When exhausted parents are living the day-to-day grind, it can seem impossible to muster enough energy to make learning fun or interesting. How do parents nurture a love of learning amid childhood chaos, parental self-doubt, the flu, and state academic standards?In this book, Julie Bogart distills decades of experience--homeschooling her five now grown children, developing curricula, and training homeschooling families around the world--to show parents how to make education an exciting, even enchanting, experience for their kids, whether they're in elementary or high school.Enchantment is about ease, not striving. Bogart shows parents how to make room for surprise, mystery, risk, and adventure in their family's routine, so they can create an environment that naturally moves learning forward. If a child wants to pick up a new hobby or explore a subject area that the parent knows little about, it's easy to simply say "no" to end the discussion and the parental discomfort, while dousing their child's curious spark. Bogart gently invites parents to model brave learning for their kids so they, too, can approach life with curiosity, joy, and the courage to take learning risks.

    Over one hundred years ago, Charlotte Mason methodized narration and implemented it in scores of schools in Great Britain. Over the past few decades, educators in the US, mostly in home schools, have followed her guidelines with outstanding results.This book discusses the theory behind the use of narration and then walks through the process from beginning to end, to show how simply "telling" is the foundation for higher-level thinking and writing.While narration has grown popular among homeschoolers, it also works well in the classroom. In this book, you will find sample narrations and many resources to help you use narration with your students in any setting. If you've been wanting to try narration, but haven't felt confident enough to rely on an unfamiliar method, this book will give you the tools that you need to make the process easier.People are narrating every day, and this book will show you how to make that natural activity a vital part of education that enhances children's relationship with knowledge and allows them to grow into skilled communicators.

    We are very pleased to be the first U.S. publisher to offer Ediths timeless watercolors.

    This growing online community of mothers and families want their children to receive a quality education at home by challenging their intellectual abilities and nurturing their sense of curiosity, joy and awe—the essence of a positive childhood.The homeschool approach of past generations is gone—including the stigma of socially awkward kids, conservative clothes, and a classroom setting replicated in the home. The Wild + Free movement is focused on a love of nature, reading great books, pursuing interests and hobbies, making the entire world a classroom, and prolonging the wonder of childhood, an appealing philosophy that is unpacked in the pages of this bookThe Call of the Wild and Free offers advice, information, and positive encouragement for parents considering homeschooling, those currently in the trenches looking for inspiration, as well as parents, educators, and caregivers who want supplementary resources to enhance their kids’ traditional educations.

    Homeschooling does not have to mean a crazy, busy life of too much to do, too much to buy, and too much to plan. You don't have to choose between excellence and sanity while homeschooling - you can have both! "Minimalist Homeschooling" will have you rethinking your priorities and your perspective to create a simple, focused, and meaningful homeschool based on the minimalist mindset and approach. Uniquely, "Minimalist Homeschooling" offers 15 thought-provoking worksheets so readers can purge their tasks, schedule, curriculum, and supplies with clarity and confidence. There IS a way for your children to learn MORE while doing less.

    This time, known as "Morning Time," has exploded in popularity since its inclusion in Sarah Mackenzie's bestseller Teaching From Rest. Now homeschool mom and former teacher Pam Barnhill breaks down the practice for every homeschooler.Inside you'll discover:Why every family can benefit from Morning Time - no matter what homeschooling method they use.The secret to building relationships by delighting in learning together.Practical tips for a successful Morning Time.Resources, book lists, and ideas. You will return to our selections again and again.Examples and interviews from moms showing how it looks in their homes.Better Together is the indispensable guide to creating a time in your day to focus on the things that matter most in your homeschool.

    For too long, parents and teachers have focused on identifying and “fixing” kids’ weaknesses to improve academic performance. Passionately written and informed by Fox’s twenty-five years of experience, Your Child’s Strengths turns that flawed paradigm on its head. Fox’s strengths-based philosophy provides the tools to prepare kids for the future in a world that demands greater adaptability and creative thinking than ever before. Your Child’s Strengths will give parents and teachers the tools to discover strengths in three main areas: Activity Strengths, the tasks that make you feel engaged and energized; Relationship Strengths, the things you do for and with others that make you feel valued and competent; and Learning Strengths, the unique ways we approachand understand new information. All three strengths work in tandem. Pairing inspiring firsthand accounts of success with practical workbook tools and an outline of the award- winning Affinities Program Fox has implemented at her own school, this much- needed book is a user- friendly guide for parents, teachers, and administrators that will improve individual performance and an indispensable road map for young people and society to a future that plays to strengths.

