This year Everyday Scholé is taking an in-depth, practical look at
the eight principles of classical education. This month we are looking
specifically at festina lente or make
haste slowly. You can find my introductory post about combining classical principles
and Charlotte Mason here.
One of the biggest worries and concerns I see
voiced in the homeschool community is some aspect of “is my child behind.”
Usually the parent begins their question by citing something a child of similar
age or grade level is doing in the public schools or in another homeschool
family. If you have had this worry, then this principle of classical education
is for you.
Festina
lente is a Latin phrase that is translated “make
haste slowly.” The classic example of this principle is Aesop’s tale of The Tortoise
and the Hare in which the natural winner of the race should be the hare but due
to his over confidence and start and stop approach comes in last because the
tortoise keeps plodding along, however slowly, but at a steady pace. A child
who is mastering the material, however slowly, will have an advantage over a child
who is pushed to run ahead based on the faulty idea that they are “behind.”
Two
Ways to Turn Your Child into the Hare
1) Running
ahead when the foundation has not been properly laid. When we are so
worried about keeping on pace to meet some arbitrary standard {that’s an entire
other soapbox I could wax poetically about!}, it is very easy to push our
children on in their work when they don’t have the basics they need to move
ahead. For example, Grace has a difficult time memorizing items in general. I
never made a huge issue out of this even when it came to math facts. I listened
to other homeschoolers that encouraged me she would eventually learn them
without too much work on either of us. Nope, didn’t happen. It came back to
slow her down when it was time for long division because you really need to
have those multiplication facts down to work a division problem. Long division
is difficult enough for most children without having to throw in the added
impediment of trying to remember your multiplication facts. Needless to say, we
had to put math on hold for a bit and concentrate on fact practice. If I hadn’t
let her run ahead and made sure she had a solid foundation, we would not have
needed to stop and back track.
2) Jumping
over skills. This idea is similar to the first, but in this case you’ve
given the foundation material and now you try to jump ahead in skill since you
know the foundation is there. Recently Sophia finished her cursive workbook so,
of course, I was certain she was ready to begin writing in cursive. The very
next time she had a sentence of copywork to do, I told her to use her newly
learned skill and do it in cursive. She made it through one word before she
tossed her pencil on the table with tears in her eyes and informed me that she
couldn’t do it. At which point, I was mentally kicking myself because it became
obvious to me that I was turning her into a hare! Even though she knew the
individual letter formation (foundational), she had not practiced enough at
joining the letters to be successful at what I was asking her to do. I was
jumping straight to mastery, which is the goal of festina lente, without
taking the steps needed to insure an easy transition.
Applying
Festina Lente to Two Common Homeschool
Philosophies
When I started this series last month, I wanted
to show how these seven classical education philosophies dovetail nicely with
Charlotte Mason and other common homeschool approaches with which I’m familiar.
We’ve all seen the fallout of the inability to apply festina lente in public schools due to the model on which public
schools work. Teachers, despite how much they wish to, cannot put instruction
on pause until Johnny and Susie have mastered the basics. They are teaching a
class and must move on as needed to get the kids ready for the test {another
soapbox which I could rant for days about!}. I bring up public schools because festina lente is definitely a classical
education philosophy that is just a good education practice in general, so let’s
see how you can use it in a non-classical homeschool.
Festina
Lente and Charlotte Mason
One of the things I find most inspiring about
Charlotte Mason’s schools is the students were grouped into levels, not grades,
that were ability based instead of birthday based, like the public school system
with which we are familiar. Usually within one level (or forms as CM referred
to them), you would have multiple ages, and you entered that level based upon
what you had mastered previously. In other words, you didn’t just jump into a
level you were not adequately prepared for. I so wish that the American system
would take this approach, and I wish more homeschoolers would view their child’s
education this way as well. I’m not saying you should never talk about what
grade your child would be in if they were in the public school, sometimes our
children need to know those things for outside activities. Instead be aware
that educationally if the cover of the math textbook says 5 on it, but your
child is struggling with most of the lessons or some of the basic concepts
presented in the book, you should NOT press on just because their birth date would
place them in the grade 5 math book. Take a page from Charlotte Mason and put
in place the principle of festina lente,
work toward mastery not toward a grade level.
Festina
Lente and a Traditional Homeschool
While I’m not a traditional homeschooler, I was
a teacher in my former life so I know the system of using textbooks and workbooks
as your main method of instruction for all subjects. The number one area in
which I know textbooks and workbooks give a false sense of security is that if
my child finishes the textbook/workbook for the year, then they have mastered
the material contained within. Um….no. It means they have finished a
textbook/workbook over the course of your homeschool year. To attain mastery of
the subject, you might have more work to do. Think back to your school days.
Usually you came relatively close to finishing a textbook over a year. How much
of your high school Spanish do you feel that you mastered? Do you still know a
few phrases here and there or could you say that you mastered the language? Did
completing two or three years of work on a foreign language bring you to
mastery? For everyone I’ve ever met that answer is no. Don’t fall into the trap
of believing completion of curriculum equals proficiency. There is nothing wrong
on stopping or backing up if you child needs more help, but there is a problem
if you push ahead because it’s time for the next textbook. Also, there is nothing wrong with skipping entire chapters or half the exercises in the book if your child has already shown they have mastered the material. Focus on your child
really learning the material, mastering it, instead of finishing it and calling
that mastery.
My
Disclaimer
Children and their abilities are different from
one child to next. The amount of time it takes one child to master something
will be very different with how long it takes another child to master the same
skill. There is nothing wrong with your child, or you, if it does take longer
than what it takes other children of the same age. Turning them into a hare
because you are worried about the grade level on a book or curriculum is not the
correct approach. Make haste slowly. Teach them at their pace making sure they
master each step, and they will, in the long run, be better off and feel more
successful.
On the other hand if you have a child who is
gifted that doesn’t mean they will immediately master everything they come
across. Be sure to watch for pockets of learning where they have not mastered
the material or skills they have jumped over. Sometimes gifted children need
the festina lente principle applied the most because they do seem to be a
rabbit and speed through things, but the ability to learn quickly does not
always equal mastery.
Check out what Tonia and Sara had to say about festina lente and how they implement
this classical principle in their homeschool.
Do you struggle with festina lente in your homeschool as opposed to running ahead?
Chelli