"Our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
~St. Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions
~St. Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions
Rest
An ordered education must include rest. God calls us to rest. He commands us to rest. God created an order for work and rest. He created the day for our work and the night for rest. He created six days for work and sabbath for rest.
Rest is a good and joyful thing. It is also very necessary. We must actually choose to rest, however. We must purposefully put it into our days, for our own sake and for the sake of our children. Because, if we do not, we most likely will not rest enough in this busy, busy world.
I often feel like we just do not have enough time. I worry that we will never get it all done. I feel like we are just too busy going from one thing to the next, with hardly a moment's peace. I know that I say “hurry up” to my children too often.
I do not want my children to feel rushed and hurried through their days. I do not want them to think that learning is only about rushing through and getting it done. I want them to know that learning can be restful. Learning can be a time to slow down and take it all in. Learning should be about contemplating, pondering, and delighting in knowledge . Yes, we must all get things done. But we cannot neglect times of rest. We must give our children time every day for rest.
I learned from Dr. Christopher Perrin of Classical Academic Press that restful learning, or schole in Greek, is the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness in a slow and contemplative way. It is taking the time to savor, relish, linger, delight in, and ponder God’s truth, beauty, and goodness without distraction.
This kind of education teaches our children what matters the most. This is the kind of ordered education I want to give my children.
Rest is a good and joyful thing. It is also very necessary. We must actually choose to rest, however. We must purposefully put it into our days, for our own sake and for the sake of our children. Because, if we do not, we most likely will not rest enough in this busy, busy world.
I often feel like we just do not have enough time. I worry that we will never get it all done. I feel like we are just too busy going from one thing to the next, with hardly a moment's peace. I know that I say “hurry up” to my children too often.
I do not want my children to feel rushed and hurried through their days. I do not want them to think that learning is only about rushing through and getting it done. I want them to know that learning can be restful. Learning can be a time to slow down and take it all in. Learning should be about contemplating, pondering, and delighting in knowledge . Yes, we must all get things done. But we cannot neglect times of rest. We must give our children time every day for rest.
I learned from Dr. Christopher Perrin of Classical Academic Press that restful learning, or schole in Greek, is the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness in a slow and contemplative way. It is taking the time to savor, relish, linger, delight in, and ponder God’s truth, beauty, and goodness without distraction.
This kind of education teaches our children what matters the most. This is the kind of ordered education I want to give my children.
Order Your days with rest
- Set aside times each day for rest. (preferably the same times each day)
- Order your day with times of work followed by times of rest. Flow from one to the other, back and forth.
- Do not fill all of your day with things to do. Intentionally leave some time open.
- Give your children free time every day. Time to choose their own pursuits. We find afternoons work well in our home.
- Give your children time outdoors every day.
- Try to do less outside the home. Try to stay home more often.
- Give your children more time at home to imagine, create, ponder, and think.
order your lessons with rest
How are we ever going to truly love something if we just rush through it?
If we want our children to truly love something, then, we must slow down and really take it all in. Take a family trip, for example. If you drive your family all the way to the Grand Canyon and just look at it out your car windows as you continue to drive by without stopping, can you really appreciate it? Can you really love it? A better idea would be to stop the car and get out. Walk to the edge and gaze at the magnificence for a while. Take a closer look at the vegetation. Stop to sit on a rock and watch the hawk soaring overhead, listen to him screech as he passes by. Crouch down over the dusty path and watch the scorpion scuttle along. Stand still long enough to see a rattlesnake slither among the cacti. Maybe even take a long hike around the canyon or through it. Then, you might begin to truly appreciate and love the Grand Canyon.
We should think about what kind of message we send our children with the way we teach our lessons. Are we rushing through subjects just to get them done and then quickly moving on the the next? Or, are we taking the time to show our children that learning each subject is a pleasure and thing to slow down and savor? The way we teach a lesson is just as important as what we are teaching. The way we teach a lesson can have a huge impact on the ordering of our children's affections. If we want our children to know that what we are teaching is worth taking our time on, that it is worth digging in deep, then we need to order our lessons in a way that conveys that. We need to intentionally put rest into our lessons.
How do we do this? We can follow a time-tested form or order, a liturgy, that will show our children learning is not just about "getting it done". It is also a time for slowing down, digging in deep, and savoring God's truth, beauty, and goodness.
In Latin, this liturgy is lectio, meditatio, compositio, or read, meditate, compose.
1. Lectio (read)- gather, collect
2. Meditatio (meditate)- digest, pray, contemplate, discuss
3. Compositio (compose)- produce, create
This can be explained using a metaphor for honey making. To make honey, a bee must first gather the nectar. Then, it must digest the nectar. Finally, the bee can produce honey.
If we follow this form or order during our lessons, we are teaching our children that learning is about first gathering or collecting ideas and information. Then, digesting the ideas and information through thinking deeply and carefully. Finally, we can produce, create, or compose something with the ideas and information.
If I want my children to learn that Shakespeare is beautiful and a pleasurable experience; if I want them to understand that Shakespeare is worth our time and effort to study and know, then I should do more than just quickly read them summaries of his plays for 5 minutes once in a while. Instead, I should take the time to read the entire plays of Macbeth, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. After reading the plays we should take the time to ask questions and discuss them. Then, we should go see a Shakespeare play and possibly get involved in the production of one as well.
Ideas for the Lectio step of the lesson:
Ideas for the Meditatio step of the lesson:
Ideas for the Compositio Step of the lesson:
A variation on the Lectio, Meditatio, Compositio liturgy is Lectio Divini, The Divine Reading. It is a traditional Bendedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation, and prayer. It is intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word.
