So Much More Than Stimulating and Exciting:
Brain and Heart-Firing Learning!

by Jeanne Bradley

I hope you will get to see at least a little bit of what I feel is the best way to teach children. I have taught my six children this way for 16 years, and it not only provides for enthusiastic younger children and incredibly dedicated scholars, but most importantly helps reveal the great souls or courageous beings as we like to call them—ones who are passionate about life and have the courage to fulfill their missions.

Very simply, some educators, including Susan Kovalik, studied modern brain research, as it applies to learning, and implemented certain principles in the classroom to create exciting learning environments, where children become enthusiastic, self-directed seekers-of-truth.

The first year I home schooled was good. It was fun, but I don’t remember particulars about our studies. The second year I prepared a yearlong learning adventure for my children using brain-compatable elements, etc. I still remember the first magical day—as I watched my children’s excitement about the things they were learning and discovering, I cried. I could hardly believe that children could be so motivated to learn with such enthusiasm so quickly.

That year was the most exciting time of my children’s lives up to that point. My two oldest children were so inspired to learn, that at the ages of 6 and 8 years they were writing plays, researching and presenting living history presentations, writing papers on the founding fathers from encyclopedic sources, staying up late and getting up early so they could learn and experience and live the things they learned. The best part about this was that their own genuine enthusiasm led them to this—nothing was forced, and most things they did were their own ideas. I would never have asked a 6-year-old to study, much less open an encyclopedia to learn about Samuel Adams, and write a ten page report on him complete with drawings! But my daughter did this and much more.

What we do can hardly be called school—it truly is an adventure that my children live. It is a path to greatness. The things we study every year have many levels that include spiritual depth. My purpose is not just to educate my children, but also to nurture great souls who seek to fulfill their missions. I have never found a better way to do that than the path I am on. My grown children talk passionately about the education they acquired as children. They want to duplicate for their future children the magical learning adventures they experienced in our home.

Each year we set out on another adventure, and one great side effect is the education I receive at the same time. We don’t go our separate ways, but learn about the same subjects at various levels that create a mutually-inspiring learning atmosphere. The things I am studying this year I have never really learned up to this point, but because it’s part of our year adventure, I’m right there with them. This isn’t half-hearted study, but genuine passion and enthusiasm. Nothing is arbitrary. It all has great import because I will be sharing much of it with my children—I’m actually studying in order to teach, which is the best way to really learn something as you know! I don’t know a better way to inspire a parent to want to gain his or her own education. My husband, Hal, made a comment to me years ago that the reason I loved to home school so much was because I was getting a great education!

One of our jobs as our children's teachers is to present what Karen Kindrick says is a smorgasbord for our children to intellectually feast upon. How could they learn to love Kepler, Vivaldi or Dumas if I don’t share with them? The year we studied music history I learned about music modes. After taking private and university piano lessons for about 10 years, I could hardly believe that I had missed something so basic. My study provides me with something to give my children. Clearly our education is a must if we are to be a rich resource for our children.

We live a nine-month or so school year with a break in the summer. I begin research for the next school year before summer, and continue through summer while the children usually continue living the things they learned the previous year. A common remark heard throughout the year is, “can we please study this again next year?” The answer is usually “no,” but I love hearing that they’re having such a grand time.

Each school year begins with the unveiling—what we will study that year (all subjects are incorporated into our study, but everything is connected in a very brain-friendly manner). The anticipation for the first day of school is thick—the children can’t wait to see what the year will entail. I choose, through much contemplation and prayer, etc., what will be best for us to learn that year. I don’t plan one day or week at a time, but plan at least a basic outline of the year ahead, so I always know which direction we should be taking. (I usually collaborate with Karen Kindrick—collaboration is another brain-compatible element).

Because I do the choosing, then the researching, I really get excited about the upcoming year. A misconception about learning is that you have to be passionate about a subject before you will enjoy studying it. On the contrary, study brings passion. Naturally, my enthusiasm spills over to the children. We, the adults, keep everything a secret though so that when we have our opening day in the fall, our children can hardly wait to see what the new year will be.

My children mark time in their lives by saying things like, “Remember during the pioneer year when we…” (“the music year…” “the knight year…” “the art year…”—except the names of the years are ‘kid-grabbers’ like —”Blazing the Trail to Zion,” “Knights of the Periodic Table,” “Pirates of the CourageousBein’s,” “The Unfinished Symphony,” “L’Academie de Beaux Arts,” etc.) They remember so much of their lives because the brain seeks patterns like this to catalog, retrieve, understand, and find depth in bits of information.

The connections that are made throughout the year are amazing. (Renaissance brains are ones that can make sense of the seemingly unconnected.) My children are so used to seeing connections in everything that they more easily see metaphor, symbols, and other layers of meaning. This is something that some people today have a difficult time doing—reading depth in a poem for example. My friend told me that when her children took college entrance exams, one of the skills the college tested for was the ability to see depth and metaphor in stories, etc. If your children read scriptures, this is a crucial ability. We incorporate layers and depth into the year plan, and so they seem to naturally pick up on this and it is second-nature to them now to see several layers in symbols, etc.

When we finished our second year of home schooling, my 6-year-old daughter made a point to tell me that she couldn’t remember the things she learned during the first home school year—just a hodge podge of subjects—but that she remembered everything she learned during our brain-compatible year, and she felt that she would always remember it. I wrote that down and never forgot that even though I believed that what we had done was powerful, my little daughter could sense the power too.

As I write this, it almost sounds too good to be true. Employing these brain-compatible elements doesn’t magically solve home school problems—I have had plenty of challenging days in our school. But employing brain-compatible elements creates a certain cohesiveness that brings such a wonderful excitement about learning into our home.

I only teach two young daughters who I teach at home now, and this has been another magical year for us. My girls are begging me to study the things we learned this year. They really want to duplicate the wonderful experiences we had this year. They also want to delve deeper and learn more about each component of the year.

I also have two older sons whose study is overseen by their dad in our home. Last November my husband decided to take our four school children to a theme park in Southern California. When we presented this to our children they all said they would rather stay home. Learning at home was more exciting to them than going to a theme park! That's the kind of enthusiasm for life and learning that I have strived to instill in my children.