Embarking on an Educational Adventure

Another poem

2011-12-14T13:00:00.001-05:00

Trees
Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Such a simple yet lovely poem. Think of this when you gaze upon your Christmas tree!

Merry Christmas!

The Road Not Taken

2011-11-09T08:41:00.000-05:00

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

We read this poem in our Sonlight Core 100 study last week and had such a great discussion about it. First we discussed what was actually going on in the poem. A man, going for a walk in the woods, comes to a fork in the road and picks one of the two paths. Then we talked about the deeper meaning of the poem, how it's about life and decisions we are faced with and how the ones we make impacts the rest of our lives sometimes. Then we discussed what some of those decisions were in our lives, as a family, as individuals. It was really powerful. This has always been one of my favorite poems, and Frost one of my favorite poets.

One of the joys of homeschooling: great discussions!

Todd Wilson - Family Man Ministries

2011-11-04T13:42:00.000-04:00

On Thursday I headed over to Hillcrest Baptist Church to hear Todd Wilson of Family Man Ministries speak. I was vaguely familiar with him, having seen him at several conventions this past year. However, since I work as a Sonlight Curriculum Consultant at homeschooling conventions, I don't often have the opportunity of attending workhops and seminars. So although I had heard he is an entertaining speaker, I had never had the pleasure of listening to him.

My friend, Natalie Davis, and her husband and daughter and I all rode together. I did something out of character and did not take along a notebook in order to take notes. I just went to listen. And laugh. And be encouraged. Natalie, however, did take notes and she wrote an excellent summary on her blog. I encourage you to read it if you need to be encouraged in your homeschool adventure.

Do you hear the fog horn? Don't get lost in the Homeschool Fog!

Costume Party

2011-10-28T17:12:00.000-04:00

Our school year is in full swing. We are busy with reading, classes and co-ops (2 this year!)

On Wednesday, Annie asked me if we could have a costume party. After our co-op. On Friday. Friday?! Two days to plan? So what is a mommy to say to such a request but, "Yes, of course!" I had stated the aforementioned response without having checked the calendar. I had conveniently forgotten that I was co-hosting a Pampared Chef party the night before, teaching two classes at co-op (for which I had not yet prepared nor graded papers), then attending a bridal shower in the evening. Plus we had plans to have friends over for a cookout on Sunday evening. So it wasn't like we had nothing going on....

However, the kids promised that they'd help me (and silly me believed them), promised that it would be low key so I posted a quick invite on our co-op's forum. We had about 6 sign ups by Friday morning so I wasn't too worried. Six is a pretty manageable group. But then at co-op that day I had several moms ask if it was too late to sign up for the party and believing in the adage "the more the merrier" I cheerfully agreed.

We arrived at home (with 2 extra kids in tow), ate a quick lunch and then quickly put people the work. The extra kids got to participate in the "preparations" (read: vacuuming, sweeping, putting stuff away).

In the end 11 kids showed up. They played on the trampoline.

Made and devoured caramel apples (all except one child who had braces. She made one and will bring it home to her braces-less sisters). Two girls had never eaten them before!!! Gasp!!

Drank two gallons of pink lemonade and then jumped on the trampoline some more.

Some of the girls had fun with the curling iron.

All in all it was a fun afternoon of food and friends!

Home Educating Family Publishing

2011-07-14T07:56:00.000-04:00

If you are interested in homeschooling, you may be interested in the following give-away!

Home Educating Family Publishing

Happy Labor Day!

2010-09-06T13:49:00.000-04:00

We had big plans for our Labor Day weekend but Tommy and I both got the flu earlier in the week (which messed up our anniversary plans!) so the plans were scrapped and we stayed home. The good thing was Michael got to work around the house a lot, cutting the grass, pulling weeds and getting the boat moved out of the driveway and back into the backyard. I got to rest, rest, rest, watch a little Food Network, catch up on email, work on my to do list, plan my first day of class next Friday, and read a book just for fun! I also took 3 baths (which I hardly EVER do), watched a documentary on the Gates of Israel, and two (not very good) movies, played Banangrams, Uno and Sleeping Queens with various people. We did go to the beach for a few hours on Sunday (skipped church so as to not spread germs) where we just relaxed.

