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The Gift of How to LearnBy Jessica Hulcy

Early in homeschooling, I read the biography of American physicist RobertOppenheimer, the Director of the Manhattan Project, who was responsible forassembling and leading the team that developed and detonated the first atomic

bomb. True, Oppenheimer was a genius, but it was his immersion method oflearning that struck me. At age 5 his grandfather gave him a collection of rocks, andhe quickly learned to lisp all the difficult geological specimen names. After severalobsessions with architecture, poetry, and painting, Oppenheimer, at age 11,returned to his rocks and began to correspond with the New York Mineralogical Clubvia his newfound typing ability.

So passionately and professionally did Oppenheimer pursue his correspondence thatClub members assumed Oppenheimer was an adult. When they invited him topresent a paper to the Club, they were astounded to meet a 12-year-old boy, whomthey made an honorarymember. Throughout his life, whether at Harvard,Cambridge, Caltech, or Los Alamos, Oppenheimer immersedhimself in subjects:

chemistry, physics, foreign languages, sailing, and Sanskrit.

Units Utilize ImmersionUnits provide an incredible vehicle for immersion learning la Oppenheimer. A unitstheme approach uses multiple disciplines to study one topic.

By the time homeschooled students reach high school, most parents are obsessedwith three Cwords: covering, content,and credits. Give us a list of requiredsubjects, study, pass the test, and move on. No time for fluff or fun activitiesjustthe three Rs: reading, writing, and research. However, fun activities arepart of theimmersion process and make serious, heavyweight research palpable.

Let me give you an example: The study of Roman history is more than Roman

history. It is making Roman mosaics and togas for art, studying Roman gods andgoddesses for mythology, subtracting big roman numerals with L and Cin them formath, acting out ShakespearesJulius Caesarfor literature and drama, and having aRoman feast complete with mockstuffed dormice and vomitorium for history. Funactivities make reading VirgilsAeneidandwriting a paper on the construction anduses of Roman arches in the Coliseum, aqueducts, and barrel vaults doable.

In addition to writing reports about Caesar, students should research theologicalquestions that the Roman Christians struggled with. Church Father Tertullian coinedthe word Trinity, yet the word appears nowhere in Scripture. Using Scripture,students should be challenged to support their belief in the Trinity. Likewise, a singleletter ibrought on the divisive debate between homoiousious meaning like or

similar to and homoousious meaning the same or identical to. High schoolersshould know about early Church heresies that denied the preexistence of Christ,thereby denying His divinity. Arian heretics said Christ was similar to God, but notthe same as God, because God had created Christ just as He had created the world,the animals, and man.

A read of historical novel Quo Vadis?by Nobel Prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz is notonly a read of the 1895 bestseller but is a read of one of the most widely read novelsin the world during the thirty-five years following its publication. Against the back

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drop of Nero, gladiators, and Christians being slaughtered by wild beasts is anoutspoken pro-Christian message, as we see lustful love change to sacrificial love.1

The CD Player of How to Learn

Like every homeschool parent, I was overwhelmed by how I would teach every pieceof information to my children before college . . . until I realized I could NOTteach my

children all the information they would need in life and furthermore, I did NOT HAVETO teach them everything they needed.

Information and its accessibility are increasing exponentially, and with theavailability of the Internet and iPhones, almost everyone has information at theirfingertips. The key is teaching children how to learn, meaning how to applyinformation rather than merely collect it and regurgitate it. The goal is applicationthat turns information collecting into information using. Mere information is easilyforgotten, but if parents give students the CD player of how to learn, the studentcan plug in any new subject/CD and apply newfound information to any task.

When my fourth son, Jared, began working for his older brother, a home builder,home building was down, so Jared initiated a remodeling division for Jasons

company. One night Jared asked his dad how to install a water heater and thencommented: Never mind. Ill look it up on the Internet. When Wade was curious asto why Jared needed to know, Jared said, I am installing one tomorrow for acustomer. What?! Obviously, Jared had the CD player of How to Learn firmly fixedin place, and it gave him an incredible confidence.

Immerse your high schoolers in topics so that they can develop their own How toLearn CD player. Acquisition of such a tool will serve them throughout lifeplus givethem confidence to boot!

Endnote:1. All activities are taken from KONOS History of the World Medieval: Year 2for

High Schoolby Jessica Hulcy and Sarah Rose.

Jessica Hulcy, co-author ofKONOS Curriculum, the first curriculum written forhomeschool, is an educator, author, and formerly popular national homeschool

speaker prior to her near-fatal wreck in 2009. A graduate of the University of Texas,mom to four grown sons, and Grandear to grandchildren, Jessica lives with her

husband Wade on acreage in Texas. Recently Jessica and Wade started the ultimate

online help for homeschooling moms calledHomeschool Mentor. Visitwww.homeschoolmentor.com andwww.konos.com.

Copyright 2012, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originallyappeared in the November 2012 issue ofThe Old Schoolhouse Magazine, thefamily education magazine. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or

read it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com to read themagazine on your mobile devices.

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