Homeschool Help and Encouragement

Homeschool How-to, Methods, Learning Styles
Just for Mom, Special Needs & more!

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Encouragement for Moms
When Homeschooling Gets Tough by Diana Johnson Doubt and disillusionment got you down? Turn to this handy volume! Johnson---a pastor's wife, homeschool mother, and Christian bookstore homeschool manager---offers you spiritual and pragmatic help as you face the rigors of home education. With chapters on trusting God, planning realistically, controlling commitments, dealing with difficult children, and looking toward eternity, you'll find been-there-done-that advice and encouragement!
Retail:11.99	Your Cost: $8.50
Homeschooling at the Speed of Life by Marilyn Rockett What should I do next; grade the math test or tackle the laundry? Homeschooling at the Speed of Life gives busy homeschooling mothers a thoughtfully thorough resource for bringing order back to their home. In tune with today’s pace, the book provides basic home-management principles, teaching parents how to de-clutter their homes, develop life skills in their children, tame the paper monster, and keep organized records. Also emphasized are ways to build relationships and use the home as a center for hospitality and outreach. The book even includes Rockett’s easily adaptable File-a-Plan organizing system on a bonus CD-ROM. Homeschooling moms will be keeping up with their good work in no time!
Retail:17.99	Your Cost: $15.95
Homeschool Methods & Helps
In case you haven't figured it out by now, there is no right or wrong way to homeschool! There are probably as many different ways to educate our children as there are families who homeschool :-) So, what approach do you use? As an eclectic or "relaxed" homeschooler, I have found much encouragement from reading books about Charlotte Mason who advocated letting kids be kids, developing good habits and using living books, rather than dry, fill-in-the-blank workbooks. There is also wisdom to be gleaned from those who tout the benefits of the "Classical Method". I've included a few popular titles from both of these approaches and others - I hope these will help you become more educated regarding the many different methods and styles of homeschooling!
How to Homeschool - A Practical Approach by Gayle Graham This book shows homeschool teachers how to plan and organize their lessons, teach reading, writing, and math with ease, pull subject areas together through unit studies, and make sense of all the curriculum choices. There is also practical help on how to streamline record-keeping.
Retail:20.00	Your Cost: $17.00
100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy The key to successful home education, homeschool veterans will tell you, is determining your educational philosophy and marrying it to your child's learning style. Then you can make an informed decision in choosing the right educational curriculum for the child. This is the formula for success. In 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, homeschool guru Cathy Duffy can help you accomplish these critical tasks. Cathy will give you her top choices from every subject area, approaching everything through a Christian worldview perspective. This book is a critical volume for the homeschooling community - replaces the no longer published Christian Educators Homeschool Curriculum guides (elementary & high school).
Retail:21.99	Your Cost: $15.99
NEW! Homeschooling Methods by Paul Suarez For new and veteran homeschool families alike, this extensive new release from the editors of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine serves as “a homeschool convention in a book.” It details today’s most viable education models, helping parents formulate an educational game plan and choose teaching methodologies. There are more than twenty contributors including Christine Field, Jessica Hulcy, Dr. Raymond Moore, and Dr. Ruth Beechick.
Retail:14.99	Your Cost: $11.99
Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson A tremendous source of comfort for new and experienced homeschoolers. Guiding you with seasoned advice and lots of encouragement, the Clarksons show you how to combine discipleship and education to create a God-designed program---the home-centered, whole-book learning approach. Using this method will help shape your children's hearts and minds to live and learn for Christ. This comprehensive handbook will show you how to use whole books and real life, based on discipleship, to teach your children at home from kindergarten through high school. Covers over three dozen key subject areas with extensive practical imput, learning styles, tips on planning and organizing, product recommendations, and much more.
Retail:20.95	Your Cost: $17.95
Ignite the Fire by Terri Camp Ignite the Fire! will ignite the fires in your children so what they learn is both retained and enjoyed. Terri Camp gives parents a vision for their child no matter how much or little they excel academically. She also provides a long list of ordinary household items and their usefulness in educating children. This book is full of practical, easy-to-implement ideas. Prepare to be inspired!
	Your Cost: $12.95
Hand that Rocks the Cradle by Nathaniel Bluedorn 400 Classic Books for Children The author's mother kept a list of the books she and his dad read to their children. Nathaniel, his brother and sisters added to that list as they read books on their own. He states that, since his family is conservative; many books didn’t make it onto this list. The Bluedorns prefer older books, but have enjoyed some newer books too. Almost every book listed in Hand that Rocks the Cradle is fiction. Nathaniel has summarized the plot for each book without giving away too much. Book descriptions include time the story takes place, geographic setting of the story, and the publication date of the book. Books are divided into three reading levels: (1) Language and plot are easy – all ages, (2) Language is more difficult or plot more complex – ages 10 and up, and (3) Language is advanced or plot more mature – ages 13 and up. Reading levels help many parents. Nathaniel says, "My mother didn’t stick to these reading levels; I’ll forgive you if you ignore them."
