We have added a few of our previous posts that were missing but have no way of recreating most of our comments. I’m sorry if you can’t find a post you wanted to read or your comment and/or my reply no longer show on the site.

We have also started over with counting visitors/showing where they are from on our little revolver map at the bottom of the page. Sigh! Ah, well; this is life. We now have a better back up plan in place.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Warm Regards~

We just wanted to let you know that the work we are doing on our blog is taking longer than anticipated. (You might have noticed we are missing posts and their comments from the last year and a half.)  :-0  We are hoping to be able to restore everything soon and appreciate your patience!

Christmas blessings to you and yours,

Merry Christmas!

I know you are bombarded with every offer under the sun right about now — but not from us.

We intentionally decided NOT to jump on the bandwagon and take advantage of many folks being in ‘spending mode’ this season, as so many others are doing. So, no Black Friday or Cyber-Monday deals for us.

Instead, we hope to keep the focus on Who and what Christmas is truly about. In our homes and in our business.

For that reason, we are going to be closing our office and not be shipping from December 21st at 3:00 through January 1st.  So if you are planning on starting school with some new curriculum from us, we recommend you order it within this next week.

We have some big announcements to make, but they can wait until after Christmas.

May God bless you and yours and grant you a blessed Christmas holiday!

In Him,

Dana Wilson
Train up a Child Publishing LLC
Epi Kardia Home Education
www.epikardia.com
dana@epikardia.com

Charlotte Mason

and the Bible

I am always surprised at the number of homeschoolers who love the methodology of Charlotte Mason, but would prefer it secularized. In other words, have the spiritual component and foundation of her teachings removed.  Many moms hang on Ms. Mason’s every word as it pertains to her methodology, but never really understand her philosophy of education, which is rooted in the Bible.

These thoughts and quotes are taken from Charlotte Mason’s Original Homeschooling Series, Vol. 1: Home Education.

The Deepest Insights into Children’s Nature

Ms. Mason affirmed that it is the Bible that shows the deepest insights into the nature of children (p. 11). She asserts that:

“It is worthwhile for parents to ponder every utterance in the Gospels about… children.” 

“It may surprise parents who have not given much attention to the subject to discover also a code of education in the Gospels, expressly laid down by Christ. It is summed up in three commandments…Take heed that ye OFFEND not (Matt. 18:6)—DESPISE not (Matt. 18:10) — HINDER not (Matt. 19:14) — one of these little ones.” –p. 12

Note: The Scripture references in parentheses were added.

Charlotte added that if parents clearly understood what we are not supposed to do, we would be able to see what we are supposed to do, what we are bound by duty to do, in “‘training up a child in the way he should go.’ ” –Vol. I, p. 12 and Proverbs 22:6

Offend not…

According to Ms. Mason, we offend our children when we do things to them that we shouldn’t do, such as:

• Disregard their physical health and safety
• Neglect providing them our love and affection, for example, by showing an obvious preference for one child over another
• Ignore their intellects by not providing a stimulating learning environment and holding them to high standards in their schoolwork

You may appreciate reading Charlotte’s words regarding children’s intellects:

… the child’s intellectual life may be wrecked at its outset by a round of dreary, dawdling lessons in which definite progress is the last thing made or expected, and which, so far from educating in any true sense, stultify his wits in a way he never gets over. Many a little girl, especially, leaves the home schoolroom with a distaste for all manner of learning, an aversion to mental effort, which lasts her lifetime, and that is why she grows up to read little but trashy novels, and to talk all day about her clothes.           –Charlotte Mason, Vol. I, p. 16

Despise not…

We despise our children, Charlotte continues, when we undervalue them:

• by not giving them our best (“[our] freshest, brightest hours”)
• by not making sure that their other caregivers have the highest moral character
• by not correcting our children’s misbehaviors at an early age, therefore muddying the waters between right and wrong

Hinder not…

“Hinder not the little children to come unto Me,” says the Saviour, as if that were the natural thing for the children to do, the thing they do when they are not hindered by their elders. And perhaps it is not too beautiful a thing to believe in this redeemed world, that, as the babe turns to his mother though he has no power to say her name, as the flowers turn to the sun, so the hearts of the children turn to their Saviour and God with unconscious delight and trust. –Charlotte Mason, Vol. I, p. 20

We hinder our children by not accepting “or [by] making light of” children’s natural inclination towards God:

• by not showing respect and reverence for the Lord in our everyday conversations
• by not providing for daily reading from God’s Word.
• by not taking their relationship with God seriously or by thinking they are too young to even have a relationship*

* Many years ago I had a missionary friend who advised me never to doubt my children’s desire to make a profession of faith –no matter how young. In her experience, if we take this desire and decision lightly – our children will end up taking it lightly as well.

