I am currently doing Vanguard with just my two "scholar phasers." It
is both interesting and challenging, but I think it fits right in with
the model suggested for a superb leadership education in "TJEd for
Teens":
--Small class size :)
-- Individual mentoring
--Mission-tailored classes and subjects
--Personally driven
The
line that stuck out to me this time in reviewing it with my youth was
that "leadership comes more naturally to those who have had a chief hand
in their own education." (pg 3)
My daughter is 15 turning 16 and my son is 14 1/2, just for context...
We
just looked again through the list of 100 books in the "TJEd for
Teens," as my daughter and I decided we both want to finish that list as
part of our scholar phase. However, there were some books we hadn't
finished yet, so we outlined which books we wanted to finish up from the
13 and 14 year old list, which will take us through the end of the
year. We paired up the books with the monthly themes I have in my house
(they coincide with the themes suggested for a school year study in
Vanguard, with more during the summer). Voila!
So, here's the game plan for the month:
Each week we have what I have called "Core and Crust"
(see article about the Core and Crust of Leadership, link on this
blog). We rotate who leads this segment and it includes the following:
1-Devotional
2-Lead
a discussion on a chapter (or two) of a Leadership skill book (the ones
we have picked to do this year are "TJEd for Teens" and "7 Habits of
Highly Effective Teens"; we will move onto "One-Minute Manager" after
that if we run out of weeks). I always encourage my kids to make this a
fun experience to teach, including object lessons, media, and
games/activities
3-Review poem for the month, as well as a
poem from the "Best Loved Poems of the American People," as recommended
on the "TJEd for Teens" list
4-Latin class (always by me)
5-Synergy of the Mind challenge that (ideally) goes along with the topic of discussion
-Week 1: Leadership-Article/Scripture and Biography
-Week
2: Geo-conquest...we each do a "prezi" or powerpoint focusing on a
particular continent that month. We then come up with questions for our
Geo-challenge game the fourth week. We also each prepare a cultural
dish from that continent for dinner that night. (Our teams for the
Geo-challenge game change up each month, with Dad and my 11-year old
also participating.)
-Week 3: Apprentice/Journeyman-level Book Discussion
-Week 4: Geo-Challenge and then Master class following with Master book discussion and project sharing.
We
have science on Tuesdays with Dad, with science and math classics
integrated into our reading schedule, history on Thursdays covering the
time period of the year, and art on Fridays that complement the theme
for the month, so our lenses are not all incorporated on one day to make
it a little simpler with me being the only mentor and lots of little
kids underfoot.
Hopefully we will have more outlines of
how groups incorporate these concepts to give people ideas on how to
run their own group, with their own, unique situation.
For
instance, our "Core and Crust" classes include poetry and Latin, both
things that my kids really like. We also chose not to attack the
Leadership skill books in one book discussion, as it is harder for all
of us to grasp the varied concepts in them by reading and discussing
them all at once. Others might have different needs for their scholars
or want to focus on different areas during their own "Core and Crust"
topics.
Thinking back, it was more of a Master class, structured to include the monthly themes, "core class" elements, and geographical/historical monthly focus.
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