From the Archives: Jerram Barrs on Raising Educated People

Today I want to share with you an article by a professor at Covenant Seminary in Saint Louis, MO. I was once able to sit in on several classes taught by Jerram Barrs while my husband was studying at Covenant over nine years ago. I was struck by Mr. Barrs' humility and kindness and engaged sense of wonder. His article, "Raising Educated People" speaks to the challenges faced by parents who are having to battle against the onslaught of television, postmodernism, and consumerism to engage with their children. We've talked quite a bit about these issues in the past but I wanted to share the wisdom of a man who has raised three sons and is now looking back on those memories. The article is excellent and I highly recommend reading it. You can access it here.

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From the Archives: Brain Training with Jane Austen

We all know that exercise is good for your body. Now research confirms what we've known all along, reading is brain exercise! Neuroscientists and radiologists and humanities scholars have put together a fascinating interdisciplinary study to determine what happens to the brain when you read. It's always been assumed that reading helps develop the parts of your brain associated with executive function (decision making skills). What was surprising about this test, in which participants read sections of Jane Austen novels while laying in a MRI machine, is that blood flow increased not only to the executive function areas of the brain but also other areas showing that reading is good for the entire mind. Additionally, different areas lit up if the subject was reading closely or more casually  showing that both types of reading have value. So different areas benefit differently depending on whether the subject is paying close attention or simply reading for pleasure.

As one of the study authors stated: "it's not only what we read – but thinking rigorously about it that's of value, and that literary study provides a truly valuable exercise of people's brains." In an era when the focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects are given (in my opinion) an outsized importance, it's good to see research that emphasizes the importance of reading. What makes this study so interesting is how it highlights the benefits of rigorous reading. This is important to keep in mind when our children and students complain about the difficulty of a book. Difficult reading becomes easier over time and this science shows why. So, encourage your students to press on in their reading of tougher titles. It's a discipline that will pay off in the long run. Of course, if your student is getting discouraged and wanting to quit reading entirely, peddle back and choose books that she enjoys to balance out the more difficult titles.

On a personal note, I remember being 11 or 12 years old and my mom assigning me Ivanhoe. This was the original. It's a tough read, especially for a youngster. And before the first chapter was over, I was in tears. It was ridiculously detailed (in my young expert opinion, ha!), the author used far too many fancy and long words and there was nothing enjoyable about spending 45 minutes reading

multiple pages that described a shepherd. I wanted to quit. But I was not allowed to and as I tearfully persevered it got easier. Soon I was looking forward to learning more about Rebekah, the Black Night and all the other colorful characters that dance through the pages of Sir Walter Scott's classic. Even now as an adult, if I've spent too much time away from the difficult classics, I know I have to push through the initial shock to my brain and that the reading will become less labored as my brain gets used to a more elevated style of writing.

To read more about the study, click here. And if you've experienced something like this, share below. Or if you have advice for encouraging young readers to tackle more difficult writing, chime in!

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BFB Essentials: Why Teach History?

Over the next few days we will be reposting a series on BFB Essentials for anyone new to this blog and BFB. This will answer some very foundational questions for those of you who are looking into our approach to history including things like why teach history in the first place, who was Charlotte Mason, what is a Charlotte Mason approach, why use literature instead of textbooks, and much much more! We hope you find it helpful and enlightening.

BFB Essentials: Why Teach History? By Rebecca Berg Manor

Hello! We are excited to introduce a new series on our blog called BFB Essentials. We will be answering questions like "Why teach history?" and "Is BFB classical?" and "What's the point of using literature to teach history when textbooks make it so easy?" We hope you find it useful and would love to hear from you so feel free to email us with questions (rebecca@bfbooks.com) and comments. Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section. Let's get a conversation going! Without further ado, here we go!

Why Teach History?

For many who grew up and were educated in a traditional schoolroom setting the study of history may seem a bit pointless. How often have you been asked the date of the fall of Rome? Sure it was interesting to learn about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, but has that knowledge ever served you? And now you've decided to homeschool your children or are involved in teaching and history is a required subject. Or maybe your child is asking you, "Why do I need to know any of this anyway?" 