In Her Own Words

Here are a few other quotes from Volume I from Charlotte Mason regarding the value of Bible reading and teaching to children:

…religious teaching helped the children, gave them power and motives for continuous effort, and raised their desires towards the best things. –p.  99

…their Bible lessons should help them to realise in early days that the knowledge of God is the principal knowledge, and, therefore, that their Bible lessons are their chief lessons. –p. 251

We are probably quite incapable of measuring the religious receptivity of children. Nevertheless, their fitness to apprehend the deep things of God is a fact with which we are called to ‘deal prudently,’ and to deal reverently…Children between the ages of six and nine should get a considerable knowledge of the Bible text. By nine they should have read the simple (and suitable) narrative portions of the Old Testament, and, say, two of the gospels. –p. 248

According to her writings, it is clear that Charlotte Mason had a genuine knowledge of and faith in God and His Word. It is impossible to separate her methodology from the passion and motivation behind her methods. Doing so empties them of their rich meaning, boiling them down to a mere list of “to-dos” instead of a mission to which God has called us and will gladly equip us for physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

If you teach using Charlotte Mason methodology but have never given careful consideration to this aspect of her teaching, I invite you to do so!

Whose Time is it? Christian Homeschooling Parents’ Priorities

“Give me 100 men who fear nothing but sin in their own lives and want nothing but God and God alone; I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they will shake the gates of hell and set up God’s kingdom upon the earth.”   - John Wesley

I read this quote this week on the Tuttle Tribe blog from Micah and Amy Tuttle, missionaries in Peru. God has been teaching me a lot lately, from all sides (as only He can do!) about my use of time.

As Christian homeschooling parents committed to raising Godly generations by training and instruction about the Lord and His ways (Eph. 6:4), aren’t we obligated to consider whether we are using our time with our children biblically?

The basis for this post originated from a study guide written by Rev. Andy Boyer examining how we utilize our time, talent and treasure to impact God’s kingdom.

Looking back through the lens of Haggai gives us a glimpse of Old Testament history and exhorts us to examine our attitudes concerning how we use the time we have to educate our children.

Background

Scripture: Haggai 1:1-15.

About 538 B.C., King Cyrus of Babylon desired the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. After two years, the temple foundation had been rebuilt, but due to the opposition of neighboring peoples (fearful of their possible eventual domination by the Jews and their renowned God), the work had stalled and eventually halted altogether.

As a result of God’s house lying unfinished almost 20 years later, the prophet Haggai and his contemporary, Zechariah, began preaching about the Jewish nation’s priorities and use of its time.

Haggai’s Word from the LORD

² This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say,’ the time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built.’ ”

Through Haggai, God then addresses the Jews directly, asking in verse 3,

“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

It is obvious by the tone of this statement that God was not pleased that His people left His house, the temple of Jerusalem, unfinished, and were instead absorbed with their own personal priorities!

How we Spend our Time Indicates What is Most Important to us

How much are we like the Jews in this passage? Do we not do the same thing as the Jews did when we don’t take the time to have our own daily Bible study time and consistent devotions with our children? When we don’t teach history, science, math, etc., as part of our Sovereign God’s creative, redemptive plan?

But my kids hate devotions; they’re boring.

I don’t know how to make them interesting and don’t have time to figure it out.

Isn’t that something my husband should be doing?

My children are too many different ages and we just can’t make it work.

We can’t get our regular subjects finished as it is – we just can’t get to it.

I have to admit to wrestling with several of these thoughts over the years. There are only so many hours in the day and if we choose to devote our time to one area, it has to be taken away from somewhere else, right?

So what are we spending our time on instead? I would venture to say that the way we spend our school time often reflects the following priorities:

• Academics – We have to squeeze in those AP classes – How else will she be able to compete and get into a decent college?

• Extracurricular – We need to get out and do something other than school – you know, for socialization – we can’t wait for our weekly field trip/park day, etc.

