Some Advice for Starting a Group

I wrote some advice about this on my blog, but I thought it may be of help here so I am changing a few things to apply it specifically to starting a Vanguard group in case my experience is of help to some...

A couple of my friends from our homeschool group are moving.  They are looking to start a Vanguard scholar group in their area when they move.  As I think about the most important advice I could give them, I decided to write a blog post about it in case it may be of some use to anyone else thinking of starting a scholar group.

1. To narrow down the focus of your group, prayerfully figure out what is most important for your children to get from their education and focus on those things.  Each lens has many areas of focus and there is more out there than any one person can learn in quite a few lifetimes - choose the most important aspects of each lens and focus on that.  It can be tempting to make Vanguard feel "all-comprehensive" since you have these different subject areas, but it is important to target your resources on what will have the most impact.

For me, this was: 

-A testimony of Jesus Christ, His gospel and His love for them
-Knowledge that He has a work for them to do (core)

-The ability to find true principles in anything they read, see and experience and apply those principles to themselves (core, journeyman and master)

-The skills to take that truth and share it in a way that changes hearts (journeyman)

-A love for all people (historty/geography), and of freedom (leadership academy), beauty (imaginative arts), and order (Eureka)

-The ability to think spiritually (core), from other perspectives (history/geography), creatively (imaginative arts), symbolically and logically (Eureka) 

-The desire to serve

I do know tests and making money is important, but I believe if my children have the abilities and skills listed above, they will be able to quickly learn what they need for any test and be able to provide for their families.  Besides, learning to think logically often involves doing some math...

2. Decide what you want to do at home and what is best done in a group setting. (For example, for us, math is best done at home, but group discussions are a powerful way to learn to find principles and see their evidence in the lives of our peers, fun group games can motivate skills and knowledge, etc). This year I am asking parents for volunteers to teach 3 BONUS classes outside of Vanguard, but after or before it (to save driving time): Writing Structure, Apologia Science and History (chronologically) on a weekly basis. We could do these at home, but these subjects seem to work well in a group and we don't have time to do them justice in during Vanguard. Plus,  I don't want to take away from the more important purposes stated above.

3. Pray for God to send you people who you can serve and who can help you with the vision He inspired you with.

4. Set up an information meeting (look for yahoo groups or other homeschool websites in your area) to tell people your vision and to let them know you are looking for people who like your vision and would like their youth to  participate and would like to help you see it through. Then read great books together and some of the resources on this blog and find true educational principles you want to apply to your group.

5. Learn and focus on true educational principles (and teach them to your students)

Such as the foundational principles on the top tab that incorporate some of the following:

-The Spirit is the real teacher - our job is to invite Him to teach us

-Going to class prepared to discuss invites the Spirit into our hearts and edifies others as we share the truth we learned. (This applies to teachers, but especially to students)

-Inspire as much as possible - students learn best when they choose to do it. Never force.  Sometimes ask for obedience when you see a need that the student does not yet see.

-Writing and speaking open communication channels to others and also to God.

-You can't inspire if you are not living the truth you teach (including a love for learning more than you already know and aspiring to live it)

-Extrinsic rewards (grades, treats, social time, etc) can distract and overpower intrinsic rewards. Use them very sparingly for skill or knowledge acquisition. Never to inspire a love of learning.

-Seek an education for the purpose of blessing others
-The deeper you follow a truth, the more connections you will find.  If you go deep enough, it will connect to all subjects or disciplines of study

-Classics teach you to think. A lot of curriculum focuses on information. In this age of google, youth are right when they feel they are wasting their time regurgitating information.  They must learn to sift through the data to find the nuggets of truth that will benefit them and others. Classics help them learn to do this.

6. Only plan assignments, lessons and activities that support your purpose, don't get distracted with all of the other good purposes out there. The methods listed on the top tab here are only suggestions. For example,  your may find your group's needs are different for the types or amount of ativities. Or maybe the focus of your Eureka lens is to show how science alighns with the word of God and that when it doesn't it's because we don't have all the pieces and another group may focus on symbols/shapes and numbers to teach symbolic thinking.  Decide what your purpose(s) is/are for the year and don't try to cover everything.

7. Be okay with changeL you may have found the perfect system for a semester, but it may need to be changed to fit different needs the next semester.  It is okay, and perhaps for the best, for your group to looks different every year.  Just measure your changes against the true educational principles you know and be okay with changing the application of those principles as you are inspired or see a need.