So although it's not what we had planned, it was still nice to spend time together, rest, relax AND be productive! Hope YOU had a happy Labor Day!

Nature Study

2010-08-23T20:11:00.001-04:00

This year, rather than doing a Sonlight Science, Annie is going to pursue nature study, recording her findings in a nature journal, doing a little research to find out more about our findings and then publishing her findings in her own nature blog.

We started last week by raising some monarch caterpillars. Today we went to a local park to see what we could find. Here are a few things:

A little tiny bug that looked like a leaf. We will try to identify it tomorrow. Annie sketched this in her notebook and tomorrow will also color it.

Millipede

White fuzzy looking fungus

Teeny frog. You can spot him on the right side of the light colored piece of bark by the green leaves.

Another fungus. Some type of mushroom?

First day of school!

2010-08-16T21:53:00.001-04:00

Today was our official first day of school. We have a tradition of photographing the first day. Usually we gather all the kids together for a group shot. Since Tommy is now attending school and they started last week, he got his own picture (but won't let me post it). So I went ahead and shot the other two individual pictures as well. Here they are:

After spending much time designing schedules and courses of studiy we finally put it to the test! The hardest part was getting up at 8:00. Although one of the beauties of homeschooling is getting to sleep in, sleeping til 10:00 is not going to happen this year! I was tired of still schooling at 5:00 because we got started so late. So this year that's going to change. The other change is having an order to our day. In the past they could work on whatever they wanted to work on first but I found tthat we would "forget" to do things that way or "save" our least favorite things to the end of the day.

So the plan this year (so far, I'm sure we'll tweak it as the week progresses) is as follows [for Timothy. Annie's schedule is somewhat different]:

8:30 Bible, CC Review

9:00 Math

10:00 Writing/Grammar

11:00 History

11:30 Science

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Piano

1:30 Reading

2:00 Electives (Logic, Music & Art appreciation)

I made an excel spreadsheet for each child and it's in a page protector so they can check things off or at least refer to it. I'm trying to have them rely less on me and more on their own ability to self govern. Let's see how it goes!

Busy week!

2010-07-12T22:40:00.000-04:00

After returning from our Israel trip and spending a week cleaning and doing laundry, I am now able to focus on the upcoming school year.

This is a busy week for me as I have been planning for our school year next year as well as preparing for my last convention of the year. We have joined a new homeschool group this year and Ill be teaching a writing class for middle schoolers. I am writing my own curriculum for that class and will be combining IEW and literature. At home, I am using Sonlight's Core 5 with two children but Timothy has already been through this Core once in '05 so I am pulling together a new set of readers for him. So I have THAT part of the curriculum that I'm writing as well. It sure makes me appreciate all the years of Sonlight under my belt (11 this year) where I was able to just open the Instructor's Guide and hit the ground running! This is the most tweaking I've had to do yet in all my years of homeschooling...thank you Sonlight!

What are YOU doing to prepare for the new school year?

It's Convention Time!

2010-03-11T10:30:00.001-05:00

It seems hard to believe that the time has arrived but spring ushers in more than showers and flowers...it's also convention time!

This year Sonlight's booth will be more exciting than ever with a new look and of course those much anticipated new catalogs!

The really neat thing Sonlight is doing this year is offering a convention special of $15 off of any purchase of $50 or more for convention attendees! So be sure to stop by the Sonlight booth and fill out a card in order to receive your coupon!

A neat tip I learned years ago: bring your mailing labels to the convention. You know the ones you receive free in the mail. Or if you don't have any, print your own! It will save you time (and make it legible) to sign up for those convention specials, newsletter and catalog sign-ups and drawings.

I will be at Coastal Florida Curriculum Fair March 12-13 in Vero Beach at Central Assembly. Hours are Friday 4:00-9:00 PM and Saturday 8:30 AM-3:00 PM.

I will also be at South Florida Homeschool Convention on March 27 in Davie (near Ft. Lauderdale) at the Signature Grand. Hours are 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. I will be offering a workshop entitled Homeschooling Made Easy: With Guidance, Great Books and Good times!

And finally I will be at the Home Education Resources and Information Curriculum Convention (HERI) on July 16-17 in Jacksonville at the Prime F Osborn III Convention Center. Hours are Friday 9am-6pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. I will be giving a workshop there as well.