• Sports -Too bad we are traveling all over the county, but being on sports teams is important to his development and looks good on his record. Besides, maybe he will be able to get a scholarship!

• The transcript – She has to be part of this debate club/extracurricular program/ leadership camp/…It will look so good on her high school transcript!

Not that any of these things in themselves are bad. But are we neglecting something more important?

God’s View of “our” Priorities

⁵ Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. ⁶ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”  Haggai 1:5-6

In this passage God states that the Jews were working hard, but that they were not really getting anywhere – because their priorities were not in order according to what He had asked of them. Theirs were self-centered priorities, rather than God-centered ones.

God warned the people in verse 5 to “give careful thought to [their] ways.” He wanted them to evaluate how they were spending their time and what consequences they were experiencing as a result.

God often repeats an idea in a passage of Scripture so we know it is important. God told the Jews to “give careful thought to [their] ways” a total of four more times in this book!  Shouldn’t we follow this same advice? Shouldn’t we give careful thought to what our priorities actually are and what they should be, and make adjustments accordingly?

Christian Homeschooling Parents’ Priorities

God tells us in Deuteronomy 6 that we are to teach about His precepts throughout our days. And at night. And when we are at home. And when we go out.

In other words…all the time! Everything we teach and learn should be in the context of God’s plan. Homeschooling curricula that does not support this is working against what we are commanded to teach our children. Spending the day only on the three R’s does not fulfill our obligation to the Lord. It is admirable to have high academic standards. Good, but not best, if that is all we do.

If we obey in this, in spite of our worries about not getting to everything, we can trust in what He says: that there will be a greater reward than we can anticipate. He is big enough to take care of our children. He is a God who rewards obedience.

Seek first the kingdom of heaven…

Do you struggle with this in your home? How do you teach your children about God and His ways?
 

In Him,

Have you heard the brouhaha resulting from the recently published Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother?
Tossing a buzzing beehive into a group of old ladies at a church picnic wouldn’t have caused much more controversy than this book.

The upshot is that Amy Chua, the book’s author, considers Chinese parenting as superior to that of Western parents. She attributes the considerable success of many Chinese children to their mothers’ typical Chinese, rather tyrannical, child-rearing practices. In contrast, she sees Western parenting as lax, lazy and indulgent.

Ms. Chua describes how she followed the path of her own mother, carefully controlling every aspect of her children’s lives. Consider: no play-dates or sleep-overs.  No sports, drama or any other “fluff.”  No grade lower than an A permitted. Up to six hours a day spent in musical instrument practice. Either achieve the top honor — or receive a cruel tongue-lashing that sometimes even resulted in a child being called “garbage.”

Despite the emotional reaction that you are probably having about now, there are three things we can learn from the “Tiger Mom.”

Take Control

According to this author, Chinese mothers completely control all aspects of their children’s lives. Don’t we, as Christian homeschooling mothers, tend to do a bit of that?  Isn’t that partly why we keep our children home from public school and limit their time with the unruly kids down the block? We want our children to reflect our values instead of “the world’s.”

Although Chinese mothers might be a little over-the-top and we homeschooling moms can be protective to a fault, there is one area we could often be better at controlling. We could be better at managing our time and helping our children better manage theirs.

In our fast-paced culture it is often necessary to say “No” to good things so that we can say “Yes” to better things. We all wear many hats – often too many.  If we habitually over-commit ourselves to outside activities, even worthwhile activities, our spiritual life, marriage, family and homeschooling will suffer. (One very helpful book on this subject is called Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives)

We can’t be productive all the time and we all need downtime (as much as some of us try to deny it!). As parents, though, we and our children need to steer away from endless hours of TV, video games, unsupervised computer time, etc. and promote more pleasure reading, hobbies, personal intellectual pursuits and service to others. After all, our children learn more from our example than they do from our words.

Helping our children learn by our teaching and our example that their minutes are precious, even the unsupervised, non-school ones, is a gift that will benefit our children all of their lives.

We Ask too Little

One of Chua’s arguments with regard to typical American parenting is that we are too quick to praise our children’s efforts as wonderful – whether or not they actually do a competent job. She feels we are more concerned with our children’s “self-esteem” than we are with teaching them to work hard to accomplish something challenging. Instead, American parents baby their children and treat them as if they are weak.

