I had the pleasure of interviewing Mary Ann Johnson – The Homeschool Coach - and I have to say, I'm super excited about the gentleness of her approach to parenting and teaching.  I'm not even sure I can use the words "excited" and "gentleness" in the same sentence, but that's just how I feel.

She's developed a complete system to show you how to inspire your children to WANT to learn – and it's largely based on the principles of the book, "A Thomas Jefferson Education", by Oliver and Rachel DeMille.  Rachel DeMille was a guest speaker at the HECOA January Super Summit in 2011, and got rave reviews from the listeners.  The TJEd movement is quite large, and the concepts are really effective in teaching parents how to raise great leaders.  Glenn Beck spoke at a dinner that the DeMille's organized last year on leadership and frequently discusses the concepts of  "A Thomas Jefferson Education".

Mary Ann takes some of the DeMille concepts and applies them to parenting and teaching, establishing a "closet" of wonder and joy.  No kidding!  Just read the testmonials on her site ~ her 8 week course which normally sells for $299.00 has helped many people to finally discover peace and instill a lifelong love of learning in their children. 

I know we all long for the day that education becomes a true joy – and I believe that Mary Ann has the exact tools you need to accomplish this.  I believe it so much, that I convinced her to offer the entire 8 week mastery course for HECOA Plus Members, for just $39.00 - that is a SMOKIN' DEAL for all eight weeks!!  This course will include all of the same materials you would get if you bought her course for $299, all the handouts, downloads, etc. – so nothing is being left out.  It really didn't take much convincing, because AND YOU MUST NOTE:  THIS IS THE LAST TIME MARY ANN WILL OFFER THIS COURSE AS ONE PRODUCT – so if you want to grab this, you will need to register quick as the class is limited in size and will fill up!!  Mary Ann is going to be closing out this mastery course, and you simply will not be able to get it again.  Another note:  There will be no recordings for this class, it is taught LIVE in our all new virtual classroom!!

This course starts Tuesday, September 20, 2011 (6pm Pacific Time) and continues each Tuesday for 8 weeks.

Or – if Tuesday evening doesn't work for you, Mary Ann has agreed to do a Thursday session at 10am Pacific Time.  The Thursday session starts on Thursday, September 22, 2011 and will also run for 8 weeks.

You will need to decide if you want the Tuesday or the Thursday session, you can't switch back and forth, sorry!!  Also, you will not be able to jump in the middle, it's a progressive mastery course.  Remember, there are no recordings for this live class.

All you need to do is CLICK HERE to become a HECOA Plus Member today (just $59 for an entire year), and then go HERE to reserve your spot in the 8-week course.  The course such a huge value, is not offered for HECOA Basic/Free members.

Now,  you will need to become a HECOA Plus member before you can enroll in the course, but not before you reserve a seat, you do need to hurry as it starts THIS WEEK – today as a matter of fact!!

Next week's theme for the Fall speaker schedule is: "Organized and Orderly" and will feature three speakers who each offer unique insight into the life of a home educator and share tips on how to find balance.

Life is not always easy when you are educating children at home while trying to keep the home running smoothly.  Even if you are an extreme unschooler who takes each day as it comes, everyone has a "system" they use to manage their home, the education of their children, and often a job, all at the same time.  I work with home educators all day every day, and can tell you that it goes from one extreme to the other.  Some have organizational charts posted all over the house, and others just try to keep it all in their heads.  Some have homes that are cluttered to the ceiling, while others seem like they really have it all together. 

Either end of the spectrum, stress can set in and we can get burned out quickly.  We know we need to make a change, but often don't know where to start, and need a little encouragement.  Sometimes encouragement isn't enough – we feel like we need a new system.  Or at least to look at someone else's system and say, hey I can see a few good tips from this and use them in my life!!

Next week, September 14 and 15, I've got three speakers lined up for you to help you set things in order and hopefully gain some peace in your life.  You will be able to find among the three something useful, I KNOW IT, because I've seen what these women can do!

