The Home-Made School Links
"Education is an adventure...
It's about people, children, life, reality!"
~Susan Shaeffer Macaulay
We are a family of seven...Mom (Jody), Dad (Tom), Adam, Grace, John, Seth and Joseph...and have been home-schooling for 12 years from grades K-12 thus far. I hope you will find some helps for your homeschooling experience here. Below are some helpful sites and some materials we've used successfully with the children. I would like to say here that "information" is not the most important part of our home school. To us, the spirit of the child is of the utmost importance. Therefore I'd like to ask you to consider these questions in your homeschooling endeavors...Does my child have a relationship with Jesus? Does he have a loving relationship with his family and friends, and does he have compassion for those he doesn't know? Does he have proper tools for living...manners, kindness, work ethics, basic household skills? We've always felt that if we've taught our children "...to love your neighbor as yourself..." then success in all these other things will follow. Also you might ask yourself, what special interests or gifts does my child have which I can promote? Before we consider educating the mind, let us consider the child and who he is.
We consider our home school of
the "Charlotte Mason" variety although we do not hold
to this method exclusively. You might say that we are
"eclectic". We enjoy reading "living books"
for our history, science, and literature (the kind you'll see
below). We enjoy oral and written narrations (of the living books
we read), read-aloud books, poetry, nature study (which includes
making nature journals), listening to classical composers and
studying some of them, making music (family singing and playing
instruments and listening to good music). This year we learned
much about "how to" paint in watercolor and also
studied some watercolor artists and impressionists. Go to: A Charlotte Mason Education in Our Home for more details.
We do have some teens in our home and school and so it is sometimes challenging to give them what they need and balance that with what they want. Come see how we homeschool Upper Grades.
If you'd like a link to the Charlotte Mason methods you may visit...Dean and Karen Andreola's site. Karen's new book, A Charlotte Mason Companion and Parents' Review back issues have both helped me greatly and can be obtained through their web pages.
A Charlotte Mason Education is another wonderful web site which will help you understand the principles and ideas that Charlotte Mason wanted to instill in children. Debi Taylor-Hough's site has everything from convention notes to a very active message board which parents/teachers may discuss ideas.
I have a neat friend who has been homeschooling for many years who's site Commit Your Works to the Lord is a great inspiration to the homeschooling parent. You'll just love Mary Roddy's ideas and her very attractive home-page! She's a mother of six and has been a great help and encouragment to me.
Practical Organizational Tips from homeschooling Moms.
Montana Coalition of Home Educators is our state support group.
The Bible...we read a chapter
aloud daily and discuss it, along with time for prayer. We prefer
the giant print KJV (for less eye strain). We usually have
"question time" afterwards when each asks the fellow or
lady on his left a question about the reading. This keeps
everyone on their toes! I like to have a Bible commentary
alongside to find interesting facts about our study.
Living books...here are 1000 of them! The library supplies the core of our book supply. We prefer "living books" which may include biographies, historical fiction, non-fiction, or classical literature...in any case, the book should not be dull but rather alive and captivating to the student. We usually have a read-aloud book going at all times which may or may not go along with a period of time which we are studying. I like to hear..." Just one more chapter please, Mom!" This tells me I've got a "living book" in my hands.
Art...We enjoy many different aspects of art in our home. We do some art appreciation which Charlotte Mason recommended....mostly picture study. We may take 3-6 prints of an artist and just enjoy looking at them, finding unusual things in them and at times study the artist. We also like to practice drawing and painting with watercolors. Ruth Beechick reminds me that it is better to learn one art medium well and have plenty of time to practice it. Just as we would not try out the voilin one week and piano another, we should give children plenty of time to enjoy and explore and experiment with one type of art. Check out my Art Page for more ideas and resources!
Music... We enjoy listening to good music as
well as making our own music with simple household items. We've
found The Lester Family cassettes to be a fun and easy way to
sing. With them we have enjoyed singing in rounds a capella
style. For more on what our music curriculum looks like go to Music in Our Home.
One fun catalog for "anything art" is Dick Blick Art Materials. They have nearly everything you could ever want for art projects, however, I still like to shop at home if possible. Sometimes prices on watercolor paints are just as competative, without the shipping.