In contrast, she cites that Chinese mothers treat their children firmly because they believe their children are strong.  Pushing them helps them develop into all they can be. In illustration, the book describes a time when the author’s seven year old was forced to practice a song on the piano for an extended period, until it was mastered, without breaks for food or even to use the bathroom. Her older sibling had learned the same song at age seven, so Chua felt her younger child was capable of doing so as well.  After copious tears and several hours, the song was mastered. The result was Chua’s daughter deeply felt her accomplishment because of the effort that had been expended.

I certainly don’t agree with the methodology, but I do agree that we sometimes ask too little of our children. I’m speaking from my own experience here.  We don’t do our students any favors when we don’t set firm guidelines for how math is to be completed (showing all the steps in Algebra, for example), how papers are to be written and when school work is to be turned in. Our students will have deadlines in college and adults have deadlines all the time, yet it is a documented fact that we homeschoolers tend to be lax in that area.

In fact, during the decade and a half I homeschooled, it seems we have become worse, not better, from what I have seen and heard.  A close friend who teaches outside classes to homeschoolers often reports that in the last few years, parents habitually have interceded for their even high school-aged children, asking that they have more time to complete their assignments. This is not when the assignments are given, either – this is after they are already overdue!

Priorities

The third thing we can learn from the Tiger Mom is something Christian Homeschooling moms don’t want to do – and that is to have academic performance be our top priority.

Our children’s studies are surely important, but not to the extent that their character is sacrificed on the altar of academic superiority.

Instead, we must consistently demonstrate by our actions, our conversations, our teaching and our focus that our relationships and character are the first priority. Our kids are not here to glorify themselves or their parents by their academic achievements, but rather to glorify the One Who made us. The Father cares much more about your children’s hearts than He does about an “A” on the history paper or even a fabulous SAT score.

We have such a wonderful opportunity having our children at home, where we can mentor and disciple them, as well as teaching them the three R’s!

I really don’t have any idea if the author’s ideas about Chinese parenting are typical, but now I am curious! So…did you read the book? Are you a Chinese mom or have you had experience with Chinese parents?  I would love to hear comments about what you think!

Welcome to the January 25th edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

What a thrill on Saturday while going through my husband’s parents’ belongings to uncover a rather tattered collection of several 1880 editions of Godey’s Lady’s Book!  If you are not familiar with this Victorian era magazine, it was published in Philadelphia from 1830 to 1878 and was one of the most popular magazines of its time.  Containing engravings of contemporary fashion for ladies and children, recipes, games, and poetry, it also included articles and novelettes by noteworthy American authors.  Interestingly, it was perhaps the first magazine to actually be copyrighted in 1845 to keep others from stealing and reproducing its content.

This magazine holds special significance for Charlotte Mason advocates as it contains a glimpse into the time period during which she lived.  It is fascinating reading, although the minuscule point size is rather challenging!  The photos you see in this article (other than the first) are taken from my copies.  Enjoy!

Charlotte Mason Methodology

Penney Douglas shares what a Charlotte Mason education looks like in her home in How We Have Applied Charlotte Mason Principles in Our Homeschool, posted at Changed By Love.

Like most of us at one time or another, Shannon rediscovered why nature study should not be shelved for those ‘more important’ academic areas.  Read Regaining Focus with Charlotte Mason posted at Mountaineer Country and be encouraged not to neglect nature study in your homeschooling.

In her delightful post Holli presents Studying Nature…a year gone by…, showing us one of her children’s progress after a year of nature study.  Her blog:

Settled In My Home.

A teacher after my own heart, Robin Phillips offers up a helping of nontraditional alternatives to the ho-hum assignments we so easily hand out in Creative Home School Project Formats: 15

Ladies needed their chocolate, even then!

Traditional, 10 Nontraditional posted at Crack the Egg.

Bethany presents a post, documented with photos and resources, describing her family’s  Winter

Squirrel Study posted at Little Homeschool Blessings.

Parenting

Pamela presents a thoughtful post concerning Teasing posted at Blah, Blah, Blog.

Living Books Instead of Textbooks

Victorian Era Crafts

Dawn presents Books, Books, and More Books!!! , offering both a helpful book list as well as fun project ideas for the Revolutionary period of U.S.history, posted at My 4 Sweetums.

