Teaching the Basics in High School

by

Debbie W. Wilson

When I student taught in the late seventies, the cry was, “Back to the Basics,” meaning reading, writing, and arithmetic with a little history, science, and spelling thrown in.

When we began home schooling in the early eighties we concentrated on the basics and never have regretted it. During the high school years, though we continued variants of our basic subjects, we gave them names such as algebra II, American literature, and composition. We have added courses in music appreciation, modern history, Latin, biology, and others, but even in these courses we still teach the basics .

Catching Up. The high school years give us an opportunity to strengthen areas in which our children might be weak before they go out on their own. For most of us this will be our last chance to influence our children’s education in a comprehensive way. Most will go into a job, on to some post-secondary education, or marry. Though we may still give some encouragement and advice, the role for us will change.

During these years, we can encourage our children to finish those grade-school and junior-high textbooks that they had trouble in. If our son does not intend to go into medicine, we can use a junior-high life science book for biology rather than an advanced high-school biology textbook, such as Bob Jones University’s or A Beka’s. Vocabulary words can be chosen from the spelling book he has not yet reached. We can emphasize basic math if he has no interest or aptitude for upper level math.

Our children require a thorough basic education. In a hearing before the Maine Department of Education a few years ago, one homeschooling father testified movingly that he was a foreman on his road crew because he could read better than the others. He doubted that he would advance much farther because he could not spell in spite of graduating from the public schools. He determined that his children would have a better education than he had had.

The basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic are vital during the high-school years for they will be used throughout his life.

Reading. Probably the most important academic skill, reading provided the reason for the first schools in this country. The colonists of Massachusetts required that schools be started in towns of a certain size so that children could learn how to read the Bible and foil the devices of that “old deluder Satan.”

Reading involves two activities: decoding, or recognizing what word the letters form, and comprehending, or understanding what the words mean. When we teach phonics, we build the foundation for decoding, but as the years go by we encounter words that do not follow all the rules, so we teach vocabulary.

The teaching of vocabulary includes both word recognition and comprehension. Each subject area, from industrial arts to calculus, has vocabulary that is unique to it as well as words that will be used more broadly. In literature we speak of theme, metaphor, characterization, and rhyme scheme. Science deals with chemical reactions, mitosis, equilibrium, and ecology. Students need to understand equations, budgets, quadrants, and infinity in math. History gives us terms like renaissance, communism, manifest destiny, and balance of powers. Home economics includes sauté, French provincial, and shirring in its vocabulary.

Because of the specialization, we need to pay attention to teaching vocabulary. We may do it by requiring a child to look up and write out all of the bold-faced words in his assignment. If he has a good vocabulary, we may tell him he will be responsible to know the words listed at the end of the chapter on his test, leaving him the responsibility of looking up the ones he is uncertain of. We may go through a chapter before we assign it, pronouncing each new word and discussing the concept.

General vocabulary expansion will help also. We can have him keep a notebook of ten new words he encounters in his reading each week. He might be required to list the word history, pronunciation, and meaning and use it in a sentence.

Some vocabulary texts teach the meanings of root words, prefixes, and suffixes. I like Vocabulary from Classical Roots by Norma Fifer and Nancy Flowers

in spite of some political correctness, but there are other good texts too.

For a less structured approach you could use the Reader’s Digest’s “It Pays to Enrich Your Word Power.”

Because we frequently read aloud as a family in the evenings, we keep a dictionary handy to check on word pronunciations, meanings, and etymologies. We have learned a great deal this way. Also our sons have developed a good sense of good writing from hearing it read aloud.

Reading comprehension challenges many children . They may pronounce a word but not understand it in the context, not recognize its emotional impact, or irony. For this reason we need to teach our children to analyze what they read.

We begin analyzing a written piece by asking the who, what, and where questions about it. Who is this about? What does this assignment tell us about Sir Francis Bacon?

Where is the Bengal tiger’s natural habitat? When do you use the distance equals rate times time equation?

These questions are usually quite clear. When we begin asking the “how” and “why” of the article, we can run into more problems for these are often not explained as simply as the earlier questions. They often involve more than one factor. Sometimes the author assumes that the reader will know more about what is being written than he does so the author leaves out some of the more basic information.

