What does Core Phase Look Like in Our Home?

Core Phase. Hmmm. Yes, I'm going to discuss core phase. I think that core phase has been the phase I have least understood in Leadership Education. Here's some ways we have applied it in our home. These are only ideas. Voltaire said, "No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for." Please don't burn me!

First, let's review. There are four major phases of learning in a Leadership Education. There are more phases, but only four that will likely happen in the walls of your home with your children.

Core Phase- Roughly 0-8 years old
Love of Learning- Roughly 8-12 years old
Scholar- Roughly 12-16 years old
Depth-Roughly 16 and up

In the phases each one has a specific curriculum. Also in Leadership Education grades are thrown out the door. With grades we tend to hold them back and say they can't start that until next year. Or we push them when they are struggling to accomplish more than they are able to. I have had both early bloomers and late bloomers in my home.

In Core Phase the curriculum is clearly established and basic. It is:

Good/Bad
True/False
Right/Wrong

That doesn't mean that you don't teach them how to read or write. Far from it. But the most important thing that they learn first is that there is good and bad and that there are right choices they can make and wrong choices. In each family you establish what these things are. I think that most of us will have almost the same idea about what these are. Here are some of our core phase absolutes:

There is God and there is Satan.
God loves you.
Jesus Christ is our Savior, Healer, and Advocate.
We speak to God through prayer every day.
We read our scriptures every day to learn of Christ.
There is a living prophet and we will follow him.
Our family is our most important focus.
Each family member is valued and loved.
We each have responsibilities with in our family.
We are expected to carry out our responsibilities.
Dad's job is to provide for our physical needs and to spiritually lead our family.
Mom's job is to nurture each family member.
The children are to learn.
Learning includes life time skills. ( household management, cooking, cleaning, car care, etc...)
We don't hit people. (pinch, bite, etc.)
We are polite to others, especially the elderly.
We respect and honor women.
We learn to control our emotions.
We do not eat more than our body needs.
We go to bed early and we wake up early.
We bathe and groom our bodies.
We wear appropriate clothing.

Those are just some general ideas. No child is going to have those mastered by the time they turn eight obviously! These things can take a life time to master. But what they learn in these young ages is what is right. It is wrong to not hold the door open for the elderly at church or anywhere. It is right to do our chores with out complaining. It is right to pray daily. It is right to brush my teeth everyday. Practice, practice, practice! And it's our job to teach them how.

Another fundamental part of core phase is "The Redo." Oh, how we love redo's in our home. If a child back talks me, I say, "Please redo that and say it the correct way." If a child doesn't wipe off the table to his/her ability we say, "please redo the table." If a child gets angry and hits his brother we say, "That's not appropriate. Please redo the situation and deal with it appropriately. Would you like some suggestions on how you can redo it appropriately?"

Besides chores and redo's core phase is a time for games. Use games to reinforce love, teach basic principles, and spend time with them.

Core phase is foundational for our whole lives. Everything else is built upon it. If they know they are loved, that God is available to them through prayer and that they need to get up in the morning and greet the day, they are going to be okay! I've seen adults on the other hand that do not know how to manage their house (and there house controls them), I've seen adults so selfish they won't to anything for anyone in their family (if they have a family), I've seen men who have expected their wives to provide for the family, and I've seen emotionally unstable adults who feel that they are not loved or valued. These are examples. Know one has had the perfect upbringing. But we can make sure that our children know core truths that will be the rock upon which they can build the rest of their lives.

In our home only two requirements are expected from our children to graduate from core phase. The first is that they want to move to the love of learning phase. The other is that they agree to submit to these guidelines. For example, if they refuse to pray we need to keep going over some things!

There's a lot more to core phase. Maybe I'll get on my soap box later and post more! We need to remember to not neglect core phase and run straight for the academics. In the "olden days" kids didn't start school until they were eight anyway. They were a more literate society than ours is at present. Your kids will learn all they need to, especially if you taught them to discipline themselves first!