    In Square Foot Gardening with Kids, Mel reveals his tips, tricks, and fun projects in one of his most cherished pursuits: teaching youngsters to build and grow a SFG of their own. The easy geometry of the gridded box breaks the complex world of gardening into digestible bites for enthusiastic young learners, and the sequence of tasks required to grow plants from seeds is repeatable and reassuring. Kids learn many valuable life lessons when tending their own garden -- such as the importance of following instructions and doing your chores, basic skills like counting and water conservation, and learning to appreciate the nature of food and why it is important to respect it. Most importantly though, they learn that growing your own food is both fun and rewarding.

    She has given homeschoolers a valuable tool for putting together a "liberal arts" curriculum that feeds the soul, as well as the intellect. Her approach, covering grades K - 12, is detailed and practical, and it is adaptable by parents and teachers to any situation.This third revised edition includes a much expanded section for a high school curriculum, and an updated list of resources for all grades.

    , Rebecca Rupp presents a structured plan to ensure that your children will learn what they need to know when they need to know it, from preschool through high school. Based on the traditional pre-K through 12th-grade structure, Home Learning Year by Year features:The integral subjects to be covered within each grade Standards for knowledge that should be acquired by your child at each levelRecommended books to use as texts for every subjectGuidelines for the importance of each topic: which knowledge is essential and which is best for more expansive study based on your child's personal interestsSuggestions for how to sensitively approach less academic subjects, such as sex education and physical fitness

    If you would like to facilitate the development of your child's unique personality, make it possible for him to develop to his full intellectual capacity, and help him become socially and emotionally well adjusted, then this is the book for you.Montessori Play and Learn is packed with ideas, activities, and games that can fit into your normal routine and help supplement preschool learning for your child. For planning your home, introducing your child to the supermarket or the neighborhood, and helping him discover other people and cultures, this book provides valuable tips and insights that help parents and children grow and learn together.-- Create hundreds of learning opportunities from everyday life-- Learn dozens of games and activities to help prepare children for mathematics, reading, science, and writing-- Make your home environment as stimulating for your child as the best Montessori preschool.

    This is a new view of mathematics, not the one we learned at school but a comprehensive guide to the patterns that recur through the universe and underlie human affairs. A Beginner's Guide to Constructing, the Universe shows you: Why cans, pizza, and manhole covers are round.Why one and two weren't considered numbers by the ancient Greeks.Why squares show up so often in goddess art and board games.What property makes the spiral the most widespread shape in nature, from embryos and hair curls to hurricanes and galaxies. How the human body shares the design of a bean plant and the solar system. How a snowflake is like Stonehenge, and a beehive like a calendar. How our ten fingers hold the secrets of both a lobster a cathedral, and much more.

    then, by golly, stick a tiara on your head and go teach something!" Do you wish that you had the chance to sit down with a seasoned homeschooling veteran over a cup of tea and ask every question that comes to mind? Mother of seven and twelve year homeschooling veteran Rebecca Frech is the common-sense voice of experience and reassurance that you've been hoping to find. Teaching in Your Tiara is a soup-to-nuts homeschooling book that walks you through the first years - deciding that home education is right for your family, choosing the right curriculum, understanding learning styles, not raising socially awkward kids, maintaining your own identity, and more. Whether you're the parent who's already committed to homeschooling or you're just dipping your toe into the pool of consideration, this book is for you! Rebecca's logic, honesty, and humor will leave you both amused and well-informed about the realities of homeschooling and what it could mean for your family.

    Anne White's exploration of Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy focuses on two "power tools," the Way of the Will and the Way of the Reason. She examines the ways in which Mason's principles are made practical, from mathematics to citizenship.

    Using easy instructions and simple objects such as beans, blocks, pennies, buttons, and string, parents and kids solve problems together. FAMILY MATH is a rich resource of math curriculum including number and estimation, logical thinking, probability and statistics, geometry, measurement, and calculators. The stimulating games, puzzles, and projects entice kids in playful ways to master math concepts. Because this book reinforces the basic school curriculum, it is also a must for teachers. The book has a step-by-step description of how to organize a FAMILY MATH class in your community. For families with children five to twelve years old. Grades K-8. 318 pp