Books of Remembrance IV

Greetings from Me and My House,

Hmmm, I said I would wrtie a Part 4 to conclude this series on "Books of Remembrance", but I didn't write down what I planned to conclude with right away, and I now have no idea what it was. Let me think a minute, and review. In Part 1 we covered what a "Book of Remembrance" is and why to make them. In Part 2 we covered general questions about making BOR's. In Part 3 we covered the supplies needed. So that must leave the nitty gritty details for this Part 4 - How to actually MAKE the Book of Remembrance.

But before I get into that, 2 other things.
1) See my end of the year post over at my Clear Vision blog.
2) I did remember one supply I left out of Part 3, pictures. You may want to find or draw images to enliven your Book of Remembrance. You can draw your own pictures, cut or copy them out of books or magazines, or find online clip art to print out. Add them to the your mini-books and the BOR folder itself. These will all help enhance your BOR.

Now on to making mini-books and your Book of Remembrance:

A mini-book will be made anytime you have a piece of info to add to your Book of Remembrance. If you are teaching one point per day, and/or one theme per week, it won't be hard to determine the basic "what" you will put in your mini-book. How you want to state it and what form of mini-book you will put it in is where your/your child's creativity comes in.

You may state your main point of the lesson as a "title" for your mini-book, then include some of the details you learned aobut it. You may be state things you learned as questions and answers. In teaching by Biblical principles, many times our main point is followed up by examples/applications. We also many times are looking at the internal cause or meaning and the external action or effect. The choice is totally yours as to how to present what you have learned. Again, as I stated in Part 3, do not get hung up on some supposed right way of doing this and mimicing someone else's BOR. This is for what YOU learned.

Some mini-books have general limitations which will help you choose which mini-book to make. A single Match Book presents 2 pieces of information. A Tri-fold Book presents 3. And an Envelope Book presents 4. Flap Books and Layered Books can be varied greatly in number of ideas you can present in one. I made a proto-type folder of all the types of mini-books. My children are able to look at it to determine which type of mini-book best suits the material they want to add to their BOR.

Generally, throughout the lesson/week the children are encouraged to take notes - preferably in graphic outline (mindmapping) form. for example, our weekly (or longer) theme may be the Parables of Jesus. Each day we study a different parable, looking at the meaning. The children are noting what the parable was about, its Bible reference (Book, chapter and verses) and its meaning. At the end of the week/theme, they make their mini-book. A Layered Book or a Flap Book would both be good for presenting this theme with so many different details. On the outside they may write "Parables of Jesus" - perhaps here or on the first page giving the definition of a parable. Then on each flap or bottom of the layer giving the reference and/or the "name" of the parable. Inside they can tell (briefly) what it was and what it meant.

Or how about a biography you are reading. As you read, take notes on the person's history, influences, character, and contributions. If it is a part of another study, you may just want one mini-book on this person. Perhaps make a Quad Shutter Book (that closes) for this. Put the person's name, birth and death dates and their picture on the outside. On the 4 shutters inside list the 4 aspects of their life (above) or a quality from them in the person's life, then under each shutter write examples and details.

Perhaps you are doing a whole BOR on this one person. You can use one section of the BOR for each of the 4 aspects of their life, with 1-3 mini-books each. For example, in the History section you may want to do a Timeline Book of their life, perhaps another mini-book on their childhood and one on their adult life, or one on where they lived, or what their world was like then. On the Influences section you would put mini-books on their education and other key influences in their lives. I think of Helen Keller; you'd want a whole mini-book on Anne Sullivan. In the Character section perhaps you can identify 2-3 character traits that were prominent in this person's life and do a mini-book for each, giving examples from their life that show that character trait. In the Contributions section, you will put mini-books that demonstrate their achievements in life. For example, for George Washington perhaps you'd want a mini-book on his military contributions and one on his Presidential contributions.

These are all just very small tips of endless icebergs for creating mini-books themselves. Now, what do we do with them? We keep our mini-books in zip lock baggies until we are finished with our topic and ready to make our Book of Remembrance. As you make your mini-books, be thinking ahead as to how you want to lay them out. As suggested above you may want them organized into sections or a certain order. OTOH, perhaps they can be placed anywhere in the folder. Let your eye be your guide.

When you are ready to to your BOR together, fold your file folder into a shutter fold and start laying out your mini-books. Experiment until you like the lay-out, then glue them in. Make some sort of "cover" design for the outside of your BOR. You may not want it to be a folded mini-book, but perhaps a picture and title. You can glue on these aspects or just draw/write them on.

Too many mini-books to fit in your folder? Make extentions. You may need just one extra panel, or maybe you need a whole extra folder or more. No problem, Books of Remembrance are expandable.

In this series of articles I have only given you a taste of what can be done with Books of Remembrance. I plan to devote a whole session or two to this in our Freedom & Simplicity of Lifestyle Education through Discipleship seminar, late this spring in North Platte, NE. I hope you can join us.

But above all remember, we are children of the Creator Himself, made in His image. He has placed within each one of us creativity. How can you use yours to document your learning in Books of Remembrance?

For Me & My House,
At Jesus' feet,
Lisa @Me and My House
Blogging Here
and There
Order Christian and Home Ed Resources Here

Books of Remembrance III

Greetings form Me and My House,

This is part 3 of this series. Part 1 here. Part 2 here. In this part we will cover what all is needed to make a Book of Remembrance.