The fact that this question is now a common one points to an increasingly utilitarian view of education. In many ways the answer to the question of why to teach history comes down to one's educational philosophy. Is the purpose of education simply preparation for entering the workforce or is it something more? If you believe, as we do, that education goes beyond employee training, then like us, you probably believe in the importance of rich historical study. If you have a philosophy of education that includes training in critical thinking skills, reason, citizenship, and the formation of character, you probably have a great respect for the study of history. Unfortunately that educational philosophy, while ascribed to by many, is rarely held in conviction by educators and certainly not reflected in government mandates. Current statistics on student's knowledge of the basic facts of US history reveal a disturbing ignorance which belies any devotion to the study of history. Education is viewed as valuable in so far as it prepares young people to be good employees. And yes, education should prepare young people for adult lives, of which work is an important and valuable part, but it has a much deeper value in training young people to be compassionate, thoughtful, and engaged members of their communities. 

How did we get here? 

Over the past century the study of history has been increasingly isolated from the other disciplines. Beginning in the 19th century textbooks became the primary mode of teaching history. The drive towards standardization within classrooms drove the development of the textbook and it proved useful for subjects like math and science. Unfortunately for teaching a subject as vibrant as history, the adoption of textbooks stripped the subject of all its life. Where history was once the study of our human story and was filled with tales of adventure, heroic quests, stupefying failures, humorous dunces, and wicked villains, it became a collection of names and dates to be chanted over and over until they were firmly fixed in young minds. One can picture the one-room school houses with their strict schoolmarm, pointer in hand, drilling facts into the heads of students as they chant away the names of the presidents, dates of various battles, etc. Now, this approach, still employed by some educational approaches, is a great way to instill a knowledge of facts, but it's not so great for teaching students to engage with history, to form informed opinions, to discuss ideas. 

History as more than facts

From the beginning of time, we human beings have been storytellers. Long before people thought up the idea of "history" we were telling one another stories from the past, connecting our short lives with a long chain of others who came before us. Whether it was relating creation narratives or listing genealogies, whether it took place around a tribal circle or in the marble forums of ancient Greece, these stories were our first "histories". Often thought of as myths now, they provided ancient peoples with a context for the human story. Part of the human condition is the ability to question our place in this world and history provides part of the answer. In relating the human story and connecting ourselves with the vast pageant of people who came before us, we get to know ourselves a little better. We can see our lives within the context of something greater than ourselves. And history provides invaluable lessons in how to conduct ourselves. We can learn from the fascinating successes and failures of people who are not so different from us, but who lived in the centuries before us. This is the greater purpose of history–and it is lost when distilled down to basic names, dates, and "facts". 

But what about getting a job?

Now you may be thinking this is all great, but who is going to hire someone who isn't adequately prepared for a job? In our current economic climate the in vogue career paths are all about technology and medicine. Both of these career paths require specialized training and many education wonks are

advocating that we start teaching computer coding and advanced math in elementary school. This could be very short sighted. It is no longer a world where one can choose a career path and expect to work within that chosen field for the entirety of one's career. The average young person will change jobs/careers fifteen times in his or her lifetime. That's probably 12 times more than his parents and could be 14 times more than his grandparents. In a job market that is so fluid, the skills required are not necessarily highly specialized. Yes, it's a good idea to know how to write computer code, but it's more valuable to be able to think critically, to be creative and innovative, to understand human nature, make rational arguments, be an engaged reader, a thoughtful writer, and a thorough researcher. The study of history taught holistically provides these skills. And so you may find yourself asking, how do I teach history "properly"? That question will be answered in our next entry in this series. In the mean time, leave a comment below telling us about your experiences in learning and teaching history. 

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Royal Education

 (source)

Although I grew up in the 1980s when Princess Diana was all the rage I never really developed a fascination with her. My family did not have television and so the very idea of celebrity was somewhat foreign to me. My heroes, without exception, resided on the pages of books. During my first experience of living abroad while studying at Oxford, I began to grow more familiar with the British royal family. I, in a typically American way, sort of wrote off the whole idea of the royals and giggled at the more outrageous behavior exhibited by some of the royalty.

Seven years later I moved to Edinburgh and that is when my education in royalty truly began. While many of the members of the royal family are continually finding themselves the subject of less than flattering headlines, Queen Elizabeth has managed to maintain a remarkable dignity and grace. She's been queen since her ascension on February 6, 1952 and has met every US president since then with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson. In all her years as the most public representative of the British people, she has conducted herself with a thoughtfulness and poise that is rare and admirable. Never reactionary, Queen Elizabeth seems to be able to respond to both the most embarrassing of situations and the most serious occasions of state with a poise not often seen in the capitols of either the US or UK. And so, when I came across a 1943 article on her education, I was intrigued. How was this remarkable woman trained? What did her education look like?

