Authors

Meet the Contributing Authors

Once you are familiar with the differing methods and philosophies that the homeschool world has to offer, you may find yourself wanting to hear what the seasoned homeschoolers have already figured out about certain philosophies. You may also want to browse their articles and reviews to help you along your journey. It’s always nice to hear what other like-minded homeschooling moms have to say and what they have already encountered in their home school.

Meet Our Classical Home Educators

Brenda, Classically Eclective, mother of 5

My goal has been to simplify a classical education by teaching a few subjects to mastery and the remaining to exposure. The key to my successful homeschool has been keeping my children’s hearts knitted to mine by remaining my children’s closest mentor and realizing that a carefully well-thought out lesson plan is just something to do in the in-between times while learning virtue, truth, goodness, beauty and wisdom.

I’ve homeschooled since my first son’s birth, as my husband and I have always believed that homeschooling is a lifestyle choice. I did a lot of research that lead me to educating classically. I was heavily inspired by The Well Trained Mind. I have made a classical education work for our family for the past 8 years and I believe it will serve us well into the future.

Seeking knowledge, understanding and wisdom is the basic purpose of a classical education. This can be done by nourishing the soul through the seven liberal arts. I have discovered that many philosophies overlap and that a classical education teaches the mind but to reach my children’s body and souls, I have had to venture beyond the classical realm. Doing the things that require us to spend quality time together like nature studies and conversations that stem from reading and narrating “living books” have leant their hands to nurturing their body and souls. But, the backbone to our homeschool is classical and everything else fills in the gaps. My reviews to curriculum will reflect my take on how well things line up with a classical education, with a little dash of flavor. I am the founder of Our Lifestyle of Learning, an online homeschool community and I write frequently at my personal blog, The Tie That Binds Us.

Kristen, Well Trained Classical Mom

I am the wife of a dedicated, hard-working husband and the mother to four creative, crazy, and amazingly different children. Our homeschooling journey began before we even had children. My husband and I attended public schools throughout our entire educational careers. Though we were both very successful in the public school setting, we realized early in our marriage that we had actually learned very little in our years at school. Much of our knowledge had been gained through independent reading and study. We also began to understand that it is impossible to have a neutral education. We saw that worldview is central to interpreting the data that our minds are constantly receiving, and that often we can be subtly deceived into accepting ideas that are contrary to our beliefs. As Christians, we wanted our children to have a solid understanding of their faith before having their beliefs tested.

Before our oldest son was four years old, we had already begun our research on homeschooling. When we read The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise, we realized that this was what we were looking for. This was the education that we both were missing. A classical education is a way to impart both knowledge and the ability to interpret that knowledge. Over the years, we’ve modified and adapted many of the methods described in The Well-Trained Mind to better suit our own family, but we’re still seeking to follow the basic pattern laid out in the book.

I am a curriculum junkie and I love to research and write about homeschool curriculum. Some of my other loves are office supplies, organizing, frugal living, and reading. My homeschooling blog is A Day in the Life and I’m also developing a series of web pages on homeschool methods and curriculum at www.squidoo.com/thinkingabouthomeschooling. As a family, we enjoy playing games, hiking, visiting museums, and exploring our state.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom, Classical/Charlotte Mason Homeschooler-High School Age and Above

I have been home educating my four children for the last thirteen years. Currently, I am home schooling my youngest two high school age boys. I currently uses Tapestry of Grace curriculum plans, implemented with a Classical/Charlotte Mason style to emphasis the arts and sciences. I have taught primary grade art classes and am currently the owner of Harmony Fine Arts and the organizer of the Outdoor Hour Challenges using the Handbook of Nature Study. I am also a regular contributor to the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival. You can read more about how I includes art and music appreciation and nature study in my children’s education on my blogs: http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com and http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com. You can find information about Harmony Fine Arts at my website: http://www.harmonyfinearts.com. I welcomes email from all homeschoolers who need help in offering these subjects with their own children at Harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com

Molly, Charlotte Mason-inspired Classical Mom of four boys

My introduction to homeschooling was unconventional. A friend loaned me a copy of Karen Andreola’s book The Charlotte Mason Companion , and I was won over before I finished reading the introduction! Mason’s emphasis on engaging minds through Living Books, nature study, and appreciation of the arts was captivating. Even more importantly, I saw that homeschooling would give us the opportunity to daily impart our faith to our children, while training their character and growing in love for one another.