Questions, such as “How does nuclear fission occur?” or “Why do Canada geese fly in a v-formation when migrating?” show if students really understand what they are reading.

Especially if our children, even high schoolers, find a subject difficult or discouraging, reading the assignment together aloud allows you to spot check the reading, to explain difficulties, and also to encourage them.

When our older son was taking physics, he reached a spot that stopped him for several days. Neither my husband nor I had studied this particular area so we could not explain it. Daniel and I read through that segment of the chapter together. Then I asked him questions about it. “What does this paragraph mean? Why do they do this in the example? Explain why they worked this example the way they did.”

After a while Daniel said, “I get it. So that’s why they did it that way.”

He explained it to me. Quite frankly, it meant nothing to me, but I smiled and encouraged him. He finished that chapter and went on.

To help a child comprehend, discuss comparisons and contrasts. “The author says that Anne Bradstreet precedes Emily Dickinson in style. Looking at the poetry of both that you have read how are they alike?” Sometimes, talking the answer over gives the child an idea of what you are looking for as he thinks with you.

Many children do not recognize a writer’s tone or worldview. Take two articles written about the same event or subject but with distinctly different viewpoints, perhaps a Christian textbook and a secular one on evolution or a liberal and a conservative article on global warming.

Look at the words the two authors use to describe a speaker or a subject. Is he solid or is he fat? Is he dedicated to his subject or is he bigoted? Is the explanation complicated or is it windy?

Our words are full of emotion. Does the author use emotional description to defeat an argument that he cannot refute? Does he attack a speaker rather than discuss that speaker’s ideas? For instance, though I condemn Jane Fonda’s treason in Viet Nam years ago, I should not bring that up if I am disagreeing with her position on the Atlanta Braves’ tomahawk chop. I would be unfairly using an emotion-laden subject to turn my readers against the speaker rather than refuting her arguments on the tomahawk chop.

Sometimes writers use irony to express the opposite of what they really mean. Read Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” written in 1729, together. In this essay Swift suggests that the starving Irish raise crops of children to be eaten during the famines in Ireland. However, what Swift is really doing is pointing out the devastating British policy of foreign landlords who had no stake in nor concern for the lives of the Irish people who lived on their lands. He never intends for the Irish to commit cannibalism. This clergyman used irony and satire to try to change the system.

Writing. By the time your child reaches high school, he probably will know the basics of writing: correct spelling, basic grammar, sentences, and paragraphs. The high school years allow a student to develop his style, to expand his knowledge of the way sentences go together effectively, and to put together persuasive and logical papers. Especially if he intends to go to college, he should learn to write a research paper and an essay.

Reading widely develops good writing skills, because a child encounters various styles, sentence constructions, and presentations of ideas. Reading aloud trains a young person’s ear to hear good writing , allowing him to rely on this developed skill rather than constantly checking a grammar textbook when he writes.

Those of us who grew up reading the Dick and Jane series recognize that the child who writes only in simple sentences will never be an effective writer. While reading numerous authors, a child learns that varying sentence length and style adds to interest. Too many simple sentences become monotonous. Too many complex sentences bog us down.

If you want to have your child learn to write an essay, have him read some formal essays, such as Addison and Swift wrote and essays in magazines and newspapers which are informal. Newspaper commentaries cover all kinds of subjects, so it should not be too difficult to find one on something your child will find interesting. Perhaps the commentator will discuss stricter standards for licensing young drivers. Have your child read the editorial and write a letter in support or in opposition to the commentator’s.

Every citizen should learn how to express his opinion in a letter to the editor or a letter to his congressman. Perhaps he will never use it, but my father, who barely graduated from high school in the fifties, has written more letters to government officials than he could have imagined at sixteen. Expressing our opinions is our right as American citizens; being able to is our heritage as educated citizens; and doing it can be part of our testimony as Christian citizens.

Study the letters you find persuasive to point out to your child the writer’s technique. How does he bring the emotional and logical elements of his letter together?

I recommend using a textbook to learn to write a research paper. We used The Lively Art of Writing by Lucille Vaughan Payne. She teaches the difference between opinions and theses, how to structure an essay, to use transitional devices between paragraphs, and the correct form for footnotes. Other textbooks, such as the Bob Jones series do the same thing.