8. Remember the principle of a council. As you lead a group, choose carefully who you want in your governing board, choose those who are close to the spirit and who live the truth they know. Then counsel with them when you need to make decisions.   Remember Elder Boyd K. Packer's words, "I have a deep, even a sacred, regard for councils; inspiration is evident in them.  If ever another course has been followed, trouble has followed as sure as night follows day. If we are to meet the great challenges...we must respect these principles. The Lord has said, 'I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine."

My favorite books or sites for finding true educational principles a lot of these are listed under the foundational principles tab above)  - just remember to apply them in your own way:
The Scriptures
Teach the Children by Neil Flinders
A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
Norms and Nobility by David B. Hicks
Educating Zion
Increase in Learning and follow up books by Bednar
D&C 88 and 93
Gateway to the Great Books Introduction
The Great Conversation by Hutchins
Teaching Videos
Teacher Training
Arm the Children by Arthur Henry King
Ten Boom Institute

The list may look overwhelming, but the good news is most of the principles are the same in each book :-)  And it is hard to apply more than one principle at a time so just get started and apply the principles as you come across them.  Then the next time you come across one, you will see a way you can apply it even better, and you can just keep progressing in your educational journey :-)

Our youth need a great education. Schools are often (not always) failing them in this. Too often they are training instead of educating our youth. I think a grassroots effort to help these youth get a real education may be the best answer to this dilemma.

I love learning about learning.  If any of you are embarking on the great adventure of building community and helping one another inspire your youth, I am happy to help by sharing my experience if I can.  I don't claim to be an expert, but I do believe there is a need for better education out there and so I am happy to help in this endeavour when possible.  Have joy in your journey!

Eureka encouragement and direction

Hi everyone!

I have heard that the Eureka lens can be one of the more challenging ones to bring in the principle of the month.  I have also heard that it is hard to keep it principle-learning based and not skills/methods-learning based.

So I will try to help :).

Mathematics was originally pursued as a way to find truth: observations of the world around us that taught us about ourselves, patterns and connections found and recorded that improved the individual and the people and communities around them.  To me, it is all about connections and context: anyone can google anything and "learn" anything, given a computer and a class outline.  However, the ability to make connections, give information context, and see how all truth really can come together into a whole is what Eureka is all about.

Here is a packet of my notes from a Math seminar I attended by Oliver DeMille. In it, he outlined a way to study a math classic.

Math class notes

Here is a class outline from a woman, Elizabeth Merrill who set up a "Eureka!" class with a similar intent...to teach her children to think, make connections, and find truth.

Eureka! packet

When I spoke to her about using the packet, she allowed me to, as she has the copyright to it.  However, she told me that her intent with getting a copyright was to keep the knowledge, ideas, and material free to share with others, so that other organizations could not steal the idea and seek to copy it for their own purposes.

(So, just a reminder that, as with all things that I freely share on this website, you may not take ideas from here that are the ideas of others and use them to make a profit for yourself.)

She lists some great classics in her packet.  I have used:
The Phantom Tollbooth
Number Devil
Go Figure!
The Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe
Euclid
The Math Book
My Side of the Mountain
Flatland

These are fabulous books that really make the youth think!   I always use the scriptures to tie it into eternal truths, as well, and have had many spiritual, mind-opening discussions.

Enjoy!

Special thanks to RaNae Housholder for scanning in the documents and sending them to me so I can share :).

Writing Inspirements

I wrote the following for our group and I thought it might be useful for others, so I'm posting it here:

I hope we can help each other find ways to come up with powerful, motivating, meaningful inspirements.  These inspirements are an invitation to the youth to act. As they act on their knowledge, they will be blessed with the spirit and a higher capacity for truth and understanding.  Following is the process I go through when writing inspirements. Feel free to share more insights and ideas as you learn them.

1. Get an overview of the subject: 
F.A.C.E. talks about the importance of whole to part leaning.  It is important that we understand how this subject (history/geograhy, art/imaginative literature, math/science or government/leadership) fits into building of the kingdom of God.
Some good books for this are:
How Should We Then Live?
Gateway to the Great Books introduction
The Noah Plan books: History and Geography for Geo Conquest
          Literature and Stonebridge Art for Imaginative Arts
          Science and Mathematics for Face to Face with Einstein
         The Christian History of the Constitution of the United States (also explains how other             cultures and time periods have contributed to forming a country of freedom) for Leadership Academy

2. Get an overview of the time period:
The above books or
The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bower

3. Find seven points of focus - events, people, creations (by God or by people), or ideas that I want to focus on - one for each month.

