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Provide an example of an interactive lesson based on a Christian philosophy of education.
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During a Geometry unit on logic and proof, we discuss what a proof is along with the components of the proof – statements and reasons. Then, we talk about how we must agree on the truth of each reason. If we do not agree that the “segment addition theorem” is true, then we cannot use that as a reason in our proof. Then, we extend this logic to arguments we see in the Bible. For example, Moses tries to argue with God that he is not the right person to discuss the release of the Israelites from Egypt. We try to reach the conclusion that God did not agree with Moses’ reasons that accompany his statements and therefore Moses was unable to prove his point.
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One interactive lesson could be done with literature and studying characters from the story. I teach my ELS student character traits appropriate for their age and grade. It would be easy to look at the fruit of the Spirit and to have them compare the traits of character with that list. It could go one step further and have them think about why the character is or isn’t manifesting the fruit of the spirit. They could also do a self reflection on where the Spirit is manifesting fruit in their lives.
I also love to teach certain stories to younger children like Horton Hatches an Egg, Fill My Bucket, The Treasure Tree. All of these make it easy to incorporate biblical principles because of the story.
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One lesson that I teach to elementary age students is The Very Greedy Bee. It is a book by Steve Smallman. First we talk about the word greedy and what students think it means. I then read the book to the students, revisit the word, greedy, and teach the students how to draw a bee with flowers in the background. We use the time as we are drawing to talk about sharing and loving God and loving others.
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One of the interactive lessons we do in our Biology course is a study on diseases and how they affect God’s creation. There is a significant focus on the creation mandate in Genesis and how we can fulfill this mandate in regard to diseases. Because students usually have family members that have been affected by these diseases they take a very proactive approach to this assignment and the course discussion / papers are very interactive and engaging.
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One Interactive activity we do consistently in my course is called “Answers in Genesis”. This is specifically in our Science course where either in the middle or end of the chapter, we take the concepts we’ve been learning (which are already taught from a Biblical worldview) and look at examples in the book of Genesis that supports what we’ve learned. For example, when talking about layers of the Earth we read about the flood and discuss how that would have greatly effected how the different layers settled. Then we do a hands on experiment with water bottles and different types of sediment to support our findings.
