Dumb Ox Academy

Okay, I’m back for about 20 minutes!  Let’s see what I can type up here!

#31 The Academic No – Don’t push your kids!  Wait until they are ready.  Don’t take the conveyor belt approach to education where every child must be on the same track or they are behind.  Wait for the child to seek things out.  I know a family who’s child is brilliant academically but is in full scale, horrible rebellion right now.  So the truth of #31 is really hitting me as I watch the misery my friend is in with her lovely, gifted and lost daughter. 

#32 The Discipline No – Again this one really resonates with me!  Discipline is different from education.  Discipline has to do with hygiene, healthy habits, good manners etc.  Education has to do with the child seeking to learn.  Here’s a quote I love from this section:

“…if you want him (the child) to get a great education, show him how to love learning and then let him make that choice.  If you force him, you’re likely to get a 14 year old who prefers videos games, malls, and hanging out, instead of learning, who will only do the bare minimum you require and seeks constant entertainment.  In short, you’ll get a teenager instead of a young adult.”

Their discription of a teenager is uncomfortably close to my teens!!!

#33  The Yard – Get outside and play ball, garden, bask in the sunshine, make snowmen, etc. 

#34 The Evening Reading List – Read the classics out loud to your family at night.

#35 The Chores – kids should have chores.  Parents and kids work together.  They don’t believe in paying kids for chores.

#36 Grandparent Mentoring – tie the younger generation to the older one through grandparents or adopted older members of the community.

#37 – Teaching the Model – the De Milles teach their kids the different phases of education; Core for the young ones, Love of Learning for 10 and up; Scholar for the older teen or thereabouts.  The kids then know how their education will proceed and it becomes part of the family culture.

#38 The Central Classic – this is the idea of a National Book.  Probably the Bible is the most common National Book.  Get to know your central classic well.

#39 The Awakening – this is when the child moves from just living in this rich atmophere of learning and begins to absorb and and react to it by saying things that make us say, “Out of the mouth of babes!”

# 40 The Interruption Yes – Life is full of interruptions when you are managing a family.  Babies, toddlers and children all need attention and don’t consult schedules when demanding it.  Welcome interruptions gladly.  It is part of real life in a family!

# 41 The Feminist -  the true feminist respects the woman’s role as inspiration for her family.  If a woman puts God and her family in the proper place she becomes a leader with a rich and rewarding life.

# 42 The Core Reading List – Your family list of books that became part of your family culture from board books on up.

#43 The Degree Program – Well this one is basically an endorsement of the George Wythe College Distance Learning Program, but I think places like Regina Coeli, Angelicum Academy and others can also fulfill the needs of an Scholar Phase student who needs to branch out and have a great liberal arts mentor to guide him.

#44 The Formal Ball – At least once a year attend a formal event.  This teaches etiquette and sophistication.

#45 The Assignment – This is a stop gap measure when a child seems stuck in a boring rut.  Sometimes the parent can constructively help by giving an assignment in some subject.  This isn’t the norm though.

#46 The Mission – the child should feel he has a mission in life.

# 47 The Friend – Mom needs a support girlfriend for encouragement, to brainstorm with, and help her in her role of raising the next generation.  And she needs to be that kind of friend to someone else.

#48 The Core Phase Curriculum – this is for the little ones.  They don’t need to be actively taught academic subjects, instead their job is to learn:  right and wrong, true and false, good and bad.  Academics are just icing on the cake at this point.

# 49 The Love of Learning Curriculum – This is for the 10 year old or so who begins to need his academic curiousity satisfied.  This happens through the following:  example, environment, opportunities, inspiring parent mentors, guidance, freedom, fun, personal attention,work, play, study, projects, fieldtrips, the library, family room, bookshelf, mornings, afternoons, evenings, summers, winters, mom, dad, grandparents, questions, discussions, example.

#50 Spring is for Science – as the earth reawakens from winter, spring is a natural time to launch into scientific exploration – nature studies, fieldtrips etc.

#51 Fall is for Beginnnings – after summer break, fall is great time to set goals and plans for learning.  This is so true.  I am much more inclined to make resolutions in the fall rather than in January.

#52 The Subscription – kids like to receive interesting magazines.  It is theirs and it can often serve to broaden and inspire them.

#53 The Dinner Meal – Families should eat dinner together!

#54 The Discipline Yes – say yes to your own education, say yes to academically disciplining yourself.

#55 The Academic Yes – tackle that subject that you’ve been avoiding.  Wow, I just can’t believe how in tune I have been with this whole approach.  I just bought myself an Algebra book because I decided this summer I wanted to overcome my fear of math!

This is a pretty long list but much of it is just stating the obvious for me.  Things that I have thought but have never clearly identified as an element in our family life.  Clarifying them makes me feel like I have my act together more than I think I do.  I desperately needed someone to clarify and organize my thoughts and the De Milles have really done this for me.  I feel like sending them an e-mail thanking them!

Right now the things I want to focus on are:

1. 6th month purge for our house.  I need to get all these great books on our bookshelf.  They are scattered all over.  I also need to declutter clothing, papers and toys.  I think this will be my major focus this week.  I want to organize what I have so that everything has its place.

2. My academic goals this summer are to study Chesterton and Algebra.

3.  I also really want to have fun planning our backyard garden.  I want to turn it into a bird sanctuary.

4.  I want to work on developing a healthy, natural routine that works for our family and helps us get things done, like chores, hygiene, reading, etc.

Time is way up!

Cheerio!