by the mob, by Valjean. the headsman: “Friend, be not afraid of your office. You
It was another act of unnecessary kindness, and send me to God.” And when Cranmer asks whether he is
one that would have guaranteed that Valjean could sure of that, More replies, “He will not refuse one who is so
escape his past. But Valjean has become a moral blithe to go to Him.” For the nonbeliever, on the other hand,
to deprive a man of his life is to end his existence. What a
man and could not help but save Javert from a horrible act!
wrongful death, even if that meant that Javert
would return him to prison. To determine if Scalia can perform his ethical
duties on the Supreme Court, he considers the
Javert, confronted with the dilemma of earthly lessons of his education, and answers (for himself)
justice (ethics) versus God’s Justice (morals), kills the question presented to Sir Thomas.
himself as his final act of reconciling the conflict
between his head and his heart, forsaking his soul So I have given this new position thoughtful and careful
in the process. consideration-and I disagree. That is not to say I favor the
death penalty (I am judicially and judiciously neutral on that
We, the reader, are left to determine the moral point); it is only to say that I do not find the death penalty
question of Javert’s salvation. Would he, in taking immoral. I am happy to have reached that conclusion,
because I like my job, and would rather not resign. And I
his own life (the ultimate defiance of God), be am happy because I do not think it would be a good thing if
forgiven by God and accepted into His Grace? Is a American Catholics running for legislative office had to
man who is conflicted in his ethical and moral oppose the death penalty (most of them would not be
duties, forgiven when his life’s circumstance elected); if American Catholics running for Governor had to
provides him the choice to do neither? promise commutation of all death sentences (most of them
would never reach the Governor’s mansion); if American
*** Catholics were ineligible to go on the bench in all
jurisdictions imposing the death penalty; or if American
But the above tales are no longer relevant in Catholics were subject to recusal when called for jury duty
today’s world of microchips, the science of stem in capital cases.
cells, and long and prosperous lives, right? ***
But while my views on the morality of the death penalty
have nothing to do with how I vote as a judge, they have a It is conjecture, but I would assume that Scalia
lot to do with whether I can or should be a judge at all. To wrote that essay for the same reason I often write
put the point in the blunt terms employed by Justice Harold something down. It is a method of exploring the
Blackmun towards the end of his career on the bench, issue fully, a way of examining it, and then
when he announced that he would henceforth vote (as throwing it out there, to see if I’ve made an error.
Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall had
previously done) to overturn all death sentences, when I sit We cannot learn only through our personal
on a Court that reviews and affirms capital convictions, I am experience. That would require us to test every
part of “the machinery of death.” My vote, when joined with
at least four others, is, in most cases, the last step that
theory, make every mistake, and discover the
permits an execution to proceed. I could not take part in lessons with a great amount of risk and time
that process if I believed what was being done to be required. It would deny that history exists and
immoral. that there is a kind of shortcut we can take to

