Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
This week, we’re celebrating World Teacher’s Day by surveying the educational styles of various cultures throughout history. Our understanding of the importance of hands-on practice for true knowledge started in the Middle Ages, when experience really became an important aspect of education.

In the Middle Ages, parents would apprentice their teenage child to a master, a top-ranking guild craftsman with a trade. Depending on what the trade was, the apprentice would work for the master for five to nine years to learn the trade. Upon finishing his apprenticeship, he became a journeyman. To graduate to the master stage—the hardest part of the process—he had to present a project of his to the guild to show his mastery of the trade. Then, they would vote on his acceptance into the guild.

The practicality of the apprenticeship program is still very much a part of homeschooling today. For most homeschoolers, academics and reality are strongly tied together. Whatever students learn in school they use during the day—from going shopping for dinner with Mom, to using lessons from history and literature to shape their own life decisions.

Some homeschoolers also embrace apprenticeship’s modern day equivalent, internships, to learn life skills and vocational training. The combination of good character, strong academics, and the real-life practice they gain makes these homeschooled students uniquely prepared for whatever the future holds.

And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.