|
Dear Readers:
It seems impossible that we are on the threshold of summer again! Homeschooling families all over the country are planning summer trips, and children are looking forward to free time to pursue their own interests more fully. In this issue we present two articles we hope will make your homeschooling experience more interesting and fruitful. First, is “The Unschooling Method” an excerpt from our first book, The Homeschooling Almanac 2000-2001. There has been some confusion and misinformation about this popular homeschooling approach and we hope to shed useful light on the topic. Secondly, we have “Encyclopedia Dad” by Andrew Pudewa, homeschooling dad of seven, director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing and a very popular workshop presenter at conferences all over the U.S. As always, thank you for reading our publications!
Michael Leppert
|
|
|
|
|
Creative Writing
Ask homeschooled kids what they love about learning at home and you're likely to hear the same things: personal attention; learning in a way that fits their style; and getting the help they need when they need it.
But no matter how great a kid's homeschooling set-up is, there's always one drawback: they don't get the chance to interact with their peers in a classroom setting. That's why online programs like Gotham Writers' Workshop teen writing classes can be so meaningful to homeschooled kids. They bring kids with shared interests together, providing a true sense of community, and giving homeschooled children the best of both worlds.
Read More
|
 |
|
|
|
The Unschooling Method
By Michael and Mary Leppert
[A partial excerpt from The Homeschooling Almanac 2000-2001.]
In the late 1960s, Boston educator John Holt came up with some ideas about learning that startled many of his colleagues and formed the basis of the unschooling movement in homeschooling. After formulating his basic theories that children are naturally curious and will lead themselves in exploring and finding out about the world around them, Holt worked to bring about school reform, attempting to implement his ideas in the classroom setting to which he was accustomed.
After a time he gave up on reforming school, realizing that "school" was part of the problem, and began to exhort parents to teach their own children and to "unschool" them. By this he meant, "Don't do what schools do-stifle natural learning impulses, force intellectual activity to be subject to a rigid timetable, and so on." This approach was the topic of numerous books by Holt, wherein he discussed his findings on how children take in information and what things stop them from doing so.
Read More
|
 
|
|
|
|
Learning A-Z Offers One Source for
Teachers' Needs of Today
www.learninga-z.com
Every child is a unique individual with unique learning styles and personality. So one size can never fit all students, but Learning A-Z can provide the flexible materials that can fit the needs of teachers.
Learning A-Z's affordable, easy-to-use teacher resources fill the teaching gaps left by many Reading, Writing, and Science education programs. Explore their site and see why Learning A-Z printable books and worksheets, and other projectable, online interactive and mobile teacher resources, are already being used in nearly half of the school districts in the U.S. and Canada and 155+ countries worldwide.
Read More
|
 |
|
Encyclopedia Dad
by Andrew Pudewa
Although Encyclopedia Brown is famous for what he did know, Encyclopedia Dad is famous for what he doesn't know. Knowing so little, how did I earn that nickname? You may have guessed it -- by my pernicious habit of stopping whatever I'm doing, leaping out of the chair, and bounding over to the bookshelf to grab a volume. Most commonly, this occurs at dinnertime -- so much so in fact, that I've threatened to replace the dinner dishes in the buffet hutch with the 2002 World Book set. "Platypuses can't be mammals if they lay eggs!" My children issue the challenge. I leap. I search in Volume "P." I find proof! Platypuses are indeed rare mammals that do indeed lay eggs! For some strange reason, this type of exchange just makes my day.
Read More
|
|
|
|
|
Nelson Academy of Agricultural Science
Affordable, high-quality agricultural courses for homeschoolers.
by Michael Leppert
If your child is interested in agricultural and/or veterinary pursuits, the Nelson Academy of Agricultural Science offers the perfect study solution – online agriculture courses! Or, maybe your child simply has an interest in taking an agriculture science course . . . Nelson Academy again provides the solution.
Mr. Leroy Nelson, founder of Nelson Academy, taught agriculture and advised FFA chapters for more than 15 years in his home state of Montana, and a five of his student FFA advisees are Montana state officials for the FFA. Since 2004, he has been the superintendent of the Opheim, MT, school district.
Read More
|
 |
|
|
