Wisdom ~ Understanding ~ Knowledge

The Foundation of Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™

Education is made up of 3 major areas: philosophy, methodology, and curriculum. These may be big sounding words but they are very simple to understand. Your philosophy of education just means what you believe about education. Your methodology means the methods (ways) the student is taught. Your curriculum is the actual things that are taught - the content.

Many home educators begin by choosing curriculum (the books and resources), then add their methodology (how they plan to get the info from the books into the children), and usually don't give any thought to their philosophy. In pre-packaged programs, you are generally buying the publisher's curricula (the resources that contain the content they have chosen), their methodology (the way they want it taught, their lesson plans), and their philosophy (based on what they believe about education, though they may not tell you what it is upfront - or ever, nor may you think you care).

Philosophy

Even though you may not have given any thought to your philosophy, the writer of the curriculum has. It is the foundation of their program, and if you are using their program, you are providing an education based on their philosophy. This may not be a horrendous thing, if you have the same philosophy as the author. But if you don't, you will be following the path toward his goals, and not your own.

Part of our philosophy on home education is that every family and child is unique and has a unique God-given purpose. Therefore, each family and child needs a unique, individualized education. In other words, the beauty of family home education is that we can design the educational path, tailoring it to our unique family needs and goals. When we do that, we need to be as wise as professional education designers, beginning with our philosophy of education.

We base the 3 areas of education upon the 3 Biblical Aspects of Learning: Wisdom, Understanding, & Knowledge. From Proverbs 24:3-4, we can see that Wisdom is the big picture - the foundation and structure of the house. One definition of Wisdom is seeing all of Life from God's perspective. This correlates with our philosophy; what we believe about education - what our goals should be. Wisdom is knowing why we do what we do. Understanding is the walls, the framework we operate within. This correlates to our methodology. This is Understanding how to best relate the teaching to the learner. Knowledge is the decorations in the rooms, the little details that make it complete. This correlates with our curriculum. Knowledge is the details, the facts, the information.

So in designing our home ed path, we begin with Wisdom; looking for what God's perspective of education is. This forms our Christian philosophy of education. Our philosophy is called Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™. It is based upon Isaiah 54:13, Deut. 6:1-9, Proverbs 22:6, and 1 Cor. 11:1.

Methodology

Based upon that philosophy, we seek out methods that bring Understanding. Our methodology is called Freedom & Simplicity™. It is made up of 7 Pillars of Excellence:

• Biblical Principles
• Discipleship
• Real Resources
• Copybooks
• Narrations
• Essays
• & Journaling

that are implemented in Wisdom, Understanding, & Knowledge, through R Road to Biblical Wisdom, our processes of learning:

• Receive
• Record
• Ruminate
• Reason
• Respond
• Release
• - Revisit

Curriculum

We apply those tools of Freedom & Simplicity™ to study

Wisdom's 7 Pillars of Real Life Learning

• Bible
• Communications
• Governments
• HisStory
• Creation: Design & Order
• Stewardship
• Dominion Skills

These make up our curriculum.

More about L.E.D.

In addition to the articles on our Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™ pages, our Lifestyle Education through Discipleship™ blog provides many more articles, and continual additions, on all 3 aspects of L.E.D. - our philosophy, methodology, and curriculum, all categorized and available by email. Our L.E.D. Resources & Recommendations pages recommend resources for studying Wisdom's 7 Pillars.  And Me and My House musings, our monthly email newsletter, keeps you up to date with what's new in L.E.D and Me and My House in general.

L.E.D.

Home

Write Us

L.E.D. Resources and
Recommendations