I hope to see you at one of these events!
~ Sheila

CC's Mom's Night Out!

2010-02-14T22:14:00.001-05:00

We had a fun time Saturday night with our CC community's Mom's Night Out. We had an Italian Cooking Night. where I taught some of my family's favorites. The menu was (translated): Penne with "Angry" Tomatoes, Pasta and Peas, Chicken Cacciatore, Lettuce with Potatoes, Carrot Salad, Macerated Strawberries with Ciambellone.

Everyone pitched in to help, cutting tomatoes, stirring, flipping.

Heidi, Charlene, Kim cutting and chopping.

Shawne pressing garlic into olive oil.

Jennifer taking over sauteing the chicken.

Amy, Heidi and Charlene sampling the olive oil.

Kim, Shawne, Charlene, Jennifer, Heidi and Grace.

Angela, Amy and Kim.

Sampling the dessert.

The one thing that happened that was unexpected was that we lost power midway through the cooking! We took about an hour "break," but right when I was about to call my mom to ask if I could finish cooking at her house (she has a gas stove) the power came back on! It just made the night that much more special!

Reading Aloud

2010-01-21T09:27:00.000-05:00

On Monday I attended a seminar on writing by Andrew Pudewa and Andrew Kern.

It was really a seminar on language and even more generally on homeschooling. But one (of the many) things that I got out of it was the importance of reading aloud to your children. As a Sonlight Curriculum user I have been reading aloud for years but it was nice to reaffirm the importance of doing it. Because of the busyness of life our Read-Aloud had been pushed to the bottom of the "get-done" list. So yesterday I told the kids to get a quiet activity and we read aloud for hours! This is what they did:

Annie colored, drew and made a friendship anklet.

Timothy played with his magnetix and created a windmill and a ferris wheel.

What did we read you wonder? Caddie Woodlawn's Family. It's the sequal to Caddie Woodlawn which is a part of our curriculum. I cried at just about every chapter! Of course that's just me! I cry easily.

And why is reading aloud so important? According to the two Andrews it raises a child's reading comprehension, listening comprehension and therefore their reading level! Not to mention their vocabulary and the ability to read aloud themselves. It's just good! And they said to keep reading to them, no matter their age. Don't stop once they can read for themselves. So I'm off to read some more. I encourage you to do the same!

Girl's Club

2010-01-09T16:10:00.000-05:00

Annie is part of a girl's club which we helped start last fall. I had been wanting to do some home ec-y type of things with her and thought it would be much more fun to do them in a group. So after emailing some friends we put together a group of 4 families, 6 girls in all. It's working out beautifully. It breaks down nicely into 3 4-month quarters. We just finished up our first "unit" on baking. We covered the following:

October-- Pumpkin bread
November-- Corn bread
December-- Cookies

January-- Muffins

Making cookies

Natalie explaining how to tell if your baking soda is fresh

Girl's Club members

The girls have learned how to measure ingredients, the importance of preheating the oven, what to do to get ready to bake, the difference between baking and cooking, the different types of leavening, why sifting is important, and the different types of measuring utensils among other things. They are also putting together a nice recipe book. While the oven is baking the goodies the girls participate in a little lesson/story/activity. Then they get to sample their wares and often get a little play time while the moms finish cleaning and packing up.

Next we will begin a unit on Sewing followed by a unit on Cooking. I have to say the guys at home will be sad for us to be leaving baking behind. But now that the girls have learned many new skills, they will be able put that talent to work!

Big changes!

2010-01-05T08:19:00.002-05:00

Whew! The fall was a blur of activity and zoomed past at breakneck speed! Our oldest son began high school and we thought it would be fun for him to play sports for a small christian school. He liked it so much that he asked to go to school there. It was a difficult decision for us to make but we decided that he could go ahead and start at the beginning of the second semester. That day is today!

When we began homeschooling we always said we would do it as long as the Lord called us to it. When people would invariable ask, "How long are you going to homeschool?" my response was always, "Well, we're doing it this year!" Early on my husband I and sat down and made a mission statement, named our school and came up with a "Why We Homeschool" document. In reviewing the document we had written, I feel confident that we have succeeded in preparing him for this day.

