TEACHING APPROACHES: Bible Focus I Charlotte Mason I Unit Studies I Heart of Wisdom
Delight Directed I Notebook Method I Classical I Unschooling I Textbooks

The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Appproach

The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Appproach begins with the Bible is the center of education, and all subordinate studies should be brought into the circle of light radiating from thence. Academics play an important part, but they are secondary. Students spend half the school day studying God's Word and the other half studying God's world.

The idea of spending a lot of school time on the study of Scripture may at first be disturbing. We are so used to dividing "religious" activities from the rest of our time it seems as if Bible study just does not fit, except in a minor way, in our regular school day. We think of Bible study as suitable for family devotions, church services, Sunday school classes, and if the study gets "deep," in the seminary. How much Bible can children get without detracting from other studies? In asking this question we uncover in ourselves something of the tension that exists in the Western world between learning and religion. We know somehow the question is not right; we should be first giving place to Scripture, but can not quite let go of the other side of things. And rightly so! The other side, God's creation, is vastly important, but still Scripture should come first, and all other studies find there place in relation to it. We should turn the question around: "How many secular studies can a student pursue without detracting from his knowledge of God's Word?!" Christian education must be built upon a pattern that maintains Scripture at its center and bring all subordinate studies into the circle of light radiating from thence.1

The Heart of Wisdom approach is a combination of the methods listed below:

A Return to Biblical Education	The Bible outlines how we should teach our children. The Hebraic aim of education was ethical and religious. Study is a form of worship. The method of instruction in the home was oral, and learning was accomplished by practice. The Hebrew taught no distinction between sacred and secular areas of life. Every detail of life therefore, must be set aside and consecrated to the glory of God. (The opposite of today's popular Greek approach).
Charlotte Mason's Philosophy	Student's should develop a love of learning by reading real books— classic literature—opposed to twaddle, or "dumbed down" literature. This method also incorporates narration: the assimilating of information and retelling (sorting, sequencing, selecting, connecting, rejecting, and classifying) and developing a "Nature Diary" ( HOW calls it a Creation Portfolio).
The 4 Step Lessons	These four steps are a cycle of instruction based on the four main learning ltyles This system is an organized way to use the approaches listed on this page.
Integrated Unit Study	The "unit" or "theme" part refers to the idea of studying a topic as a whole instead of several "subjects." A unit study takes a topic and "lives" with it for a period of time, integrating science, social studies, language arts, and fine arts as they apply.
Lifestyle of Learning	An approach outlined in Wisdom's Way of Learning by Marilyn Howshall. The emphasis is on parents relying on the Holy Spirts leading to provide the needed resources so the children can develop expertise in their fields of interest. Howshall explains how using these simple and natural tools (with the emphasis on the process of learning rather than the product of learning) will allow your children to begin to develop their own lifestyle of learning.
Delight-Directed Learning	Students acquire basic concepts of learning (reading, reasoning, writing, researching, etc.) during the process of examining the topic they are interested in. Education ought to be about building learners' abilities to do useful things.
Writing to Learn	Students think on paper-think to discover connections, describe processes, express emerging understandings, raise questions, and find answers encouraging higher-level thinking skills. This method forces the student to internalize-learning so they understand better and retain longer.