Queen Elizabeth with President Truman (source)

It was surprising to me to learn that Elizabeth was raised not in a palace but in a house on Piccadilly Street in London. There she was surrounded with the ebbs and flows of normal London life and her education was undertaken by her mother, who taught her to read, and a private tutor. The emphasis was on reading and writing, as well as French, piano and ballet. At the age of seven a Miss Crawford, a graduate of Edinburgh University took over. Miss Crawford was Scottish and brought with her a knowledge of the world gained through extensive travel and was also an avid outdoors woman. Miss Crawford would share the responsibility of educating the future queen with various tutors. The author of the article describes this royal education as follows: 

Princess Elizabeth today reads history with the Vice-Provost of Eton, on the basis of such works as Trevelyan's History of England, which could not be improved on, and Muzzey's History of the United States (how many English girls of seventeen read any American history at all?), together with European history in outline. In Biblical history Canon Crawley, of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, has been her guide. A natural linguist, she speaks French and German fluently and with an excellent accent. She has read some Moliere, some Corneille, some Daudet, and she knows many of "Les Cent Meilleurs Poemes Francais" by heart. 

The Princess's explorations in the field of English literature are of greater interest and perhaps of greater significance. Time for reading at large is limited, for the formal educational regimen is treated seriously. But in or out of "school hours" she has read most of Shakespeare; The Canterbury Tales; a good deal of Coleridge, Keats, Browning, and Tennyson; some of Scott, Dickens, Jane Austen, Trollope, and Robert Louis Stevenson; while in lighter moments she turns to Conan Doyle...

That is a wide and wholesome range that would provide a sound basis of literary knowledge and taste for any girl in her last year of school.

Queen Elizabeth with President Ford (source)

This solidly literature based education was paired with time for exploring the outdoors, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, and singing. Just as we have often talked about the importance of free time and letting kids enjoy their childhood, it appears that Elizabeth and her sister Margaret were afforded ample time to be themselves - putting on plays, running freely. Princess Elizabeth was also a Guide, the British equivalent of a Girl Scout, eventually graduating to the level of Ranger.

Now the Princess is a Sea Ranger—most Guides become Rangers when they are about sixteen—and gets manifest interest and enjoyment from the weekly meetings. The scope of the Rangers is wide. A system of war training has been developed, known as the Home Emergency Service, which includes First Aid and Home Nursing, Child Welfare, and various forms of Civil Defense. Princess Elizabeth is concerning herself particularly with the last, and acquiring incidentally a good all-round knowledge of electricity.

Who would have thought Queen Elizabeth could serve as an electrician should the need arise? It appears that this varied and thorough education was excellent preparation for a rule that would last over sixty years. When Elizabeth assumed the throne upon the unexpected death of her father, she was a mere 25 years old. Nine years before that day, the article referenced above concluded with these lines:

The Princess may have years of service as heir-presumptive before her. She may at any moment by the caprice of fate be summoned to the most exalted position in the greatest Commonwealth in the world. Enough is known of her upbringing to show how well the preparation for either lot has been achieved by a training that has never threatened to dim the freshness or mar the simplicity of her girlhood.

Queen Elizabeth toasting President Reagan

An education grounded in great literature and history has served Queen Elizabeth very well. One can only assume that the broad perspective of ideas encountered in the hours spent with Austen, Shakespeare, Chaucer, studying biblical history, and learning British and American history gave the Queen the ability to place contemporary events into proper perspective. As a child of World War II, she knew the gravity that accompanied political action. Ruling through various economic bubbles and crashes, social changes and revolutions, the continually shifting political ideologies of the masses Queen Elizabeth has remained consistently measured. Of course her reign is not without fault, but one has to recognize an ability to remain grounded in the face of six decades of change. 

To learn more about Queen Elizabeth, here are some fun links:

~Princess Elizabeth's First Broadcast. At age 14 Princess Elizabeth appeared on the popular radio broadcast The Children's Hour. The purpose of her appearance was to speak to the thousands of children who had been sent out of London to the countryside and to other countries to escape the Blitz in London. Absolutely endearing. Listen here. 

