i just got lisa's monthly news letter and it said that she was in the process of writing a new book. i just thought i let you know.

Yeah, I just did too. ;)

Lisa Whelchel - E-Letter
09th of May 2002 05:08:37 PM

May E-Letter

Attention all homeschoolers: I need your help. (For those of you who don’t homeschool, I could use your prayers.) I am beginning the research part of my next book, I’m Thinking About Homeschooling, in preparation for writing it the minute we return home from our trip. Have I told you what it is about, except the obvious? Tell you what, I’ll cut-and-paste the proposal for it that I sent to the publisher. That’s the best way to describe it. Here goes:

I’m Thinking About Homeschooling”
By Lisa Whelchel

“I’m thinking about homeschooling” is a statement I read almost daily in emails addressed to me. Sadly, many never get past the “thinking about” stage. Homeschooling is often too intimidating, overwhelming, or confusing to these sincere parents. “I just can’t imagine how I could teach my own children,” they say, “ I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Well then, would it help if you could see someone homeschooling? What if you could peek into different homeschool situations and watch the way families all over the world are actually doing what you are thinking about?

I’m Thinking About Homeschooling is broken down into twelve chapters, each illustrating a different family situation and unique homeschool teaching method. Let’s knock on the doors of these homes and ask if we can observe their homeschooling day. What curriculum do they use? Do they go by a particular schedule? Which teaching method do they embrace? What are the learning styles of their children?

For instance, I personally know four homeschooling families in my neighborhood subdivision. There is a family in my cul-de-sac who is just starting out. Sascha, the mom, is planning to teach her son Kindergarten next fall. Let’s observe as she takes the steps involved in getting prepared to homeschool for the first time. Perhaps the task won’t seem so daunting after you walk through it alongside her.

The Sinclair family, who has seven children ranging from a baby to a teenager, lives around the corner. “How does that mother homeschool all of them and still keep up with cooking, housework and life in general,” you might ask. I guess we’ll just have to watch and see.

Two doors down we have the Fennigan family. Dad has a PhD from Harvard; Mom has her Masters and Grandpa is a high school principal. They are all brainiacs and their two sons are being homeschooled with an eye toward post-graduate degrees. As you will notice, their homeschool day looks a lot different than the Sinclair family.

Nick and Sylvia Turner live a couple of streets down. They are passionate about the Classical Education teaching method. But, here’s a twist, Nick does much of the teaching even though he has a full-time job. How does he do that? I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out.

And then there’s my own family. We have a more eclectic style of homeschooling. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic are “must do” subjects everyday. The remainder of the subjects is covered by plenty of field trips to enjoy a more hands-on education. I must admit we also spend an inordinate amount of time on character building in our homeschool setting. Next year Tucker enters the junior high years. I’ve already enrolled my kids in Alpha Omega Online Academy to help me carry the extra load.

My hope is that by the end the book, and stroll through the neighborhood, you will feel more confident as you identify a family situation and teaching method from the twelve homes that resonates with your personality and philosophy of education. From there, you can simply look to the end of each chapter to find a sample schedule for the homeschool day and list of curriculum suggestions for that particular teaching method. And, don’t forget to send me an email that says, “I’m not just thinking about homeschooling – I’m doing it!”


So, what do you think? You know what I think? I think I have an awful lot of work to do before my deadline in October. That’s where you come in. If you are a homeschooler would you please answer the questions at the bottom of this page and email them to me. (It will probably work best to copy-and-paste the questions into a separate email to me and then fill in the answers.) I have set up a special email address specifically for this purpose. It is LisaQuestions@aol.com

If you know other homeschoolers who might be interested in helping me out, would you forward this E-letter on to them? Perhaps you are part of an Internet Homeschool Bulletin Board Discussion and you can post my request there. My plan is to sift through the answers and find a few families to interview in more depth.

For those of you who don’t homeschool, and are not even remotely interested, I’ll write about something of a little more universal appeal next month. Until then, if it has crossed your mind that I must be a wee bit crazy to homeschool, much less try to write a book about it, you are absolutely correct. That’s why I need friends like you to keep me sane. Thanks for your prayers and unconditional support.

Blessings,
Lisa

Homeschool Book Questions

What was your original reason for considering homeschooling?

Do you have an unusual homeschooling or family situation? If yes, please describe.

What method or curriculum do you use?

What is your primary goal for homeschooling?

What is your name and email address?


For those of you who are interested in finding out more about the computer curriculum and online academy in which I have enrolled my kids next year, I will be happy to send you more information. Because of my partnership with Alpha Omega I am able to extend a discount to all of my friends. You can just use the LisaQuestions@aol.com address and I will tell you more about it.



Parenting Tip
Assigning Schoolwork

If you have the Internet in your home and some kind of child-protection software such as Net Nanny, try this one: Have your child –with your or your spouse’s help – do Internet research on a subject that seems appropriate for the correction. For ungratefulness, have your child research hungry children in Africa; for stealing, juvenile hall; for laziness, the ant. Get creative. Then have him do an oral report at the dinner table. The same idea can be accomplished using an encyclopedia. Here’s a similar idea: Give your child a list of words appropriate to the intended lesson and have her find and copy the definitions from the dictionary.



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I read that, too, but I was just wondering...Wasn't she gonna come out with a book this fall entitled "Finding God in America", about her adventures on the RV tour??:confused: I'm just wondering how fat of a chapter she's going to devote to me.

:joke: My chapter, of course.:D :lol:

I wonder if I should get it or not...I do not homeschool and have no future plans to homeschool...why waste money on a book I'll......probably never use lol...wellllllllll I'll buy it...just to give her good sales ;)

Originally posted by Tad Warner
I read that, too, but I was just wondering...Wasn't she gonna come out with a book this fall entitled "Finding God in America", about her adventures on the RV tour??:confused: I'm just wondering how fat of a chapter she's going to devote to me.

i know! i was just about to post a topic on this...i remember she said it on entertainment hollywood during the summer when she was talking about the re-union and her kids sang the fol theme song..lol..