On Wednesday, the 14th, I will question Roxane Colburn on her "Principles of Happy Home Educating Families" and get her to share some of her secrets to experiencing the joy of home education and finding true happiness.

On Thursday, the 15th, we've got two speakers.  The first will be Elmarie Hyman, who offers some fantastic time management tips for you on how to identify lost time and then actually regain it!

The second speaker on Thursday, Sept. 15th, is Anita Marchesani, Ph.D. – Anita really brings the week's theme to a great finish as she describes how to juggle home educating with managing a home.  She is a mom who is not only passionate about home education, but also runs a business from home, so balance is essential.  How does Anita do it?  We'll find out!

All three presentations are free for HECOA members.  If you have not become a HECOA member yet, it will be a two step process to get registered for the seminars.  First, you will want to click JOIN above, or just click HERE.

Once you become a member, LOG IN, and then go back to THIS LINK to see the entire fall schedule and follow the link to register at the top of the page.  After you register for the Fall schedule, and verify your request, the information will automatically be sent to you on how to access each presentation.

Established in 2010, by blogger, speaker and Unplugged home-educating mom herself, Laurette Lynn, Unplugged Mom has grown exponentially since its inception and parents everywhere are listening in, reading, interacting and talking about Unplugging!  This concept is not about unplugging from technology, as one might think.  “It’s about unplugging from an institutionalized paradigm and reconnecting with organic community. It’s about being human instead of being compulsive” says Laurette Lynn.

Laurette was one of the speakers in the HECOA Super Summit in January 2010, and resulted in both moms and dads writing in to HECOA Director Dianne McLean.  "The emails that poured in after Laurette's last call with me were testimonials of life changing epiphanies, and they came from both women AND men who had listened."  Dianne doesn't get a lot of testimonials from fathers who are not the primary educators in the home, so this was definitely an impactful presentation!

On Thursday, September 8th, Laurette will once again join HECOA in a new presentation titled "De-Schooling Dynamics: 5 Things You Must Know to Make the Transition".  Laurette says, "I would like very much to focus on "deschooling" because that is truly the very core of my work." She believes that de-schooling is for the entire family, not just the child, "it requires both logistical changes as well as philosophical changes and changes in our perspective.  It is something that requires patience and love, but does not have to be daunting or intimidating."

If you have ever wondered about the de-schooling process, you will not want to miss this call!!  It is available free to all HECOA members, but registration is required as space is limited.  HECOA Plus members will be able to get the replay and download the recording, but still need to register to receive those.

To register for the Fall Seminars for HECOA, CLICK HERE.

We frequently get asked about various methodologies of home education.  Unit Studies is one way that home educators incorporate many academic goals into one area of interest.

Unit studies entice children to learn about history, write essays, and perform scientific and mathematical equations using topics they are already interested in, and can be built around nearly any focus. If your child prefers to spend hours playing with a favorite toy, drawing pictures, playing a musical instrument, playing outdoors, watching sports, or playing video games, you can build a unit study and cover nearly all of their academic subjects from one area of interest. Units can be as short as two weeks to more lengthy durations, such as spending a few months or a year studying the Renaissance, Ancient Egypt, or the Exploration of America. Create a unit study to prepare your children for an upcoming family vacation, for example studying the rainforests (trip to Hawaii); marine ecosystems (tidepools, or a trip to Sea World); forestry and North American wildlife (trip to a national park); American Government (trip to Washington D.C.); the possibilities are endless. You can even do a unit study on an area of compassion or service, such as caring for a relative.

What is needed to create a Unit Study? How do you cover all the subjects with just one topic?

