Making homeschool decisions easy
I can’t remember how I stumbled upon September West’s 4RPress, but I was immediately drawn to her beautiful notebook pages for a few of my favorite books, Hans Brinker, The Apple and the Arrow, and Heidi. When her Little House in the Big Woods study was published, I added it to my wish list. A few days later, September offered me a free copy in
Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all. ~Henry David Thoreau. As busy home educating mothers, we all know the truth of this statement only too well. But how do we know which are the best books for our children to read? As a young mother, I was blessed to be mentored by a Principle Approach®
The resource I’m sharing this month isn’t actually curriculum, but it is helping me with the home part of homeschooling. I’ve tried various chore charts, including one with tabs and tokens and hooks. It was a good idea, but it was so complicated I quickly tired of it. Then set up a filing box divided by task frequency: daily, weekly, monthly. That, too, worked for
Searching for geography curriculum has been a fruitless pursuit for me, so I dabbled in creating my own. We discussed earth being our home, looked at maps, and located places on the globe from our history and literature studies. That was enough, but I wanted to go more in depth. When I was introduced to A Child’s Geography, Explore His Earth by Ann Voskamp, I
History textbooks have a tendency to be boring, but I discovered a series of about American history to treasure. These books do not contain dry lists of dates or a simple retelling of events. Instead, they focus on the causes behind events: people and Providence. The Mighty Works of God consists of three volumes for the early elementary years. They are not listed by grade-level,
There were just a few more pages to turn when it happened. My voice froze and I felt the tears pushing. My son grinned knowingly, “Mom’s going to cry.” It doesn’t happen very often, but literature gets me the most often. And biographies. Biographies can be just too inspirational for me to maintain my composure. I picked up a copy of Louis Braille, The Boy
Curriculum collects on shelves in our living room and peaks from boxes in the shed. A glance in either place reveals more stuff than we can realistically use. I’m so thankful for the options, but options can paralyze. So how do I choose what to help me teach my children? How did these books end up in our possession instead of others? I search for
Growing up I read book after book. However, very few of the volumes I read are remembered or revisited. At the library I checked out whatever looked interesting: Nancy Drew mysteries, Grace Livingston Hill romance novels, or historical fiction. My random searches hid some amazing authors. Now I get to discover these imaginative writers with my children. After lunch I read aloud Brighty of the
