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How can learning mathematics glorify God? Can taking upper-level math classes cause us to grow in ways beyond the realm of mathematics? What traits does someone need to build to become a great teacher? Join us for an insightful discussion with Marlin Detweiler and Veritas Scholars Academy teacher Damian Harrhoff (aka “Sir Haarhoff the Brave and Noble”).

Want to learn what it could look like for your family to take classes with teachers like Damian Haarhoff? Sign up for a free consultation today: https://love.veritaspress.com/veritas_scholars_academy-sm/

Episode Transcription

Note: This transcription may vary from the words used in the original episode for better readability.

Marlin Detweiler:

Hello again. This is Marlin Detweiler with Veritas Vox, the voice of classical Christian education. We are here today with Damian Haarhoff, a math teacher for our online school, Veritas Scholars Academy. Before we jump in with Damian, though, let me just mention that we know that teaching every subject is a tall task for any homeschool parent. And thankfully, at Veritas Scholars Academy, we have expert teachers, and you're about to hear from one of them.

We know that no parent can be enthusiastic about every subject. And so this allows us teachers– excuse me parents to consider getting some help there. Now, one subject that you wouldn't mind passing off probably popped in your head already is, as you listen here now. So be thinking about where we might be able to help you. And now let's talk to Damian about what he does here at Veritas Scholars Academy (VSA).

Damian, tell us about yourself. Your accent will quickly tell us a little bit about the fact that you might have spent some time in another country. So maybe that's a good starting point.

Damian Haarhoff:

All right. Well, what's left of the accent after being in America, especially in Texas and especially in Cotton Shoot, which is a subdivision of Conroe in Houston, this is just redneck town! It’s hard to compete with that. So the accent that's left originates from Cape Town, South Africa, where I was born. But then I moved up to Namibia. Namibia, that's just a country north of South Africa, and I pretty much grew up in Namibia.

And then I came to the Great America in 1996, and I've been there ever since.

Marlin Detweiler:

Okay, wonderful. How many children do you have?

Damian Haarhoff:

I believe it's eight!

Marlin Detweiler:

Ha! And you had a lot. What are their ages now?

Damian Haarhoff:

Wow. Their ages range from 7 to 22 and about two years apart.

Marlin Detweiler:

You have quite a range. And I know that you have - I knew you have a large family that I know that was worth noting. So obviously, that was very, very much a planned question. Now, you've adopted a persona and some of the things that you have done. Tell us a little bit about that persona, “Sir Haarhoff”.

Damian Haarhoff:

Well, I began my teaching career. For some reason, they thought I came straight out of college, excited about teaching. They thought it would be a good idea to stick me in an inner city school where there was just, oh, I'm surprised I'm even a teacher to this day. I'm surprised that I even lasted that long. But being in public school for 15 years, one of the things I came to realize very, very quickly was that I couldn't reach these kids unless I had a relationship with them, unless they respected me, unless they knew that I cared about them. And otherwise learning would never, ever take place.

So one day- and I always thought about how could I reach these kids? What could I do to win them over so that they could even begin to learn? And one day I just got the bright idea to take a meter stick and put it on my side like it was a sword, and then marched down the middle of the classroom. And I was sitting down the first day of school, and then I just leapt up on the desk, just jumped up on the desk, and I said, “I am Sir Haarhoff, the brave and noble teacher of mathematics!” and I was waving this stick around. And I said, “I slay dragons of ignorance and apathy, and I rescue damsels of potential and promise.”

And then I jumped down and I looked at all of them and I said, “And I believe that my students can and must scale the high walls of obstacles all around this castle and conquer the enemy. The drawbridge will not be let down. There is no other way.” I had them from that day and that became a tradition every single year to do that.

Marlin Detweiler:

Well, it does for those that are watching. If you have not seen Damian's teacher interview on our Website at veritaspress.com, you have got to watch it because he carries out that character persona in wonderful ways. And I can see how it does capture students of a broad range of ages. Now, I know how it came about. I never heard that story before.

Tell me something, will you? The insight that you saw in doing that is an insight of a great teacher. What do you know, as I have often said, we can have the best curriculum. We can have the best teaching methodology or pedagogy, classical Christian education. But it still remains the case that the most important part of education is teachers.