Intueri, Considerare, Contemplari, Imitare is another liturgy variation. This is very much the natural way humans learn many things. It reminds me of when I hear one of my children saying something, could be good, could be not so good, and I know exactly where it came from because it is exactly what I say and how I say it. This liturgy is like "looking to the masters". To learn something new like how to play a musical instrument or how to become a better artist, we can look to Beethoven's Fur Elise or a painting by Leonardo daVinci. After gazing, examining, and thinking deeply, students can imitate, copy, or mimic the master and masterpiece. This liturgy would work well for teaching writing and public speaking too. Students can look to a great writer's work and a great speaker's speech to learn. Another example of this liturgy in learning is in handwriting lessons. Students must look to a proper model and copy it.
If we want our children to truly love something, then, we must slow down and really take it all in. Take a family trip, for example. If you drive your family all the way to the Grand Canyon and just look at it out your car windows as you continue to drive by without stopping, can you really appreciate it? Can you really love it? A better idea would be to stop the car and get out. Walk to the edge and gaze at the magnificence for a while. Take a closer look at the vegetation. Stop to sit on a rock and watch the hawk soaring overhead, listen to him screech as he passes by. Crouch down over the dusty path and watch the scorpion scuttle along. Stand still long enough to see a rattlesnake slither among the cacti. Maybe even take a long hike around the canyon or through it. Then, you might begin to truly appreciate and love the Grand Canyon.
We should think about what kind of message we send our children with the way we teach our lessons. Are we rushing through subjects just to get them done and then quickly moving on the the next? Or, are we taking the time to show our children that learning each subject is a pleasure and thing to slow down and savor? The way we teach a lesson is just as important as what we are teaching. The way we teach a lesson can have a huge impact on the ordering of our children's affections. If we want our children to know that what we are teaching is worth taking our time on, that it is worth digging in deep, then we need to order our lessons in a way that conveys that. We need to intentionally put rest into our lessons.
How do we do this? We can follow a time-tested form or order, a liturgy, that will show our children learning is not just about "getting it done". It is also a time for slowing down, digging in deep, and savoring God's truth, beauty, and goodness.
In Latin, this liturgy is lectio, meditatio, compositio, or read, meditate, compose.
1. Lectio (read)- gather, collect
2. Meditatio (meditate)- digest, pray, contemplate, discuss
3. Compositio (compose)- produce, create
This can be explained using a metaphor for honey making. To make honey, a bee must first gather the nectar. Then, it must digest the nectar. Finally, the bee can produce honey.
If we follow this form or order during our lessons, we are teaching our children that learning is about first gathering or collecting ideas and information. Then, digesting the ideas and information through thinking deeply and carefully. Finally, we can produce, create, or compose something with the ideas and information.
If I want my children to learn that Shakespeare is beautiful and a pleasurable experience; if I want them to understand that Shakespeare is worth our time and effort to study and know, then I should do more than just quickly read them summaries of his plays for 5 minutes once in a while. Instead, I should take the time to read the entire plays of Macbeth, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. After reading the plays we should take the time to ask questions and discuss them. Then, we should go see a Shakespeare play and possibly get involved in the production of one as well.
Ideas for the Lectio step of the lesson:
- Read.
- Collect information from multiple sources.
- Write ideas or information in one place.
- Use a commonplace book.
Ideas for the Meditatio step of the lesson:
- Narrate back what was read.
- Think deeply.
- Discuss.
- Pray.
- Ask questions.
- What inspires you the most?
- What resonates with you the most?
- What had you never thought of before?
- What got you thinking?
Ideas for the Compositio Step of the lesson:
- Free write
- Write a poem
- Draw
- Paint
- Act it out
A variation on the Lectio, Meditatio, Compositio liturgy is Lectio Divini, The Divine Reading. It is a traditional Bendedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation, and prayer. It is intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word.
- Lectio- read, slow reading of a passage of scripture
- Meditatio- meditate, listening to the inner message of scripture, not seeking information or motivation, not immediate seeking of meaning, but waiting for the Holy Spirit to illuminate the mind as you ponder
- Oratio- pray, loving conversation with God
- Contemplatio- contemplate, silent prayer the expresses love for God
Intueri, Considerare, Contemplari, Imitare is another liturgy variation. This is very much the natural way humans learn many things. It reminds me of when I hear one of my children saying something, could be good, could be not so good, and I know exactly where it came from because it is exactly what I say and how I say it. This liturgy is like "looking to the masters". To learn something new like how to play a musical instrument or how to become a better artist, we can look to Beethoven's Fur Elise or a painting by Leonardo daVinci. After gazing, examining, and thinking deeply, students can imitate, copy, or mimic the master and masterpiece. This liturgy would work well for teaching writing and public speaking too. Students can look to a great writer's work and a great speaker's speech to learn. Another example of this liturgy in learning is in handwriting lessons. Students must look to a proper model and copy it.
- Intueri- gaze, stare
- Considerare- consider closely, examine, inspect
- Contimplari- contemplate, think deeply
- Imitare- imitate, follow, copy, mimic
KEEP IT SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE, AND JOYFUL!
See the specifics on how we plan for restful learning.
Here is how we do our lessons each day. This includes resources and curriculum choices by subject.
Click the "Learning Plan By Subject" button.
Here is how we do our lessons each day. This includes resources and curriculum choices by subject.
Click the "Learning Plan By Subject" button.
