The Best Homeschool Curriculum!

This week marks Successful Homeschooling's 2nd Anniversary! As a gift to you, we are releasing another FREE e-book - 7 Secrets to Finding the Best Homeschool Curriculum.

This e-book details a step-by-step process for finding the best home school curriculum, and contains information about homeschooling high school and teaching gifted and special needs students. The book also features interviews with the following homeschool experts:

Valerie Bendt of Unit Studies Made Easy,
Lee Binz of The Home Scholar,
unschooler Sandra Dodd,
Corin Barsily Goodwin of Gifted Homeschoolers Forum,
Dennis Gunderson of Grace and Truth Books,
Sarita Holzmann of Sonlight,
Mary Hood of The Relaxed Home School,
Catherine Levison of A Charlotte Mason Education,
Jessica Parnell of Bridgeway Academy,
C.J. Rezak of Little Giant Steps, and
Larry Shiller of ShillerMath!

Follow this link to download 7 Secrets to Finding the Best Homeschool Curriculum. Enjoy!

Homeschooling - To Everything There is a Season

One thing I am learning about homeschooling, and life in general, is that nothing is static - we are always in a state of change. Last fall, we were mourning the death of a loved one. This fall, we're preparing to welcome new life.

Our fourth baby (and third boy!) is due on December 26th.

I spent the summer fighting morning sickness and feeling sorry for myself, and spent most of August and September making up for the months I spent lying around feeling sorry for myself. But now we're back on track. Well, we're never totally on track, but we're closer to the track...

We've also made some changes in our schooling.

Instead of taking a dip in the pool or going out for pizza on the first day of school, we were up at an obscene hour (I'm not a morning person), digging through piles of laundry (I'm rarely caught up on laundry), scarfing down breakfast (Cereal, anyone?) so we could fight traffic (DRIVE, people!) and arrive on time for our weekly Classical Conversations co-op. (Now you know why I homeschool.)

Instead of spending Monday mornings bouncing around in their pajamas until further notice, my kids look like this:


We've also made some changes at Successful Homeschooling.

We just wrapped up our 2nd Annual Curriculum Review Contest, which resulted in over 350 new homeschool curriculum reviews on our website!

We also have several new projects in the works, including YouTube videos, an e-course, and another FREE e-book that will feature interviews with prominent homeschoolers like Catherine Levison, Mary Hood, Sandra Dodd and Sarita Holzmann. These interviews turned out even better than I imagined they would, and I can't wait to share them with you!

In addition to subscribing to this blog using the subscription box in the upper left corner, you can keep up with all of our changes by becoming a fan on Facebook, following us on Twitter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, or signing up for our free homeschool newsletter.

Ecclesiasties 3:1 states - To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Our goal at Successful Homeschooling is to walk with you, giving you the tools you need to survive and thrive during life's many seasons.

Enjoy the journey!

Our Week in Review - Penguins

I'm swollen, sore, and missing 4 teeth, but we still managed to learn a little something this week.

We read Watch Me Grow: Penguins, Antarctica, and Captain Cook. We listened to the audio book version of everyone's favorite penguin story, Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. We also added a page about penguins to our animal classification notebook. I'll post pics from our notebook next week as we continue our study of birds.

The morning before I had my wisdom teeth removed, I mailed over $400 worth of Usborne books to participants in my homeschool curriculum review contest. As a result of last month's contest, you have a resource of over 400 homeschool curriculum reviews to help you choose products for your family.

Many thanks to those of you who took time to share your opinions with other homeschoolers! Please continue to submit your reviews and help me build a resource we can all rely on when choosing curriculum.

Homeschool Reviews

I have received over 300 homeschool reviews so far, I have been blown away by the high-quality submissions! Keep them coming!!!

There are only 3 days left in this month's contest. Follow this link to tell me about your favorite curriculum and win free books!

Homeschool Curriculum Reviews

I've received over 200 homeschool curriculum reviews to date, and I have been very impressed with the high-quality submissions. Thank you for helping me create an amazing resource that we can all use when choosing curriculum for our home schools.

There are 2 weeks remaining in this contest, and there are still many FREE book prizes available! Follow this link for details on how you can participate in my homeschool curriculum review contest.

Writing a review is as easy as writing an e-mail to a friend about a product you love. For tips on writing outstanding product reviews, check out Kim Kautzer of WriteShop's 4-part series entitled, How to Write a Book Review.

Tell Me About Your Favorite Curriculum and Win FREE Books!

During the month of September, I will send you a free, hardback, Usborne book if you tell me about 5 products you have used in your home school.

Here's a list of additional ways you can earn free books:

1. For every product you tell me about, I'll enter your name into a drawing to win $100 in free Usborne books.


2. Post a link to this page on your website or blog, and your name will be entered into a drawing to win $100 in free Usborne books.


3. Tell me about 5 products and receive a free, hardback Usborne Mini Book of your choice. Mini books are a reduced size version of an original Usborne book. Usborne sells mini books for students of all ages!


4. If you come in 2nd or 3rd place for the number product reviews, I'll give you $20 in FREE Usborne books of your choice.


5. If you submit the most reviews, you can select any product in Usborne's catalog for FREE!
   

Submitting a review is as easy as typing an e-mail telling a friend about a product your family enjoys. Follow this link to submit your homeschool reviews and read the rules for this contest!

Check out my website!

My new website is up and running!

At Successful Homeschooling, you'll find information on homeschooling statistics, pros and cons, laws, methods, curriculum, support and more.

The site also has a section on homeschooling preschool, which provides tips for teaching preschoolers, as well as ideas for educational games, activities, finger plays and songs.

For information, ideas and inspiration delivered directly to your e-mail inbox, sign up for my homeschool newsletter. The next issue will feature articles on learning styles, homeschooling methods, and Easter activities.