~The wedding of Queen Elizabeth to Prince Phillip, click here. 

~Information and video of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth available here. 

~Photos of Queen Elizabeth with 12 US Presidents, click here. 

All quotations in the above post are taken from "The Education of a Queen" by Wilson Harris.

Information on using literature to teach history in your home or classroom. 

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Homeschooling Statistics and What They Mean

Source: TopMastersInEducation.com

Another fascinating info graphic on homeschooling has been circling the internet. Like the one we wrote about previously this one shows homeschoolers excelling by nearly every possible measure when compared to their contemporaries in public schools. I was once again struck by the equalizing effect of homeschooling. No matter if both or neither parent holds a college degree, students in those families still score in the 80-90th percentiles. Differences in family incomes creates a small difference of 4 percentage points on tests, but that is far less than the differences exhibited by public schooled children from poor school districts when compared to students from wealthy districts. The parental possession of a teaching certificate barely makes a difference for educational outcomes. What this says to me is that parental educational background, income level, certification, educational dollars spent, and a dozen other factors are so much less important than parental involvement. While the other factors often take center stage in our national debates about education reform, it really is the parents and family commitment to education that makes the real difference in student lives. This is strongly demonstrated in these statistics on homeschooling and I think that it applies to our students in private and public schools as well. A whole world of educational issues, problems, and challenges could be solved if parents took ownership of their children's education and were more involved. So, kudos to you, our readers, for your investment in your children's lives! You are making a significant and measurable difference in the lives of your children and are to be commended for your efforts and diligence. We know that it isn't always easy and you've picked a more challenging road, but your time and energy are not wasted. Here's to the new school year - may you enter it inspired by the knowledge that your investment is well worth the effort and is making a difference.

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A Child's First Book of American History

We are pleased to announce that A Child's First Book of American History is at the printers! We know many of you have been waiting for a long time and after a year-long process, it's going to be arriving soon. When we first undertook the project of bringing this book back into print we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! Rea has been working on this book for over a year, tweaking color adjustments, redoing the entire text layout, and dozen other things. 

And now for a sneak peak into this beautiful book. Click on any picture to enlarge. 

This is America! and this is its glowing, epic story, from the days of the Viking expeditions to the birth of the Atomic Age. Here are the explorers, the Indians, the settlers and fur trappers, the soldiers, the statesmen, the men and women who have shaped our country and its destiny. It is a continuous tale of adventure, of wars, of industry and invention, of hardship and growth; it is an unparalleled tale of courage, high ideas, hard work–and a precious thing called Freedom.

Perhaps more happened, faster, in the history of this country than in any other. Earl Schenck Miers tells its story as it should be told: in terms of the great moments and events, and through the lives and experiences of individuals.

Among the fifty chapters: the faith and longing for freedom of worship that brought the band of Pilgrims to Plymouth's shores, James Smith's own account of his capture by the Indians in 1755, excerpts from Davy Crockett's diary telling of the last days of the Alamo, a young Southern girl's description of the burning of Columbia, South Carolina in the Civil War, the story of the transcontinental railroad, and much much more. Miers has unforgettably recreated the hardships of a cattle drive, the the inspiring story of Booker T. Washington's fight to overcome great obstacles, the suspense that held America under its spell in 1927 when a young man named Lindbergh flew to Paris all by himself.

This telling of the American story is dramatic, ever engrossing–and it is based on careful scholarship. The more than 200 illustrations by James Daugherty–most of them in color–are an integral part of the book. A great artist and a superb scholar-storyteller have joined forces to produce a memorable record–an instructive, immensely readable and heart-warming book about the country we love.

About the Author: 

Earl Schenck Miers was an American historian (1910-1972), who wrote over 100 books, mostly about the Civil War. In the words of another notable historian–Paul Angle, Miers was one "who stressed the essential drama of events and brought the human beings of the past back to life." Despite struggling with cerebral palsy from birth, which made even holding a pen or pencil nearly impossible, Miers began writing as a youth, by carrying a typewriter to school each day. He attended Rutgers University where he studied journalism and founded the Rutgers University Press. Some of his more popular children's works include the We Were There series published by Grosset & Dunlap. 