Some people get really hung up on this. It really is not hard at all. And you certainly don't need a kit or someone else's plans to direct you through this. Like its big sister Journaling (Notebooking) it is the record of what you have learned/internalized from your studies. No one else can lay that out for you. PLEASE do not use this to try to copy someone else's learning.

All you need is the basics - the supplies, and instructions for making the mini-booklets - and of course something you have learned and want to document.

Your supplies consist of paper to make the mini-booklets out of:
You could use plain ol' white copy paper, but that would be very boring. Go to the office supply store (or Walmart, if yours has it) and get an array of various colored papers, brights, neons, primaries, pastels, whatever you desire - just standard 20-24 weight.

You will also need sissors and glue - glue sticks work great. If you like nice straight cuts you may want a paper trimmer, a small one such as used for scrapbooking works great.

You will also need some kind of writing utensil. Again, something not quite so boring as a plain pencil or blue ink pen. Various colored fine tip markers are great - preferably ones that don't bleed through the page.

The last supply you need is file folders. Again, please bypass the boring tan manila ones and get the pretty colors. 3 cut or 5 doesn't matter.

I've already told you in part 1 where to get your instructions for the mini-books, Dinah Zike's The Big Book of Books and Activities - unless you have a friend that will show you. (Yes just that one book is all you need.)

In part 4 I will conclude this series.

At Jesus' feet,
Lisa @Me and My House
Blogging Here
and There
Order Christian and Home Ed Resources Here

Defining Biblical Principles Education

Greetings from Me and My House,

What is "Biblical Principles" education? I believe it can be summed up in one word, Foundations or Seed. It is about seeking that which lies under, supports, and from which all else is built upon.

It is more than just "teaching based upon the Bible", although it certainly is that. Biblical Principles education is based solidly on Christianity, particularly as seen in the historical protestant faith beginning in the Reformation, that sought to restore the pure Christianity of the New Testament, that taught that the Law of Liberty begins in hearts submitted to God. It has as its foundation some core teachings of the Reformation, Sola Scriptura - God's Word alone, and Soli Deo Gloria - for God's glory alone. Biblical Principles education is a specific philosophy and methodology of teaching based upon the Bible for specific goals.

Some of the "Foundational" aspects of Biblical Principles education are in realizing that what is produced and seen externally begins internally. This is seen in some of its goals:

1) to be self-governed under God, which requires a heart submitted to God.
2) to reason Biblically, taking all of life and learning back to "what does the Scripture say" that applies to this.
3) to think governmentally, determining not only who or what is vying for control, (while realizing that everything lies in the ultimate control of God Himself,) but also discerning what view of government is being promoted.
4) to see life and learning from God's perspective, that is in context of the "Big Picture". This is wisdom.

Every effect has a cause, and these results are accomplished by seeking out the perspective, purpose and principles of what we are studying. These are the "seed that contains the whole" of our study, the basic elements from which all else (the details and facts) spring forth. These basic elements, Rudiments, are:
1) seeking God and His purpose in everything learned - the Biblical origin, foundation and purpose of each subject and topic studied.
2) seeking out the foundational principles of a study - seeing the Big Picture of the study, putting it in context - in both God's Word and His Creation. I heard it said recently that we can really only study 2 things, God and His Creation. His Word is our Source, His Creation is our re-source. The Principles found will be both Universal (in context with its relationship to all things) and Unique (specific to the subject itself).

From this "seed" of our study springs forth the entire study. From a foundation of wisdom, we gain understanding and knowledge. From seeing the study in the above context we are able to relate it to our own life (and other things in God's Creation), learn from it, not just learn it. Then when we learn the facts and details unique to the study, we are learning them in proper context; the facts and details have meaning and relationship. We can look at them both in their universal and unique applications.

This is Kingdom Education. Have you ever noticed how God so often relates His Kingdom to a seed? (another message for another day) It is whole learning - wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, seeking God's perspective, purpose and principles, in everything we read and research, so that it is understood in the context of Truth, so we can apply it to our own lives. When we apply God's Word, in all areas of life, to our own lives, that is growth, true education. What is the final result of the growth of seeds? Reproducing more seed. This is seen in our recording our findings so we can both teach others, and build upon our own learning.

As you can tell, this is not just a "curriculum" (set of resources) you place before your child. It is a lifestyle of education that begins with you renewing your own mind, pressing toward those goals above for your own life. The education of your children is actually "seed reproduction", planting in their lives from the harvest in our own. This is discipleship. Notice at the end of Matthew's telling of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, what we call the "Great Commission", that Jesus told His disciples to make disciples, to reproduce themselves. Notice, the teachers were to first of all be students of Christ themselves. This is what I call Lifestyle Education through Discipleship.

To put it into one sentence I could say, Biblical Principles education is seeking God's perspective, purpose, and principles in every area of life and learning, and applying them to my own life and journaling all the rich treasures I find therein.

To here a short clip from our Freedom & Simplicity of Lifestyle Education through Discipleship seminar on how PA and LED fit together, click here.

At Jesus' feet,
Lisa @Me and My House
Blogging Here
and There
Order Christian and Home Ed Resources Here