And we remember from our education as adults, our great teachers, and it is so important at Veritas that we have the greatest collection of great teachers we can put together. And you've demonstrated that for many years at Veritas. What is it that you think really stands out in a student's mind? What causes you to be able to capture them, like you said. What makes a great teacher?

Damian Haarhoff:

So I begin it begins with the relationship. Like I said, just knowing their worlds, we have this remarkable privilege of having very like-minded families at Veritas, and we're coming alongside these parents to help them in their honorable endeavor to homeschool their children. For the most part, we have a very similar worldview. So the first thing for me is just relating to the students on a personal level, knowing about their world and having a very similar world and making connections with that humor. And obviously the dad jokes, those kinds of things, but ultimately a teacher who loves their subject, is passionate about their subject, understands their subject in the context of a greater worldview, and is able to effectively articulate and communicate that subject in a way that students are excited and eager to learn and curious for more. I think that that's the nature of a good teacher to do that.

Marlin Detweiler:

Well, you have clearly developed a reputation for doing that, teaching as many sections as you do and always having them filled up very quickly. What is it that you do teach for us?

Damian Haarhoff:

So I teach Algebra One, Algebra Two, and what I like to call Pre-Calculus. And Business Maths in the summer. I keep forgetting about the summer courses.

Marlin Detweiler:

There's an interesting difference between those three. They naturally progress. But what do you enjoy most and why do you think you enjoy it most?

Damian Haarhoff:

I think I enjoy the pre-calculus because, you know, I present to my student that mathematics is is a sort of it's a journey. You're on this road trip and you're headed somewhere and every subject is taking you further and further. But things like calculus for me, that's the Six Flags of Mathematics and Pre-calculus is you're at the gates.

I mean, you can see the rides, you can hear the screaming. There's this anticipation. And so you're almost right there. And I tell students, don't turn back now, just keep on going. There it is. Take calculus. It's the best thing you'll ever do. It's enjoyable. It's fun. It's what revolutionized the world in the 17th century. Just turned things upside down.

So probably pre-calculus would be my favorite!

Marlin Detweiler:

That's great. I love that. As you know– there are a lot of people that fear math and that hate math. I am one of those people that loves math and sees great value in it. How do you address those? Those people, the students, maybe parents also that first of all, don't like math.

Damian Haarhoff:

Hmm. Yes. Well, that's a common problem. And you can see that there is a resulting question that comes out of that obvious oftentimes is “Why do I need to know this?” Or, “When am I ever going to use this?” Students are desperately trying to make this connection. “I don't see people factoring trinomials in my normal daily life. Why? So why are we doing this?”

So I set out early on to address that question head-on. I wrote an I think a six-page article addressing the question “Why do we need to know this? Why? Why do I need to learn this?” And essentially, it's broken down into a few parts. First of all, it's when you begin to see how mathematics demonstrates the glory of God, how his attributes are in there, how his fingerprints are all over it, how He is the author of it.

As you begin to point students toward the patterns, the consistency, the faithfulness of mathematics, even the mystery and the complexity, you begin to see that all things were made by Him and for Him, including mathematics. So it begins to allow them to open their minds to accept that this is something that the Lord has created and blessed us with the ability to be able to discover and learn, and then also to help them know that it's not just a means to an end that many people think of school as,

“These are just some stepping stones that I need just to get to college so that I can get a job.” But I say, no, no, no. It's an end in and of itself just to the sheer joy of being able to learn this subject in and of itself and what it does for you as far as developing critical thinking, problem-solving, the ability to analyze, to gather data, and work through it is actually very beneficial and a very real-life skill.

And I try to remind them of how useful just that part of mathematics is in teaching them how to just be rational thinking, intelligent human beings.

Marlin Detweiler:

So yeah, that's very good. You touched on my next question a bit, but I want to get you to unpack it a bit more. Many people believe that if there is a subject that doesn't get taught differently in a Christian setting than a secular setting, it's math. But math is also something that must be taught Christianly. Tell us more about what that means.

What does it mean for math to be taught Christianly?

Damian Haarhoff:

Christian. Well, having taught math, un-Christianly, which sounds strange, for 15 years in public school, that's what began to fuel my desire for an exodus out of public school was every day that I taught. At the end of the day, I said, “You know, I have not been able to ascribe glory to the Creator of this amazing subject. I just haven't been able to do that.” Every day this was a dilemma.

