Spring Special!

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Homeschool Sanity: Not $22.00, not $16.00, now only $15.00 (a savings of 33%), through New Year's Day!

Add this book to your cart and then enter this discount code:  BCDY6B9W

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McGuffey's Primer Flashcards Helps and Hints: Not $13.75, Only $9.75 (a savings of 30%), through New Year's Day!

Add this book to your cart and then enter this discount code:  CYGY8DTM

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Ray's Arithmetics Flashcards & Helps

Mother teaching her children

It's just about impossible for us in this 21st Century to imagine how to use the schoolbooks left to us by those in the 19th Century.

I know that I was at a loss when I first began to use Ray’s Arithmetics.  

It was the same sort of feeling I get when one of my children hands me his i-Phone so that I can make a phone call.

Where do I start?

After a little bit of help, and quite a lot of fiddling around, I finally begin to understand. Soon, I discover that I'm making my way around the device; it's then that it actually becomes useful to me.

In order to understand how to use the Ray’s series to its fullest, I first perused them and then read through the instructions given in the teaching guide from Mott Media. I have always appreciated the insights of Ruth Beechick, and this provided enough encouragement to make a start, but there were still many questions in my mind.

For one thing, Beechick’s guide is mostly written for use in the “graded” classroom, in which the students are basically at the same level of understanding. I needed help to adapt these methods for tutoring each of my own children independently, in a way that simplified things for me and gave the children ample practice and attention at the same time.

I started out by working the problems with my children--of course this is a requirement of the Primer, but the Intellectual book was even more important for me to work partially through so that I could begin to see the genius in the very logical ideas employed there.

I had never been taught to think of numbers in such a refreshing way. It amazed me that any of us understand math at all. When I was in school it was all a jumbled mess; we were taught to just accept that numbers work the way they do, in the same way we are told to accept the distance of the stars or the orbits of the planets without any first-hand knowledge.

But numbers are not as remote as the stars and planets; they are part of our everyday lives. We should not feel as though they are distant relatives, but our closest friends, always at the ready whenever we need them.

Ray’s helps us to become more than acquaintances. As we are led through the various exercises, we begin to have personal communion with each operation. We are led, in a respectful manner, to see the relating of patterns which are repeated often, so that the enormity of the subject is minimized enough for us to grasp it.

Whereas modern methods expect us to take great leaps of faith, Ray’s gives us logical steps to make our climbing easier. This is why these books, and those like them, can help even the worst math-phobic to enjoy numbers.

I also spent a great amount of my “surfing” time on the Internet downloading a collection of different math texts, all published before our “modern” era. I was still a bit in the dark until I discovered The Manual of Methods.

Reading through The Manual of Methods, a guide for the instruction of all of the Eclectic Learning series, was my greatest discovery. The missing pieces of the puzzle were finally handed to me. About the same time, I discovered A Primary Arithmetic, by E.E. White. This was actually an answer to prayer, as it provided an already-published source for the exercises suggested in The Manual of Methods. I also began to understand what made various books by other publishers acceptable or unusable.

I've since begun to print pages from these books, copy them, and give them to my children for practice. Since I have these files saved on the hard drive of my computer, they are available at any time. If I print them in full-page size, it is even possible for the children to write the answers directly on the sheets.

The teachers of the past did not have desk-top publishing to aid them, but I do!

After reading through the suggestions for teaching primary math, I began to get a vision for some flashcards--a totally different sort than I have ever seen.

I created two decks. The first one is totally without numbers. I chose vintage images of easily-recognized objects to represent each set of numbers; a butterfly for the group of “1,” pigs for the group of “2,” and so on.
In this way a child could more easily associate each group of objects with the number represented. As the numbers progress, the flow of natural associations will easily lend themselves to the teaching of simple addition and subtraction if either of the groups is covered with the hand and then once again revealed.

The second deck is for the introduction of the symbols we use to represent the groups. I kept the same objects to represent each of the numbers.

I hope this is in keeping with the spirit of the authors of the Eclectic methods!

I also took the time to actually create the number charts (which I did not find in the Ray’s or the White’s books) that were supposed to be written on the board as documents that could be printed and copied. These could be used as many times as necessary until a child gained a full understanding of the number associations.

As further help, I also created some “fact wheels,” originally intended to help with the learning of multiplication, but with a blank set that could easily be adapted for addition, subtraction, and division. I was even able to create some handwriting sheets for numbers and number words.

