Sunday, June 21, 2009

Never the Bride

I love stories. When I learned to read, I found a way to visit far off places, learn about times past and expand my horizons. As a child I would re-read favorite books, to reconnect with those friends. As an adult I have found that there are too many books waiting to be read, and too many friends to invite into my life.
When my youngest learned to read this year it warmed my heart when she said, "Now I understand why you like to read so much, Mama."

What would it be like to let God write your story? Would you be willing to give your favorite pen to Him to allow Him to do so? Jessie Stone is a romantic. She was put in the challenging position of raising her younger sister after the death of their parents. She is self-sufficient (and can even change her own tires), but doesn't want to be. She wants someone to love her unconditionally and to take care of her. She has been a bridesmaid eleven times, and longs to be the bride. In her journals she has written over a thousand romantic proposals of marriage.
Into her life comes Someone who loves her unconditionally; Someone who is absolutely crazy about her. But no one else can see Him, making her wonder if she is crazy. God offers to write her love story, if she will only turn over her favorite pen to Him and allow Him to work in her life. Jessie is reluctant to do this, but as she spends time with God, she comes to trust Him more. She finally realizes that He wants only the best for her, and is the only one who will never fail her.

I received a copy of Never the Bride by Cheryl McKay and Rene Gutteridge a few days ago, just before leaving for a home school convention where I was an exhibitor. What a joy to be able to finish the latest book by these two talented ladies this afternoon.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Catalog Sweepstakes

Sponsor:
Sonlight Curriculum Ltd.
8042 S. Grant Way, Littleton, CO. 81022
main@sonlight.com
303.730.6292

Official Rules:

* NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER.
* Must be 18 or older to enter.
* Limit of 1 entry per household.
* Contest for US residents only (AK and HI are included)
* Only new catalog requesters will be entered in the contest. Customers with any order history or individuals whom our records indicate have requested a catalog in the past are not eligible for the contest and will not be entered upon ordering a catalog during the applicable timeframe.
* Two random drawings will take place and a total of 2 winners will be selected.
* The first drawing will occur on June 20, 2009 for entries made from April 1, 2009 through May 31, 2009.
* The second drawing will occur on September 30, 2009 for entries made from June 1, 2009 through August 31, 2009. You will be contacted within 15 days if you are selected as a winner.
* The estimated odds of winning are one in ten-thousand (1:10,000).
* Each winner will receive a Sonlight Newcomer Package or equivalent (for upper levels 6 and above) for 1 child with a retail value between $261.90 and $1028.94.
* Each winner will also receive all Club Benefits for one year so that they can truly experience being a Sonlighter. The Club Benefits include, but are not limited to, Free Membership on the Sonlighter Club Forums, Free Subscription to the "Beam of Sonlight" Newsletter, 10% Discount on all future orders for a year, and an Ancient Roman "Widow's Mite" Coin Pendant.
* Sonlight will not share a participant's personal information, including address and phone number, with any third party.
* Employees and outside contractors, along with their immediate families (parents, brothers, sisters and children), of the Sponsor, Sonlight Curriculum Ltd. are not eligible to win.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The cost of education

People often tell me that homeschooling is too expensive. I never laugh when they say that, but I think it is funny. This year my son is attending a private Christian school. His tuition was over $5000. That did not include the nearly $400 we spent on dress code clothing. Neither did it include back pack, gym bag, football cleats, knee braces, wrist braces, class ring, letter jacket (he didn't have to have a class ring or letter jacket, but it was something we wanted afford for him if they were important to him), school portraits (which cost more than WalMart!) and class trip (that in itself was nearly $1000).

I'm not complaining about my son's education expenses this year. Letting him go to school was the right choice for this child at this time. Letting him play football was something that was important to him. Choosing to buy him a class ring and letter jacket was optional (as was the class trip). We did choose to go above and beyond the necessities so he could have the best experience possible.

But then I think about what we have spent on our Sonlight cores. All of our cores (except preschool) have been used at least 2 times already, most will be used three or four times by students in this family. A literature rich education is a gift to be cherished and an opportunity to build a great library. Sure, there are some consumable costs that won't be spread between multiple children. Math workbooks and handwriting books are written in, science supplies are used, but most of our Sonlight costs are divided, making them very reasonable.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Curriculum Fairs

South Carolina Home Education Association Convention (Sumter, SC) June 19 & 20.
SCHEA http://www.schomeeducatorsassociatio...convention.php

Smoky Mountain Home Education Association Family Resource (Knoxville, TN) Fair June 26 & 27.

SMHEA http://smhea.org/

Southeast Homeschool Expo (Atlanta, GA) July 31 & August 1.

SEHSExpo http://www.georgiahomeschool.com/

Welcome!

My interest in home education began even before I was married. I was teaching in a "one room school house" (just like Christy!) in the early 1980s. I told my husband-to-be that if I could teach 8 - 12 kids from different families with different backgrounds, surely I could teach our own. However, we did not actually start homeschooling until 1993 when our oldest was in fourth grade and our older son in first. Our younger son was a year old and wanted to be in the middle of everything (literally!) He would sit in the middle of the dining room table while his older sister and brother worked on school things with me.

We had been schooling at home for a couple of years, and I was nearing burn out. I remember the day my husband came home from work and asked how things had gone. I said, "The kids are hating this, I am hating this, and I'm ready to send them all to school, and right now boarding school is looking good. BUT, take a look at this catalog and let me know what you think. I'd really like to try this." I handed him the Sonlight catalog which I had been saving and pouring over for more than a year. He took a look at it, said, "Let's try it!" and the rest is history. We have been using Sonlight Curriculum for 13 years now.

We moved from West Virginia to Tennessee in 1997, and a year later I became a Sonlight Curriculum Consultant.

I love sharing with others the joy of literature based learning. If you have questions, feel free to email me at akrug@sonlight.com If you are interested in joining my private forum, please request an invitation.

Please visit my personal blog, Book an Education.