determine right from wrong, to strengthen our inculcated and thought encouraged. Here, in the broad
morals and character, and through which, behave United States, with a respectable ocean on either side of
us, we can look out upon the world in all its wonder and in
as psychically-moral beings… clear on the
all its woe. But what is this that I discern as I pass through
differentiation between our earthly duties and our your streets, as I look round this great company?
moral sense, and the psychic and physical realms.
I see uniforms on every side. I understand that nearly the
Education of the moral sense is and has been whole energies of the University have been drawn into the
accomplished through the study of history and preparation of American youth for the battlefield. For this
literature, and I have summarized only two purpose all classes and courses have been transformed,
and even the most sacred vacations have been swept away
examples above to illustrate how that is done, one in a round-the-year and almost round-the-clock drive to
fiction, one not. To deny this historical record, or make warriors and technicians for the fighting fronts.
to suggest that man can commune with his modern
fellows to discern and define the way we should Twice in my lifetime the long arm of destiny has reached
across the oceans and involved the entire life and manhood
behave and conduct ourselves, is the epitome of
of the United States in a deadly struggle.
the self—the elevation of our single lives to one of
prominence above everyone who has come before There was no use in saying “We don’t want it; we won’t
us. It denies that we are a continuum. It is the have it; our forebears left Europe to avoid these quarrels;
ultimate act of self-centered, self-obsessed we have founded a new world which has no contact with
the old. “There was no use in that. The long arm reaches
childishness. It is the belief that the world really out remorselessly, and every one’s existence, environment,
does revolve around me. and outlook undergo a swift and irresistible change. What is
the explanation, Mr. President, of these strange facts, and
Would Scalia be the kind of judge he is without the what are the deep laws to which they respond? I will offer
morals education he received? We know he is a you one explanation - there are others, but one will suffice.
competent jurist, fully capable of understanding
The price of greatness is responsibility. If the people of
the trade-aspect of his profession (ie, the
the United States had continued in a mediocre station,
mechanics). Would legal ethics have been struggling with the wilderness, absorbed in their own affairs,
sufficient to ground him? Do we need and want and a factor of no consequence in the movement of the
men who find a balance between ethics and morals world, they might have remained forgotten and undisturbed
and have learned the wisdom to know the beyond their protecting oceans: but one cannot rise to be in
difference? many ways the leading community in the civilised world
without being involved in its problems, without being
We study to learn the mechanics of science, ethics, convulsed by its agonies and inspired by its causes.
and law. They are an ever-changing sphere. They If this has been proved in the past, as it has been, it will
asks what we can do. Morality is fixed. We need become indisputable in the future. The people of the United
only discover it by morals education and it is what States cannot escape world responsibility. Although we live
we should do. in a period so tumultuous that little can be predicted, we
may be quite sure that this process will be intensified with
Posted: 11/20/2008 | 05:00 AM every forward step the United States make in wealth and in
power. Not only are the responsibilities of this great
Republic growing, but the world over which they range is
itself contracting in relation to our powers of locomotion at a
XI: Gatekeepers positively alarming rate.
Mrs. du Toit We have learned to fly. What prodigious changes are
From: Education Series involved in that new accomplishment! Man has parted
company with his trusty friend the horse and has sailed into
“The price of greatness is responsibility” were the the azure with the eagles, eagles being represented by the
words used by Winston Churchill, at a speech at infernal (loud laughter) - I mean internal -combustion
Harvard University, September 6, 1943, where he engine. Where, then, are those broad oceans, those vast
plead the British case to the American people, in staring deserts? They are shrinking beneath our very eyes.
hopes of getting Americans into the war effort. Even elderly Parliamentarians like myself are forced to
acquire a high degree of mobility.
It is those same words that I begin this post, with But to the youth of America, as to the youth of all the
an appeal to parents who home-school their Britains, I say “You cannot stop.” There is no halting-place
children. at this point. We have now reached a stage in the journey
where there can be no pause. We must go on. It must be
Here now, today, I am once again in academic groves - world anarchy or world order.
groves is, I believe, the right word - where knowledge is
garnered, where learning is stimulated, where virtues are

Parents who decide to accept the task of educating when people are desirous of undermining the Great
their children have taken on a great responsibility. Experiment, of altering the history and changing
The importance and significance of that decision our direction, that they wish to have us be open
cannot be described too gently, nor can the weight about it, clear in their intention of inserting their
of it be made lighter by speaking of it only in authority over us. They don’t want openness.
details rather than the big picture. Whether in They want us to adopt their point of view.
one-room schoolhouses, classrooms overflowing
with 40 students, at kitchen tables, or in virtual It does not matter what your positions are, but be
Internet classrooms, the importance and enormity certain of them. If you believe in creationism, then
of the task cannot be understated, nor its purpose. teach it as the one true answer. If you do not
believe it, allow your passions and convictions to
The fundamental purpose of education is to pass come through when you explain the theory of
the wisdom of one generation to the next, to man’s evolution to your children.
inoculate the next generation from the mistakes of
the previous, and to prepare them to be the If you believe that America is evil or that
gatekeepers of all the world has learned, and all Capitalism is cruel, then teach that, but back it up
that we have become. with facts and evidence so that your children are
protected from those who wish to undermine these
The Churchill quote from that speech is often positions.
misquoted and misstated. “With greatness comes
responsibility” is often how it is phrased, but that is Be honest with your children. Be aggressive in
not what he said. He said the price of greatness is your passions, not wishy-washy and passive.
responsibility. No more fine a point can be made History, literature, the sciences, and the arts are
than that. It is neither an option nor a choice, as if imbued with passion, conflict, blood, war, and
we’re selecting the vegetable dish from a fixed- folly. They’re three dimensional, complicated, and
price menu. One cannot separate the price of controversial. A child needs to know that the world
greatness from its responsibility, anymore than we and all that man has done and achieved, tried and
could separate the price of liberty from its duties. failed, had costs, consequences, nuances,
Either we believe that this great experiment that supporters and detractors. It cannot be distilled in
began with the Enlightenment is the right direction, one paragraph, or revised so as not to offend one’s
or we do not. Either we believe that man is sensibilities, or become politically correct.
capable of managing his destiny, or he is not. Man’s history IS offensive, but it is also kind,
Either we believe that capitalism is better than considerate, mistake-prone, and forgivable. By all
socialism or we do not. Either we believe that man means, respect the innocence of childhood, but
is capable of living an ordered, honest and don’t take away all of history’s warts and
productive life, or he is not. blemishes.
We have to take a position! It is through the passion of your convictions that
In the last 80 years we have become fuzzy in our the world will come alive to your children, and this
positions, allowing, under the guise of “openness,” thing we call “education” will become their lifelong
every idea, however failed it might be, to be pursuit.
examined and presented with equal merit. Posted: 11/21/2008 | 05:00 AM
Do we present “murder” as a viable alternative to