Language Arts...This is a very sticky subject with many educators/parents because most of us are not very "grammatically literate". Since most of us have come from a traditional education, we automatically feel that our children must know the grammar textbook in order to be "properly educated." Just take a look at how many language arts/grammar programs are out there! It's enough to send you into a tailspin! I'd like to tell you here what we've done to simplify our language arts program in our home school. Take a look at How We Do Language Arts.
Nature Study is a large part of our curriculum. We keep nature journals in which we record plants, animals, insects...anything "nature"! We keep track of dates, Latin names, behaviors, and observations... all by writings, drawings and even a poem or two! These journals are priceless to me and to the children as they see the changes in nature ...and in themselves month by month and year by year. I like Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. Her study questions for observation are wonderful and the information compiled is unsurpassed. We also use a variety of field guides. We especially like the Audubon Field Guides and the book Reader's Digest North American Wildlife. Check out my Nature Page for some of my own personal nature moments.
Tops Science...we prefer hands-on experiments for grade
school through high school level. Tops has been the most
interesting and complete way to study a science topic. When the
children are done completing a Tops module, I know that they
fully understand the concepts and have had enormous fun as well!
Apologia Science...for the high school level. We will begin this program with our 10th grade son. A very easy-to-read, hands-on program with email correspondence to the author available.
Cool Science... is a really neat link I wanted to add. It's "everything science" from experiments to science museums, to articles. You name it, it's probably there!
Math U See...another hands-on wonderful program! We've used Saxon and Making Math Meaningful and they've filled a spot, but none of them compare to the complete understanding of math like Math U See has. One of our children who has struggled in math feels like a "math whiz"after a year with Math U See!
I must admit here and now, that I USE book catalogs as a curriculum guide for our home school. They are usually organized by periods of time or by subject which makes it easy to plan a unit of study. I just take my catalog and mark the books I wish to find at the library and off we go on an adventure. There are several wonderful catalogs I use in this manner. I do try to order some "must have" books from these companies also. Why not support the wonderful work they do in collecting and organizing these catalogs for us! For more ideas go to my History Page.
GREAT
CATALOGS AND RESOURCE LINKS FOR YOU
Heppner and Heppner Construction! DuWayne and Miriam Heppner are parents to 15 children (thus far) and have been homeschooling from the beginning. Their homeschool catalog is full of the resources that have worked for their family. I love the catalog because many of the books and materials they sell are already on my bookshelf.
Beautiful Feet History...I like the collection of historical literature and have used many of their recommended books.
We're excited to start using the G.A. Henty books for history too...by Prestonspeed. Mary Leggewie has them for sale at this site and will meet or beat any price! What a deal!! You'll also enjoy Mary's site which is LOADED with wonderful homeschool helps and resources.
Elijah Company has great resources for our home school and much, much more! This catalog is like a book on "how to homeschool". I just love reading it, not only for it's collection of books, but for its encouragement and wisdom as well.
Timberdoodle is a nifty little catalog and the family behind it has used all the resources in their home school. I have never gone wrong ordering from their selections. Very practical and very prompt too!
Lifetime Books and Gifts is an enormous catalog with lots of excellent reviews on books , gifts, and curriculum for the homeschooling family.
Greenleaf Press...is a catalog that I carry in my library book box. A great reference for historical living books all arranged by periods in time. They'll meet lots of other curriculum needs for you besides history!
Bluestocking Press is a catalog that specializes in American History. They also publish the Richard Maybury books like Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?. Call 1-800-959-8586 for a catalog.
A major part of our
home schooling is in just plain ol' real life. We are a ranching
family and we work together doing everything from dishes to
milking the cow. All of life is education to us.
Questions or comments? Drop me a note!
Hompage - Home School - A Charlotte Mason Education in Our Home - Kindergarten CM Style - High School - Language Arts - History Rent educational DVD's - Art - Music in the Home - Classical Music Curriculum - Little Bush Backers Election Study - Nature. - Nature With Grace - The Library- Making Books and Booklets with Children
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