Piney Woods Homeschool

When my dh and I decided to homeschool, back when our oldest was 2-1/2 or 3 years old, our primary motivation was academics.  We decided we could cover more material better at home than the school could.  This conclusion was prompted by my reading the Little House series of books again and noticing how much more Laura knew than I did, even though I had been a top student through 13 years of public school and four years of college plus a couple more years getting a masters degree, and Laura didn’t even go to school regularly. Now that we’ve been formally homeschooling for three years, I have different reasons for homeschooling.  Primarily it’s about ideas.  As Charlotte Mason says, ideas are the mind’s food.  Ideas, not information, are the critical component of any education.  Each book or other resource we select must contain no ideas that are not true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.  Each year, as I read the materials my ch...

I just finshed reading Hints on Child Training by Clay Trumbull, the great-grandfather of Elisabeth Elliot.  I wanted to evaluate how closely his recommendations meshed with those of Charlotte Mason.  In many respects, the two authors come from the same perspective.  Both encourage us to respect the personhood of the child, to train rather than break the will, and to value the role of imagination in the child’s life, just to mention a few places where the two are in agreement. However, there are significant areas of disagreement as well.  Trumbull mentions habit formation but never focuses on this key Mason element.  Trumbull also assumes a level of parental control that differs from Mason–he suggests that playmates need to be carefully screened for suitability, where Mason recommends gently training the child to choose suitable playmates for himself so as not to push him toward unsuitable ones merely by forbidding them.  Similarly, Trumbu...

Here are directions to make a tam o’shanter style hat for a baby.  I adapted these from a doll pattern in the Mary Francis Knitting and Crocheting book.  I haven’t proofed this particular form of the instructions, so if you use them and find an error please let me know. Use an F hook and worsted weight yarn. Chain 4. Make a slipstitch into the first chain to form a ring. Make 10 sc in ring. Stitching in the back loop only, make 2 sc in each sc around the ring. (20 sc) Still stitching in the back loop only, make *1 sc in the first sc and 2 sc in the next sc*.  Repeat from * to * around.  (30 sc) Still stitching in the back loop only, make *1 sc in each of the first two sc and 2 sc in the third sc*.   Repeat from * to * around.  (40 sc) Still stitching in the back loop only, make *1 sc in each of the first three sc and 2 sc in the fourth sc*.   Repeat from * to * around.  (50 sc) Still stitching in the back loop only, make...

DD#2 and I have been planning her school year for this coming year, which will begin for her no later than August (just after she turns 6).  Although she would be old enough to officially begin formal school this year, so that we could start AO Year 1 , I think she will benefit from a more gentle and relaxed year of working on skills before starting in on the more difficult work of Year 1. To that end, we’ve planned out a year’s schedule with books that are not on the AO list.  I expect this schedule to be adjusted as we go along and see what works and what doesn’t.  We may end up beginning Year 1 in January, or we may wait until our new school year begins next summer.  Officially she is going to be in first grade this year, but the material we’re using I’m calling Year 0.5. Here is our booklist for this year, keeping in mind that this list reflects where we are and the materials we have around, not necessarily the best list that could possibl...