In the media today, there is a lot of talk about the disparities of funding in education. Educational “experts” who feed at the taxpayer troughs insist that if America would simply spend more money on education, then we would begin to see results in our schools. As homeschoolers, we may be influenced by this government and liberal media sponsored misinformation. Just how important is money to our children’s education? Do we need a big budget to buy materials for our homeschool? Can families on a very restricted budget provide an adequate education for their children at home?
One of the most knowledgeable people in our nation today on how to teach children is Dr. Ruth Beechick. Mrs. Beechick has been involved in child education since the 1940’s, and has written numerous books and articles on education from a Biblical perspective. During the course of producing The Homeschool Advantage Radio Talk Show, we were privileged to conduct a private interview with Mrs. Beechick on the subject of “Education on a Tight Budget.” For your enjoyment and instruction, here are some of the highlights of that interview.
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Bret: Ruth, how important is the curriculum that a parent chooses in educating young children, say ages 4 to 8? Do we need to spend a lot of money on curriculum to educate our young children?
Ruth: I like that question, and it’s a very significant one for today. My first quick answer would be -- It’s not important at all! Especially when you say from ages 4 to 8, curriculum is really very much overrated. If we could think back to before graded schools, somewhere in the mid 1800’s, we began getting larger schools and dividing the children into grades; so then curriculum came along to make the job of the classroom teacher easier. So all of this was developed for classroom use. And now we have to unlearn that, because (in Homeschooling) you just get right down to the person to person teaching; I like to call it “mind to mind.” That’s what’s important -- the relationship between the parent and the child. The love of learning, which all children seem to be born with; your job mainly is to keep that alive, and not turn it off, like our classrooms seem to do so often. Kids will spend their whole lives learning if we just don’t turn it off by getting too formalized with them...
Bret: So Ruth, it sounds to me like you are sort of telling us that you can actually simply teach your children while going through the normal activities of the day?
Ruth: Well, yes, maybe I’d have to modify that a little bit. For instance, if we’re talking about spelling, one of the activities of the day has to be some writing. Language books are worthless in my mind -- many of them, the kinds I used to see in school. In language, you try to find real things to write about, like writing letters to Grandmother, or writing reports on something we learned about in Science. You do have to make it look a little bit like school, just in order to get some writing done. Maybe they can write up something they did, so they can show it to their father when he comes home from work. In other words, you do have to sort of work at making situations for the writing... When you do get the child to writing, then you work on the spelling, and the grammar, and the handwriting, and all those details, in the context of their real writing -- not by filling out blanks in workbooks.
Bret: Some of the parents that I have spoken to and talked about designing their own curriculum, or choosing educational materials that would be best suited for their particular children -- there is some intimidation. Like, “What if I miss something? Am I going to cover everything?”
Ruth: Yes! Now that’s a very common question; I hear it all the time, too. And it’s just a big myth that the schools have this all in the textbooks. In other words, to say that if a child did faithfully go through all the textbooks, now he’s well educated -- that is not true! And to say that if he doesn’t go through the textbooks, he’s going to miss something important; again, that’s not true. Because if you’ve not stuck to those boring textbooks -- if the child is not stuck with filling out blanks and working through textbooks all his school time, then he has a lot more time for really interesting reading. And by this wide reading that I see -- many homeschoolers just love to read. And they are reading more than any school child has time to read. And so he’s getting a lot more information, and they end up scoring a lot higher in the tests. There is no “mystery,” let’s say, in those textbooks. There’s no secret that they have which takes them through all the necessary things, and if they don’t go through that particular line of things, they’re missing out -- that’s a myth! That’s just a myth that our society imposes on the non-teachers.
Bret: Well Ruth, you have written a set of materials here for the grades kindergarten through third grade, that my wife is very fond of using. They are “A Strong Start in Language,” “An Easy Start in Arithmetic,” and “A Home Start in Reading,” which I believe you refer to as your 3R’s package...
Ruth: Yes, reading, writing, and arithmetic, of course, are the basics. They are the skills subjects, as opposed to what we call the content subjects...When the children are in the primary grades, the skills are the main thing...In these three books, I try to give the basics of what is expected through the primary grades...The reading manual, for instance, tells what to do before the child reads...and then how to start off with the very beginning of reading...and thousands of homeschoolers have taught their children to read just by following the ideas in this little manual...They didn’t have to spend a lot of money on expensive phonics sets and reading books, because they could just use library books and books they have around the house, because anything will work for reading practice. In fact, when you get beyond the very beginning stages of reading, I think -- in fact, I even have evidence -- that following reading textbooks actually slows down the progress of learning to read.
Bret: Well, Ruth, if a parent says, “OK, so I’m able to get through the primary grades. Now my child is getting a little older!” You have written another book, “You Can Teach Your Child Successfully.” I believe you advertise that this book is for the grades 4-8, which carries us right on from the primary grades...
Ruth: Yes, and a lot of those self-teaching (concepts from the 3R’s set,) the natural methods, the real books -- a lot of that works even better at these grades, because now the children know how to read. The parent doesn’t have to take so much time with the child as he does with primary children who are learning to read...This book, again, goes through the three R’s -- it tells what to do in reading, writing, and arithmetic; then...other subjects, like history, social studies, science and health, and then a little on music and art, and then Bible...People use it kind of as a guideline...there’s no secret reason why they have to study a certain topic at a certain grade. But in this big, thick book I have tried to give the parents as much information and help as I can on each of the subjects, so that they can continue to go on by using “real” books.
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In the eight years that Jacqueline and I have been homeschooling and helping others to homeschool, we have noticed a trend. A lot of parents begin homeschooling by using some kind of preplanned, or “canned” curriculum. However, it is nearly impossible to find such a curriculum that is truly exciting and enjoyable for each of their children; every child is different, and has different needs and interests. So they find themselves struggling through “school” every day; fighting a continual battle to try to get their children to “do their school work,” with the children resisting and complaining. Many parents eventually give up and quit, sending their children back to school. Fortunately, others finally abandon the old public school classroom mentality, and begin to use resources, methods, and activities that make learning interesting and enjoyable.
Only you can determine what’s best for your children. If you and your children are not enjoying learning together, then do something else! Ruth Beechick’s materials are one good, inexpensive source of ideas on how to do it. Here is a listing of some of these materials:
“Language and Thinking for Young Children.” An oral language manual for parents with children not yet ready to learn to read. Purchase price: $9.00
“The Three R’s.” A set of three manuals and a wall chart for teaching reading (phonics), arithmetic, and language skills. Purchase price: $12.00
“You Can Teach Your Child Succesfully.” A training manual for parents of children grades 4-8. Shows you how to teach without using a “canned” curriculum, by using materials readily available. Purchase price: $14.00.
“Adam and His Kin.” A narrative history of man from Adam to Abraham. Interesting enough to read aloud together as a family. Provides possible answers to some of the mysteries of Biblical accounts of early history. Purchase price: $9.00.
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By Bret Smith of The Homeschool Advantage. Bret is the host of The Homeschool Advantage Radio Talk Show, and conducts seminars dealing with homeschooling and family business. For information on scheduling Bret to speak for your conference or other event, contact The Homeschool Advantage at 678-570-2195.