Who We Are

Some of my favorite curriculum is created by stay-at-home moms. As the Product Reviews Manager for The Old SchoolhouseŽ Magazine, I see a lot of homeschooling products coming to us for review from creative homeschooling families. Some of you are producing truly amazing products, running your home businesses, and homeschooling all at the same time!

The Andreola family are a perfect example! They have produced some beautiful products for homeschoolers all while homeschooling their own. Of particular note is their Story Starters: Helping Children Write Like They've Never Written Before.

Story Starters is a large softcover book of 458 pages full of gorgeous Victorian artwork...Story Starters begins with Notes for the Teacher. Here is where Mrs. Andreola writes one of her gems: "At the heart of writing is the ability to tell--the ability to narrate." What your child will learn in these pages is "how to tell." She begins by explaining the importance of quality books as the main source of your child's composition. "Putting what he has read (or what has been read to him) in his own words, he is learning, from the authors of these books, how to use words." How often I have seen my children use certain phrases they have learned from our reading time (or their own) in their writing with no prompting from me at all. They enjoy the way the words sound or feel on their lips (or pen) so they use them.

You can find the rest of the review on this tremendous Charlotte Mason writing product here.

~Kate

One thing that has helped me to keep things in focus over the years is to recognize that parenting is my primary ministry. It is not "just" parenting, but it is the thing that God has called me first and foremost to do. Now, that doesn't mean I don't do a whole lot of other things too! It just means that when I am considering adding something new to my responsibilities, I am considering how it will affect my primary ministry. Anything that can be added and still keep my focus on my kids is prayerfully considered.

There are plenty of opportunities for ministry within these confines. Over the years I have been co-leader of our homeschool group, Director of VBS, an Awana leader,  Sunday School teacher, etc. For every job I have taken on though, there have been many which I have turned down. The choices have been fairly easy - if it doesn't work for my kids, it doesn't work for me.

Now for some freebies!

All homeschoolers can use organizational tools! Here are some free weekly planning sheets you can download.  There is also a good article at this same site called How to Make Simple Lesson Plans for Homeschool.

Here is a really good article I came across on how to organize your homeschool day.  It will help you plan, prioritize and respond to your day.  This is very similar to the system we use. (Especially the respond part!)

Happy Homeschooling,
~Jamin