So over the Christmas break we bought books and uniforms, signed contracts and drafted a transcript. Today I dropped him off and I had the experience that so many parents go through when their child is entering Kindergarten. I got to postpone it 9.5 years!!! I'm proud to say that I did remarkably well. I held it together til I got to the car. It sure is hard to let them grow up!

I'm happy that he already has friends there. Two buddies were going to show him around, making sure he gets to his classes. He was beaming when I left. That's better than clinging to my knees, isn't it? Tonight I will try to keep the questioning to a minimum, praying that he'll want to share his experiences.

I feel unbelievably blessed to have been able to homeschool him all these years. We have made some amazing discoveries together and have had lots of deposits in the memory bank. I look forward to focusing on the other two I still have at home. My job as a homeschooling mom is not over yet. My class size just shrunk by 1/3 is all.

Friends and family are praying for us. It sure is nice to be part of a loving community where we are loved and supported!

Convention season is over!

2009-08-12T14:44:00.002-04:00

After packing and unpacking for 4 different conventions, the season is now over! I have unpacked all my books and put my house back into a semblance of order. It has been interesting, as always, to meet new homeschoolers, to see who the next generation of homeschoolers are, help those who are confused, encourage those who are down, rejoice with those who have come back to give a hug because they had a good year (finally)! I love this job. As exhausting as it can be, I do love helping others homeschool their children.

Press on dear friends! Press on!

Time for HERI!

2009-07-15T08:04:00.002-04:00

It is time for the Jacksonville HERI convention! If you have not registered, it's not too late! You can still register at the door! You can find out more about it by visiting HERI's website.

I am speaking on Friday at the very first time slot. It is #1 on the convention schedule. Come hear more about how Sonlight works (and learn some time-saving tips!) I will have a special drawing for workshop attendees.

If there is something specific you want to see, let me know! Send me an email and if I have it, I will bring it!

Summer school?

2009-06-02T08:45:00.005-04:00

I am often asked if I school through the summer, or if I school year round. My answer to that is no, mamma needs a break too! But that doesn't mean I don't use a summer routine. I first learned about it from a book called Sanity in the Summertime. Here is what I do:

Make a list of what I want to accomplish this summer. This may be school-related (drill math facts), spiritual (memorize scripture) and fun (make pretzels). I start by making my list

Here is what is on my list this summer:

Kids:

· Scripture memory
· Science experiment: corn and beans
· Sustained Silent Reading
· Read-Aloud (RA books from SL)
· Music practice
· Read: Do Hard Things
· Go to IMAX movies
· Start girl’s club
· Camps? Possibilities: volleyball, soccer, sail, art, surf, church

Sheila:
· Read: Senior High: A Home Designed FormULa
· Look into Power Serve
· Look for requirements at universities
· Look up Bright Futures
· Set up record-keeping for HS
· Zone work: declutter/clean
· Look up CC’s transcript service
· Plan Essentials

After I make my list I then create a summer calendar on a sheet of foam core (my husband brings them home from work so I recycle them by using the other side.) Then I add in dates we'll be gone and fill in the days with the things we want to do. I have a weekly template that this year looks like this:

Monday-Stay home and work! (I'm heavily decluttering and deep-cleaning by zones. More on this later).

Tueday-Cooking day (where we make fun things like pretzels, donuts, ice cream sandwiches)

Wednesday-Beach day (we invite friends to join us so it's more fun)

Thursday-Field trip day (free movies, IMAX movies, parks, zoo, etc) This used to be craft day at my house but my kids are getting bigger and want to be on the go more.

Friday-Youth group activity day (I have 2 kids in youth group this year. They have activities planned such as rock climbing, baseball game, etc).

Here is what this year's calendar looks like. We keep adding to it as things come up. It helps the kids to know what is coming up in the upcoming weeks.

I am using Flylady's zones to focus my deep cleaning and decluttering. If you haven't met the Flylady (Marla) then you need to! We are trying to get the house on the market so I want to be able to make it shine and look less crowded.

The Nina and Santa Clara

2009-05-20T05:00:00.007-04:00

We studied US History through 1850ish this year (Sonlight Core 3, CC Cycle 3) so when replicas of Columbus' ships came to the St. Augustine City Pier we had to visit them! I was expecting them to be quite big (ok, huge in my mind) but really they were astonishingly small! They crossed the Atlantic in THESE?!!?