respecting life? We do not, because we are certain
that murder is wrong. It is not a debatable topic. XII: The Beginning and the End and
If someone suggested that we should consider Three Rs
alternatives to having prohibitions on murder, or
Mrs. du Toit
take statements such as “being closed minded and From: Education Series
unwilling to hear alternative points of view about
murder,” to deter us from teaching what is true This will be my last post in the series. I thought it
and wrong about it, would not be given a would be about a dozen posts, and it is.
platform. That is because we are certain that our
convictions are correct on that subject. It is only

The most important thing you need to teach your have the skills to perform a job. That is not
children is reading, writing, and arithmetic. From education. That is parenting.
that trilogy, all else will be possible.
As home-educators we have double-duty. We
I’ve harped about prerequisites in this series and have to fulfill all our obligations as parents,
that point cannot be made too many times. You providing our children with basic life-on-earth skills
can’t run until you can walk… and it is teaching and the proper use of tools in our environments,
your children to walk that is the fundamental but we also take on the responsibility of their
portion of their K through 12 education. They educations, and that is the Three Rs.
must know HOW to learn and if you have that as
The difference seemed to be that while education was still
your primary goal, they will fill in the gaps. spoken of as a “preparation for life,” the preparation was of
a kind which bore less directly on intellect and character
We focus a lot on statistics, about how Americans
than in former times, and more directly on proficiency. It
aren’t keeping up with the world in math and aimed at what we used to call training rather than
science. Our math scores are compared to others education; and it not only did very little with education, but
in the world, and we look miserable by comparison. seemed to assume that training was education, thus
overriding a distinction that formerly was quite clear. Forty
The reality, however, is that only about 5% of the years ago a man trained to proficiency in anything was
population will go into the fields of math and respected accordingly, but was not regarded as an
science. Beyond understanding basic educated man, or “just as good,” on the strength of it. A
trained mechanic, banker, dentist or man of business got all
mathematics, sufficient to balance your checkbook,
due credit for his proficiency, but his education, if he had
prepare a budget, forecast income, calculate a tip, any, lay behind that and was not confused with it. His
measure lumber to build a fence, do your taxes, training, in a word, bore directly upon what he could do or
figure out the net price of a sale item, we don’t get, while his education bore directly on neither; it bore
need much more math than that. Those who do upon what he could become and be.
will figure it out. —Albert Jay Nock, The Disadvantages of Being Educated
Intelligence will not be denied. Curiosity will An education has nothing to do with what we do to
never be sated. make a living, but is who we are, what we believe,
If a child is predisposed to science, you’ll know and how we approach the world. We are educated
that, and respond accordingly. If a child is a in what is known, what man has done, what he has
wizard at math, they’ll practically teach it to achieved, and what (in various times and places)
themselves. You need only leave the books around he has believed to be his origins and purpose.
for them to find, and respond to their questions if There is no way to learn any of that, to be
they have them. educated, without reading.
What is important, however, is not to teach in If your home-schooled child does nothing besides a
generalities—to present a topic that cannot be half-hour of arithmetic practice and the rest of his
tested and proved by some other means. day reading, you will be providing to him an
education. Everything else is superfluous to that
Except for those who are savant-like in their end.
development, a child should not be taught physics
"The entertainments of fiction are useful as well as
until they can perform the mathematics pleasant... Everything is useful which contributes to fix us in
calculations to prove it. You can’t play the piano the principles and practice of virtue. When any signal act of
until you understand the notes, recognize the black charity or of gratitude, for instance, is presented either to
keys from the white, and have mastered the our sight or imagination, we are deeply impressed with its
scales. All of these are fundamentals, and the beauty and feel a strong desire in ourselves of doing
charitable and grateful acts also. On the contrary, when we
heavy lifting done, the sonatas and application of see or read of any atrocious deed, we are disgusted with its
the formulas become the reward for learning the deformity and conceive an abhorrence of vice. Now every
foundation. emotion of this kind is an exercise of our virtuous
dispositions; and dispositions of the mind, like limbs of the
All parents, including those who do not home- body, acquire strength by exercise. But exercise produces
school, are responsible for their child’s education. habit, and in the instance of which we speak, the exercise
Every parent is responsible for teaching their child being of the moral feelings, produces a habit of thinking and
how to function in the world—to speak, to show acting virtuously."
good manners, to be able to be self-sufficient, to —Thomas Jefferson to Robert Skipwith, 1771

