Listen Now:
“The work of the Parents’ Union School led up naturally, and without any real break, to the larger life of the public school, for which the children by their early training were well fitted, as it seemed merely the stepping from one classroom to another, so comprehensive and intelligent had been the previous preparation.” (In Memoriam, p. 45)
“The history studies of Forms V and VI (ages 15-18) are more advanced and more copious and depend for illustration upon readings in the literature of the period…But any sketch of the history teaching in a given period depends upon the ‘literature’ set; for plays, novels, essays, ‘lives,’ poems, are all pressed into service and where it is possible, the architecture, painting, etc., which the period produced.” (Vol. 6, pp. 176-78)
“I feel one of the joys of the Sixth Form is that there the girls can go on with the subjects they are most keenly interested in–subjects they have been longing to have time for–and freedom of choice is one of its characteristics…[they] learn how little they know–what fields of knowledge there are of which they know.” (A P.U.S. Headmistress, writing in the Parents’ Review)
“But the people themselves begin to understand and to clamour for an education which shall qualify their children for life rather than for earning a living. As a matter of fact, it is the man who has read and thought on many subjects who is, with the necessary training, the most capable whether in handling tools, drawing plans, or keeping books. The more of a person we succeed in making a child, the better will he both fulfil his own life and serve society.” (Vol. 6, p. 3)
“All callings have one thing in common––they are of use; and, therefore, a person may prepare for his calling years before he knows what it is. What sort of person is of use in the world?” (Vol. 4, Book I, p. 205)
“The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?” (Vol. 3, pp. 170-71)
You Can Teach Your Child Successfully, Ruth Beechick
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Thank you for this informative talk. I have one daughter in 9th grade that I moved to textbooks last year because I was not sure how to show what we needed for transcripts from living books. I am going to let her listen to the talk and see how she feels. I have a feeling I will find the textbooks marked for sell and sitting outside her door with a list of questions for what she needs to do to prepare for college with living books.
This is great to hear, Carrie. You might check out the last couple posts on my blog, SabbathMoodHomeschool.com, but particularly the one entitled Science Writing Can’t Survive on Charm Alone.
~Nicole
Liz mentioned that, when applying for college, she includes with the high school transcript a list of all the books the student has read. How far back does she go for this list — just the high school years (grades 9-12), or junior high as well? Are only books the student has read independently himself included (as in, books read aloud would not be included)? Thank you!
Mindy,
I must clarify that I only send this sort of list if it is requested by the admissions office. I have only included high school reading, but of course read-alouds count. A recent PR article author I read said that no distinction should be made between school books and leisure books, and those we read outside of school certainly are as instructive to the reader as well as those who are getting insight into a student as any others.
Liz
This fall I need to put together my first college application. I would love to hear from others who have gone before me. Specifically has anyone tried either through the transcript or through the counselor’s letter to highlight some of the distinctiveness of a CM education. For instance the fact that there are multiple streams of different subjects rather than taking each subject in a big block. I feel like these are huge distinctives. I know that college admissions at least claim to be looking for things that set students apart. I could try to “blend in” as much as possible and massage my transcript to look like the local high schools or I could try to highlight the uniqueness of our educational approach. Would love to hear how others have handled it!
Nancy,
I would encourage you to write this idea up for your child’s transcript or application documents. Most colleges are looking for a simple fit to their standards, but I’m sure an articulate description of the unique approach you have taken would set your child apart and possibly help. I don’t think it would hurt.
I am encouraged by testimonies of so many people that their CM educated child was well prepared for college. My concern has to do with the fact that we generally expect our children to read deeply and not cover a lot of pages, while many college classes assign HUGE amounts of reading, assuming the student will simply glean the most important parts. When my 11 grader this year had to do some research (for an outside activity) he was absolutely overwhelmed at the idea of skimming a large number of resources, looking for relevant information and then slowing down to read that more carefully. Has anyone else had this experience or concern?
When it comes to putting the streams of history, science, and math on a transcript, would it work to put a 1/4 credit of biology on each year, so that at the end it totals the required 1 credit?
That sounds like a good plan!
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