And so I sought an exodus so I could come out and find a Christian avenue where I could ascribe glory to the Creator that he deserves for this subject. And so that's how I actually ended up at Veritas. But because all things were made by Him and for Him, like I said, these built-in characteristics of mathematics testify to him, to the Lord, and enable us to know Him and in many ways study that subject.

It's like as if you have this wonderful book, an amazing book with exciting plots and stories and you were telling somebody about and they said, “Wow, this is great. I need to read more on this. Who's the author?” And you went, “I'm sorry, I can't tell you that.”

Marlin Detweiler:

Oh, that's great right there.

Yeah. Oh, what a wonderful way to make the point. That is really good. What caused you to be captured by math? Why did you want to teach math?

Damian Haarhoff:

Well, let's see. From a very young age, I enjoyed math, and I grew up as a non-Christian in a non-Christian household. So I didn't have that aspect of mathematics as far as how it testified to its Creator. But I enjoyed it for some reason. I just, God put it in me, even as an unbeliever, to enjoy mathematics.

And it was when I was helping my sister. She just really struggled with mathematics and she would come to me and I found, “Wait, I can actually explain this in a way that she understands.” And I never really thought that's going to mean I'm going to become a teacher for the rest of my life. But I could tell that I made sense to her and that she just greatly benefited from sitting with me for long periods of time and doing mathematics together.

So that was the very beginnings. Those were the seeds planted at a very early age for the prospect of possibility.

Marlin Detweiler:

Yeah. Oh, that's great. Now back to your students. Obviously, we've talked about students who come to class. They're either apathetic about math or they struggle. And sometimes those two attributes are related, give us some examples of students who through your class and teaching, you've been able to develop their skills and maybe even a love for math.

Damian Haarhoff:

Well, I get a lot of emails from excited parents.

Such a great blessing to know. And sometimes you don't always know the history of students. I have close to 200 students, and sometimes I just don't know where they've come from, what they've really struggled with. But then parents unpack that in an email and they say, I just want to thank you so much. My child just used to hate mathematics, but now they're so excited.

They look forward to coming to class. You know, when I plan this wonderful vacation to Disney World, they're grumpy because they want to be in your algebra class because they're excited all of a sudden about learning and they're finding they can actually do this. If you're going to believe in themselves and their ability to do mathematics when once upon a time that was an impossibility.

So just getting those testimonies is just so very encouraging to see that, wow, something is happening here.

Marlin Detweiler:

But there are also, you know, there's this category of students that are apathetic or struggle, but there is also a category of students who are really gifted. God's gifted them. They love math. They want to go fast. They want to go further. Tell me how you've helped those students.

Okay. So, yes, well, when you teach, there's a broad range in your classroom, I will always go just a little bit further with digging deep into “Oh, and by the way, did you know that this is also something where this leads and this is something you'll study in, say, Algebra II or Pre-calculus”, and just give them a little taste of that which is to come.

It keeps you know, it keeps them excited, anticipating, wow, this actually is developed even further, you know, giving them just a little bit of a sight of what's ahead. That sort of a foretaste.

Marlin Detweiler:

How have you been able to help students go further and faster than their peers might go?

Damian Haarhoff:

Let's see– what's lovely about our curriculum in our textbooks is it provides those challenges in the actual problems in the homework. There are those extra challenges, those higher-level thinking questions. And you know, I've made a point to talk about, “So what do you guys think about that? And did you actually… get did you know that…?”

And then talking about those questions that are already in the textbook and able to take students, push them just a little further out of their comfort zones, a little bit beyond what we did in class? And those students that love math, they just soak that up and then they're excited about that. So the curriculum provides for that kind of broad teaching.

Marlin Detweiler:

That's very good. Now, let me have you address parents has teachers or school administrators. Every homeschool is its own small school. And so they've got administrative concerns and they've got teaching concerns. Sometimes they hire us completely to handle those teaching concerns. But as parents, they're always the ones that we're serving. We like the term “in loco parentis.”

That is, we're the parents’ delegate. “On behalf of the parents” is a direct translation of that Latin phrase. Tell us how you are - or, tell the parents that are teaching themselves, some things that that you would ask them to consider to become more effective, better teachers. You've done such a good job of it. And I understand I'm putting you on the spot here, because sometimes people that are really expert in what they do don't quite know how they do that. I'm hoping that you have some tips for us, though.

