BJU Press Blog

Jenna

Dates to Remember in July

by

Even though I’m not overly fond of summer, July has always been one of my favorite months—my birthday being in July probably has something to do with it. Besides the obvious holiday in July, there are many other notable events to remember.

Portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee, officer of the Confederate Army

July 1, 1863, began the three-day battle of Gettysburg, a desperate attempt by General Robert E. Lee to relieve the strain on his own Confederate troops by invading the North. The battle became the turning point of the Civil War, in favor of the Union. I’ve always wanted to visit Gettysburg because being there and seeing it would help make history—which is not my strongest subject—come alive for me. Visiting the park could make a great field trip. Learn more about the events leading up to Gettysburg in American Republic.

members of the Continental Congress signing the Declaration of Independence

July 8, 1776, four days after the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, was the first public reading of the Declaration. The National Archives and Records Administration displays a complete transcript of the Declaration on its website. Reenacting that day from 240 years ago by reading the document to your children would be a great way to celebrate our nation’s independence. Or you could imagine with your children what it would have been like to live through those events.

4-01-A, Night sky with the moon.

July 16 to July 20th, 1969, was the historic space journey of Apollo 11. There are many activities you can do with your children to celebrate Moon Day, but I’ve always wondered what it would be like to stand where Neil Armstrong stood and contemplate the vastness and the silence of God’s creation.

book cover of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

July 28, 1866, marks the birth of Beatrix Potter, English author and illustrator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter wrote and illustrated more than twenty children’s books. Interestingly, a previously lost Beatrix Potter book entitled The Tale of Kitty in Boots was discovered in 2013 and will be published this coming September.

Also on July 28, in 1858, William Herschel—a British magistrate in India—began using people’s fingerprints to authenticate documents. His use of fingerprints eventually opened the door for the use of fingerprints in solving crimes. For a fun hands-on experiment with fingerprints, try this activity!

On July 31, 1790, Samuel Hopkins was issued the first patent in the United States. Hopkins had developed a process for creating potash, an ingredient in fertilizer. Since Hopkins’s patent, more than 6 million patents have been issued—that probably includes several kitchen sinks!

What other event would you add to this list? Comment and let us know what else is going on in July!

Are You Asking the Right Questions?

by

questions1

Much of your child’s success in learning depends on the questions you ask him and how you ask them. Research shows undisputed benefits from asking questions to develop reading comprehension. These questions help children of all ages put what they’re learning into a context that they can discuss, and those who answer comprehension questions learn more subject matter than their peers who do not. Asking your child questions also helps him discover his own ideas. It also gives him an opportunity to explore his creativity and to sharpen critical-thinking skills.

But like most homeschooling parents, you already know the need to ask questions to ensure that your child is learning. In order to teach effectively, you also need to know that you’re asking the right kind of questions. Consider these steps to improving your questioning method.

1. Develop your child’s thinking skills by asking questions that go beyond content.

  • Use questions that require comparing, evaluating, and discerning. (Why? What if? What is the evidence? What are the alternatives? What are the implications? What do you think is right?)

2. Give your child time to answer.

  • Don’t expect an immediate response. Five or six seconds of silence is not much time to allow for a well-developed response.
  • Be willing to accept an unconventional answer. Don’t dismiss an answer simply because it didn’t use the terms in the way that you wanted. Your child may be thinking along the right lines but maybe unable to express the answer in the correct terms. Take the time to help your child restate his answer.

3. Help your child think toward the right answers.

  • If your child doesn’t understand the question or answers incorrectly, ask simpler questions that help build up to the question you asked initially. If your child has trouble explaining why a sentence is grammatically incorrect, ask about the functions of the words in the sentence (which word is the verb? Is it transitive or intransitive? If it’s transitive, doesn’t it require a direct object? Is there a direct object?).
  • Demonstrate for your child how you arrive at conclusions by walking him through your own questioning process (how you decided to make a difficult purchase or what leads you to endorse a particular political candidate).

If you help your child by demonstrating good questioning practices, he will not only learn course content but also learn how to ask questions in order to arrive at the answers for themselves. And isn’t that the whole point?

For more insights on questions, consider the discussion sections in our BJU Press curriculum Teacher’s Editions.