Photograph taken from the All About Spelling website.

Some people are naturally gifted spellers.  Some people regardless how hard they try are not.  Spelling is not an indication of intelligence.  The English language is a difficult one as far as spelling is concerned.  We have rules and then a list of exceptions to the rules.  For someone who struggles with spelling, they can be easily confused and frustrated.

By my own observations, people who are naturally great spellers usually are more visual learners.  They see the word as it was on a list, in a sentence, on a sign, etc. and can re-create it on paper.  The word either looks correct or wrong.  If it does not look right, then they will rewrite it until it is correct.  I am one of these people as is my oldest son, Clayton.

My other two in school are not great spellers naturally.  They also have different forms of dyslexia, which compounds the spelling problem.  In the scheme of things, spelling is not the most important subject to know.  The Bible is much more important.  And in this age of computers, we always have spell check.  However I as a home educator, I wanted to teach my struggling children in a fun and engaging way to spell words correctly.

I was intrigued by Romalda Spalding’s, The Writing Road to Reading.  It was the first time that I was exposed to the 70 phonograms of the English language.  I had no idea that “ough” had six different sounds.  No wonder spelling was so hard for some!  Ms. Spalding broke down each word in such a way that you understood why the word was spelled the way it was.  The spelling of English words does make sense when you study spelling in this way.  It really is not full of rule breakers like I previously thought.

Jake and Kyla, who were struggling with spelling, did not do well with the Spalding Notebook.  So we continued learning and reviewing the 70 phonograms.  We tried the Charlotte Mason approach with copywork and dictation.  I felt that my children needed something more hands-on, but what.  I had some ideas, but knew that it would require a lot of preparation on my part.  I was just getting ready to begin implementing my hands-on spelling approach when thankfully I ran across Marie Rippel’s All About Spelling.

Ms. Rippel has built a multisensory approach to learning spelling using the Spalding method as the foundation.  It was everything I was looking for and more.  I excitedly ordered the first book, which includes the kit.  The kit comes with all the phonogram cards, magnets, phonogram audio cd, etc. that will be used for all levels.  It is a must in order to use the program correctly.

I have not said anything about All About Spelling until now because we were not finished with the first level.  Now we are, and I can honestly say that I am seeing drastic improvement in my children’s spelling.  The program does not give you a list of 15 words and you test on Friday.  It is not like that at all.

Each lesson begins with a short review of material learned.  Then you expose your child to new material.  For example, you will teach them two new phonograms like wh and ee.  Students use the magnetic phonogram cards, a dry erase marker, pen and paper to vary the exercises.  I also added body spelling where you bend your body into the shapes of the letters and spelling bee style as choices.  The former makes us all laugh so hard it is hard to believe we are doing a spelling lesson.

At the end of each step in the spelling book, you reinforce spelling by dictating phrases and/or sentences.  Ms. Rippel does an excellent job combining my favorite parts from different teaching approaches and making them her own.  The 70 phonograms were my favorite part of the Spalding Method.  The dictation was my favorite part of the Charlotte Mason approach.  In addition, my children are not bored as the spell using a variety of ways.  I keep their hands, minds, and bodies busy with All About Spelling.

There are six levels in the All About Spelling program.  I intend on going through all of them with my last four children.  Maybe when they are adults and someone talks about how much he/she disliked spelling as a kid, my children will look astonished.  Hate spelling?  Why they come by it naturally!

One of the tenets of the Thomas Jefferson education is that you read from first-hand sources.  Then you discuss what you have learned with others.  Being able to carry on a discussion about a book or a subject shows that you have in fact learned.  This is one reason book clubs are so popular.  You don’t just read a book; you discuss it with others.  In doing so, you develop a deeper understanding of the material.   

If you are more familiar with Charlotte Mason’s views on education, then it would be likened to reading or listening as a first step.  Then being expected to be able to explain the information with an oral or written narration.  You cannot do a good job of narrating without understanding the information. 

It does not matter if you know of either educational philosophies.  The truth of the matter is that once you read something, it is better to discuss it with someone or work it out in writing.  This holds true not just for literature and history, but the Bible as well.

We live in a rural area.  We are not isolated, but we drive relatively far to go to church.  At church, I am surprised at how few people are actually reading the Word of God.  Most are content to attend the class and/or sermon once a week and depend on someone else’s understanding to shape their beliefs.   

If like me, you have grown tired of drinking milk and want to eat something with substance, then what do you do?  Where do you go to discuss the Bible in order to obtain a deeper meaning and understanding?  Proverbs 27:17 states, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  It illustrates again the importance of discussing God’s Word with others.