We test his understanding through writing and These books are the means of understanding our society
speaking—to be able to express his ideas in the and ourselves. They contain the great ideas that dominate
written form, and to present to the world what he us without our knowing it. There is no comparable
has learned through reading. repository of our tradition. To put an end to the spirit of
There is no right way, but there are better ways— inquiry that has characterized the West it is not necessary
ways that have been shown through the miracle of to burn the books. All we have to do is to leave them
hindsight to be the most advantageous, long unread for a few generations. On the other hand, the
lasting, and with better outcome. And that better revival of interest in these books from time to time
way is through the reading of Western Civilization’s throughout history has provided the West with new drive
gift to each generation: The Western Canon. and creativeness. Great Books have salvaged, preserved,
and transmitted the tradition on many occasions similar to
The Western Canon is huge. A person can spend
our own.
their entire life reading from it, and never finish it.
At some point we have to specialize, but we can The books contain not merely the tradition, but also the
sample sections from it, finding authors and great exponents of the tradition. Their writings are models
subjects in each category. of the fine and liberal arts. They hold before us what
If a child can read, truly read (not just recite or Whitehead called “‘the habitual vision of greatness.” These
recognize the words), but understand the meaning books have endured because men in every era have been
and intent, then they can learn anything, be lifted beyond themselves by the inspiration of their
anything, and do anything. example, Sir Richard Livingstone said: “We are tied down,
all our days and for the greater part of our days, to the
You have to begin at that beginning, with
commonplace. That is where contact with great
understanding how to read, beyond the mechanics
thinkers, great literature helps. In their company we are
of alphabet, sentence structure, and form.
still in the ordinary world, but it is the ordinary world
I can recommend no better way to start than with transfigured and seen through the eyes of wisdom and
Mortimer J. Adler’s How to Read a Book Book, first genius. And some of their vision becomes our own.”
mastered by the parents, and then conveyed in
drips and drabs to the student, until they can read Anthologies and abridged versions of the Canon’s
and understand it on their own. If that needs contents are available for children of all ages, until
support then add Harold Bloom’s, How to Read and they have mastered the language and the art of
Why. the Conversation to read the originals, in their
unabridged forms.
The second is The Great Conversation, which is the
primer to the Western Canon and the Socratic These include (but only as a sampler):
tradition. Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of
All Ages, by Harold Bloom
The Great Conversation: The Western Canon: The Books and School of the
Ages, by Harold Bloom
At a time when the West is most often represented by its A Treasury of Children’s Literature, by Armand Eisen
friends as the source of that technology for which the whole The Golden Book of Fairy Tales, by Adrienne Segur
A Child’s Book of Stories, Rh Value Publishing
world yearns and by its enemies as the fountainhead of Classics to Read Aloud to Your Children, by William F.
selfishness and greed, it is worth remarking that, though Russell
both elements can be found in the great conversation, the Great Illustrated Classics for Girls
Western ideal is not one or the other strand in the Great Illustrated Classics for Boys
conversation, but the conversation itself. It would be an
exaggeration to say that Western civilization means these Continue your search with:
books. The exaggeration would lie in the omission of the Illustrated Classics
Harold Bloom
plastic arts and music, which have quite as important a part The Great Books
in Western civilization as the great productions included in The Good Books
this set. But to the extent to which books can present the
idea of a civilization, the idea of Western civilization is here
presented.