Damian Haarhoff:

Yes. Well well, first of all, I used to think “loco parentis” meant crazy parents. I came to know that's not quite the case! Ha! First of all, the encouragement to parents is, it's not the easiest thing to homeschool one's children. Because, you know, we are a homeschool family. I've watched my wife homeschool eight children, none of which are gifted in mathematics at all, which is the irony of it.

Somehow my genes must have - I don't know what happened, but they all struggle with mathematics! I haven't found one yet! But it's easy to, you know, put them on a yellow bus and send them off and get somebody else to do the job for you. It's not the easiest thing, but it's a commendable and honorable thing to teach them because I don't separate education and discipleship. I think it's one in the same thing.

Marlin Detweiler:

Good point.

Damian Haarhoff:

Yeah. People do that. There's a separate the Sunday school stuff and then they separate and then that's separate from, you know, geography and history and English. But it is all one package and it's making, it's bringing our children into fullness of maturity in Christ, not only spiritually, but also intellectually. So to parents, the encouragement is you've got to see the big picture.

Remember that this is a discipleship of your children, the stewardship of your children, and God gives you the ability and the grace ultimately for all of us we’re weak in and of ourselves. And it requires God's grace and help for us to be able to be patient. One of the big gifts that teachers need to have is patience and long-suffering to be able to endure for a long period of time children who are frustrated or angry or upset or give up easily.

So that takes the Lord's grace to be able to patiently work with them and continue to encourage and help them see the big picture of why we are doing this ultimately.

Marlin Detweiler:

I find it interesting that parents will think only a little bit typically about the long term. You know, here they have a four-year-old and what they're really interested in is where they're going to go experience kindergarten, their first formal educational experience. But they haven't really thought through a whole and complete pattern that takes them completely through.

I've raised four boys. I now have four daughters-in-law, and currently six grandchildren. And I know that my experience with really direct involvement in my children is 18 years. I still have a wonderful relationship with each of them, but it's not what it was when they lived at home under my tutelage, under my oversight, under my direct parenting.

And that's a very short period of time when they're two years old and you're changing diapers and getting up during the night, maybe with a one-year-old even younger, it seems like 18 years is forever, but it goes by in a blink and we really need to be thinking with a comprehensive plan, a plan that thinks in terms of discipleship being what education is about.

Deuteronomy 6, I think makes that very clear. This is a question you may not have seen coming, one that's off the off my list of questions. Can you relate discipleship to mathematics?

Damian Haarhoff:

Relating discipleship to mathematics? Well, let's see. The fall, I believe, affected us on every level. Absolutely. Physically and spiritually. It affected us intellectually, mentally. So, you know, to me, Jesus is the perfect human. God's very God of God's. And I believe that Jesus loves every subject and is good at every subject because he knows and created everything.

And so to become like Him as we grow and to bear his image, I think that involves mentally being able to be a rational-thinking human being who's able to articulate truth. This is, you know, the Trivium this is the dialectic. And all of that that we teach in classical education.

So to me, that is discipleship is growing spiritually and growing intellectually and growing mentally, being able to use one's mind to love God with all of our heart, soul of mind and strength as well. So to me, that's just right there in loving the Lord with our mind as well. That's discipleship.

Marlin Detweiler:

That's wonderful. In closing, you mentioned that the mailing address that you live at is Cut And Shoot, Texas. How in the world did that name come about? Any idea?

Damian Haarhoff:

Yes. There's actually an interesting history that you can find online. There was apparently a town dispute about something and somebody threatened that they were going to cut through the bushes and they were going to shoot and well, that's the name they've known! So, yeah, that's a brief history of that.

Marlin Detweiler:

Only in Texas! Well, that's great. I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to express my extreme gratitude for what you do for so many of the Veritas Scholars Academy students. Thank you so much, Damian, for what you do. It's obvious that you love doing it, but we are really the beneficiaries, as are hundreds of students each year and probably now thousands over your teaching career here so far and probably thousands more in the future. So thank you.

Damian Haarhoff:

Yes. It's a joy and a privilege and a remarkable privilege to be able to do that. So I'm grateful for the Lord giving me that type of stewardship and calling.

Marlin Detweiler:

But we are grateful that you're doing it with us.

Folks, you have been with us with Damian Haarhoff. This is Veritas Vox, the voice of classical Christian education. Thank you for joining us once again.