Ten years later, we are still loving the journey. Somewhere along the way we embraced the structure and rigor of a classical education without forgetting our Charlotte Mason roots. Our homeschool spans the spectrum from preschool to high school.

Our typical day begins with family worship, followed by an emphasis on the 3 R’s for our younger children and Latin and math for our oldest. Afternoons are spent with plenty of living books, science, and discussions about the Bible, philosophy, and God’s hand throughout history. Hands on learning activities are sprinkled in for good measure.

I am the creator of My Audio School, a website dedicated to providing educational audio content in a child-friendly format. My homeschool articles and audio podcasts can be found at Countercultural School. You’ll also find me writing and podcasting on inspirational topics at my blog Countercultural Mom, as well as for the online magazine Mentoring Moments for Christian Women.

No twaddle allowed here!

Our Charlotte Mason Clan

Korey, Charlotte Mason Devotee

Our homeschooling journey has been an incredible blessing to my family. We began homeschooling when one of our sons was having a difficult time in school. After much prayer my husband and I decided to venture out onto this thing called “homeschooling”. Before we officially started I devoured countless books on how to homeschool. In a short amount of time I discovered new terms such as “living books”, “nature studies”, “copy-work”, and so many more. In my quest to gain this new knowledge to homeschool I learned about a British educator who lived from the late 1800s to the early 1900s named Charlotte Mason. Her methods of educating children were profound and are now impacting many homeschool families today. After my first year of homeschooling I felt a little lost and knew I needed direction. My heart was once again drawn to the “Charlotte Mason” philosophy. This way of teaching seemed to make so much sense to me. I quickly started implementing these “Charlotte Mason” ideas with my children. In a short amount of time I noticed a change in my children’s attitude toward school. It was fun again! I finally found how to ignite the love of learning into my children! Our homeschooling has changed much since we started. It is now a time we enjoy together as we learn. Our homeschooling is a time not only to educate our children but it is also a to instill values, to work on issues of the heart, and to help them in their path to know Christ as their savior and Lord. These are things that only a parent can do!

I continue to use many of the “Charlotte Mason” ideas in our homeschooling. I also implement some classical education philosophies. I also use some text books with my children. I guess I’m like a favorite recipe with lots of good seasonings. Instead I would say I’m a lot like Charlotte Mason with lots of good stuff mixed in!

Homeschooling has now become a lifestyle for our family.. We have now been homeschooling a few years and plan to homeschool all the way through, Lord willing.

I am still learning how to be the best homeschool mom that God has designed me to be. It is a journey with so many blessings along the way!

Jimmie, A Charlotte Mason Flavored Mom of One

I’m a mom of one – a creative ten year old whose online name is Sprite. After seven years of teaching in the public school setting, I became a SAHM when Sprite was three years old and when our family moved to China. I’ve taught Sprite at home since Kindergarten. Knowing I wanted a literature based approach, I started out with Sonlight and Singapore Math. Later after learning more about the Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling and about how Sprite learns best, I switched to a more eclectic mix of curricula including Winter Promise, Beautiful Feet, Noeo Science, and Learning Language Arts Through Literature. We use lapbooks, notebooking, and hands-on projects to enhance our learning (and just have fun). Over the years, I’ve tried to slowly incorporate more and more of the Charlotte Mason philosophy into our homeschool. We had already been using narration and living books since the beginning, so that was easy. The first real changes were to add nature study and artist study. Once those were habits, we over time added poetry, composer study, Shakespeare, and drawing until we found the right flavor of individualized Charlotte Mason for us and our unique situation living abroad. My latest achievement has been a dramatic switch from textbook driven math to living math. As for me personally, I like photography, building lenses at Squidoo, traveling, and cooking from scratch. I blog at Jimmie’s Collage.