Though children who do not plan to go to college may never need to write a research paper, they will need to fill out resumes and job applications. They should be able to express themselves simply and clearly in writing. Clear writing reveals clear thinking and may mean a supervisor’s position and pay instead of a common laborer’s.

Short answer questions on tests and at the end of reading assignments can help your student learn to write clearly. As you look at his answers, point out their clear answers from the ones that ramble or those that add extraneous information.

Also assign him on occasion writing assignments in subject areas that he enjoys. “Explain how to change oil.” “Write a paragraph describing how you can tell when a loaf of bread is done.” These assignments give him experience in limiting his explanation to the matter at hand and in writing in a way that can teach others.

Arithmetic. The third basic in the academic curriculum is math. We use math every day regardless of our job-- we check the time, set the temperature, estimate how much our groceries will cost, and figure gas mileage. We balance checkbooks, pay bills, compare prices, double recipes, determine how much water to add to the antifreeze. We often do not think of these as math, but of life. Yet, they are math problems that we encounter daily without even going to a job.

Whether our child is a brain surgeon or a maintenance worker, a homemaker or a lawyer, he will use these math skills in daily living. Though he may not use geometry on the job, he will need to balance his checkbook. Have him help you with yours so that he understands what is involved.

Include him in discussions about insurance when he wants to get a license or drive the family car. How much will the insurance go up? How much can he contribute toward that increase?

Something I am still trying to learn is budgeting, but Larry Burkett offers materials to help your children and adults learn to budget.

If your husband or some family members or friends use upper level math on their jobs, give your child a chance to see algebra or trigonometry in action. As a builder my husband uses math constantly to square up a building, to saw a board the correct length, to decide how much insulation is needed or what size heating system is required in a building of a certain size with so much insulation. Working with him has given our boys a very practical view of math.

Life Skills. Though reading, writing, and arithmetic may be the basics of the academic curriculum, young people also need to learn a variety of practical skills during their high school years to prepare them for adulthood. Most of the problems and challenges they will face will not require the three R’s but experience and wisdom found outside a chemistry book or a literature paper.

Wisdom comes from God and His Word. “For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6)

During these high school years, we need to build on the foundational Bible knowledge that we have laid during the elementary school years so that our children will know how to seek the Lord’s wisdom. We should continue to discuss problems and concerns with them and Biblical solutions. If we have not already done it, we should teach them how to use Bible concordances , commentaries, dictionaries, and atlases. We should compare items we read or hear about in the news to the Bible.

For instance, a few years ago one of the popular words in the media to describe a politician’s stance was “pragmatism”, “a practical approach to solving problems,” according to the New Merriam-Webster Dictionary. However, the way it was popularly used was to encourage compromise on important issues, such as abortion, foreign affairs, and gun control. Would the reporters of our day have considered Saul’s sparing of the best of the flocks and King Agag disobedience to God or pragmatism? When is compromise acceptable? Is it ever appropriate to compromise on what God has clearly commanded?

Another area that should be taught during the high school years is family living. What does the Bible say about choosing a mate, marriage, the relationship between husband and wife, and children? Few decisions exceed these in importance; yet, few children are prepared scripturally to make wise choices in these areas. We need only look at the divorce rate among professing Christians to recognize how important this wisdom is.

Practical wisdom should also be taught. If your son plans to go to college, does he know how to wash his clothes or press his shirt? Could your daughter change her tire if she had to?

The more practical skills our children have the more self-sufficient they can be. Baking bread, growing a garden, and making curtains can save our daughter’s family money during the hard times they will face. The more our sons know about household and vehicle repairs the less money they will have to expend on carpenters, plumbers, electricians, mechanics, painters, and so on. Also, if they should face layoffs for a while in their field, they may be able to fill in while they look for another job. Life is not always easy.

Not only can the high school years be survived by home schoolers, they can be the best years if we build on the basics. We can be certain that our children have the wisdom, foundation, and practical skills they need to face the future that the Lord opens before them.

(Copyright 1997, Debbie W. Wilson)