What are you filling your homeschool with? Is it lots of books? Craft supplies galore? Great literature? Hands on activities? Movies? Worksheets and workbooks? All of these things are a natural part of any homeschool, and of course most are necessary. Yet we need to be careful not to get caught up in filling our homeschool with too much material items so that we are missing the most important thing to fill our homeschools with-Him.

Do you enjoy new beginnings? I most definitely do. When the school year rolls around, I grin with the excitement of New Year’s Day. My mind travels back to memories of new pencil boxes, brand new outfits, and rows upon rows of school supplies, waiting for the ink and promise of a fresh new year. When our family began our homeschooling journey back in the Dark Ages that were the 90s, I looked for ways to create “markers” in the lives of my children. They were never going to need a brand new outfit to impress their friends on the first day, nor a new backpack, lunchbox, or a host of other special things. But what they did need - and what I needed - were tangible markers to say, “This is our journey. We dedicate it to the Lord, and we celebrate it together.” With that in mind, my husband and I established a pattern for our first day of school, which by the Lord’s grace hasn’t been broken in - gulp - 15 years. Here’s a look at how we make our very first day of school special: 1. To start off, I must explain that our first day of school is affectionately called “Orientation Day”. This concept - inspired by my husband’s suggestion - frees me from the tyranny of the stack of books and planned work, and allows me time to just focus on my children. No one does any work on Orientation Day! We may set up notebooks or organize our books, but no academic work is completed. 2. Pictures, pictures, pictures! Here’s where my formerly-scrapbook-obsessed personality shines. I take a picture of each child at their desk, often with their favorite book, and then we all head outside for a picture on the front steps of our home. After printing the pictures, I display them right in front of my desk, where I work on plans and grade papers. One look at my crew brings a smile to my face and often inspires me to keep on when the days grow long. 3. On my eldest daughter’s first day of kindergarten (1997!), I helped her to fill out a questionnaire I developed. Called the First Day of School Questions, this page gives me a peek into the heart and mind of my children. Each child answers questions for me; we start with basic questions along the lines of “How old are you?” and “What grade are you in?” Further down the page they record, “What is your yuckiest food?” “What are you good at?” and “What would you like to study this year?” I’ll never forget the year one of our three-year olds just cut the bottom half of the page to shreds! Apparently she was working on scissor skills that year. . . . . . I keep each list of questions with their permanent records for the year. Yes, I actually have ALL thirteen lists of questions that my college student answered for me! They are a treasure. 4. After filling out our questionnaires, I meet with each child individually for 20-30 minutes. Together, without the pressure of deadlines and timetables, we look through their new materials, discuss routines and schedules, and talk about their hopes, goals, and dreams for the year. We pray together and prepare our hearts for the weeks and months to come. With a family of five children, I look forward to this individual time to listen attentively and prayerfully connect with each child. 5. Finally, we’re on to the fun part! We head out for one special school supply and either an ice cream cone or lunch, as the budget allows. I hope this peek at our Orientation Day spurs you on to think of ways that you can make the beginning of school special for your children. May God bless and guide you as you seek to serve Him faithfully in your homes this next year! Now it's your turn! How do you like to start the school year? Let us know in the comments below. Curious about what questions Heather uses? View and download them here: First_Day_of_School_Questions!