About the Illustrator:

James Daugherty, an illustrator and author (1889-1974), was passionate about the American story and believed it ought to be told through vigorous illustration and spirited text.He is best known for his folksy all-American retelling of the fable of Androcles, in Andy and the Lion, which earned the author/illustrator the Caldecott Honor Medal in 1938. In Carl Sandburg's Abe Lincoln Grows Up, a perfect marriage blended Sandburg's lyrical prose with Daugherty's tender yet powerful sketches of Abe as he grows from a boy to a young man. In The Magna Charta, Daugherty tells the often humorous, yet inspiring story of one of Western civilization's most significant milestones in the progress of civil liberty–the signing of the Magna Charta by King John at Runnymede in 1215. Of Courage Undaunted brings Daugherty's manly illustrations to full flower in the adventure of Lewis and Clark's remarkable exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Poor Richard captures the essential nature of Benjamin Franklin with energetic and dramatic three-color lithographs that reveal the witty and ever-genial printer, inventor, statesman, diplomat, and brilliant Founder. Beautiful Feet Books is honored to be providing a number of Daugherty's works to a new generation of young Americans.

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Meet Lisa!

Good morning! I am excited to introduce you to another homeschooling mom who is going to be sharing her experience using Beautiful Feet Books. Lisa Sulewski, like Samantha and Vanessa, made a switch from a popular curriculum in the classical method to our literature based study guides. Here Lisa shares her experience and I think you will all find it encouraging and inspiring. Lisa has included a lot of photos of her children's notebooks and I am so glad that she did because I personally love seeing what people come up with for the notebooking assignments. Lisa does a great job of showing how these notebooks can be a creative outlet for your children. Be sure to click on the pictures of the notebook pages to enlarge so you don't miss out on any details. And now I'll turn it over to Lisa:

“I love history and literature!” my daughter said this for the FIRST TIME after this year with Beautiful Feet Books! I love love love Rea and Beautiful Feet Books. They have changed how and what we are reading this year­–beautiful books that will stay in the hearts of my children forever. She has taught me a philosophy of teaching that has grown in my heart and I am so grateful. She guided me on the path to good literature and I am never going back!

My name is Lisa Sulewski and I have the privilege and sometimes just plain hard labor of homeschooling my beautiful and artistic daughter, Chloe (11) and my energetic, singing, dancing, all around funny man Jack (7).  I have so much to share about what we are doing with BF Books and how we got to this amazing place but I don’t want to overwhelm you all so I will give you some now and some later! I have fallen in love with books and I love looking for them. Here I am on my birthday with some friends who, of course, took me to a used bookstore!

 I had pretty much been following a classical education method and had a desire to do more with literature. We had been going along and reading for three years, drawing pictures and putting them all in a binder. I know, I know, I will get to the journaling part but that is after I met Rea! Well, I had this thought that I needed to do more. Maybe journal? During a home school convention, I was invited to go to Rea’s class by some friends. Mind you, I have no idea who she is and I get in line afterwards (this should have been a clue) and ask her about taking my literature to another level. She kindly invites me to spend time with her at the Beautiful Feet Books booth. I get there and am captivated. After many questions, discussions, and laughs, I am sold. I buy a few curriculums and I go home and later on buy one more! I am so grateful for that time of transition into what I am teaching now. Rea has done extensive work in this field with her Masters Degree in Children’s Literature and it shows!

Fast forward six months and we have are being filled with knowledge from all our beautiful books. I want to share with you some of our journals that we have been working on to go with our books. This was a new concept for me and was hooked when Rea showed me her children’s journals at a Literature Soiree she hosted in her home.  At the end of the year to have these precious journals with my children's ideas is priceless to me. It is hard work with much more time invested since my children can spend quite a bit of time working on a picture for their journal but it's worth every moment.

Jack's notebook pages on Owl Moon, a book read in the Teaching Character Primary Study Guide. 

First, I want to show you a journal from Beautiful Feet's Teaching Character Primary Reading Pack that Jack has been working through. I have enjoyed reading all of these books and in curriculum gives so many more books than is pictured! She lists authors and other favorite books which is so helpful for me as I'm starting on this “only the best literature for my kids" journey. Thank you Rebecca! These are two of the almost 40 stories that Jack has worked so hard in putting together. These were below his reading level but I didn’t want him to miss out on anything and we are talking about character, something we can all relate too! I know I need to be reminded of “hope never fails you”.