4. Find and read a classic and some background that pertains to that event, person, etc.

5. For each focus, as I read, I ask myself what would Heavenly Father want me to take away from this event, person, etc.?   What might he want the youth to take away from it?  What truths about how we ought to live are found here?  The answers to these questions help me find principles and ideas to focus on.

For example, when I was getting ready to teach Confucius, I was inspired by how hard he tried to get into a position of influence, but never could.  People knew he spoke truth, but did not want to give up their power.  He died having never achieved his dream of governing a people in the government he envisioned.  However, we, thousands of years later, know who he is and the truths he spoke.  There were several principles I could have taken from this, but I believe the principle for the month was "citizenship" so I decided to focus on the impact that one person can have when they are honestly seeking and applying truth, even if it seems like the impact is small.  (It is not necessary to always have the principle you teach be related to the principle of the month, but it can help them draw connections if it can be).  

6. Decide what readings to assign for the apprentice, journeyman and master levels.

For example, for Confucius, I might assign a short section from the Analects for the apprentice level as well as some background reading material (like a children's biography on Confucius).  For Journeyman I might assign some reading about China and some of the wars and types of governmental systems that were taking place at the time (maybe from an original source or a good text book that sites and quotes original sources like Bauer's History of the Ancient World).  For Master, I might assign more or all of the Analects.

7. I think of the goals for the inspirements for each level:

For the Apprentice level the goal is to spark the fire within them for learning more.  Projects will not be too time consuming so the youth will feel like they can accomplish them, but they will be worth-while and interesting so that as they do them, they will be inspired to take more time and go into a deeper level of learning about this person, event, etc.

For the Journeyman level the goal is to give them some skills and background, as well as some more curiosity about the focus so that they feel ready, competent and excited to read the master level book.

For the Master level, the goal is to read the ideas and thoughts of great people and to make them their own by applying what they learn to their lives.  As they start to taste the fruits of doing this in their education, they will hunger for it and be willing to work for it in the future.

8. I start to write some inspirements in each level about each reading. For all levels, I try to have an interesting, personal question (Why do you think about...? What is your favorite...? What would you do if...? What choice would you have made if you...?) that accompanies each inspirement as well as an invitation to apply it.

Apprentice level inspirements might include (with the assigned reading for this level) writing a favorite Confucius quote in Calligraphy, acting out or drawing a graphic summary of an event in his life that impacted others, or making a model of how one thing can impact something else - all with a personal question and application.

Example: "Write your favorite Confucius quote(s) in calligraphy and come prepared to share with us why you liked it.  See if you can find a way to apply it to your day."

Journeyman level inspirements might include (along with the assigned reading for this level)labeling China on a map, drawing the weapons that were used at the time of Confucius, drawing a picture of a major landmark in China, writing a report or making a slide show about what they would like to see if they were to visit China, or doing some research about the forbidden city and the events that led to that government after Confucius's death, for example.  All would be accompanied by a personal question and application.

The Master level inspirements could include (along with the assigned reading for this level) such things as writing a poem or composing a musical number that describes how one person can impact the world, giving an oral presentation about an experience they've had with one person changing a life, writing a report about their experience in reading Confucius's words and trying to apply them, a piece of art that represents what they learned from the book, or doing a word study on impact and presenting what they learned. Again, all would have a personal question and application.

9. I look to see if my inspirements are appealing to both genders.  Young men might be more interested in the action, weapons, achievements, for example.  Girls might be more interested in the feelings involved, in the daily life of the people, or the conversations that took place. (See Why Gender Matters)

10. I see if the inspirements appeal to different learning styles.  If I find there is not enough variety, I might add some art, drama, a logic problem, writing, graphic summaries, word studies, projects or other learning methods that appeal to the different youth. (See Multiple Intelligences)

That is an overview of the process as I see it.  It may need to be refined as we learn what works and what does not.  I also think it is better to have just a few well-thought out inspirements than a lot of them just for the sake of variety (I also think sometimes the youth get tired of reading them when there are too many options). I think the order of these steps is important since I have tried writing inspirements when one of my first priorities was incorporating learning styles, and those inspirements were not as effective or purposeful.

I hope this is helpful. I welcome your feedback!

Lens monthly structure proposed outline

What I see is this:

The first week is the leadership "lens" to set forth the topic/theme of the month.  The Leadership area was not so much a lens, as the core principle we are studying through the lenses.  Thus, the final week is merely using the arts and imaginative literature (our book discussion) lens in which to explore that principle. 

