Homeschooling Boys Workshop in Lenoir

Dear Friends in Lenoir,

Please forgive me for taking so long to post this. I greatly enjoyed spending time with you and I was so impressed by the number and quality of questions asked by your group. It is such a blessing to speak to engaged listeners!

Thank you for letting me come!
Melanie Young

Here's the handout:

Ballistic Homeschooling: Surviving and Appreciating Boys
Melanie Young
Copyright 05/2005, 2008

I. The Challenge of Boys

II. A Vision of Manhood
A. Aiming at Young Men
B. Manhood Marred
C. Resisting Feminization
D. Manly Virtues: Courage, Honor, a Stalwart heart to fight for right, Persistence, Fortitude, Endurance, Leadership. Men should be Brave, True, Faithful, Honest, and Intrepid.

III. Raising Men of Iron with Hearts of Gold
A. Give them something to aim for.
B. Leadership vs. Rebellion
C. Learning Responsibility
The Vision
Chores
School
Errands
Finances
Opportunities
Avoiding Disaster
D. Purpose in Life
E. Discord among the brethren
F. Passionate Purity
G. What’s sin, what’s not
H. Loving your sons

IV. More than survival

Resources
Books by G.A. Henty are fantastic (Vision Forum, lots of vendors)
Sugar Creek Gang books by Paul Hutchins http://www.belovedbooks.com
Cowboy Sam readers by Edna Walker Chandler
Jeff McLean: His Courtship (Timberdoodle sells this)
Vision Forum catalog http://www.visionforum.com
Timberdoodle catalog http://www.timberdoodle.com
Plants Grown Up by Doorposts http://www.doorposts.net
Poems for Patriarchs (Vision Forum sells this)
The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young Men by Christina Hoff Sommers (secular, but good information)
Roy Rogers and Lone Ranger movies (buy very cheaply on eBay); Movies made during World War II like Sergeant York; War movies do not upset boys, they inspire them!
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Josh Harris
Men of Iron by Howard Pyle
Lots of biographies of great men. Teach history through example! Discuss the great men of history as men. Discuss how they met the standard of godly men and how they failed. Some great places to start: Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington, Winston Churchill.