Remember this is the result of weeks and even months of research I've done on the Internet learning how to use Ray's Arithmetics the way they were intended to be used--discovering new resource links along the way. I've included these very helpful links to the aids mentioned here and some links to other free book resources as well in this product offering in order to help you learn, with me, how to teach these methods to your young learners.

It's my hope that my research and helps will make it easier for someone else as they use these wonderful materials to teach their own children primary math!

PS- If you download the FREE Nitro PDF Reader you can actually type on the pages of your copy of the home-school planner before you print your copy at home.


Here is a peek of the Ray's Arithmetics Flashcards and Helps:

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Large Family Mothering's Home-School Planner

Last year my old “brain” (the moniker I used when I was referring to my prized home-school journal) was looking quite tattered and shabby. There was no direct correlation in the layout and design of its pages (it was a menagerie of forms I had found for free and subject matter I had created from scratch) so I asked the Lord for guidance and renewed inspiration to make my planner more practical and better organized.

Updated for the New Year!
 

With this very idea in mind, I began to research the Internet in order to see just what was out there--and to look for a new layout. I thought to myself, "Surely I'm not the only home schooling mother of many who is in need of a well-designed planner."

After a few intense hours of researching, I came away disappointed. If one planner was practical, it was also plain. If another was beautiful, it was too expensive. One of the planners most advertised boasted of being useful “for up to four children” --which made it inadequate for home-schooling mothers of many, especially this one, who now has nine children at home (we have graduated seven of our 15 children from our home-school as of the date of this publication).

What is more, none of the planners I found were appropriate for the way I think, the methods I like to use, or the manner in which my home actually operates.

What I required was something that had the following components and...

...it just had to be: 

• Inexpensive

• Expandable for use with families of many children

• Open-ended enough to use with a variety of applications 

• Beautiful--so as to appeal to feminine sensibilities--yet practical enough to encourage continued use

Diligent record-keeping

At the end of the day, I believed God wanted me to make my own, and, in so doing, make it available to others.

If you would like to view some sample pages of the new eBook, Large Family Mothering Home-School Planner. This home-school planner has 127 pages that can be printed for both half-sheet or full sized pages with detailed instructions.

If you would like to purchase this new planner click on the "Buy Now" button under the title page on my blog side bar. We hope that this new resource is a blessing to you in your home-school experience. If you have any questions please let me know.

Blessings,

Sherry

PS- If you download the FREE Nitro PDF Reader you can actually type on the pages of your personal copy of the home-school planner before you print it out at home.

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Announcing Homeschool Sanity--The book!

Recapture the best from the past! 
Now available in print from
Amazon.com

It's not easy being a homeschooling parent today. Educating one's children is an immense responsibility. There are so very many more "answers" than there are questions! It seems to me that everyone has a textbook, or a method, or a home-schooling philosophy. But how are we supposed to figure out just what path to take?

We want our children to have the very best and to grow up with the God of the Bible as their frame of reference; but the most effective way to accomplish this seems to be just out of our reach!

For more than 24 years I have been asking these same questions about education. During my own journey, I have read books and research by the most insightful and influential homeschooling leaders such as--Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore, Ruth Beechick, Charlotte Mason, John Taylor Gatto, and many more. They were true pioneers of the current homeschool movement and all were dedicated to the welfare of children and their families.

Although their messages were often diverse, I began to identify a common theme. In the last few years I have discovered the Eclectic Education Series, and all those threads began to reveal an incalculably rich tapestry of education resources, that for many were lost to the past.

My heart was burdened with the realization that there are many others just like me that are seeking a way to simplify their homeschooling into a coherent system which makes room for a child's personality and gifts, but at the same time gives him structure as well as discipline.

I have come to realize that the modern educational systems and methods are strangely unique in our human history, and they have failed us abysmally. Never before have we had so much knowledge at our fingertips, and yet, the literacy rates of our nation's school systems are at an all-time low. Despite the fact that we live in the information age--the divorce, homicide and suicide rates are at all-time highs. Our children face much greater challenges today than we could have possibly dreamed, nevertheless, many don't have the tools to handle these new demands and pressures.

It's time we threw out the progressive educational philosophies and ideologies which have lead us here. We need to turn back the clock and promote the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom. We must revive the unswerving Christian devotion that used to be lived out by our predecessors before the present narcissistic influence of humanism took over!

We can rediscover the tools of learning that helped our forefathers overcome the great obstacles of their time, that have only recently been replaced by "dumbed-down" work texts and worthless statistics which require no higher thinking on the part of young learners.