So, in other words:
Week 1: introduce the core principle to be studied
Week 2: explore it through a geographical/historical lens
Week 3: explore it through a inductive and deductive lens (math and science)
Week 4: explore it through the arts and imaginative literature lens

As in the past, we have tried to tie in the subjects to a theme to give what we study context.  Obviously, as we study people like Madame Curie, and how she exemplified "work," say, we are going to explore the wonderful things we have usually explored with our mathematicians and scientists.  So, rather than limiting our discussion, it merely confirms the connections to principles that people throughout time have embodied and inspired us with, as we explore their lives and contributions.
***********
further clarification from Karen

Karen: "I read several books including Teach the Children, Norms and Nobility and the Gateway to the Great Books Volume I. Each of these talked about different "schools of thought" that teach the students to think in different ways as they pursue truth... Here is how they were spoken of in the different books:

"Norms and Nobility:
There are 3 “schools of thought” to “form the conscience and style of each student” (with morality weaved through each one) :
1. Math and science
2. Humane letters
3. Arts and languages

"Teach the Children (ch.14):
There are four “lenses” that each child should have to properly view the world. Without these lenses the “student is handicapped in his ability to see things as they are”. Morality is the hub in which these things function to help distinguish between right and wrong
1. Math (for the ability to induce truth through logic and reasoning - inducing truth),
2. Science (for the ability to deduce truth through observation)
3. Social sciences (for the ability to see truth by widening perspective to see norms and values)
4. Arts and language (the ability to judge truth through beauty/value).

"Great Books:
There are 4 colors “representing 4 aspects of ourselves as we use words to communicate what we know, think, feel or intend”
1. Yellow - works of imagination (arts and language)
2. Blue - biographies and histories (humane letters or social studies)
3. Green - mathematics and natural sciences
4. Red - philosophy or theology (morality)

I have a visual:

A color wheel has red, yellow and blue. Each color represents a different "lens" for finding truth. Blue for humanities, yellow for the arts, and red for math and science (different than the green above for purposes of the visual). In the middle of the wheel is a white circle that represents light (the light of Christ, the Holy Ghost, morality). If we only have one color to work with - we can not see the world as clearly. Two colors help us see more clearly and we can create more color through the connections we make. All three colors will enable us see the truth all around us even more beautifully and clearly. However, without the light in the middle - we can't see anything at all.

"Tree example:
We will be weaving a principle through these lenses, but to make the idea more concrete I used a tree as an example of how these schools of thought help us see the world in a "whole" way.
Tree through leadership lens: What did Heavenly Father want us to learn from trees? How are trees used in the scriptures? How can we apply this?
Tree through science/math lens: Fibonacci numbers in different trees, circumference, age of the tree, photosynthesis, etc
Tree through history/geography: Different types of trees in different areas and how they affect the lives of the people there, how they affected the westward expansion...
Tree through arts/imaginative literature lens: Painting a tree - noticing it's colors, light, textures, beauty. Reading The Giving Tree and imagining what the world might look like through a tree's perspective.

"You can see how studying a tree through all these different lenses gives you a "whole" picture of a tree and you appreciate the truth found in it on a deeper level.

"We use a principle-based teaching approach so we take a principle and weave it through these lenses in much the same way. We make connections as we study through the different schools of thought. In addition, the youth pick "inspirements" in different learning styles and will subsequently be able to use different learning styles to see things through different lenses." (Blog post on "Vanguard Mentors"--April 2012).

Some groups are going to separate these "lenses" by week in Vanguard, to prevent the "bell-ringing interruptions"  mentioned in "Dumbing us Down" (but you can include some each week, if that format works better for you):
Week 1: Leadership Academy--principles-introducing the principle of the month which will be weaved through everything we study that month. This is the center of the wheel.

Week 2 - Face to Face With Einstein--math and science:To see the Creator’s hand in the world around us as we understand and apply the natural laws of the earth and the patterns therein; to develop the desire and ability to exercise inductive (i.e. logic) and deductive (i.e. scientific method) reasoning to find truth and to help others to do so; to expose them to great thinkers and concepts in history—to teach them to think --as well as inspire them to greatness as they study the lives of great individuals, their triumphs and struggles.

 Week 3 - Geo-conquest--history and geography: To enlarge our perspective as we view the world through the perspective of others as we study the history and culture of God’s children throughout the world. To develop the desire and ability see patterns in the past, how they relate to the present and how they may relate to the future; To develop a love for all of God’s children and a desire to serve them.