In this day and age, the Internet is a valuable tool with which you can find a wealth of information and contact people from all over the world.  A group of young Christians has started a website Contend For Your Faith.  It is relatively new site dedicated to studying God’s Word in depth. 

Every Sunday at 6 p.m. central time, they broadcast live a panel of Christians discussing the Bible.  The first 100 viewers logged on can also join in the discussion.  It is designed to encourage small Bible study groups to meet together in homes and carry on their own discussions.  It is a great idea.

Another way to enjoy the site is to watch the archived videos at your own leisure.  This is what I do.  I find their discussions interesting and encouraging.  As they explore the meanings of words, different theories, etc, you cannot help but to be drawn deeper into the Word.  As a result, you are gaining a deeper understanding. 

Come prepared with your Bible, pen, and pencil.  A concordance will be helpful, but not necessary.  The best part is that you are left to decide for yourself what you believe.  Even within the panel, they respectfully disagree with one another from time to time. 

Check out Contend For Your Faith.  Study by yourself, study as a family, or start your own small discussion group.  Either way you will reap the rewards of not only knowing what you believe and why, but also being able to share it with others.  It does not matter how dull or sharp you are, you can always be sharpened just a little more.

So many home school programs depend on reading classic literature.  The Charlotte Mason method, Thomas Jefferson Education, Sonlight, Tapestry of Grace, My Father’s World, etc. all include large amounts of great literature.  But why?  Does literature really affect your life?

Of course, the Bible affects your life.  You can apply  its lessons about failure, sin, victory, and redemption to your own life.  You can learn from other’s mistakes.  Reading the Bible can literally change the course of your life, but I don’t want to focus on Biblical lessons and truths in this article.  I think most people would agree that the Bible can affect your life.  But what about other literature?

Let me tell you a story.  I will keep it as brief as possible.  I was in a horrendous car accident and immediately knew that my arms and leg were broken.  I was in pain waiting for the paramedics to arrive, but trying to stay calm.  The book, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles kept running through my mind.  In it the character Phineas breaks his leg.  He falls down some stairs in another unrelated accident and dies from bone marrow entering his blood stream.

Sitting in my totaled vehicle, all I could think about was being moved by the paramedics.  Before they touched me, I kept telling them to watch my leg.  I even went so far to explain my fear.  They assured me that they would be careful.

Obviously I did not die from bone marrow entering my bloodstream, but because of the book I was aware of the possibility.  I did not solely rely on the paramedics’ training; I tried to do what I could to avoid an even more tragic end.

The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder greatly affected my life.  I have read them so many times that the books are falling apart.  As I said in my very first article, identifying with Laura Ingalls has a great deal to do with my choice to live on a modern homestead today.  I loved the closeness of the Ingalls family.  I loved how self-sufficient they were.  I appreciated their work ethic and principles.  These are all goals that my husband and I set for our own family.

When Hester Prynne is forced to wear a red “A” as a consequence for her sin in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlett Letter, it created such a visual experience for me as a lesson not to judge others.  We all sin and as soon as you focus on the sins of others you lose sight on your own.  You become blinded to your own faults and iniquities.  It is a visual lesson that I still carry with me today.

I could go on and on because literature has greatly affected my life and who I am today.  William Ellery Channing said, “It is cheifly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds…In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours.”  John Erickson, the author of Hank the Cowdog, said something to the effect that authors should tell powerful stories.  “Stories that leave the reader better than before they read them.”

Oliver DeMille lists several reasons for reading classic literature.  “The classics teach us human nature.”  We gain insight into basic human instincts and behavior.  “The classics bring us face-to-face with greatness.”  He goes on to explain that “the purpose of studying literature is to become better.” “The classics force us to think.”  As we read great literature, we wrestle with the struggles, we seek to understand, we discover new possibilities, and we reconsider our perspective.  As we think, we grow as a person.

So, I conclude that literature does affect your life.  It can make you a stronger, better person.  It can help you in times of crisis.  It can inspire you to begin down a certain path in life.  It can teach you lessons that you will carry with you the rest of your life.  Therefore, you must choose what you read carefully.

I am not a proponent of as long as your child is reading who cares what they are reading.  I personally know the affect literature has in shaping a person.  I do not want to expose my children to literature that will taint their perspective.  Therefore, literature where evil is perceived as good or good as evil is not acceptable in my household.

As you begin your school year, there are lots of lists of great classic literature.  Flip through just about any home school curriculum catalog for titles.  In the back of the Thomas Jefferson Education books, there are several different lists.  I found this one by just searching online, 100 Best Books.  Give your child the gift of great literature whether you read it to him/her or he/she reads it alone.  It will affect his/her life.

