Research skills

I was wondering about this, too. DS would like to participate in the Constitution essay contest that our local paper is having, but I’m not sure how to guide him with his research and putting together all of the information he finds.

Some aspects of research are kind of built in to a CM education. For example, we like source documents. So if you want to know about the Constitution, then go read the real thing.

It’s also not unusual to read several books on a topic being studied, rather just a single book or a textbook. That naturally gives a variety of perspectives and greater depth so the student can learn, make connections, and draw his own conclusions. And the use of living books tends to bring in material written by experts with a passion for a topic or by someone who lived through the events being studied.

It’s then pretty natural to teach skills along the way, such as how to use the library and online sources, and how to read scholarly works to backtrack credentials and footnotes to determine credibility.