Brown Paper Packages

"Brown paper packages tied up in string."

from the Sound of Music

Well, I could update that a little for homeschoolers of this age...

"Brown media mail boxes at the front door."

This time of year, we homeschoolers might have a pile of boxes at our door filled to the brim with school goodies. I just squeal with delight when I get one in. It may contain our science kits for Apologia or new Math U See books. It may contain history or literature reading books we can't find at the library. I let the boys open up the various boxes. It's like Christmas. Then I get very excited about whatever it contains. It's contagious. They in turn get excited about the book and beg to read it immediately. Of course, I make them wait. Delayed gratification is the sign of maturity.

I'm especially excited about my recent purchase. It contains several history books by Joy Hakim in her series "A History of US". They have to be one of the best series of history books ever written. I'm no history buff, but she makes it so fun and fascinating that I love reading them aloud to the boys. My husband, the history buff, can't put them down and declared them the most well-written series he's read.

I've also recently purchased "When Children Love to Learn" by Elaine Cooper. It's been kicking my booty. She has pointed out many of the mistakes I make when teaching the boys. I expect this year's learning and teaching will be much more fulfilling and fun. It's a tough read, but I'm making my way through the book. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys the Charlotte Mason philosophy of teaching.

I'm also going to incorporate more poetry reading this year and have purchased two books to that end: "Poetry for Young People: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" by Frances Schoonmaker; and "Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost" by Gary D. Schmidt. I'm interested to see how the boys react to hearing poetry read out loud on a daily basis.

We are also going to choose a bible verse for this year. I haven't found what that will be yet, but I'm listening.

We will start on September 9th. We always start out slow with just one or two subjects and slowly add a subject over the next week or so. It's is a much more pleasant start to the year and helps us from feeling overwhelmed.

This is our 7th year and what a wonderful school year it will be. To God be the glory!

Here comes August!

I visibly cringe when I walk in Wal-Mart and see the school supply aisle filling up with a multitude of school supplies in early August. Fourteen different types of scissors. Pens and pencils of every description. Backpacks and folders with a myriad of pre-teen idols smiling back at you.

I don't cringe because I hate school. I cringe because I think of all the moms and dads who have to comb through the supplies and find that lefty pair of scissors in a particular brand that the teacher insists on or searching across town for the 5 subject notebook that every store is sold out of and not the 3 subject notebook they have plenty of.

I think of all the money spent on uniforms or the perfect new outfits to make an impression on that year's set of peers. The "in" shoes. And heaven help you if you wear the wrong thing on the first day. You are branded for the entire year. I don't miss this at all. I remember standing in line for hours (yes hours) at the uniform shop waiting for my son to be measured to order up a new uniform. It was insanity.

Homeschooling has many benefits. However, I would probably do it just to avoid this beginning of the year ritual. Yes, we do buy supplies. But only when we need them. I did grab a box of color pencils for the boys while I passed by the bin at Wal-Mart and I did get some pink erasers, loose leaf paper and pencils on sale when I was at Office Depot for something else. That was the extent of my pre-school shopping friends.

I ordered my curriculum in May and purchased some used from a homeschool friend. It is all sitting neatly in its packaging reading to burst forth in a new school year of fun and learning. I will order the Math curriculum for my sons online, but I'm in no hurry. I usually receive it in a few days after ordering. If we don't have everything on day one, it isn't the end of the world. I usually ease into the school year adding a new subject after a few days. We don't jump into everything at once. Learned that years ago.

We'll order our books from the library online about a week and a half before we want to begin our school year.

Chalk up another benefit to homeschooling. Saving mom from the mosh pit of school supply shopping.