Jennifer in MamaLand presents The Myth of Ability, and How Textbooks Drag Education Down posted at Adventures in Mama-Land. I so agree with Jennifer that textbooks are, in many, many cases,  poorly written, inaccurate and just.plain.dull.

Nancy encourages us by sharing a literary discussion in her household in  Forest for the Trees posted at Sage Parnassus.This is a great post for all of you mom’s with younger children.  Keep reading those living books!

Thank you to all of you Charlotte Mason aficionados who contributed to this edition!

Readers, if you read a post that challenges, encourages or inspires you, please take the time to leave a comment on this or the author’s personal post.

Thank you for reading this edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

Editor‘s note: This is a guest post from my friend, Laurie White.  If you have younger children and are wondering how in the world to deal with the “Santa thing” while being true to your calling as a committed Christian, Laurie’s way might be a palatable alternative for you.  At our house we were a little less gentle about it, to the chagrin of our relatives and even some of our friends.  I believe  that Col. 2:8 speaks to traditions regarding Santa, the Easter bunny, etc. “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

So…after reading the article I would love for you to leave a comment and tell me how you have handled  ‘Santa’ in your home.

Is Santa… Real?

“Is Santa real?” my four-year-old Rebecca asked as she looked up at me with a serious, studied look. I had to pause a minute before I could answer. It was just after Thanksgiving and we had begun to get the Christmas ornaments out. The manger scene was her favorite item. Like most children she loved the small figures of the shepherds, Mary, Joseph, and especially the tiny baby Jesus. We had gone over the story of the angels and shepherds and the wise men from the East and, as always, she asked her usual question about those events: “Did it really happen?”  Much of the business of childhood, I was beginning to learn, was sorting out the real from the unreal.

So, I wasn’t exactly caught off-guard with her question about Santa. It was predictable. What I hadn’t predicted were my own feelings of awkwardness and insecurity when she asked. I was rather overwhelmed with a realization that I was departing from the mainstream of tradition as well as from my own upbringing as I responded.

“Rebecca, Santa isn’t like Jesus. Jesus is real. Santa is pretend. But because almost everyone everywhere pretends that Santa is real, he seems real. It’s like a wonderful game that all the grown ups and all the children join into at Christmas time. That’s what makes Santa Claus so much fun.”

Rebecca was content with that, and so was I as it turns out. Now, looking back six years later, my awkwardness has vanished and it is with confidence that my husband and I recommend the “pretend Santa” idea to other parents looking for an answer to Mr. Claus.

What’s the Big Deal Anyway?

Some may ask, “What’s the big deal anyway? Let the little ones believe that Santa is true. The harsh realities of growing up come soon enough. Let them believe while they can.” Indeed, I felt those harsh realities descend heavily on me as a child when I discovered Santa was not true. I used to sit on my bed and ponder how totally wonderful it was to live in a world in which angels, Jesus and Santa were all realities. The shock of the truth hit hard when it finally broke in on me, and I immediately questioned the veracity of the other two entities along with St. Nick. It was years before I finally began to recapture some of that lost joy over Christmas. My husband had experienced an equally intense and lasting disappointment about Santa when he was growing up. We knew we wanted to avoid that for our children. Besides, reality isn’t just harsh. It’s both harsh and full of wonder. And the Wonder is going to win! Children must be grounded in the wonders of the Truth first… with no lies mixed in. Then as the harder parts of reality begin to present themselves, there is no rug for someone to pull out from under them, just the rock-solid base of God’s true love and His incredible plan for this world.

Jesus Versus the Bag Full of Toys

We have heard other objections to telling young children the truth about Santa. Most of them boil down to general feelings parents have that they would somehow be cheating their children out of the joy they themselves experienced in childhood on Christmas morning. Children can’t fully appreciate what Christmas is all about, the argument sometimes goes, so let them have something they can enjoy at their own level. But no one appreciates the story of Jesus’ birth better than a child! Mature understanding is lacking, of course, but not wonder, awe, and a pure, total ability to trust that those incredible events really happened… that same trust which makes them so susceptible to Santa Claus. Their awe and joy over choirs of angels and a King born in a stable are only dwarfed by us when we ourselves build-up the Santa myth to its full extent, give it the honored place in their hearts as truth, and then have Santa bring all the neatest “stuff” to them. We twentieth century parents have unwittingly blown Santa out of proportion by our sheer prosperity. Laura Ingalls’ Jesus had only to compete with a Santa who brought a candy cane and a rag doll. But look with what our Jesus has to compete. Jesus himself walking through the door can’t top that bag full of toys. Our children get the bag full of toys, too (more or less), but they know, now, it comes with love and sacrifice from us.