Here you can see the two boats from bow to stern.

Preparing to board. See the square-rigged sails? We were told they were designed for downwind sailing only. Remember that Columbus didn't have an engine, so if he was relying on sailing when the wind was at your back, then no wonder it took so long to reach the new world!

The gal you see in the background is one of the crew. She has been on board for two years. This is the Nina. The Santa Clara, (on the right of the picture, port to this boat) which is also called the Pinta, had about 30 crew on board in Columbus' time. We were told the men lived on deck, and that the hold (down below) was for storing supplies, food and animals. THIS deck! Notice the lack of shelter... Columbus' quarters were behind the tender (small board stored on the deck). There was one hatch that went down below (the only ventilation) and only 4 ft headroom. I was surprised to see the large tiller beneath the poop deck. I always pictured them steering the boat with a big wheel ON the poop deck (think: pirate ship) but that was not the case with these two boats. The current crew is 7 onboard the Santa Clara and although it is a replica it does have cabins, an engine, radar, GPS, etc. So this crew isn't roughing it too badly. We chatted with one guy on the Santa Clara who had just boarded the ship in Sebastian. They are still looking for crew if anyone is interested...
Checking out the stern of the boat. See the size of those blocks? The boat is all block rigged so that no one has to climb up to let down the sails. That came later apparantly. This visit to the boats really made the book Pedro's Journal come to life!

Care to visit? Here is the 2009 schedule. Check and see if they are somewhere near you!

DATES	PORT	LOCATION


Feb. 3 - Feb. 15	San Diego, Ca	Kona Kai Marina, Shelter Island
Mar. 12 - Mar 15	Republic of Panama	Flamingo Yacht Club
Apr. 15 - Apr. 21	Stuart, FL	Harborage Yacht Club & Marina
Apr. 24 - May 3	Daytona, FL	Inlet Harbor Marina
May 6- May 17	St. Augustine, Fl	City Marina
May 22 - May 25	Beaufort, N.C.	Maritime Museum
May 29 - May 31	Lewes, Delaware	City Docks
June 5 - June 7	Kingston, New York	Maritime Museum
June 19- June 21	Oswego, New York	West Pier adjacent to maritime museum
June 26 - June 28	Algonac, Mi	Clay Township Historical Society
July 2nd - July 5	Alpena, Mi	Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center
July 9 - July 12	Petosky, Mi	Petosky City Marina
July 16 - July 19	Muskegon, Mi	Heritage Landing
July 22 - July 26	Marinette, Wi	Nest Egg Marina
July 29 - Aug 2	Waukegan, Illinois	Waukegan Harbor
August 5 - Aug 9	South Haven, Mi	Maritime Museum
Aug 12- Aug 16	Chicago	Navy Pier

South Florida Convention Report

2009-04-28T14:33:00.009-04:00

The South Florida Homeschool Convention was a success! Lots of people, both new homeschoolers as well as veterans, turned out to shop the vendor hall and to hear keynote speaker Andrew Pudewa. I had one woman come into my Sonlight booth after the keynote address and say, "After hearing Andrew Pudewa speak I am changing my whole approach to homeschooling! I used to use textbooks but I am going to read-aloud to my children!" And proceeded to ask about Sonlight! I don't know if Mr. Pudewa mentioned Sonlight by name or just highlight the benefits of reading aloud to your children, but I was happy to help her discover the pleasures of literature-based learning!

Here are some pictures of the event:Me and my helpers! (Lisa was also my assistant my she was not there at this point and I neglected getting her picture afterwards).

Samples of the different components.

IG rack, Reader samples, Core rack

My neighbor next to me (notice their catalog rack facing me!) Tommy hung out in front of it most of the time.

My ground crew/driver/babysitter/lunch deliverer (you can kinda see his scar just beneath the sunglasses).

South Florida Homeschool Convention

2009-04-15T13:59:00.003-04:00

It's time for the Second Annual South Florida Homeschool Convention. Last year was a great first year...very well organized and lots of attendees! I am happy to attend as a vendor again this year. You may want to check out the website for it. If you page down a little to view the pictures from last year, take a look at the first one...you'll see yours truly!!