Shannon, Unit Study/Charlotte Mason Mother of 3

I have been “officially” homeschooling our children since our oldest was five years old. What an adventure it has been so far, but one that I wouldn’t trade for anything! Some of my favorite things about educating my children at home are seeing their curiosity and excitement about the world around them, learning and making new discoveries together, and most importantly, being there each day to share God’s love and His Word with them and watch them grow in their faith.

In my pre-motherhood days when I was a public school teacher, I used thematic units quite a bit in my teaching. They were a good fit for my teaching style, and my students always seemed to enjoy them. Years later when I began researching different homeschooling methods and curriculum, I found myself drawn once again to unit studies, so we began our learning adventures with thematic units being the backbone of our curriculum. Fortunately, my children enjoyed them as much as I did from the beginning, and they have worked well for us. I do my best to let the children choose many of the topics that we focus on throughout the year, and every now and then we will run down a rabbit trail that we’re interested in following.

Early on in our homeschooling journey, I discovered Charlotte Mason and found that so many of her ideas clicked with my educational philosophy. I realized that in some ways we were already learning in the style of Miss Mason. For years we had been listening to classical music, spending time out in God’s creation, and reading lots and lots of living books together. It was just natural to begin incorporating more of her ideas into our lifestyle, things like artist study and keeping nature journals.

The homeschooling lifestyle is a perfect fit for our family, and I count it a privilege and a blessing to be able to stay at home with my children and experience their education with them. This Mom couldn’t ask for more! If you’d like to read more about our homeschooling adventures, drop by
and visit my blog at Song of My Heart.

Cindy – Eclectic Charlotte Mason Mom of Three

I love being with my children, ages 12, 9 and 2. The biggest reason I chose to homeschool was because I love experiencing life with them and watching them grow inside and out. I’m sure that’s why the Charlotte Mason method first caught my attention. It allows us to be creative in scheduling, rigorous in learning, yet opens the door for plenty of close-knit time, opportunities for my children to explore their interests and offers enough free time for them to be children.

Some might call our family a bit relaxed since I rarely ever give a traditional test and you won’t find us pouring over textbooks very often at all. On the other hand, just because you won’t find us learning traditionally doesn’t mean we aren’t learning! My children soak up their studies. I believe that’s because we tend to learn in hands-on, real-life, and meaningful ways. We love unit studies, living literature, nature study, field trips, games, and so much more that bring learning to life! My children show what they know not through tests, but through in-depth projects that require them to really know their stuff in order to complete the projects.

At the same time, I’m a very organized person. When we first started our homeschool journey, I wanted a way to organize our studies to be sure “everything” was covered eventually. That’s when I became a part-time Classical mom. From day one, I have loved the idea of four-year science and history cycles. I also agree with the philosophy that children learn in different ways at different ages. And, I believe introducing Latin to children is a very good idea.

Because of our wonderfully eclectic homeschool, you’ll find me reviewing everything from curriculum to literature to games and more. I hope you’ll stop by to visit me at Our Journey Westward, my personal blog, and Shining Dawn Books, my business website!

Biblical Principles Come First

Renae, Biblical Principled Mom

Growing up I heard that God was the ruler of history. I read how he ruled and reigned in the Bible, and even though my classrooms were void of His name, I didn’t believe He was finished creation. What was God doing all throughout the history of mankind? What was God doing now?

My questions multiplied as I continued through school. In college I met a pastor who asked me about the 4 Rs of education. I’d heard of reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithemetic, but what was the forth R? He explained four methods for learning: Research, Reason, Relate, and Record. That was my first introduction to the Principle Approach. And I was hooked. I asked questions. I observed. I attended seminars where only a couple ideas would seep into my brain. I wanted to understand more.

In 2000, my husband and I left Idaho and headed to Texas where I was blessed to attend a Principle Approach teaching training school. I poured over facsimiles of the original documents that led to the birth of a nation founded on liberty of the individual. I embraced the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary with its thoughtful, scriptural definitions. After a year of intense study, the hard part was beginning. It was time to put it into practice.