A great book is Robin Sampson’s, The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach.  It will change your perspective on your child’s education.  I think every Christian mother and father should read it.  It is that life-changing.  Ms. Sampson practices what she teaches on her 11 children and helps others understand what it means to put God first in our lives as parents, educators, etc.  She has a great website with articles, bookstore, and more at Heart of Wisdom.  Reading this book will help you set your priorities for the up-coming year as well as renew your purpose for choosing to home school.

Another one of my favorite reads is by Karen Andreola.  Her book,  A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning, is her interpretation of Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Schooling Series written in the late 1800s.  My library has the original series in a six-volume set.  It is not difficult to understand her writing, but Ms. Andreola’s is more easily read.  She combines the most important parts of Ms. Mason’s philosophies into one book.

If you are interested in teaching your child naturally, then you need to read Charlotte Mason’s work either in her own words or in Ms. Andreola’s book.  If you don’t want to purchase the original series and cannot find it in your library, Ambleside Online has the series available for free.

Other books by Karen Andreola are inspiring for the home schooling mother.  She has two fictional books that weave Charlotte Mason’s ideas throughout the tale to give you practical ideas of implementing the gentle art of learning.  The first book is A Pocketful of Pinecones.  The sequel is Lessons at Blackberry Inn.  Even though both books follow the same family, both books stand on their own.  You do not have to read both of them to be ready for the next school year.

Lately I have discovered another set of books that will change the way you see your child’s education.  A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders in the Twenty-First Century by Oliver DeMille, is the first book in the series.  It is definitely the one to read first.  I personally feel that Mr. DeMille puts too much emphasis on leadership and higher education; however, I gleaned so much from this book.  The Phases of Learning as well as the Seven Keys to Great Teaching are my favorite parts of this educational philosophy.  To find out what their seven keys are and to read more about the Thomas Jefferson Education without purchasing the book, click here.

Reading this book in conjunction with Robin Sampson’s book will help you select what will work best for your family.  If you enjoy this first book by Oliver DeMille, then read the others in the Thomas Jefferson Education series.  You can find them at Amazon or on the TJEd site.  There are three more books:  A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion, Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning, and A Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens.

Through the Thomas Jefferson Education books, the DeMille family inspired me to continue my education.  I am not going back to an university to obtain my master’s degree.  I am simply going to the classics and reading as much as possible.  I making time to explore my interests.  And, I am finding that they are correct in that your kids watch you.  You can inspire them by studying for yourself.  It helps to create an environment of learning in any and all circumstances.

All of these books have one thing in common.  They all give you the freedom to teach your child.  They are not set curricula.  They are all practical and show you that you do not need a lot of money to educate your children.  All the books give sound advice to home schooling parents.  If you need to be inspired or excited about the up-coming school year, then start with one of these books.  Read and take notes.  Pick out what appeals to you.  Allow them to help you do the best for your children.

Other articles of interest:

“Home Schooling High School” from Susan’s Home School
This article explains delight-directed education in a meaningful way.  You get to peek into her high school-aged daughter’s education and see how following one’s own interests can lead almost anywhere.

“Delight-Directed Study” by Gregg Harris.
Mr. Harris explains the difference between un-schooling and delight-directed study.  It goes along nicely with any of the books I recommended.

“Quotes on Education” compiled by Lock Haven University.
An interesting compilation of quotes by some of the greatest minds in history.  The earliest quote is from circa 66 CE by Petronius.  Other quotes are from authors, poets, philosophers, scientists, etc.  From Albert Einstein to Ralph Waldo Emerson, you can get a wide view of what education means to these minds.

I personally do not have any musical talent.  I cannot sing well.  I cannot play a musical instrument.  I comfort myself with the idea that God needs some people to sit back and appreciate the talents of others.  I am one of those people.  I love to listen to music, go to ballets, watch a play/musical, and admire the artistic talents of sculptors, painters, and other artists.  I truly appreciate the fine arts.

However through the Suzuki method, my children have developed musical talents.  My son plays the violin, my daughter plays the harp, and my other son played the fiddle until his interest went elsewhere.  My point is that they were able to develop an ability regardless of my inability to teach it.

As for art, I depended on Terry Holliday, my mother.  Terry is a professional watercolor artist.  Her paintings hang in many prestigious places, including one in the Museum of the Big Bend.  Watercolors by Terry is her online gallery if you would like to see some of her work.  In addition to being a professional, my mom has taught art for many years at the junior high and high school levels.  She single-handedly built the art program from the ground up at a local public school until she moved away.