Let me know if you are going and stop by to say hi! I'm having a great raffle...drop your card in the basket for your chance at winning!

Hope to see you!

~Sheila

Want to win win A FREE YEAR'S WORTH OF CURRICULUM!!?

2009-04-10T03:35:00.003-04:00

Enter Sonlight's Catalog Sweepstakes!

Sponsor:Sonlight Curriculum Ltd.
8042 S. Grant Way,
Littleton, CO. 81022
main@sonlight.com 303.730.6292

Official Rules:

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER.
Must be 18 or older to enter.
Limit of 1 entry per household.
Contest for US residents only (AK and HI are included)
Only new catalog requesters will be entered in the contest. Customers with any order history or individuals whom our records indicate have requested a catalog in the past are not eligible for the contest and will not be entered upon ordering a catalog during the applicable timeframe.
Two random drawings will take place and a total of 2 winners will be selected.
The first drawing will occur on June 20, 2009 for entries made from April 1, 2009 through May 31, 2009.
The second drawing will occur on September 30, 2009 for entries made from June 1, 2009 through August 31, 2009. You will be contacted within 15 days if you are selected as a winner.
The estimated odds of winning are one in ten-thousand (1:10,000).
Each winner will receive a Sonlight Newcomer Package or equivalent (for upper levels 6 and above) for 1 child with a retail value between $261.90 and $1028.94.
Each winner will also receive all Club Benefits for one year so that they can truly experience being a Sonlighter. The Club Benefits include, but are not limited to, Free Membership on the Sonlighter Club Forums, Free Subscription to the "Beam of Sonlight" Newsletter, 10% Discount on all future orders for a year, and an Ancient Roman "Widow's Mite" Coin Pendant.
Sonlight will not share a participant's personal information, including address and phone number, with any third party.
Employees and outside contractors, along with their immediate families (parents, brothers, sisters and children), of the Sponsor, Sonlight Curriculum Ltd. are not eligible to win.

Public Speaking

2009-03-29T18:55:00.007-04:00

Our children are involved in a homeschool group called Classical Conversations where every week each child is expected to give a 2-3 minute presentation in front of the class. This is our second year with CC so my children have thus far given approximately 45 presentations. They are getting quite comfortable speaking in front of a group.

This week their training was put to the test. They were asked to present a short skit in church. They did a great job! Here area a few shots:

Receiving some final instructions

I bet I'll be more nervous than they on Tuesday when we have to give our family presentations!

I have catalogs!!

2009-03-23T17:59:00.002-04:00

I have the new Sonlight catalog! 10 boxes of them! Does anyone need one now? Let me know and for a small bag of dark choc...errr...well...if you really can't wait for yours to arrive in the mail, we can arrange for you to get a copy! Or if you have a friend who may like one, let me know! You can email me at: sdelcharco@sonlight.com.

Off to find a quiet spot....

~Sheila

Educational Philosophies--Charlotte Mason

2009-03-07T15:14:00.010-05:00

When talking to first-time homeschoolers I often will advise them to develop a philosophy of education for their homeschool. It helps to know the different philosophies out there and deciding which one(s) you agree with.

Here are two more books that deal with homeschooling. They both address the Charlotte Mason educational philosophy. I was attracted to this philosophy because of the emphasis on living books. I devoured these books early on in my homeschooling years and they gave me a good foundation on which to build my own philosophy of education. I specifically like that she believes that children should have something or someone to love, something to do and something to think about and that "education is a science of relations." From the first book I gleaned the idea of narration and the importance of copywork. I have incorporated both of these ideas into our homeschool.

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola is a great introduction to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education. She was an 1800’s educator who believed that children are “real persons.” She stresses using real books, “living books” as opposed to textbooks. She also encourages narration – telling a story back to you in his own words and short lessons which helps a student to “retain their inborn curiosity.” And finally, she believes that a child doesn’t need homework but rather free afternoons to be able to pursue interests such as music, handicrafts, gardening, or playing. Karen Andreola shares her own journey of homeschooling the Charlotte Mason way with humor and touching accounts.