Homeschool Sanity: A Practical Guide to Redemptive Home Educating is my attempt to communicate a way back to common sense learning. It's a pathway back to the simplicity and joy of gaining the knowledge born out of the reverence for the God of the Bible. It's a journey filled with the grace and truth of Jesus Christ.

This book is easy to read. Even if one only has time for perusing, something useful and encouraging will be achieved (I've included a few pages in this article from my book for your consideration).

It's full of engaging graphics, helps, charts, templates and resources. Even the busiest mother will be able to breathe a sigh of relief as she reads just how easy it is to give her children an education that will be a blessing to them for the rest of their lives!

Here is a small portion of what I have included in Homeschool Sanity's 178 pages:

• An overview of the different methodologies of homeschooling
• A brief history of education in America
• Preschool
• Reading and literature
• Grammar
• Arithmetic 
• History
• Science

No fancy psycho-anything here. I've rediscovered precisely why things used to work, and why they are so very broken today. I hope to lead the way into a fresh attempt to bring back the best of the past in order to prepare our children for the best future possible.

In essence, I've tried to make learning the "old" ways as convenient as possible for our modern lifestyles.

This is why you will find many nifty charts and templates ready for your use. You will discover a catalog of successful methodologies for your own re-education. If you are like me, you will not feel tired and anxious after you read my book; you will be refreshed and filled with real hope!

NEW! Get it in print on Amazon! 

Many thanks to Dollar Homeschool for the wonderful resources offered in the form of the Eclectic Education Series. This book would not have been possible were it not for the opportunity I had to write the guides for each of the wonderful Eclectic collections.

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McGuffey's Primer Flashcards, Helps & Hints 

 

A Practical Guide to Understanding the 19th Century Mind

 

Author, Sherry K. Hayes

Editor, David M. Hayes

No program can give us a 100% guarantee that our children will learn to read no matter what they advertise, and none of us can precisely explain or predict how each child will react or what he or she will need in order to learn to read for themselves.

I've utilized just about every kind of method and approach ever dreamed of, and all with varying degrees of success. Children are each individual persons and for that reason quite unique.

Since I now only have three out of my 15 children remaining that I will need to teach to read (one of these is almost reading independently), I have been turning my attention to ways I can pass along what I have learned over these 25 years to my adult children so that they will have an easier time of it when they go to teach their own children. That is why I have been led to create reading guides to aid them in their homeschooling journey, and, in turn, I felt it would be nice to offer some of these materials to my dear readers.

After many weeks of careful consideration and work, I have finally created a collection of McGuffey flashcards, advice, and other helps to assist in the instruction of beginning reading and writing.

This has truly been a labor of love, as I set out to create an heirloom for my family by using original artwork, drawn mostly by myself, but also with several contributions from my dear son, Ryan (16). I had so much enjoyment with this project, sitting with clipboard and pen, consulting with my children as I sketched-I haven't made the time for such an artistic endeavor for many years!

I tried to put myself in the place of someone who was starting completely from scratch, and this was my focus. I also tried to make things as user-friendly and simple to reproduce as possible, especially since I know that many mothers have a number of small children to care for as well as home-school.

I also determined to keep in mind those things I have gleaned from many of the courageous predecessors who have mentored and influenced me, and so you will find that, while I have included the technical, I have also encouraged the joy of the process, considering the child not only as a student, but also a person, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Here is a list of the things that I have included in this collection:

An introduction to McGuffey's works and how to use them.

A portion from "The Manual of Methods" which gives an overview of different teaching styles, etc. (intended for use with the McGuffey's).

Booklet templates (instead of workbooks) to teach basic writing and comprehension skills.

Tips pages using little snippets of information which can be read easily and quickly for busy mothers.

Bookmarks with suggestions for games that can be played with the different lessons.

Phonics flashcards (with original artwork) of the basic 26 letter sounds, plus the long vowel sounds and "ch," "sh," and "th."

A short vowels and syllable practice charts (respectively).

Penmanship practice sheets.

12 copy work sheets to get started on creating your own.

Flashcards for every lesson (except for the review lessons) in the primer!

McGuffey's Primer Flashcards, Helps & Hints 

 

Publication Date: Aug 17 2012

ISBN/EAN13: 1479148458 / 9781479148455

Page Count: 104

Binding Type: US Trade Paper

Trim Size: 8.5" x 11"

Language: English

Color: Black and White

Related Categories: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Reading

 

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