The Brainy Bunch by Kip & Mona Lisa Harding

Author:Kip & Mona Lisa Harding
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

10

The Brainy Bunch Method (Some Practical Advice)

You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

—1 THESSALONIANS 4:11–12

Now that we’ve covered our story and where our children are at, we’d like to share some of our methods. There is no science or formula to our success. We read that if you postpone formal learning until children are older, between about seven and nine, then they can cover grades one through eight in about a six-month period. That’s one way to do it. However, we start by age four and finish high school by twelve, eleven, or in Heath’s case, ten years and eleven months.

If we were to boil down our methods, they would look a little something like this:

At age four we teach letters, sounds, easy reader books, and tracing letters. Doing school is so much fun! We hear, “Look at me, I am so big!” Learning to read is the most important first step.

By age six we are teaching borrowing and multiplying, encouraging independent reading of easy books, giving a full page of dictation, and teaching Bible stories.

By age eight the children are learning the Bible truths and are learning to really verbalize them. They start algebra and read real chapter books on historical figures and science books, and they do less dictation and more trying to write on their own.

By age ten they are reading the Bible independently and figuring out what they really believe and why, finishing algebra, starting algebra 2 and geometry (figuring out math problems from the solutions manual), writing essays on real-world issues, and reading real books about history and science (we use some of the big siblings’ college textbooks if they are interesting). All along we try to find out what motivates the children and allow them to read and research whatever that may be.

By age twelve they have finished lots of high school–level books on creation science, biblical apologetics, history, secular science (like evolution, so they can hear all the viewpoints), physical sciences, American government, economics, social subjects, and lots of math. If you throw in intense family discussions, lots of family/home-school group field trips, some sports, church, socializing as a family with people of all ages and cultures, and love, you end up with a well-adjusted kid who is ready for a college class or two.

We’ll share some suggestions for those starting homeschooling and then give some tips we’ve learned along the way.

A Brief Timeline

• Around age four we start to teach reading.

• By age six we start teaching borrowing, multiplying, writing short essays, and encouraging independent reading.

• By age eight we start algebra, reading real chapter books, and having the children do more writing on their own.

• By age ten they are figuring out what they really believe and why. They continue along in math as they add in reviewing for the ACT/SAT.

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