Although penmanship is laborious, I believe in it! Lars was never taught it in school, so we are catching up through the first grade program through Rod & Staff. I wish I would have started this when he was five or six. I like the simplicity of it and how cheap it is! Good teachers guide too. The following is a great article in the Washington Post about such, the findings quite revealing: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001475_pf.html Some day I’ll learn how to embed links.
How about you, do you think handwriting is still all that important?
ANGELA BLYCKER 
Alison my dear! I have been following your blog. I like Rod and Staff because it is CHEAP and simple. Did I mention cheap? It has no bells and whistles which is good because Lars can be highly distractible if there is too much of that. It is doing the job for now. His work certainly doesn’t mirror what they set forth, but we are coming along. Tears here too.
It is a challenge and a joy. Thank you for your encouragement! My children will be gone soon enough, but for now I can pour into their minds and hearts from the pitcher I (we) have filled up. This is precious. I have much to learn, but we all do. Praise God for the ability to learn and as Lars was quoting this morning, “The world is so full of a number of things, I am sure we should all be as happy as kings!”
I do believe in what you cited about the circuits in a child’s mind being shut down if not stimulated by good and true learning. I think this can happen to a child spiritually too. I think the two are so closely connected with little division in many ways. I could never bear to send my boys to pre-school so young for this very reason and believe SS is still so important. I was working with 5 year olds this summer who had never been taught to hold a crayon!
Yes, I am very grateful to have the mother I have. She taught me many truly essential things like prayer and perserverance that have earned her many degrees in my book.
We are a bit behind on the music thing, hope to start later this month with simple theory. Lars apparently has a liking for the banjo!
So good to hear from you. I hope you chime in now and then!
Home schooling? Bless you!!! That’s a challenge — and a gift. I sometimes wished I could do that with my children, but I think the chaos of my own trek thru 11 schools and 2 colleges created too many challenges for me. I’m back working with jr hi kids again — at church — and find myself still sorting out teaching methods. One source that gave no guidance at all was the U of M college of education, a huge disappointment. So never feel unqualified… your passion for learning will guide you. You have the gift of your mom, who proved herself a wise teacher despite what she felt as deficiencies in education. She’s one of ny heroes.
Re: handwriting. Deep in the canyon of my past life in teaching, I remember reading research that finds primary PROCESSES such as conversation, handwriting, arithmetic, singing, playing music, computation without the aid of calculator, etc., actually have a significant role in PROGRAMING a child’s brain and even expanding its capacity to learn. Also, many of the open circuits in a child’s brain eventually shut down if not stimulated by learning, closing off or making more challenging options that were once a given. That’s why quality preschool education is so important for children from chaotic homes or living situations. It’s also why the sunday school movement in industrial England was an important part of a cultural revolution, performing that important childcare/education function when society failed.
Can I cite references? Lost in the canyon of years…. 😉
PS: Every teacher I knew loved having music students in their classes because of their learning skills, organization, self-control and general good humor. Best scenario — having a class full of kids who’d just come from band or choir!