All unit studies begin with questions. Everything around you will provoke some level of curiosity. Who created the toy your child is playing with? What country is the creator from? What is their history? Once a child is talking about the history of the toy, what questions could be presented about the culture and geography of the inventor’s homeland? What is the monetary system of the country they lived in? What is their government like? What do they eat? Assign research to answer these questions, immediately immersing a child into reading. Be sure to read aloud with the child for part of the time, even if they are a teenager, as this will help assess their vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation. Younger children can identify pictures, read fictional stories that bring the topic to life, and even write their own versions of stories.  This is how the veteran home educators do it – but you may wish to purchase unit studies that have these things already lined out for you.  There are many available on the internet – some are even free!

Some English teachers would say that writing is broken down into four main structures: Narrative Essays – describing a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events – essentially a story; Expository Essay – informing, explaining, describing, or defining the subject to the
reader. An expository can also be a journalistic news story; Persuasive Essay – guiding the reader toward an idea, attitude, or action by rational means, relying on “appeals” rather than coercion; and finally Technical Writing – translating complex concepts into simple language to enable the reader to perform a specific task in a specific way.

Whenever teaching a unit study topic, incorporate at least one assignment from each of the four writing structures throughout the study, whether it be over several weeks, or a year. This will ensure a child has knowledge of these structures as they get older and prepare for college.

Math and Science are easily adapted into unit studies, and the examples we introduce from time to time on HECOA reveal that nearly anything has some mathematical or scientific aspect to it. From the mechanical to the chemical composition, there is always an
inference to how something works, how people do things, and what can be done to make it better and improve the world around us. Measuring, counting, deducting, graphing – from simple addition to calculus and trigonometry – math is truly in all things. If it is uncomfortable branching outside of a textbook with math, simply substitute your topic for the examples used in your current curriculum. For example, your textbook says “When Jane purchased two shirts with a $20 bill…..” You could instead say “When Jane purchased two sets of Legos with a $20 bill…” and pique the interest of the child who loves Legos. While perusing such topics as Legos, or maybe even Chocolate, one can see how easy it is to incorporate individual interests and ideas into a unit study, and become more excited about learning.

This is just a brief explanation of what a unit study is, and certainly all unit study designers are not alike.  At HECOA, we like to see parents designing their own units of study – or at least altering a unit study that they have purchased or obtained to their child's interests, because that truly is the definition of a unit study.

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How does your desert garden grow?

Plant a garden, watch it grow.
That’s usually one of the top 10 activities that new home educators think of doing as an activity with their children. Home education takes patience and nurturing, as does a garden.  The two go hand in hand. You learn a lot about life when you grow a garden.

Southwest Gardening
Where does one start to have a truly successful garden in the southwest? What should you plant? How do you keep pests and weeds out and make it thrive? How can we tie home education into a garden? Home education is about doing things unconventionally, with the ultimate goal of learning more about something than we knew when we started, and the surprising results of learning more about something else than we initially planned. It’s a humbling experience, and you can get your hands pretty dirty at times. Confused? Once
you start your garden, you will understand. In the meantime, try to bear with us as we mesh life’s little lessons into a garden unit study.

Preparation.
Invest time to prepare and plan out your garden. If you don’t already know just where the sun rises and sets and where the wind blows in your yard, you may have to take a couple of days to chart these things. Shade is an issue in the southwest, so track how many hours of intense sun the different parts of your yard get. The garden does not need to be in a showy place, you may find that behind the garage is the ultimate location.

Invest time to observe your children too. Record what time of day they are most responsive to critical thinking, when it is best to give them more relaxed reading assignments, and when it is best to just let them play and discover. Pay close attention to things that could have an adverse affect on their ability to learn – such as junk food and distractions from video entertainment. We all know that foods with preservatives can cause symptoms of many neurological disorders – so balance your child’s intake of food with healthy fruits, grains, and vegetables. All of this takes patience – it does not happen in a day, a week, or any set time.