Week 4 - Imaginative Arts--arts and imaginative literature: To see the artistic view of the concept of the month as we study the imagination of man through art and literature. To develop the desire and ability to recognize truth through it’s beauty and feeling.  To desire to create new ways to share ideas to help others find truth.

Example:  I felt that the leadership class would focus on a principle that would hopefully be brought out through the other studies of the month: for instance, the historical biography for the Journeyman class for this month might be George Washington for the month of with the theme of “service-oriented leadership”, and a piece of art depicting the joy of service might be studied, or an artist that dedicated themselves to service (like Dorothea Lange’s photograph of “The Migrant Mother” from the depression), along with the art medium of photography for the subject of the journeyman class, or a painting of George Washington.  The book, "Princess Academy" could be discussed (or "The Lost Prince"...excellent!) as a way to further examine the value of service-oriented leadership.

It is more challenging to incorporate mathematicians that help mirror the theme, but it is good for the mentor to be aware of possible connection...i.e.  Thomas Edison as someone to study in the month where "the value of work" is discussed.

Racquetball and the Liberal Arts

The following is a personal parable about "why a liberal arts education":

For Valentine's Day, my honey and I tried out a free membership to Gold's Gym for one reason: racquetball. Quinn is quite the natural with racquetball as he is with other sports, and so the two of us together is somewhat laughable. The first game, I scored a miraculous 5 as he got back into the groove, and then the next game was more normal with a 21:1 finish, followed by a game of 21:0. (There was actually a game that was 21:13 or 14, but that is definitely the anomaly :)...)

I am okay with this. It is really quite impressive to watch Quinn's z-serve zap back and forth faster than I can respond to, and sometimes I actually return his serves (very rewarding, I assure you :)...) He even let me in on the "secret" of how to know what kind of serve he is doing to do based upon where he bounces the ball before he serves it...as if my brain is going to work fast enough to see where he bounces it, translate that to a serve, and then make my old-mom body respond fast enough to actually return it?! Funny :). As I told him, it is all I can do to hit the ball when I can, let alone plan where it is going to go when I hit it, or try to figure out where it is going to end up after bouncing all over.

Towards the end of our second day playing racquetball, part of me kind of gave up. I mean, my overall score was maybe in the twenties (thinking optimistically), and he was in the 100's--literally :). What was the point, I thought briefly. Is he really having fun? Am I really getting better?

Well, last night, playing basketball with my women, I was in a situation where I was dribbling up to half court with one woman in hot pursuit on the side, and another fixed at the half-court side line, ready to trap me. As I raced towards the second one and the one on my left closed in, I saw in my mind in a flash what I needed to do, stopped quickly, zipped the basketball across to the left, cut across behind the woman who had been on my side, and dashed left, leaving the two of them to crash together.

I don't know if I described it well or not, but the point is, I was actually able to see a situation ahead of time, and act quickly to respond to it--just like I had been practicing in that racquetball game! I am very much a thinker and a planner, hesitant to quick action, weighing out every possibility in my brain before acting: good in some situations, not good in racquetball :). Yet, my time on the racquetball court helped train my brain to think and act in a pressure situation.

So--relevance--as I am going through my notes from previous seminars, etc, I came across this quote from an article written by Robert Harris, "On the Purpose of a Liberal Arts Education" (my copy is from March 14, 1991). It is under the heading: "The more you learn, the more you can learn" (which goes against my old belief that my brain would just fill up and run out of room--not logical, but real to me :).)

"Good learning habits can be transferred from one subject to another. When a basketball player lifts weights or plays handball in preparation for basketball, no one asks, 'What good is weightlifting or handball for a basketball player?' because it is clear that these exercises build the muscles, reflexes and coordination that can be transferred to basketball--building them perhaps better than endless hours of basketball practice would. the same is true of the mind. Exercise in various areas builds brainpower for whatever endeavor you plan to pursue."

So is that why Yale was content with "Celtic Archaelogy" as a credit towards fulfilling my generals for graduation? :) [We learned about the "evolution" of the safety pin from the dawn of time, and I wondered how that was going to help in my overall education--now I know :)!]

(For full article, see: Robert Harris: "On the purpose of a liberal arts education" at http://www.virtualsalt.com/libarted.htm)

It just showed me how we cannot underestimate the value of learning certain skills and core leadership principles... and what they can do for the rest of our education!