The most delightful thing to us about this venture is that the “pretend Santa” idea worked even better than we thought it would. When Rebecca at age five wanted to know who brought the toys if it wasn’t really Santa, I said that it might spoil some of the fun if I told her. She accepted that for another year or two and then, when she really wanted to know in the worst of ways, I told her. She felt she had been let in on a great secret and was careful not to tell her little sister or brother. They eventually plied the truth out of her, of course, at various ages and when they wanted to know badly enough. But there was never any question that Santa was pretend. He was lots of fun, but he was in an entirely different camp in their minds from the person of Christ. The great intrigue was only “How do the toys get here?” not, “Is there really a Santa Claus?”

Keeping the Magic

Now, we are all in cahoots together keeping our secret from other children who “might think Santa is real.” We have had some good discussions about allowing other families to keep traditions in their own way, from those who present Santa Claus as the truth, to those who leave out Santa altogether from their celebrations. During the holidays, we conspire not to mention that Santa is pretend because that would spoil the fun. The children leave out cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve every year, but it is with added humor and hidden giggles. Last Christmas, they left hilariously funny notes for Santa thanking him for their gifts and asking for a response. Each child got an equally funny note from Santa scrawled at the bottom of his letter which was read aloud to the family next morning on Christmas–a new tradition was born. We read “The Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve each year, and we can freely talk about the wonderful legend of the actual Saint Nicholas without causing confusion for them. We ride together in our imaginations on the Polar Express. We alternately laugh till it hurts and get goose bumps over Santa in Ernest Saves Christmas. We feel we’ve missed none of the magic. In fact, we all love Santa! Is there any other time of the year when everyone in the country and practically the world joins together in a mutual game of pretending, even down to the TV news anchor on Christmas eve? But legends remain legends, and the startling beauty and real “magic” of the Christmas story has remained central. No contest. It holds a greater charm and engenders supreme awe in their thinking by simple virtue of its having really happened. That one’s the true story, and they know it.

Two years ago when our daughter Hetty was five, she secretly wrapped her doll in “swaddling clothes” and put it on the sofa for us to find on Christmas morning. She had composed a story explaining how every year Santa and God get together and make Jesus a baby again and give him to a family to keep for the whole day, “and,” she exclaimed, “this year they picked us!” So, we got the baby Jesus right in the middle of our living room for the whole day, and right in the center of Christmas for always.

This guest post was written by Laurie White, a homeschooling mama with three children who were homeschooled through high school. She lives with her husband in a log house in the middle of the woods in Covington, Georgia, surrounded by flint-lock rifles, brain-tanned hides, wild turkey, and deer that eat her daylilies. You may read more of Laurie’s writing at her website, www.theshorterword.com

Happy Monday, Everyone!

This is just a quick note/post to let you know that my friend Debra at notebooking pages.com is having a great sale that ends tonight on her Notebooking Treasury.  (To read about it, click here and then click on the Notebooking Treasury banner.)  If you have never before tried notebooking with your children, I would say you are about due!  Notebooking allows children to truly engage in what they are learning – and those who have an artistic/creative bent will LOVE it.  I wish we had started notebooking earlier than we did!  (I have almost everything Debra offers, by the way, so I can vouch for its quality.)

Debra sells her gorgeous pages in bundles and as a yearly membership and she is offering fantastic deals right now on both. In fact, if you buy a yearly membership today she is offering you two things:

1. an over $90 worth  bonus of free digital products, including your choice of a $25 Ancients unit from yours truly, and
2. an extra three months with a year’s membership

She already has hundreds of pages and is constantly adding new ones, including mom-organization type pages, so you can’t go wrong by buying a year’s, I mean, a 15 month, membership.

To read about her bundle of  over $90 of extra bonuses, click on this link then click on the Notebooking Treasury banner.

Especially during this busy season while you are trying to get other things done in addition to school, pre-made notebooking pages might be just the incentive your kids need to complete their work.

Enjoy!