If space in your garden is a problem, consider going vertical. A mobile cart with various levels is ideal, planting certain things on each level that compliment each other. Soil is another consideration that requires attention before you plant anything in the ground. Many southwestern gardeners are finding that raised beds provide much more control over the dry desert soil. If you build boxes, you will need to get wood and nails and be familiar with carpentry tools. Then just fill the box with potting soil. Container gardens will work in the desert, but watering should be more frequent, so be sure to set up a good system. Water and sun are what makes plants grow – so you will need to find balance in both. The best thing you can do in the southwest for any garden is to put the watering on timers, and timers with a backup battery are even better. In places like Arizona, you can lose or damage an entire crop by skipping just one day of watering.

If your child does not drink water throughout the day, he or she can get dehydrated and tire easily. See the connection?

Drip systems are inexpensive and easy to assemble, but remember that water dehydrates fast so to get really good watering, set up the drip to activate at least 3 times per day. You will want to have a mix of potting soil and peat or something that holds water. Decide early if you want to use pesticides or go organic – don’t think you are immune to bugs. Lady bugs are essential to eating aphids and other damaging pests, you can order them online. Don’t wait until your plants are in and being eaten to put pest control measures into place.

Move your child’s working space around as needed to fit their needs. Some like to work in a big open space, others prefer to cuddle up in a corner. It takes time to find the perfect base for your child’s workstation. Eventually most home educators try some sort of system to keep order in their day. From chore charts to elaborate schedules and planners; from earning little trinkets or t.v. time to fancy reward systems – parents have tried them – and different things work for different people. Balancing several children can be challenging for some, especially if there are infants or toddlers involved. Many parents enlist the help of older siblings to help teach younger children, and they cross teach and do unit studies to keep from being pulled in different directions all day. Everything is not going to be perfect, expect to find the weaknesses in your children and there will be days when chaos reigns. Wait for them to thrive in a few things, before you introduce too many objectives. Join some online groups and forums to discuss the various methods other moms use to avoid these little setbacks.

Organic gardeners will plant marigolds, nasturtiums, onions, garlic, and other herbs as natural pest control. It’s a good idea to get
these going first, make sure they are thriving, before you plant your other vegetables. You can get a nice salad garden in an 8×4 foot box. Lettuce generally produces faster, so plant this last. Planting such items as tomatoes, basil, mint, carrots, bell peppers, chives, garlic, edible flowers such as marigolds and nasturtiums, and cucumbers, before you put lettuce in the ground, will give good variety
and coordinated production. You may want to buy plants that are already started from a good garden store, or start from seed. Just be sure to read the germination times to coordinate your harvest when you want it. Most importantly, don’t set your expectations too high – a garden is achievable in the desert, but it takes patience and it’s a learning experience.

Don't get frustrated, just plan it out and do it, one day and a little bit at a time – and don’t set your expectations too high. Have you made the connection yet between home education and gardening? As you begin your home education journey, simultaneously plant a garden. Each time you face a challenge in home education, go out to your garden and remember how much time and patience it takes to see progress. Why should our children take any less time to adapt to home education than a seed takes to sprout? With a little forethought and careful planning your home education journey will yield results as long as you nurture with patience, love, and of course humility.

Copyright 2011 Home Education Council of America – Remember all articles on this site are protected by copyright laws.  You may copy them for your own use, but do not place them on your site or sell them.  Please link back to this site, thank you!

The Joy of Womanhood – Stuff Your Mother Never Taught You

by Dianne McLean

I'm reading Donna Goff's thesis this week on rediscovering the lost art of womanhood.  It's a true primer for mothers, with emphasis on the Hope Chest Journey (more than a few temporal items in a box, it's about building an internal hope chest as well) and the Princess Academies (Donna's worldwide organization for women and their daughters).