Jack's notebook entry for The Pink Tulip by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, a story read in the Teaching Character Through Literature Study Guide. 

Chloe has read through the some of the books in the Early American History for Intermediate Grades and here are her journal pages on the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. Reading Abe Lincoln Grows Up by Carl Sandburg brought history alive. Spending that time listening to the details of his life, we learned so much more than we would have in a short text on the subject. I also added her pages on Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. Spending time reading, drawing/coloring, and writing has helped us to really absorb the subject. You get to know the person you spend time with.

Chloe's journal pages on Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman

Chloe's journal featuring a timeline of the Civil War and map of the United States

Chloe's journal entry on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Here is journal page from Jack’s Early American History books. We started with Leif the Lucky and are now learning about Benjamin Franklin. Here are two pages from Jack's work on The Matchlock Gun a story about a brave boy who obeys his mom. OK, so there's more than that but I like that part!

Jack's notebook pages for The Matchlock Gun

We love Beautiful Feet's Geography Through Literature study! I have a co-op of five kids and we spend our time reading, writing in our journals, and working on our maps. Here is Jack’s journal (below) from Seabird by Holling Clancy Holling. When we read the first book, Paddle to the Sea, I love that Jack noticed that the pictures were “amazing because they are very detailed. . . and look real and true.” I had him write that in his literature journal as well.

Jack's journal entry featuring the travels of Nate in Seabird from our Geography Through Literature Study Guide

Chloe is also part of an all girls book club where they are reading through the Teaching Character Intermediate books. The mom puts a spread of food and hot chocolate and the girls have a great time reading and learning together!

I have definitely put more hard work and thought into homeschooling this year but it is more rewarding! There is so much more I couldn’t share,  the best illustrators, timelines, summer reading lists, Christmas books, the influence is endless. Thank you for enriching us with good books and memories to last us a lifetime!

Thank you, Lisa for providing us with a window into your homeschooling experience and for letting us peek into your children's beautiful notebooks! I love the idea of your daughter's Teaching Character Through Literature book club. Does anyone else do that? Would people be interested in doing an online book club for their kids?

If anyone else is interested in their children's notebook pages being featured here, please send me a picture of them. I absolutely love seeing what sort of creative ideas you all come up with and know that other homeschooling families and educators would be inspired as well. Just email the pictures to rebecca@bfbooks.com and I'll let you know when they'll be posted. 

Thank you again, Lisa, for sharing your story with us. We look forward to hearing more in the future! 

You may also enjoy these other entries written by homeschooling moms:

Introducing Samantha

Update from Samantha

Connection and Love, an entry from Vanessa

"I love homeschooling!" an update from Samantha

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King found buried under parking lot!

Richard III

Yesterday a story broke in England and it's an exciting one for anyone studying medieval history! The remains of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king to rule in England have been found. What makes this all so interesting is that the archeologists went on a treasure hunt that would rival any Indiana Jones storyline. Using historical documents, carbon dating, 500 year old maps, and even DNA testing, these archeologists have positively identified a skeleton as this widely reviled king.

Below you can watch two videos from the University of Leicester detailing the search for the remains and how they used historical accounts and detailed cultural knowledge to plan their dig.

The search for Richard III, the archaeological dig

This video shows the lengths to which the archaeologists had to go to determine if this was in fact Richard III. Using contemporary descriptions of the king along with carbon dating and DNA evidence they have been able to prove "beyond a doubt" that the skeleton is in fact this long-missing king. 

The search for Richard III, identifying the remains

You can read more about the search here and see a photograph of the entire skeleton. This discovery has even allowed a specialist in craniofacial identification at the University of Dundee to create a reconstruction of what Richard would have looked like! You can see that here.

I find all of this to be so fascinating. What do you think? If you're interested in learning more about Richard III, check out our Medieval History Through Literature study guides for high school and junior high. 

You may also enjoy these other blog entries featuring important historical discoveries or places:

The Bayeaux Tapestry

Hadrian's Wall

Announcing our New Medieval History Through Literature

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Struggling Student? Here's food for thought

The other day I was running errands and had the radio on in the car when I heard a story from Morning Edition. It made me stop in my tracks (or at least sit through an entire green light) because I think that it addresses a very important issue and highlights the need for an educational perspective shift. 

