A Great Help

    My birthday present from my mother-in-law this year I LOVE!  It was a subscription to Homeschooling Today magazine.  I've been finding time to sneak off to the local library lately to read it and it was so nice when it showed up in my mailbox!

    I like this magazine for many reasons.  First it is a "Journal of Home Discipleship" and it talks about so much more than homeschooling.  It talks about relationships and that's what we are all about.  It also has a calendar every month that gives you suggestions on how to use things in the magazine and take advantage of the season.  For example, at Christmas it gave several books to read and a few activities to do as a family.  It also has an artist every issue with samples of their famous works.  I decided to remove this part from the magazine and put it in plastic page protectors and put those in a three ring binder.  It will become our artist/picture study notebook.  I plan on putting it out on the table while we are doing group work.  Sometimes my oldest finishes fast or the youngest isn't required to do what we are doing for a minute and I plan on taking advantage of those moments.  They can quietly look through the notebook as they wait.  At other times we'll sit together and look and talk through some of the questions that pop up or are provided.

    It also features articles from R.C. Sproul Jr. who wrote When You Rise Up.  I just read this over the holiday and really enjoyed it.  I'm not sure I agree with everything he shares but it really gets you thinking about your choices and beliefs on homeschooling.  In the last issue of the magazine his wife wrote a great article on "Quiet Time".  You know the thing that hangs over every Christian woman that we "should do" everyday.  Her article was freeing along with really making me stop and think.  Nowhere is a "Quiet Time" commanded in the Bible.  NOT that reading your Bible everyday is bad or should not be done, but the pressure of how to do it "right" has made the Bible more of a stumbling block than a refuge for many women.

    I will say it's hard to get hold of anyone from the magazine if you have trouble or questions.  I wanted to place their button on my blog for people and I never heard back.  Also my first issue was slow in coming and when I went to inquire as to when I should expect it, again no response.  That being said, it came and I loved it!  So I'm truly getting nothing out of this if you check it out but I think you will get a lot out of it if you do!  There are several other homeschooling magazines but this is my favorite.

Encouraging, inspiring and not too pricey...perfect in my book!