Choose a mathematics curriculum and STICK with or the peer group hostile. They cannot decide to
it, such as Saxon. “work from home” or refuse to continue to take
abuse from authoritarian figures, as we would quit
Supplement with Logic and Socratic Discussion, and a hostile job. They cannot choose an alternate
seek out discussion groups and Socratic society curriculum, course of study, or determine the
resources.
amount of time they spend on a subject before
Pay attention to your child and revise, expand, or switching topics, because all of that is denied to
remodel your home-school to tailor it to your them.
child’s learning style, intelligence, and passions. The public education system was designed,
You don’t have to do everything at the same grade literally, to turn out factory worker drones. It was
level, as your child will be ahead in some areas and an unHoly alliance between communists and
behind in others. Capitalist manufacturers to subdue the spirit, to
More than anything else, set rules and codes of tame the individual, so he would conform to
conduct early, allowing your child to model the assembly line work. They’re taught not to speak,
behavior at younger ages, so it won’t come as a not to ask questions, not to have interests, not to
huge shock to them as they get older. Discipline is have passions, and to eat, sleep, and move at the
not something to be taught and instilled later. sound of bells and whistles.
Don’t be afraid of TV, pop culture, or peer groups. If you were a product of the public school system,
Your child has YOU as their grounding rod, and you need to educate yourself on the history, and
while peer activities should ALWAYS be supervised, break the bad habits that were instilled in you.
a child has to learn to cope and get along with Read the authors who understand the history of
other people in the world. Your child should not be education:
cut off from other people completely, nor should Sol Stern (various)
they be alienated from TV or popular culture that
will provide a kind of common-currency with which Thomas Sowell (Inside American Education:
to engage others. Public school settings, where The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas)
your child cannot be supervised by you (or
protected) are to be avoided, but not because Martin Anderson (The Decline of the American
there are other people there, but because they are University)
unnatural settings, with too small a ratio of adults
to children. Allan Bloom (The Closing of the American Mind)
Children don’t have to be taught how to be
Dinesh D’Souza, (Illiberal Education)
children, or ridiculous assertions of “socialization”
with children, because we’re not preparing our
John Taylor Gatto (various)
children to be children—we’re preparing them to be
adults. We’re only children for the first 16 years of
Heather MacDonald (various)
our lives, and our ability to socialize with adults, to
carry on conversations with adults and inquire with
If you have young children or have not yet had
respect and deference, are life-lasting
children, you are lucky. You get a few extra years
accomplishments. The family is a “social network”
to prepare yourself, to educate yourself, so you
so your children will not be denied “socialization”
can be worthwhile to your children as their
by refusing to put them in “day prisons” (which is
educator.
what public schools are).
Throughout your child’s adult life they will be able But you better get busy. There is a lot for you to
to make choices—to choose to drink or not, to read, know, and master before you join the ranks
choose to work for a particular employer or not, or of the rest of us home-educators.
to choose their friends and mates. That does not
I am always an email away… for as long as I live, I
occur in a public school setting. A child is denied
extend an open invitation to anyone who takes on
the opportunity to practice making GOOD choices,
this crazy, impossible, Herculean effort to write to
because all choices are denied to them. They
me for support and encouragement: the mrs -at-
cannot “quit” a class if the teacher is incompetent
mrsdutoit -dot- com. I may not always be able to

answer your specific question, respond in a timely

manner, or have “all” the answers… but I’m willing
to give it a try, and be the cheerleader in your
corner.
My home-schooling days are temporarily over, at

least the full burden. Our children are now adults,
in college. They were released into the world with
the skills and sufficient foundations to be BS proof,
but with open minds to consider good ideas, and to
be able to recognize the difference. We are and
will continue to be their guides and mentors, and
look forward to the day when we have
grandchildren, and can begin again from the
beginning.
Posted: 11/22/2008 | 05:00 AM