	Your Cost: $15.00
Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola This is a thorough chapter-by-chapter overview of the inspiring teaching principles of Christian educator Charlotte Mason from the original Charlotte Mason authority, speaker, and columnist, Karen Andreola. With warmth and humor, Karen provides a wealth of insight, practical advice, and narratives, illustrating how educating "the Charlotte Mason way" actually works. In this book, you will discover how to recognize a "living book"; use narration; teach reading, spelling, composition, and vocabulary; appreciate great art, classical music, poetry, plays, and novels; keep a Nature Notebook for science; take part in hero-admiration for history, establish helpful habits; create a loving home atmosphere; and more.
Retail: $19.99	Your Cost: $15.85
A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison In this easy to read text, the author has collected the key points of Charlotte Mason's mthods and presents them in a simple, straightforward way that will allow families to quickly maximize the opportunities of homeschooling.
Retail:8.95	Your Cost: $7.95
More Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison In continuing to introduce us to Charlotte Mason, this concise and practical guide presents the key points of Charlotte Mason's methods as contained in her six-volume series. The book is more in-depth, offering ideas for implementing the popular methods of Charlotte Mason into homeschooling.
Retail:13.95	Your Cost: $10.95
For the Love of Learning by Jenny Sockey This book offers a combined Charlotte Mason - Classical Education approach to education, which will develop a natural love of learning in children. Providing a synopsis of both approaches, similarities and differences between them, and how they can be combined to give children a love of learning are given. This book also includes a list of books and resources by subject. Anyone who wants to nurture and develop his child's natural love of learning will benefit from this book.
Retail:12.99	Your Cost: $10.95
Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style by Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn This book explains what the Trivium and Classical Education are all about and why it is important for parents to teach their children how to learn. You will discover how to give your children the tools they need to teach themselves, how to homeschool in a classical style without compromising your Christian principles, and how to do it without buckling under the burden of day-long studies & too many subjects. This approach to homeschooling will renew your family vision and restore biblical order to the education of your children.
	Your Cost: $27.00
The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer Those interested in persuing a more rigorous and traditional classical education will be delighted at this well-written book. The author provides you with the techniques, curriculum, and the resources necessary to ensure that your child's education is the best it can be. It will instruct you on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school; one that will train him or her to read, to think, to understand, to be well-rounded and curious about learning. Through a language-intensive process that organizes learning around the maturing capacity of the child's mind, your child will receive the complete education that today's schools are unable to provide.
Retail: $39.95	Your Cost: $30.95
Extra Help for Special Needs
Homeschooling the Challenging Child by Christine Field Often, families will choose homeschooling because they have children who cannot cope or thrive within traditional educational environments due to special physical or emotional needs. Homeschooling the Challenging Child addresses these special education issues, offering potential and current homeschooling families qualified and expert advice. Whether your "challenge" is ADHD, learning disabilities, differences in learning styles between parent and child, or simply discipline issues, you will find help and encouragement from a Christian, homeschool mom who's "been there" and understands.
Retail: $14.99	Your Cost: $11.99
Learning Styles
POC4U (Person Optimized Curriculum 4 You) by Jill Dixon This is a wonderful guide to curriculum planning for Pre-K through 12th grades that offers objective tools and solutions to help guide you through the curriculum maze. This small, but amazing, book includes the following: Determines the functional grade level in reading decoding, math and written expression (K through 8th grades.). Pinpoints the "right" curriculum for your child based on their chief learning style and strength. Gives proper teaching techniques for each student in each subject (also includes history, science, and geography). Includes a total of 104 curriculums listed as best suited for the different learning styles and grade levels. Contains 98 teaching techniques for the discovered learning styles and notes for adapting various curricula to the distinctive learning styles of each child in your home. All of this from a homeschool mom and former teacher who has 21 years of teaching experience and several years of designing curricula for children. Highly recommended!
	Your Cost: $12.95
The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias Drawing from her own research and experience, Cynthia Tobias shares a wealth of information to help us understand how our children best learn. By identifying their preferred learning style, we are better equipped tailor their academic studies so they are able to succeed. Written in an easy to understand style, this book is probably one of my favorite homeschool resources!
	Your Cost: $9.99