There are a few things I’ve learned in my time as a home educator. We all carry some common character traits. We are all rebels, revolution­aries, and innovators. Not one of us decided to become home educators because we were looking for the easy route. Not one of us chose home educating because we were satisfied with the status quo. What we saw available to our children was dissatisfying at best. In the spirit of every great American and every revolutionary we set out to find the best, even going as far as to create it ourselves to meet our children’s needs. This search, this longing for more is what led to my first encounter with a lady that changed the course of education in our home. Her name is Charlotte, Charlotte Mason. I don’t remember the first time I heard her name. Maybe it was in passing or buried in the comment of a friend, but the name stuck. I kept looking and researching and soon found myself simultaneously breath­ing a sigh of relief and rejoicing that I had found the answer. You see, Charlotte was a rebel, revolutionary, and innovator as well. She saw education trends as paltry not elevating, pandering not exhorting. She was a governess and teacher who thought teach­ers needed reeducating. It doesn’t get any more revolution­ary than that. What made an even bigger impression was that her sentiments (so like the thoughts of home educators of today) and her methods were spawned in the late 19th century. Charlotte, my wise new friend, lived from 1842 to 1923. As I delved deeper into her methods, my eyes were opened! I had always thought that a home educator was essentially the consumer of curriculum. One settled on a publisher, ordered the box set, found an umbrella school, and they were off to the races with their standardized grading sheets included in the set, a seven-hour school day, 180-day school year, achievement tests, and, if they were really overachievers, a tu­torial program for fine arts, physical education, and electives. Of course, we had the freedom to call a snow day in October or make a trip to the grocery store a combination cooking class and math lesson. I was fairly certain that home education differed from public education only in location and the ability to impart our family’s values deeply into our children’s souls. I had no idea that a Victori­an lady would upset my applecart of beliefs and redefine my job description. Hopefully you are chomping at the bit to know what Charlotte said that so changed my point of view. Her first and foremost belief was that children are born persons! (I know, revolutionary.) They are born to learn and equipped from day one to take all we can throw at them. She detested the trend of dumbing down literature to be at a “child’s level”. Literature that insults a child’s intelligence by being overly simplis­tic is what Charlotte called “twaddle” which must be avoided because it provides no goal for a child, nothing at which to aim their efforts. Besides, who says you can’t read The Chronicles of Narnia to your preschooler? Imagine the language and creative skills that your child would get a jumpstart on. Charlotte was an advocate of a liberal edu­cation. Having nothing to do with politics, this liberal education means a generous one where all things are open for exploration. The arts are not off limits to children and are actually preferred to things we dub as educational such as “Sesame Street”. The liberal education seeks to introduce chal­lenge beyond what we have been led to be­lieve our children are capable of. It seeks to say that spending twenty minutes studying Degas’ Ballet Dancer is as valid at the ele­mentary level as the college level. It removes the ideas we have been bound to regarding arbitrary limits. After I discovered these basics of Charlotte’s teachings, I knew I would never look at cur­riculum the same. I found my new version of curriculum in what she called “living” books and “whole” books. “Living” books are so named because they are alive and engaging not a droning textbook or something lacking zeal and dedication. The best example of a “living” book is a journal or personal writ­ing. Modern studies have shown that when we are learning about a subject if that subject has a real person attached to it the details stick. Charlotte knew that one hundred thirty years ago. A “whole” book is exactly that – a book wholly on one subject expressed in literary lan­guage that awakens the reader. A single book about butterflies is a much better read than a small excerpt in an exhaustive volume. Gen­erally speaking whole books are living books because the writer has passion for the subject. By now you are probably thinking that this is all well and good where subjects like history, literature, poetry, and art are concerned but wonder how this applies to the practical sub­jects such as math and science. Charlotte was not remiss where these are concerned. She emphasized the importance of practical appli­cation and manipulatives. Teaching the value of money by holding it, talking about it, and learning to spend, save, and invest it. Couple that with learning about the mathematician and his theories, the scientist and his science. If geometry is the subject read about Pythagoras to unravel a2+b2=c2, delving into Galileo will tell you why he said Saturn had ears, investi­gating Marie Curie is definitely on the agenda when you are in chemistry class. Additionally, regular nature study paved a valuable path in a Charlotte Mason science class. Time outdoors was essential to the education and the spirit of the child, so important in fact that she was the first to see the value of scouting as an educa­tional tool. Robert Baden-Powell credits this endorsement, among others, with the growth of the Scouting movement and his book, Scouting for Boys. So deep are her ideas that Charlotte wrote six volumes that have received widespread appreci­ation in the home education movement. Many books have been written about her books. I am certain many more are yet to be written. Her methods are distinct. She is peculiar among teachers who wish to group everyone into the same age bracket expecting them all to learn from the same dry material. I know that our home school shall never be the same. I will continue to learn about her, explore all that I can in the realm of tangible learning, and raise my children outside someone else’s restraints. If you are so driven as to learn more (because this is just the tip of the iceberg) I encour­age you to read all you can about her. Her six volumes can easily be found at online auction sites, online bookstores, and used bookstores. I highly recommend A Charlotte Mason Edu­cation, More Charlotte Mason Education, and A Literary Education all by Catherine Levison. If you have the opportunity to visit a conven­tion or fair with a seminar on Ms. Mason, don’t miss it! If now you are feeling somewhat over­whelmed, repeat to yourself Charlotte’s own motto for her students,  “I am, I can, I ought, I will."