Pocketful of Pinecones is another book by Karen Andreola, this time emphasizing nature study. It is written as a fictitious story but is full of ideas for ways to incorporate nature study in your school day. I found it sweet and it inspired me to look for teachable moments throughout my day.

Books About Homeschooling

2009-02-28T19:03:00.004-05:00

Are you new to homeschooling or maybe are contemplating it? If you are at all like me you might like to do a little research and read up on the subject. I thought about some of my favorite homeschooling books and they can be divided into two categories: inspirational stories and “how-to.” Let me share some of my favorites. Now I realize that this list of books might date me. Remember, I’ve been homeschooling for 9 years now and many of these I read 9+ years ago so they may seem old-fashioned or fuddy-duddy to some of you. But in looking online I see that the only one that seems to be out of print is the Susan Richman book. Most of the other books have been updated. A disclaimer: many of these I read for fun-to-read-not-necessarily- how-I’d-do-it although all of them have left their mark on my educational philosophy.

Hard Times in Paradise by David and Micki Colfax is an incredible story of one family's adventure back when homeschooling was unheard of and still illegal. When I think I'm having a bad homeschool day I just think back to the Colfaxes and what they went through. It makes my day look like a pretty spring morning. Inspiring. Head-shaking good. Not the way I do things, by a long shot, but it helps me to relax when I start getting uptight about the curriculum.

The 3 R’s at Home by Howard and Susan Richman is in some ways similar to the Colfaxes book. It is also the story of one family's homeschooling experience when it was illegal to homeschool. This mother has a very relaxed approach to homeschooling, which like the Colfaxes book, helps me to lighten up when I start getting obsessive about my box-checking. Also not the way I do it, but still inspiring to read.

Now, The Three R's by Dr. Ruth Beechick is more of a how-to book. It does not recount a family's story, but rather it gives a parent advice for teaching reading, writing and arithmetic in the early grades in a very natural way. The reading section explains phonics and comprehension skills. The language section teaches writing skills in a similar way children learn spoken language. Finally, the arithmetic section focuses on understanding math concepts, not just rote memorization. I consider this a "must-have" on my reference shelf and have referred to it time and time again. My copies (it used to be sold as 3 small booklets) are highlighted and a little battered, but still quite valuable.

That's all for now. I do have more favorites but I'll save them for another rainy day. Hope you find some good reading ideas here!

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Come visit me at the following homeschooling conventions:

Coastal Florida Curriculum Fair
March 2-3, 2012
Vero Beach, FL

Teach Them Diligently Convention
March 15-17, 2012
Spartanburg, SC

South East Homeschool Convention
March 22-24, 2012
Greenville, SC

South Florida Homeschool Convention
March 31, 2012
Davie, FL (Ft. Lauderdale Area)

Home Educational Resources and Information Curriculum Convention
July 12-13, 2011
Jacksonville, FL

Tampa Bay Homeschool Conference
July 21, 2012
Tampa, FL

Begin the Adventure by Setting Sail

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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” --Mark Twain

I remember the fears I faced when first thinking about embarking on this adventure. Can I really do this? Will I be able to teach math? Will my kids get into college? Will I be too weird? Will my kids turn out weird? Am I going to ruin them? What about me? Will *I* have a life?... And the list goes on and on. After many discussions, my husband and I agreed that Kindergarten couldn't be too hard and if I really botched it, we would put our son in school the next year.

The first year went well, despite having a 2-year-old and a baby. We discovered Sonlight Curriculum and enjoyed reading interesting books and learning new things together. We solidified our relationships by being together. I kept thinking how grateful I was that I didn't have to wake my son up early, pack his lunch and send him off to school. He got to play with his siblings and be under my watchful eye so that I could continue to instruct and shape long after we had "finished school!"

So the next year we did it again, and again, and again, with siblings joining us as they were able. Now I find that 11 years have gone by and our lives are so rich from this experience. I am still enjoying it! No, it's not always easy, but parenting isn't either and I love that job as well! Oh, and by the way, I don't think we're weird!

If you would like some help in choosing curriculum or just someone to share your fears with, I'd be happy to help! It is my passion to help parents cast off their bowlines and head out into new waters. Let me share my chart with you! Email me {sdelcharco@sonlight.com} to begin the adventure! ~Sheila