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Our Great Adventure
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Like many grandparents, we received a call one day from our son, Marcus. He had an interesting suggestion: wouldn't it be nice if we moved from Iowa to Northern Virginia to be closer to our family in Vienna? How thoughtful! How tempting! Then, doubts set in. Isn’t it more expensive in Virginia than in Iowa? How far is that again? We’ve lived here sixty-eight years and have deep roots. Will we find a good church? Nonetheless, we took that leap of faith (no pain, no gain), and the rest, as they say, is history.
We are now very settled and quite content with our new home. In retrospect, our connection with Lorien Wood School in Vienna, Virginia, has been a large and meaningful part of our life story here. Our volunteering experiences have embellished our lives with wonderful opportunities, meaningful relationships, and rewarding instructional experiences. You see, we are teachers. That’s who we are. We are also volunteers. That’s also who we are. This is how we have spent more than fifty years of our lives, and it has been time well spent.
Here is what we are currently discovering about all of that: it is hard to take the volunteer out of the volunteer, especially when it feels like Lorien Wood is the place we want to be on Fridays. I (Steve) was given the privilege of working with Form 3 (4th & 5th Grade). I have most recently been working with Mrs. Grizzard and Ms. Kime, whom I fondly refer to as "my teachers." That is because, yes, they have taught me a thing or two along the way. It is also because we are like a team, helping, encouraging, and blessing each other! Together, we do the same for each individual student!
They might say that my role is leading a "Reading Seminar." I tend to say that I am just "doing my thing." This means that I love to interact with the students. I try to develop them in various ways such as their critical thinking skills, spirituality, focusing on others, and finding pleasure in reading, just to name a few.
In class, we read books that connect with their Social Studies units. Every single book over the two-year rotation is outstanding. We find many important things to stop and focus on as we learn to read slowly and thoughtfully. For example, as we read Banner in the Sky, Rudi finds himself alone and stuck high up on a mountain. He is basically unprepared to spend the night, and as the sky darkens, he becomes fearful. His thoughts turn to his Father in heaven and to his earthly father who died on this same mountain, perhaps even near this same location. His thoughts turn to The Lord’s Prayer, and he begins to recite it out loud.
We stop reading to let the students share their thoughts and feelings. Together, we take a good look at the Lord’s Prayer. I suggest to them that this is a gift which Jesus has given to each one of us. It is the prayer that we can pray when we don’t know what to pray. It is the prayer that teaches us how to pray.
We proceed to watch the Andrea Bocelli version of this prayer set to music, and they are enthralled by it. These young ones are so open to spiritual things, and I love these times of stoking wonder and awe in their learning! We can’t wait to continue reading to find out what our next discovery will be.
We draw from a variety of reading materials. Even the most simple can sometimes yield useful and profound lessons.
"Think! Think and wonder. Wonder and think. How much water can fifty-five elephants drink?"
You may have guessed that the author is Dr. Seuss and the book is Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!. In class, we discuss this wonderful skill that we can use just about all of the time! What is the author’s message to us? Wonder and then think. We talk about "wonder" in terms of proposing questions (I wonder why ___?), and then we talk about thinking in terms of considering many and varied possible answers to the questions which we have generated. (Maybe it’s because ____.). At this point, it is interesting and helpful to turn to neighbors and share ideas with each other. Wonder and think about the world around you. God’s world. Lorien Wood School effectively nurtures a Biblical worldview.
Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
This mental exercise leads us to an increase in our knowledge base and a better understanding of God’s wonderful creation. It is so heartwarming to actually see the results of a Lorien Wood experience in these young lives. They demonstrate the good thinking skills that have become a part of who they are. I love hearing their many and varied ideas, often equally valid. Marlena and I have been very warmly accepted by the Lorien Wood community. They have given us both the amazing and wonderful opportunity to combine our previously separated teaching experiences, religious and secular, into one very fulfilling teaching position.
The Quest for Beauty: Nurturing the Soul Through Classical Learning
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"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." - Socrates
At Lorien Wood, a Christian school in Northern Virginia, we approach teaching through an integral lens grounded in our distinctives: Teaching grounded in classical study and joyful discovery, nurturing the uniqueness of each child, and cultivating character based on a biblical worldview. While each of these elements is integral to one another, woven together like a tapestry, we want to highlight the integral role classical learning plays in equipping our students to engage in the joy of lifelong learning.
Classical Education at Lorien Wood
The pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness is at the heart of our curriculum. In Latin, these essential truths Verum, Bonum, and Pulchrum form the foundation of all that we do in the classroom. Through the classical models of inquiry-based learning, Socratic seminars, and lectures, we cultivate a love of learning and foster intellectual growth in our students. Form 2’s unit on the “Quest for Beauty: Creative Heroes” is a wonderful illustration of how beauty, truth, and goodness are pursued in the classroom.
Inquiry-based Learning in the Lower Grades
On this Quest for Beauty, we invite 2nd and 3rd graders to ponder the following essential questions: 1) What is beauty? 2) How has the Fall marred our understanding of and ability to capture beauty? 3) Who is the source of all beauty? 4) Why should we pursue beauty? 5) What does color teach us about God and His creation? These essential questions invite students to think more deeply as they study how beauty is revealed through literature, music, and art.
Journeying with Shakespeare and Crafting Poetry
The study of the life and works of William Shakespeare is a foundational element of classical study. Shakespeare dedicated his life’s work to finding and portraying all that is true and beautiful in this life through the written word. In his plays, we also see things which are not beautiful and not true, a result of how sin has marred our understanding of beauty. We read aloud a children’s abridged version of his tragedy Hamlet, noticing the flaws and mistakes characters experience in this play in light of following the Lord (pride, greed, and guilt). We consider Shakespearian words and poetry, and students create their own poems based on iambic pentameter. The life and plays of Shakespeare inspire us in our own quest for beauty, as we seek to discover and share this excellent aspect of God’s character in ways that honor Him.
Harmonizing with Bach
In our journey through history, we encounter Johann Sebastian Bach, whose musical compositions reflect the divine beauty of God's creation. Through a read-aloud of Anna Harwell Celenza's "Bach's Goldberg Variations," students gain insight into Bach's artistic genius and his unwavering commitment to glorifying God through his music. We discover how Bach faithfully reflected God’s beauty and served others with his gifts in musical composition – on every single one of his musical compositions, Bach proclaimed: Soli Deo Gloria – Glory to God alone!
Form 2 students also embark on a study of jazz in their "Quest for Beauty." They learn yardstick dancing, where two or more students have to keep a yardstick balanced between them to highlight that in jazz, someone might be improvising creatively or doing something unexpected, but it still connects and beautifies the song as a whole.
Exploring Beauty through Art
Transitioning to the realm of modern art, students explore the works of famous modern artists including Mark Rothko, an American painter known for his abstract expressionist style. Rothko's use of color and form challenges us to consider the emotional and spiritual dimensions of beauty, inviting us to explore the depths of our own perceptions and experiences.
The culmination of this unit is a field trip to the National Gallery of Art’s East wing to tour their collection of modern and contemporary art. Students eagerly observe the live paintings they have been studying and participate in art-making activities designed to prompt deeper reflection on both the art and the artists themselves.
Through classical learning and immersive experiences, we seek to empower our students to seek beauty in all its forms and to cultivate a deep appreciation for the wonders of God's creation. "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” proclaims Psalm 150 (one of our memory work verses for this unit). At Lorien Wood School, a private school in Vienna, we celebrate the enduring power of these timeless truths–verum, bonum, pulchrum– to nourish the mind, body, and spirit.
Explore the integral curriculum at Lorien Wood!