Ten Homeschool Products Worth Writing About

OK, I was sceptical! Everywhere I turned people were raving about the Jeannie Fulbright science books, but I just didn't get it. How could you spend an entire year studying just ONE thing?? What a waste of time! Wouldn't we get bored? Finally, I gave in to the peer preasure and ordered Zoology 1 thinking that if the books were THAT good, we could at least give them a try- for a month or two. Well, they ARE that good! and my whole outlook has changed. There is more than enough information for an entire year of study! There is just NO WAY we could get through it any faster. And what facinating information it is! I already learned a few things just by paging through it and my children (who have gotten a few glimpses of the beautiful pictures) are so excited to start. There are plenty of fun experiments (very important in this hands-on family) but they are not too complicted or time consuming (also very important) and the necessary supplies are inexpensive and easy to come by. And each book comes with a password so you can access the course website where there is EVEN MORE information! How cool is that? I am now a firm believer and can't wait to study ALL of these wonderful books.

I spent many years searching for a math series that was good quality, fun, and easy to teach. Finally I stumbled on The Life of Fred. This set of story books, er, um . . . math books . . . follows the adventures of Fred (a six year old math genius dreamed up by the imaginative Stanley Schmidt) as he encounters various mathmatical situations during the course of his not so ordinary life.

The biggest objection my children had to math was "When are we ever going to use this anyway?" This series answers this objection very nicely. I love how math is made relavent and MEMORABLE through the use of stories.

But don't let the "fun" factor fool you. This isn't some dumbed down version of mathematics. This is challenging stuff. Thankfully (and best of all), the whole program is designed to be "self-taught", so mom doesn't have to know everything about the topic in order for the student to use these books. And if you get stumped, you can contact Stanley Schmidt with your questions.

Lets face it, hands-on interactive education is not always easy. But there are several fantastic products out there that do a good job of lightening the load. The Time Travelers series on CD by Amy Pak is one of them.

This is the curriculum I have dreamed of creating. It has all the elements I would include, plus a heavy dose of Amy Pak's amazing artistic ability. Each of these studies is made up of 25 lessons of American history which include lapbooking, notebooking, file folder games, projects, food, mapping, penmanship practice, timelines, and a party to top it all off. All the printables are included and they are high quality. Teachers keys are given for all the maps and instructions are complete (down to the type of paper to print on) and easy to follow. The CD is organized according to lesson, which is great if you print as you go. This was the one thing I found slightly annoying since I would prefer to print everything at once, from a single file. But it is a minor inconvenience.

Lessons are short, but informational. However, I did find the pace with all the activities a little hard to keep up. In the future I plan to use these as a suppliment to our regular histories which would add more meat to the lessons and spread the activites out more. There are six titles in the series, and I personally own four of them.
New World Explorers
Colonial Life
The American Revolution
The Early 19th Century
The Civil War
The Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression

The eleven volume Uncle Eric series provides a great, indepth introduction to economic, history, and government as you've never seen them taught before. They are fascinating. I found them hard to put down!

These books are written by Richard Maybury aka "Uncle Eric" as a series of letters to his nephew Chris and deal with the topics of economics and government. But there is so much more you can learn from them. For instance, in the first volume Mr. Maybury also touches on educatinal theory, ethics, and history. Volume 2, Whatever Happened To Penny Candy, contains almost everything I learned in two college level economics classes plus a few things I didn't, explained in a simple and interesting way that even a younger child could understand.

In his first book, Personal, Career, and Financial Security, Mr. Maybury introduces the concept of models as "the way we think and understand the world." I really enjoyed what he said in chapter five about how to learn or teach models. I think it sums up pretty well the way I prefer to teach my children and why it works so well.

"Experience creates models automatically . . .This is why classrom instruction via lecture is the least effective way to teach and hands-on learning by doing is the most effective. We are made in such a way that we build models autmatically by doing. Typically, classroom instruction is like teaching someone to play Monopoly just by making him memorize the rules and then giving him a test on those rules. . . Unfortunately, some models are impossible to learn using hands-on process, so one method humans use to substitute for real world experience is telling stories. Stories are used to demonstrate and illustrate ideas."

There is much more wisdom packed between the pages of these books, but I will leave that for you to discover. I can't quote the whole thing here.

There were a couple of things I disagreed with, but I see them as opportunities for additinal discussion. For instance, at one point, Mr. Maybury states, "Beware of certainty. Certainty stops inquiry. " In another place he warns to always be openminded because we are humans who make mistakes and we can never be 100% certain of anything. While I understand what he is saying and agree UP TO A POINT, as a Christian I do believe that some things ARE 100% certain. I will be sure to point this out to the children.

Barry Stebbing offers a wonderful line of art instruction manuals through his company How Great Thou Art. I've had my eye on this series for a long time, so I was very excited to see it in an ebook format.

I fell in love with the Feed My Sheep book when I read the introduction. Not only is Mr. Stebbing's skill quite evident, but so is his desire to make art education a possibility for every homeschooled student. I love how he explains how to teach art appreciation using the library and how he provides a detailed list of supplies needed to complete this course. He even sells these supplies as a kit on his website.

Don't be put off by the price. This book contains more art instruction than some books costing twice as much. It is a great solution for those who want their children to have a good background in art, but lack the skills, knowledge, or confidence to give it to them.

There are 260 lessons covering color theory, drawing technics, lettering, portraiture, art appreciation, art history, painting, and more. These are taught using a wide variety of subject matter such as poetry, history, geography, and science to keep children interested. In fact, I found this book so interesting that I read it all the way through.

God & the History of Art is another excellent product which we have used from How Great Thou Art. This is not your ordinary art instruction manual. From the very first page, you will be drawn in (no pun intended) and captivated by the engaging text. Part art history, part art lessons; this book is completely fun. Although this book is intended for an older age group, Mr. Stebbings makes no assumptions about the level of the student's skills, starting them out with some very basic drawing lessons. The lessons progress throughout the book and cover a wide range of mediums and methods including pen & ink, colored pencils, nature study, painting, penmanship, shading, the color wheel, perspective and more. In addition to learning about major artists, arcitecture and time periods, students are encouraged to study art and evaluate it using the Bible as their standard. Those who do copywork will also appreciate the related quotes sprinkled throughout the text. And all of this is presented in clear, easy to follow, self directed lessons. There are so many different things covered in this book. It is an amazing resource.

You may also be interested in Barry Stebbing's instructional manual on How to Teach Art. This book not only gives teachers and homeschool parents the confidence that they CAN teach art, it also equipes them with the tools they need to carry out the task. Mr. Stebbing's instructions are based on three premises. First, art is a discipline which must be learned, much in the same way one would learn to read or play an instrument. Second, God is an artist and, as we are created in His image, we also have the ability to create. Third, art should be enjoyable and educational.

The various chapters answer common questions such as why to teach art, how to get started, what curriculum to purchase, what supplies to purchase, and what to expect at different ages. Mr. Stebbings also addresses some of the technical issues associated with teaching such as teaching in a classroom, maintaining order in the classroom, how to handle a student's frustration, how to teach art at muliti-levels, and how to evaluate a student's art. Finally, there are instructions on how to teach drawing, studying from nature, the basics of art journaling, and visiting museums. Homeschoolers and classroom teachers alike will find this a valuable source of information and encouragement.