Get your Four Free Homeschooling Resources today!

Buy Homeschool Sanity today!

It's not easy being a homeschooling parent today. Educating one's children is a huge responsibility. There seem to be more “answers” than there are questions! Everyone has a textbook, a method, or a philosophy. But how are we supposed to figure out just what path to take?

Homeschool Sanity: a Practical Guide to Redemptive Home Educating is Sherry Hayes’ attempt to communicate a way back to common sense learning. We can rediscover the tools of learning that helped our forefathers overcome the great obstacles of their time! It is a pathway back to the simplicity and joy of gaining the knowledge born out of a reverence for the God of the Bible.

Readers will discover a catalog of successful methodologies for their own re-education. You won’t feel tired and anxious after you read this book; you will be refreshed and filled with real hope!

Gain clarity. Find Peace.

When you purchase Sherry's new book, Homeschool Sanity, at Amazon.com from July 27th through August 31, 2012 we will send you a FREE download as our way of saying, "Thank you!"

You will receive the PDF versions of Homeschool Sanity, Large Family Mothering's 2012-2013 Homeschool Planner, McGuffey's Primer Flashcards, Helps & Hints along with Ray's Arithmetics Flash Cards & Helps.

Guidelines: In order to get these excellent homeschool resources for free you will need to:

1) Scan a copy of your "shipping invoice" from Amazon.com that shows you purchased the paperback version of our new book, Homeschool Sanity.

2) Just send us your scanned, paid invoice file attachment in an e-mail to: largefamilymothering@gmail.com with a subject line stating: Four Free Resources!

As soon as the e-mail is received we will send you the absolutely free download link. These four PDF resources would normally cost a grand total of $27.49! You will receive them FREE!!!

That's all there is to it! This has been a very exciting time for the Hayes' family and we want to tell all of you thank you for your friendship and encouragement in Christ.

Sherry

* This offer is also extended to those who have already purchased our large 8.5" x 11" paperback version on Amazon.com.

The Courage of Sarah Noble{photo}

My tiny daughters and I have been reading through the book, "The Courage of Sarah Noble". 

I have read it before to the older children, but I just had to share it with the little ones coming up. Faith is 8 years old now, just like Sarah in the story, so she really identified with the main character. 

This book is not just for small people, but for us adults as well. Sarah says to herself over and over, "Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble." This is a good reminder for all of us, especially as we go through challenging times. 

This is a very Christian book, as the main character is left by herself with nothing to do, so she reads her Bible, but can't quite decide which is her favorite story! When Indians show up, she wishes that God would talk to her like He did to Samuel, when suddenly she knows what to do; she reads the Bible aloud to them! 

The book was so impacting that I knew I had to find a way to extend it, so we took an old apple box, some paper, markers, and a stapler, and created a diarama. Then  the  little girls took turns explaining the book and their artistic creation to the whole family. 

Here is the completed diarama--put together in about 20 min.!

This book is terrific for those who are just stepping into reading, since it is so simply written, yet still very engaging. I highly recommend it!

Math story books

My children love stories, and I love reading them aloud.

That is why I was really happy to find that there were some good read-aloud picture books that also dealt with math concepts from A Thomas Jefferson Education (Ray's Arithmetic was among the books recommended!). I took the list from the website, then found the books on Amazon, looked for related ones, and typed the titles into our library's search engine. I eliminated those that were too obviously "schoolish," since I would be bored senseless having to read them aloud, anyways!

I have been picking up these titles as they have become available and reading them aloud to the children. Some have gone over better than others, but all were fun (at least for me). Below I have compiled a list of a lot of the books I found, the ones I have read have a bit of a review. Even though these books are appealing to elementary ages, my older students have benefited. A sneaky way to get the older children to read them is to have them read aloud to their younger siblings.

Books by Cindy Neuschwander:

Sir Cumference and All the King's Tens--the children really liked this one. I think it gave them a more clear reason why we count by 10's, 100's, and 1,000's.

Sir Cumference and the Viking's Map--this one was a bit less interesting, as the story was sort of "hurried" in places, although I think they did actually get the X and Y grids for higher math.

Pastry School in Paris--this was our funnest so far. The three-year-old noticed right away that the drinks from the refrigerator did not look as though they were "fair" (one was in a short, fat bottle, the other in a slim, tall one), so we went into the kitchen and I used some vessels in our cupboard to explain why they actually held the same amount of liquid. She was amazed, along with the 5 and 8-year-old.

I have a number of books by Neuschwander on hold from the library, which we plan on enjoying thoroughly!

Books by Mitsumasa Anno

Anno's Math Games II--there isn't a lot of explanation here, but there are a lot of opportunities for thinking. The situations presented give the reader enough information to try and solve the different problems presented, but the answers are not immediately obvious.

Anno's Magic Seeds--this one contains a very human story, with math concepts in tow. It is the quiet, reflective sort of book that you walk through slowly on a rainy afternoon.

Books by Greg Tang

Math Potatoes--as with all of his math books, the rhyme carries one through the different math proposals, and gives one ample opportunities for counting and figuring, with computer graphics to match.

Math For Every Season--much of the same, only different situations.

Here are some that I haven't picked up yet:

Books by Eleanor J. Pinczes:

100 Hungry Ants
A Remainder of One

Books by Dayle Ann Dodds

Full House: An Invitation to Fractions
Minnie's Diner: A Multiplying Menu
The Great Divide: A Mathematical Marathon

What are some good math books you have been reading aloud to your children?

* At this writing, I do not have an affiliate relationship with Amazon for the sale of these books. I offer these links as a courtesy.