That Homeschooling Meme

Well, there's nothing like a meme to pull one out of 'not blogging because I haven't blogged in so long' syndrome. The lovely Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things tagged me for this homeschooling meme. For some perspective: we are long time homeschoolers - none of my seven children have ever been to school prior to finishing high school, and I now have two graduated and in college. We are rather 'eclectic' in our approach.

One homeschooling book you have enjoyed: Hard to choose just one - I think Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's For the Children's Sake, Karen Andreola's A Charlotte Mason Companion, and Elizabeth Foss's Real Learning are some trusty favorites.

One resource you wouldn't be without: Can I say the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Day after day, week after week, year after year - I don't think I could do this (or anything else) without Daily Mass. Confession would be another favorite. And of course to homeschool I can't be without books and my teapot. And music!

One resource you wish you never bought: Hmmn, I hate to mention specifics as one woman's dud may be another woman's fave. Also, some beastly seeming things may one day prove useful - you just never know (kind of like Gollum). I'm thinking of a writing book I bought many years ago for a ghastly forty dollars, back in the day when I would wander the local gargantuan curriculum fair aimlessly buying stuff willy nilly. I never implemented it and it sat on my shelf for years, a sore reminder of my youthful purchasing follies. Then one day I pulled it off the shelf to see if would be worth anything to sell (not much) so it sat around and of course my writing girls picked it up and pored gleefully over it for days on end absorbing all sorts of tidbits regarding subplots and foreshadowing and denouement and epilogue and the like. So you just never know... Maybe someday we'll even crack open the art instruction (VHS!) video course staring at me from the guilt-inducing expensive blue box in the corner there...

One resource you enjoyed last year: Lydia is thoroughly enjoying her bird biology course from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I love how home education allows her to take the time and employ the resources to delve so deeply into subject matter so near and dear to her heart.

One resource you will be using next year: We have just purchased CHC's new poetry course and it looks lovely. We certainly have long enjoyed poetry, but I've wanted a book to help us with the mechanics such as meter and structure as well as assist with analytics and so forth. We're just getting started with it, but I think we will be pleased. We are also delighted with the beauty of the book itself - the lovely quality cream paper, tasteful graphics and typesetting seem quite fitting to the subject matter.

One resource you would like to buy: All the Tolkien and Chesterton we don't already own and have to keep getting from the library. Also, I would like to buy an entire old parochial school library (we actually have friends who have done this). I would be happy to just buy all the old and out of print children's goodies that most modern libraries discard on a regular basis.

One resource you wish existed: How about an automatic math corrector? Or an automatic book re-shelver? Library books without due dates? I would especially appreciate a magical self-recording log book that took notes on everything everyone does all day for our state requirement (and posterity's sake)!

One homeschool catalog you enjoy reading: At this point, I really don't. But years ago I greatly relied on things like Emmanuel Books, Bethlehem Books, By Way of the Family, and so forth to build our library of living books. But in a way the internet and blog world have seemed to replace the reliance on catalogs for recommendations for everything from the books we read to the tea we drink. You get a wide variety of opinions and that personal touch of experience with online reviews.

I admit my replies are rather vague but that's because education in our home is a way of life and there is no one homeschooling resource that makes or breaks our learning experience. I often tell my children that the only thing they do that is not 'educational' is sleep. We have a lot of books, we use a lot of paper and paint, we listen to and make a lot of music, we gather round and drink a lot of tea. We rely on our Faith to nourish us and give meaning to it all.

Tag six other homeschool bloggers! Nadja at Patch O'Dirt Farm, Jordana at Curmudgeonry, Alicia at Chez VH, Lindsay at  My Symphony, Jennifer at As Cozy as Spring, and Jennifer at Wildflowers and Marbles,  (I would like to buy all of the science books she recently posted about, but they would hopefully come with the school library I mentioned) And anyone else who wants to play and hasn't been tagged!

This morning's 'school':
 

Breakfast and birding and writing, all at the same time.

Comments

[Sue]

Oh, I am so with you on the automatic book re-shelver! :o)

I love your comments about unused, long-ago purchased curriculum. I don't have tons of that lying around, since everything I buy has an over-seas shipping fee attached, but I now feel a little less guilty about those few things staring back at me from the shelf!

Now, I think I'll go check out that CHC poetry course link. Thanks for sharing your ideas and wisdom.

[Puffin Hen]

I'm always so pleased when I see you have posted! (I haven't in a shamefully long time. I'm in hiding!) I had to smile at your favourite books. I dip in and out of others but I have the same top three permanently on hand for inspiration and encouragement when needed (which is often.) If your blog were a book it would be a "top four!"

May God bless you and yours.

[Lady.Rosary]

I'll always have so much admiration for all the homeschooling moms out there. Motherhood is such a tough job but with an addition of homeschooling, every ounce of your mind and body must be working all the time.

[Karla in Mn]

An automatic math corrector would be wonderful! And I heartily agree with the book reshelver as well. One thing about the Automatic recorder log...it should automatically divide the recordings by person and subject as well, please! haha.

[Jordana]

I'm very slow and just saw the tag, but I finished the meme -- and I thank you much for asking me.