Maybe some of you have learned a few things here and there, but after browsing just through the table of contents, I have to honestly say that I don't know many women, if any, who have all of the qualifications to be all they were designed to be.  What happened to the grace and dignity? Do people even know what those things are, or are they merely struggling to be tolerant and claim their place?  This week, the world was focused on the Royal Wedding in England.  I noticed as the couple stood on the balcony presented before millions of people, they weren't even waving right!  Well, at least not according to the Princess Diaries, you know, that fairy tale movie with Jane Hathaway where Mia learns how to be a royal princess?  See, I don't know much about being an earthly princess, clearly.  I was raised in Southern California, home of the valley girl.  Like, um…..

The thesis is over 300 pages, and includes activities and thoughts to ponder to help build each principle and quality of womanhood. I'm amazed at the time spent, and grateful for the scriptural references that perhaps will ground many to understand the foundation of the principles taught.  Even if you are not religious, don't pass this up.  There's a huge amount of information that needs to be passed to all daughters.

Again, just from the table of contents, I can't wait to dig in to the 15 chapters of Beauty and Grace!  After that, my interest is really piqued on the sections featuring notable historical people.  There's an entire section devoted to each of the following: Ancient Times; Renaissance and Age of Discovery; and even Modern Times.  I've never understood what "comeliness" is, and am thrilled that Donna has broken it down into the Ten Principles of Comeliness, not to mention the Ten Golden Keys of Conversation, with another section entitled Ten Keys of Oral Presentation and Defense.  Maybe after some intense study, I can show my own daughters through example how "Like…um…" really doesn't say much. 

There's a lot more to mention, but we'll save that for another day.  You can preview the Primer by going to her Princess Academies website and clicking on the button in the right hand navigation column titled "A Primer for Mothers".

This thesis can be used to develop a long term finishing school type of training – I can envision it also being used for mini-seminars to train women and daughters.  That's kind of what the Princess Academies is about – it's women collaborating with other women around the world.  Through Princess Academies, women share insight and get even more training, learn how to have Princess Circles (meetings) in their homes, how to serve in their communities, and so much more.  On the website, they feature Women of Virtue vignettes, Power of an Hour (get the free sample, it's amazing), and special bundles that teach specific principles.

 I will be reading it more over the weekend at youth conference.  I'm the registrar, so once everyone is checked in, I just have to sit and be there in case anyone has problems, which means a lot of down time in between sessions.  Great time to read and learn!

Don't forget – Donna will be giving a special presentation on May 26th with HECOA.  Find out more HERE.

How does a mother teach her daughters about beautiful girlhood, eloquence, generosity, comeliness, grace, and sisterhood, if the mother never learned it herself?  Where do you begin?  How do you prepare your daughters to turn their homes into peaceful havens?

Rediscover the lost art of womanhood in this special presentation by Donna Goff, creator and co-founder of Princess Academies, LLC – an international organization for young ladies, mothers, and women.  In this presentation, you will learn 5 simple things you can do right away to begin teaching your daughters, and even some tips on teaching sons to be dignified and respectful.  You will learn what it truly means to be a daughter of a Heavenly King as Donna shares some important scriptural references to womanhood.  The information is critical, and you won't want to miss it!

Members of HECOA can listen in for free on Thursday, May 26th at 1:00 pm (Pacific Standard Time).  For those who live on the east coast, that will be 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.   Space is limited on the call, and on the webcast.  Just sign in as a member and look under the navigation tab:  Social –>HECOA Events –> Upcoming Teleconferences to register for the call.

Not a HECOA member?  Join today!  There are two options, the free membership (yes, you can listen to the live presentation with the free membership) and the Plus membership (Plus members can download the audio after the teleconference).

CLICK HERE to join HECOA now!

What is beauty?  How do you differentiate between real beauty and the false messages of the world, and teach this to your children?  What is your most important relationship?  Do you teach grace or merely tolerance?  Discover eloquence, etiquette, sisterhood and more!  Find out where you can get the golden keys to everything needed to become the Heavenly daughter you were designed to be, and more importantly, restore the lost art of womanhood by teaching your daughters.