Course Worksheet
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About the Series and Bio:

Connie du Toit (aka “Mrs du Toit”)
Goal: A life of quiet About the Series:

contemplation.
Connie had a weblog, Personal Effects (mrsdutoit.com),
Geography: Connie on the internet from 2001 to 2008. The topics ran the
grew up in Los Angeles, full gamut, from personal to geopolitical. One of her
California. Connie and favorite and frequent subjects was education, especially
her husband, Kim, live education of young people.
with their now adult children in Plano, Texas, an urban-
suburb of Dallas. When Kim and Connie
announced their intention
Passions: to stop blogging, effective
November 30, 2008,
1. Her husband, Kim. Connie asked the readers
2. Her 3 children, Wendy, Jack and David. of her weblog what topics
3. Traveling, especially Western Europe, and other they would like to see
great exotic, and gourmet foodie destinations of the before she stopped writing.
world. The most common request was education topics,
especially home-schooling.
(Depending on the day, not necessarily in that order.)
This series was in response to those requests.
Family: She, with Kim, homeschooled their three
children. Kim set aside his working life to focus on the Connie is not an expert in this field. “I’m just a plain old
children while Connie continued to work. She acted as Mom,” she’ll respond. This series came from her
school principal, counselor, substitute/stand-in teacher, personal experience of home schooling her own children,
and curriculum designer. what she found through researching the topic (on her
own), networking and socializing with other
Education: Connie took a few courses at Santa Monica
homeschooling parents, and from her professional career
City College, before dropping out of college for full time
as an instructional designer and trainer.
work. She continued to attend various industry-specific
courses throughout her life. Other Activities and Interests:
Working Life: Connie began her career as a child Kim and Connie continue to be active on the Internet, in
actress at the age of 5. When she gave up show a more limited capacity, most specifically related to their
business in 1984 it was to pursue a new passion: philanthropic activities, The National Of Riflemen and
training and instructional design. National Ammo Day (ammoday.com), both under the
umbrella of The Nation of Volunteers Foundation, an
She owned and managed a professional consulting firm
unfunded, seat-of-the-pants, not-for-profit organization
from 1994 until 2006, working for Fortune 100
devoted to encouraging volunteerism and civic
companies designing and delivering training programs
responsibility.
(especially in the accounting, finance, and customer
relationship management arenas), and facilitating large Connie is also a hobby-historian on the subject of food
change management projects. From 2006 until 2009, history, where culture and customs intersect with kitchen
Connie worked for a large accounting firm, where she and dining.
was an Asst. Director in a global change management
department. Kim is currently attending school, with the goal of
becoming a college professor. The couple plan to spend
In 2009, Connie became disabled, caused by a their retirement years in a small university or private
combination of Osteopenia and degenerative disc boarding school where Kim can teach History or Latin.
disease. As of 2010, she is still mobile, but has had to They hope to find a position in a small school outside of
dramatically curtail both her public and private activities. Paris, France, where they can pursue their shared dream
of a life of quiet contemplation.

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different attitudes about the relationship we should

© Copyright 2008 - 2011 Mrs. du Toit. All Rights Reserved. 1

© Copyright 2008 - 2011 Mrs. du Toit. All Rights Reserved. 2

Despite what might be assumed in reading about —Thomas Jefferson:

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All the stereotypes of home-schoolers came home

Kim (my husband) and I haven’t want to disclose

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1 interdependence of its parts. (Not to be confused with

© Copyright 2008 - 2011 Mrs. du Toit. All Rights Reserved. 9

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Spoke the letters A, B and C both by

Spoke the letters D through H both

Spoke the letters H through Z both by

Course Start: May 1, 2008

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Your child would be bored stiff if you made a point

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I’ll revisit the above and your suggestions as I go

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In the next post in this series, I’ll re-cast

Most folks have attended some sort of training

In the training world, these are called “Smile

© Copyright 2008 - 2011 Mrs. du Toit. All Rights Reserved. 28

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Even buying an old-fashioned paper soldier war- VIII: Learning Inventory

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Number and letter recognition Age 13 (or about)

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If we’re walking down the street and see that a

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—Thomas Jefferson, 1814 If you decide that their relationship was

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King Henry VIII ***

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