On a Personal Note

This may come as a surprise but after much thought and prayer we have decided to enroll Savanna in a Classical Charter High School. It is a hybrid program, meaning she goes to school two days a week and then will continue to be home schooled the remaining five days. This classical academy follows the Trivium Method (and is in fact, called Trivium Charter School). Trivium Method focuses on three elements of a Classical Education:

[1] General Grammar

(Answers the question of the Who, What, Where, and the When of a subject, and lays the foundation for a student's advanced studies.)

[2] Formal Logic

(Answers the Why of a subject, and teaches a student to think through arguments.)

[3] Classical Rhetoric

(Provides the How of a subject, and teaches a student to express himself with originality and force both in writing and orally and apply his acquired knowledge in his life.)

As these disciplines are learned and practiced together, they form the overarching, unified system for establishing clarity and consistency of personal thought called the Trivium.

Other elements that define a classical education: Most of this knowledge is acquired through CLASSICS (not textbooks), and is studied in chronological order split into four time periods: Ancients, Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, and Modern Times. Savanna is currently studying ancient history so all of her other subjects (science, art, music etc.) also revolve around this same time period. This helps the student's studies fuse together nicely. It also gives her a clear picture of what was going on in the world in a variety of subjects at different times in history, and how they are related and build upon each other.

For more information on a Classical Education or the Trivium Method, here is a GREAT article:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-education/

At Trivium Charter Savanna is learning Science (Biology- a subject known to the ancients), Ancient History (currently they are studying ancient Egypt), and Writing with a heavy emphasis on Rhetoric- learning to express the ideas in her head cohesively and apply them to her life both in written and oral form (lots of public speaking, papers, and group projects). She is responsible for doing math, English, grammar, spelling, p.e. and other electives at home (music, art, foreign language etc.).

Why did we choose this route? I believe that Leadership Education fuses very nicely with the above definition of a Classical Education. In deed in many respects one could substitute the Grammar element with Core Phase, Logic with Love of Learning Phase, and Rhetoric with Scholar Phase. Leadership Education is not about home schooling or public schooling, classes or hours alone in study. It is about the attitude and needs of the individual student. Savanna is painfully aware that SHE is completely 100 % responsible for her own education. It is not my job or her teacher's job or anyone else's job to educate her. She is the only one capable of doing that. That being said, it is Savanna's education and so it was Savanna's choice. James and I have felt that we have given her a lot of freedom the last few years to choose what she studies, how long she studies, how she studies, etc. But there have been times where she did not perform in a way we felt met our expectations and we have given off a vibe (or straight out told her) that we were unimpressed or disappointed. I have realized that in many ways I am still controlling her education through my reactions. I would give her my advice (and I have had LOTS of advice to give) and she would not follow it, and I would make her wrong for it. Overall I feel that due to my desire for her to succeed and also my fear that she would fail, I have given her the impression that I do not trust her judgment and I do not have confidence in her ability.

For the first time, I am REALLY going to let her make a decision in her own education. And then I am going to spend some time genuinely building her up and letting her know that I have her back, and have the utmost confidence in her ability to not only make the right choice, but to be successful in the choice that she makes. This will be a new road for both us, and one that I hope brings us closer together. I am feeling really good about this. I think it may provide some healing on both sides. Also, the way this program is designed still puts me as her main Mentor, and gives me a chance to be heavily involved in her studies both at school and at home. I think it will be fun to help her with projects, and can even involve the boys in what she is learning outside of the home. Because it is a charter school they give us $350 per year to pick curriculum for Savanna's home studies including many books on our Leadership Education lists. Every child is different, and Savanna feels that this would help her so we will get behind her and let her give it a shot. Classes can serve a great purpose, especially for an older child like Savanna who is very social and thrives in a group environment. Ideally a student should be heavily entrenched in Scholar Phase before committing to classes, but I am thinking that a change of environment and outside Mentors will push Savanna to academic levels she may not have achieved at home. That is my gut feeling.

My biggest problem with this charter decision was that I didn't want to make it based on fear. Fear that if she stayed home she would never get an education, job, degree, etc. I wanted the decision to be made on Faith. Faith that it was the right path and the right time. But I have realized that even though I am her mother and I am privy to revelation that will help my children, this may be a great opportunity for her to learn how to study things out in her mind, pray about them, and then follow through with her own inspiration. She has visited the campus, studied the pros and cons, and has prayed about it. She feels she should attend this school at this time, and so she started this past Tuesday. Already I am seeing her struggle with making sacrifices so she has time for her school work. She does not have as much flexibility, and she is still required to help around the house, take care of herself, and get to bed at a decent hour. I think she will figure it all out in time, and I am hopeful that it will be a positive experience all around. We will take it semester by semester and do what is best for her.

Man, being parents is tough, but what a blessing that we have so many resources available for our children's education. It is also a great reminder that what works for one child may not work for another, and what works at one time for the same child could change as she grows. Pulling Savanna out of public school almost 4 years ago was absolutely the best choice we have ever made for her. I have seen her grow and blossom in so many ways at home. So this Charter school may be what she needs right now to motivate her to the next level, but we will be revisiting this issue continually to know how long it will be needed. We will see how it goes!

November 1, 2011