Aloha2U Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 My little man just finished his fourth chreia this past week. It is a crossroad of sorts for us. ------------------------- King Canute Canute was probably England’s most sensible king. He hated how the members of his court praised him far beyond what was true. They would go as far as saying that he could command anything in the world and it would obey him. One day, Canute finally responded to his officers’ flattery saying, “Learn how feeble is the power of earthly kings. None is worthy of the name of king but he whom heaven and earth and sea obey.†Canute basically rebuked his foolish officers when he said this. Unlike those around him, he did not try to flatter his way to power. We should allow Canute to be a model for us. We should try to not let the flattery of others get into our heads and make us think that we’re better that we really are. Another way of stating Canute’s saying is, “No matter how much power that kings think or are told that they have, none have any real power. No one can control any element of nature except God. Canute’s words tell us that kings have no real power. The only king who has any real power is the King of Kings. Don’t think that just because you become a leader that you suddenly have power unlimited. You also shouldn’t try to use flattery for your benefit. Remember, false praise is flattery, flattery is falsehood, and falsehood is a lie. Let us be humble like Canute and know when someone is giving us false praise. Herod the Great—who was the king of Israel during the birth of Jesus—is one of the most power-hungry men in the Bible. When he learned of the birth of the prophesied King of Israel, he asked three wise men to tell him when the sign of the King’s birth—a star—had appeared. After learning that the star had appeared approximately two years before, Herod then persuaded them to come back to him and tell him where the young king was so that he could worship Him, but his real intentions were to kill the baby. Thankfully, God warned the wise men of Herod’s plans in a dream, so they never returned to him. Their disobedience only enraged Herod, though, and he—learning in the scriptures that the king was to be born in Bethlehem—sent soldiers to kill all baby boys two years old and younger who were in Bethlehem. Unfortunately for Herod, God had already warned the baby’s parents as well, so they were long gone. Do not be greedy for power like Herod was. We shouldn’t hang around people like Herod, as they will do anything to obtain power. George Washington was many things—a general, a farmer, and the very first president, but most importantly, he was humble. During the war for Independence, when Washington was commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, he and his men braved the famous winter at Valley Forge. During this winter, George’s humility showed. Instead of having an “I’m the leader and you all serve me†attitude and taking the first log cabin that was built, he waited until all of the cabins were finished and all of his men were housed to even enter a cabin and live in comfort. After the war, George was voted to be America’s first president, but he—thinking that he was only a normal man who wasn’t worthy of the job—nearly declined the position. I hope that George Washington’s humility is as inspiring for you as it is for me.In our personal lives, we must remember that God controls the world. We don’t. We—just like kings—have no real power. Many people in the world will try to flatter you into doing many different things like giving them money. We must learn to discern whether or not people are flattering us so that we can ignore their flattery. Memorize Canute’s saying so you can know when someone flatters you like Canute’s officers did to him. ------------------------- Please, share your thoughts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I like it. I have found most of the chreia examples to be very disnointed but this one flows well. I can't really comment ontge writing though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Thank you! I appreciate the feedback. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 This is from a 5th grader? It's wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I agree, it's very well done! These are not easy assignments. I guess my problem with the Chreia assignments in general - not your son's work - is that it teaches them to be kind of preachy, which is a thing kids this age can tend to do in their writing, but isn't really proper academic style. You end up using a lot of "you" sentences or "we should all do X and not do X" kind of things. I'm not sure that this is a writing style I want my kids to practice, KWIM? Especially not for a whole book, I worry that it will make them think that this is appropriate style for an academic essay. Does anybody else who is using Chreia have thoughts about that? CMama, again - I think your son's essay is lovely! And it exactly fulfills the assignment. I guess I'm asking what you and others think of the assignments, in a big-picture view of where you want your kids to be for writing? Maybe it gets easier once the later books are out and you can see where they are going with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Thank you, Rose! You've brought up a valid point. My little man's propensity for a commanding tone within the chreia exercises has been a topic of discussion for us. I even contemplated drawing our time with W&R to a close, stopping after Lesson 6, and trying MP's CC or moving on to WWS I. That being said, I resolved to give W&R one more chance to prove its worth, holding out until after Lesson 7 to make a final decision. Hence, why this is a crossroad of sorts for us. When I consider the progress my little man has made in just the awareness alone and therefore the effects of his own writing, I see that he has gained or, rather, discovered his voice, which makes writing all the more interesting and worthwhile to him than just another writing assignment. He did all the legwork on this one, with very little or no consultation from either me or daddy. Something just clicked, and he owned it. I believe kiwik hit the nail on the head when she pointed out the fluidity of his 6-paragraph essay in and of itself. I was pleasantly surprised and even reassured by the results of this lesson/assignment; it fruited unexpected growth. Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, I'd have to say that I don't think W&R's Chreia is teaching nor is my little man necessarily practicing "that kind" of writing whilst learning the chreia style. More appropriately, I see it as an opportunity in learning to work through (and beyond) this age appropriate tendency. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 This is from a 5th grader? It's wonderful! LOL! Thank you! You made my little man's day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Good points, CMama. I agree that it is a very age-related and age-appropriate style - Shannon went through a phase where she wrote like this, too. I see your point that it takes their natural tendency to write this way and channels it in a much richer way. I guess maybe why I decided not to do more of these lessons with Shannon - who is in 7th grade - is that I see her writing beyond this personal, this-is-my-voice-speaking kind of writing into a little bit more of an academic tone (finally) and I'm afraid that doing a bunch of these lessons would have set her back. Anyway, I decided not to revisit Chreia when she finishes LAoW, because *for her* it would be a step backward. But, I think using this book in the natural progression, and at the appropriate grade level, makes a lot of sense. Thanks for talking through your thinking. I was glad to see that this perception wasn't just in my head! You've helped me see where Chreia fits into the big picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Something that I should've mentioned sooner... is that the op consists of his original writing—no rewrites with this one. At least, none of which I'm aware or that were initiated by myself or daddy. Due to the content matter, I purposefully did not critique his work. I believe it held its own without any revisions. Also, instead of having him do the "Speak It" exercises at the end of each lesson (in book 4 anyway), he has to give an oral presentation with his completed essay in front of both daddy and I, to work on his elocution and such. This seems to drive him a bit more, and he eats up any opportunity to slip on a tie for a more professional presence—behind a tray table substituted for a podium—even if he's still wearing his PJs/lounge clothes. Lol! Perhaps we'll revisit those exercises over the summer, but the majority of them are getting skipped for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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