April Mentor Meeting - Changes for next year

 Our April mentor meeting centered on the vision for Vanguard next year.  I asked parents to read a speech by Terry Warner titled "The Education of the Whole Soul" to remind us of the vision of the Lord's way of educating.  I wrote my thoughts about this in my personal blog:

I recently read a speech that made me think about two very important differences in the way the world educates and the way God would have us learn.

He shared many important principles, but he mentioned two main ways that the 2 types of education differ.  The first is that the Lord is interested in educating the whole soul while the world is simply interested in the mind.  Elder Bednar's Increase in Learning is a great guide on how to do this.  Put simply - it comes down to acting on the principles that we learn so they become part of our character,and we become better because of what we learn.  Principles are everywhere and in everything that we learn if we know how to find them.  They don't teach you that in school, though.  At school we get taught stuff we need to know (to pass a test and get to college).  God would have us learn how to better live because of the principles we discover in the world around us.

The second way worldly education differs from God's is that the world is competitive as we try to get ahead.  Instead, a crucial way of educating our whole being is by lifting others to where we are.  We have all experience learning a new truth and wanting to share it with everyone because of how great it makes us feel.  As we do this we grow in truth, our knowledge expands, our character develops and we become truly educated.

"If we are living as the gospel requires, when we ourselves are learning, we are unwilling to leave others behind. An essential part of our growth comes in helping others grow. And then those we help in turn help others—among them, in many instances, our own posterity. This draws us close to one another, even across generations, and we become united, a Zion people. Fundamentally, education in the kingdom of God is different because it operates on the Zion principle of love."

[Vanguard] is built on these principles.  It is amazing to see them repeated over and over as I read words of the prophets, Christian books on education, and as I receive inspiration on teaching my family and those around me.  Recently I have noticed them in the new youth programs of my church.  A book I am reading right now mentions that the home, school and church are what build the character of our youth and our nation. Unfortunately, the modern schools are secular and are failing and the homes are often places of distraction and entertainment instead of houses of learning.

I guess that is why I spend my time on [Vanguard].  I want this education to be available to all, and I am sad when I see so much potential going to waste because we are neglecting the education of our youth. I am amazed at the insights and spiritual power of the youth I mentor as they are learning with the spirit of God present in their studies and discussions.  I am encouraged by their power and as I learn about similar schools and homes that are dedicated to this education of the soul.

At the meeting, parents shared great insights about implementing this in our homes (such as asking our children to teach one another). We then discussed some of the changes we would like to implement next year to better accomplish this vision.  This is the summary I emailed the parents who could not be there:

Core Class Divided

In order to accommodate the growing number of youth coming next year without sacrificing the benefits of a smaller group, we decided to split the core class (journeyman and master would still be combined). We decided to do this by gender for several reasons - such as more depth in their discussion about things that matter to them, less "showing-off", and the ability to address gender specific topics of interest.  This would make the time it takes to open Vanguard a bit shorter so we will shorten the Vanguard core class by 30 minutes and lengthen the journeyman class by 30 minutes.

Journeyman First

The benefits of holding the Journeyman class before the core class were discussed.  Mentors wanted to have more depth to the Journeyman class and thought that moving it to the morning might help.  Sometimes after lunch, the youth start to glaze over a bit and we want them to have the ability to get into the depth that the journeyman class requires.  Parents brought up the idea that this would help the moms who stay home be able to have their morning routine still with their kids since Vanguard Core would not start until 12:30.  They sibling groups would then meet in the afternoon instead of the morning.  We could do a small activity or rotating schedule for the children who have parents teaching journeyman classes in the mornings.

Parent Information Sheet

I am attaching an information sheet to learn what parents are interested in or willing to help with next year.  Please fill it out and email it back or print it out and get it to me by Wednesday [I will put this form under "helpful documents" on the sidebar]

Master Class
For master class we will be reading a classic or two per month (depending on length) and using the Master Class as a benchmark and help in reaching their study goals.  For example, if the assigned book that month is Jane Eyre, we might assign the first half the first week, the second half the second week, a writing assignment the 3rd week, and an oral presentation the 4th week.  At the end of the month we would have a master class discussion with their writings and presentations.  As incentive during the month to stay on track, the Master Class activity would be available to those who have accomplished their assignment that week even if the book is not discussed in length at that time.  Speech and Writing skills will also be mentored as part of the Master Class.

Mentor and Parent Training

We would like all mentors, and all parents who are able, to learn the Principle Approach to teaching.  We will be going through the nine lessons this summer.  We will meet on Wednesdays at the park to discuss our readings and writings while the kids play.  We will be doing one lesson per week.  Learning this approach is an incredible tool to help us "educate the soul" and not just the mind in our teaching endeavors with our families and other who we mentor.  Parents will need two books for the course: The Noah Plan Self-Directed Study and Teaching and Learning America's Christian History.  You do not need to buy the CD with the first book, but it will be helpful in your studies.  The course suggest a couple of other books, but we can make copies of those chapters since they are not used much throughout the course.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  This is hard to communicate clearly through email, but I hoped it would give you a basic idea of the plans.

 I am excited for next year as more of the youth are catching the vision and we as parents keep leaning how to implement things in a way that better serves it's purpose.  What an exciting endeavor!