When she moved, it was hard on my family for numerous reasons.  The biggest hardship was not seeing her on an almost daily basis like we had grown accustomed.  We missed her.  A secondary reason for missing her was that we lost our private lessons in art.

My mom tried very hard to stay connected with her grandchildren.  She especially did not want the littlest ones to not know her when she came to visit.  So she began several projects in an attempt to stay involved in my children’s lives.  She made videos of herself reading books to my little boys.  When those projects were a success, she decided to produce an art lesson on video.

When I received the first one in the mail, I was immediately impressed.  It was done so professionally.  Better yet watching the video with my children and doing the assignments in video with them, I immediately noticed an improvement in my drawing ability.  I was learning too!

She has now completed an entire series of art lessons called The Elements of Art.  The lessons cover line, value, shape, form, space, texture, and color.  Students will participate in activities such as drawing, painting, and weaving.  It is a total of eight lessons on DVDs.  She is also having them professionally produced and is now offering them to the public.  They are available for sale on Art for Homeschool.  You can purchase the DVDs and have them shipped to your home or you can download them and watch the videos online.  Here is a trailer.

Terry Holliday has big plans for Art for Homeschool.  Along with your purchase and/or download of the Elements of Art, members get access to tips, articles, and information.  In addition, any homeschool student that subscribes to the site through email can join and upload student art onto the Art for Homeschool Flickr Group.  A nationwide student art show will be held through this group complete with prizes in the future.

The series also come with a supply list and modifications for the assignments.  The target audience is junior high/high school; however, younger children can also learn from the videos and assignments with or without modification depending on their interest and ability.

If you are a parent who wants to include art education into your homeschool, then check into the Elements of Art.  If you go to a public school that has cut funding to the fine arts program, then Elements of Art would be a great resource to use at home.  If you are an adult who always wanted to learn the basics of art, then this series is a great place to start.

I am proud of my mom.  And, I am proud to help promote this great source for art education.

In the article, “Review of Rosetta Stone,” I talked about how Charlotte Mason relied on the findings of Francois Gouin when creating her own foreign language teaching theory.  Mr. Gouin was a big believer in making series.  All this means is that you would teach the language while doing something practical.

I chose to make a sandwich.  So, I put together a string of commands and sentences describing how to make a sandwich.  I taught them to my kids while showing them through a demonstration, not simply translating.  Then, I had them repeat the sentences.  Next they received their own sandwich making supplies and repeated the sentences after me while building their sandwich.  After much practice throughout the week of sandwich making, they were eventually ready to “perform” the series on their own.

The next step once they know the series well is to change the verb tense.  The main vocabulary stays the same, but the verb changes.  I always begin teaching the formal you or the Usted form.  I do not introduce the informal you or the Tu form.  In Texas, parents train their children to be polite.  We say “yes ma’am” and “no sir” when speaking to adults, I still do to older people.  Therefore, I wanted to teach my children to be polite in Spanish.  I consider it to be rude if you only addressed people in the familiar form.

Saying that, I begin the series with the formal commands.  In English the verb stays the same regardless, but not in Spanish.  So in our language it would be something like:

Take out two pieces of bread.  Spread mayonnaise on both slices.  Add cheese, turkey, lettuce, and tomato to one
slice of bread.  Place one slice on top of the tomato to make a sandwich.  Put the sandwich on a plate and enjoy.
(Take a bite.) Oh, how delicious!

The next time we did this exercise I would change from formal commands to present tense in the Yo form or 1st person singular form.  This would make the series say, “I take out two pieces of bread…”   Then you can change the tense to the past tense where they describe how they made a sandwich.

At this point, my children are well-versed in sandwich making vocabulary.  They easily recall the different food words.  Of course, they do not have to always make a turkey sandwich.  They can practice all different food vocabulary.  They have learned grammar without doing workbook pages of verb conjugations.  They have learned through a more natural process while doing a simple, everyday task.  It is the beauty of the series.

Now you just change the series to something else.  If they are learning about house vocabulary on Rosetta Stone, then create a series on the steps of cleaning a house.  Keep the series as simple as possible at first.  Dust the furniture.  Sweep the floors.  Vacuum the carpet.  Wash the dishes, etc.

The Gouin series enables your children to learn a foreign language by making it not so foreign.  The series becomes part of their day.  It becomes a part of their life.  They are literally working with the language in a hands-on manner.  Using the series is a great supplement to Rosetta Stone or any other foreign language curriculum.  All you have to do is try it.