Nine years later, I’m still practicing and will continue learning my whole life through. Our homeschool reflects that desire. We focus on enjoying literature, expressing individuality, and, most importantly, revealing God by placing His life-giving Word as the foundation of every subject. Our attempts to do that are recorded at Life Nurturing Education.

Unit Study and Lapbooking Moms

Lynn Pitts- Lapbooking/Hands On Learning Mom of 3

I am a wife to a wonderful Aviation Mechanic of almost 12 years and a stay at home mom of three beautiful children, a girl and two boys with ages ranging from almost 8 to 15. We are in the process of adopting through the foster care system and look forward to expanding our family.

My husband and I both attended public school and felt that our education lacked in many areas. We knew we didn’t want our children to go through that same way of learning. Being together as a family and following God’s plan for our lives is a priority for us.

As a Christian family, we wanted our children to learn about God and how important values are in today’s world, and not about the secular way of life.

I’ve taught both of my youngest children at home since they were little. I’ve tried many ways to homeschool over the years and have come to love the lapbooking/ hands on approach. With this way of learning we use a variety of methods such as cooking, crafts, experiments, lapbooking and occasional unit studies.

My children show me everyday the things they’ve learned without needing to give them tests or lots of book work. They show me through their creativity. Nothing brings me more joy than to watch my children learning. Being around them everyday is a gift from God and with His will we plan to home school the whole way through.

When I am not schooling my children, I love to make my own greeting cards, scrapbook, and photograph anything that shows me how awesome God is. I also love to read Christian Fiction books with a new love for historical fiction. I am learning how to sew, garden, and can my own food as well as becoming a more frugal shopper.

I love to share about our life and school happenings through my family blog. You can read more about our daily lives at Learning By Living-
http://learning-by-living.blogspot.com You can visit Hands On Lap booking- http://handsonlapbooking.blogspot.com) to see our lapbooking projects and studies.

Tristan – Unit studies with a side of lapbooks

I’m an LDS wife of 9 years to one good man and mother to 5 children so far, ages 8, 5, 4, 2, and 10 months. We have always homeschooled. I knew one family that homeschooled in my teen years. When I spent the last few months of my first pregnancy on bed rest I read all the books I could find at the library on homeschooling(after going through all the Agatha Christie books on the library shelves). Before long I was sharing what I learned with my husband. I was excited because I had spent a good portion of my time in public school waiting for everyone to catch up. My husband was excited because he was my opposite in public school. He was the one always try to keep up and feeling stressed by needing to hurry so the class could move on. Homeschooling would allow our children to go at their own pace and follow their own interests.

Unit studies with an eclectic flair were a good fit for our family. We could learn about things that our children found interesting, while incorporating many subjects under that theme. We discovered lapbooking a few years ago and the rest is history. Lapbooking makes it easy to create a portfolio of our learning for state reporting requirements. Each lapbook is a fun reminder of the things we have done as well.
One of the ways I homeschool with so many little ones is to simply do as much as we can together. Unit studies are perfect for that! Our homeschool day begins with our gospel studies because learning about God and His Word is the most important part of our day. We usually read a scripture story, sing a song or two, and practice some memory verses. Then we do the rest of our academics. We like unit studies ranging from 1 week to 4 weeks long, though we average 3-4 weeks per unit. I am a big fan of the library, so we gather a lot of resources for free and dive right in. Reading aloud is one of our favorite things to do so we always include a great read in our unit studies. Every day we do at least 1 lapbook piece for the unit, which gets saved for our review day at the end of the study.

In my free time I love to read and update our blog daily which makes it easy for you to follow our homeschool adventures over at our blog Our Busy Homeschool.

Would you like to join us?

If you would like to write reviews for The Curriculum Choice, please fill out the form below. We are open to accepting guest reviewers and occasionally will have an opening for a full-time reviewer. We’re a fun bunch of ladies! If you have a passion for writing about your experiences then don’t hesitate in contacting me. Our mission is to reach out to the homeschool moms who are looking for honest reviews that will help them make the right curriculum choice for their family. Our reviews are written from experience with the curriculum as we teach our own children.