In my years of working at home schooling conventions, talking to educators and parents, it is inevitable that I will encounter teachers with students who "struggle" with one subject or another, or maybe even have a hard time with the whole school thing altogether. This is invariably expressed as a negative thing. Teachers and parents with students who "struggle" can be frustrated, saddened, or disappointed but they are rarely happy. And this has a lot to do with our cultural understanding of intelligence. If you are smart, things come to you easily. Those who struggle to comprehend subjects and concepts taught in school are often shifted to remedial classes or fall through the cracks. I've spoken to many homeschooling parents whose child was failing to learn in a traditional classroom and so they made the decision to bring them home where they could help their child learn in an environment that was more conducive to his or her learning style. Often times the student make great strides following this change, but that is not always the case. Some students simply find academics more challenging than others. In the radio program, Jim Stigler an educational researcher, argues that this should be embraced more.

Stigler, a professor of psychology at UCLA has studied teaching and learning around the world. In this research he has noticed a very different approach to struggle in Asian cultures. "I think that from very early ages we [in America] see struggle as an indicator that you're just not very smart," Stigler says. "It's a sign of low ability — people who are smart don't struggle, they just naturally get it, that's our folk theory. Whereas in Asian cultures they tend to see struggle more as an opportunity." Isn't that fascinating? In the radio program Stigler relates a story that has to be heard! You can listen by clicking this link. While much is made concerning the widening educational gap between US and Asian students, I'm not so much concerned with that in this entry as I am with how differently our cultures value struggle. 

Stigler goes on to say that he thinks Asians teach their children something that I'm not sure we communicate very well to our students: "They've taught them that suffering can be a good thing," Stigler says. "I mean it sounds bad, but I think that's what they've taught them." And what a valuable lesson. While our Facebook pages, Pinterest boards, and boardroom walls may be littered with inspirational quotes about overcoming struggle and triumphing, how many of us incorporate struggle into our curriculums? Are we embracing the challenge posed us by struggling students and children? Are we willing to give those students to whom things come easily assignments that are too difficult in order to teach them the value of tackling a problem head on and not quitting until it's solved? I know that this is a lot to consider. When faced with a struggling student, it's hard to see this as an opportunity. It's difficult and it requires more time, more effort, more energy, and for your average homeschooling parent, these are commodities already in short supply!

In my education, most subjects came pretty easily to me until I got to high school when algebra, geometry, and biology rocked my confident little mind. In my algebra and biology classes my teachers had no time for someone like me who struggled with the topics. There was no encouragement, no guidance. I struggled alone and did poorly because these teachers devoted all their energies to the students who quickly grasped the subjects. I remember feeling as though I was drowning under an avalanche of incomprehensible material. This feeling was entirely new to me and I did not know what to do with it! I did not want to admit struggle because I equated that with failure. 

My geometry teacher was different. She did not write off students who found the material challenging. She embraced the students who struggled and worked with us until we understood the concepts. And I can tell you that the A- I earned in that class meant so much more to me than the other classes I sailed through.

And yet, even in my own experience, I never equated struggle with something that was fundamentally important. Academic struggle has been devalued in our culture and I think it's to our detriment. Struggle has many benefits, not immediately seen by young students in the midst of the difficulty. Those who struggle and triumph gain a confidence that will take them a long way. It can also create empathy. If you have never struggled to grasp a concept, it's difficult to feel for those who do. And, I believe that struggle, academic or otherwise, creates a fortitude of person. Of course, these benefits only come if a person is able to work through that struggle and come to a successful end. If the problems placed before a child are too difficult and the struggle is futile and this experience is repeated on a regular basis, this can be severely damaging. As with most things, it's in the balance that one finds the benefit. So, I would love to hear from you! Are you prone to minimize any struggles your student may encounter? Do you embrace it? At what point do you step in and limit struggle? For students who are naturally gifted, how do you challenge them so that they can experience the process of struggle? Do you think our culture will ever be able to adapt a more Asian perspective on struggle and incorporate that into our classrooms? And in case you haven't clicked it already, here's another link to the radio show and here's a link to the transcript in case you'd rather read it. 

You may also enjoy:

A Dangerous Trend for Boys

Unstructured Creativity a.k.a Boredom

Homeschooling as Equalizer

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