Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.
This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students. To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!
I just sent this short message from my cell phone to my blog, and it posted!
"Testing my text to blogger posting."
There have been a few times when I have had time-sensitive prayer requests or updates that I would have liked to post my blog quickly. With my cell phone and text messaging, I can now do that.
A few years ago, I attempted to live blog from a convention, but my laptop was always tied up with ringing up customer sales so that I could not use it to post updates to my blog. Now I can LIVE BLOG from my cell phone. How cool is that?
I also learned tonight how to Twitter from my cell phone, and it will post my tweets to my sidebar on my blog and on my Facebook page. What a fun night I have had!
I have also started a new blog for answering all of the homeschool questions that I receive. You can check that out at Your Questions Answered About Homeschooling. It has only taken me a couple of years to start putting this particular blog together.
So check me out on the web! I am in a lot of different places!
Are you thinking about homeschooling your child(ren)? When our oldest child was old enough to start school, we did what everyone else we knew did, we sent her to public school. After 4 years, that did not seem to be working for her or our second child, and thus, our homeschool experience began. That was in the year 2000. Now, we are in 2009, and we are weeks away from graduating our oldest child from our homeschool.
I did a lot of reading over the years about homeschooling and the various methods of homeschooling. And I found a "fit" for our family. We love being together and being active. So we do a lot of projects together. It amazes me what our youngest children, who are 5 and 2, have picked up from their older siblings. I think it is referred to as "trickle down education." It was how the younger children learned in the one-room schoolhouse, and it is how my children learn today.
How do you start homeschooling? First, research the homeschool laws in your state or province. Home School Legal Defense has made it easy for you to find out homeschool laws in all 50 states of the United States. It is legal to homeschool in all 50 states. But each one has its own laws governing homeschooling.
Next, you need to figure out your family's mission statement and goals for education. This is essential in determining what curriculum to use in your homeschool. I would also recommend reading a book on the various methods of homeschooling. There is a book called, Homeschooling Methods. I sell it on my website, and it is a good synopsis of the various ways you can educate your children at home.
You have the rest of the spring and summer to do all of this, so start reading and researching! You care also welcome to leave your questions in the comments section of this post!
A few weeks ago we went on a field trip to a large science center. I forgot my camera, but my daughter remembered to take hers. So I have a few pictures to share from that day.
Water table fun!
Bungee time!
Contortionist
You have to cooperate to play with this.
I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I am trying to blog more often.
Just a quick reminder that I am the host for next week's Carnival of Homeschooling. If you are unfamiliar with it, you can go to the blog where it all started at www.whyhomeschool.blogspot.com. Entries related to homeschooling are due to me by 9:00 pm EST on Monday! You can go to this form to enter you blog articles:
I have spent a lot of time today working on my blog template. The main reason for the tweeking of the design was to add information on my sidebar for three ebooks that I recently completed.
How do I keep my enthusiasm going throughout the year?
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Recently, I was asked how I kept my enthusiam going throughout the year. There are several techniques that I utilize to keep me enthusiastic about teaching my children throughout the year.
First, I schedule breaks in my school calendar. The fastest way for me to burn out and lose my enthusiasm is to overschedule our school work. We will typically do school for 6 to 9 weeks and take a week-long break. I use my curriculum as a guide for choosing when to take a break. And we all come back to our books refreshed once we have a break. This does mean that we might school on a year-round schedule, but it certainly helps keep me from getting burned out.
Secondly, I use a curriculum that makes learning fun. I love using KONOS and the unit study approach to learning. I love learning along side of my children.
Thirdly, I plan field trips to give us a change of pace from hitting the books. Admittedly, we are not able to do a lot of field trips due to budget constraints and the limited amount of time I have for field trips. But, a well-placed field trip is a welcome change to our day-to-day schedule.
Fourthly, I try to get out of the house for a mom's night out or other similar event. I need to get out and recharge my batteries. And a homeschool mom's night out is a great way to relieve some stress. If it does not relieve your stress, don't go! I found that I could get caught up in doing too many jobs for the mom's night out that I was burned out. So be careful of that!
How do you keep your enthusiasm going throughout the year?If you have any questions or comments, I welcome them at orders@dhss.com.
Don't have the money for a field trip to Hawaii.....
Friday, September 19, 2008
If you don't have the money to travel to Hawaii or Chile, I have a great new product for you! A Christian publisher has created a series of DVD's called, "The Nature of God in Nature." His first two installments in the series contain footage from two beautiful places in the world. The first DVD that I watched was the one on Hawaii. And the second one was on the Lake District in Chile. These are two places that I would like to visit some day in person, but, for now, I enjoyed his travelogues.
I have an introductory special for the DVD's. You can purchase them for $12.95. That is $2.00 off the regular retail price. You can also watch a sample video on his website at http://www.onemustardseed.com/.
Have a blessed day!
EDITING to add a link to the Trailer of "The Lake District"
This week's Works forMe Wednesday comes from my weekly newsletter.........
Can we talk about handwriting? I have seen numerous customers in my store lately who have questions about handwriting for their children.
A popular homeschool curriculum introduces cursive handwriting in K4. That is preschool, folks!
My personal thought is that a child needs time to develop their manuscript handwiting before he/she moves on to cursive. Let me explain why.
As an adult in a computer-age, I do not use my cursive handwriting like my mother or grandparents. Our children are not going to use cursive handwriting like their grandparents either.
Of course, they need to learn cursive, and they need to have a legible way to communicate. But, what if they never fully master manuscript?
What do you do when you fill out a paper at the doctor's office or bank? When you fill out a job application, do you print or write in cursive? (Well, some people use computers to apply for a job.)
Cursive is faster to do, of course. But most "official" forms ask you to please print neatly. Our children need to learn how to master the printed word, and then they can move on to cursive handwriting.
I recommend one handwriting program above all others. And it is actually a product line that I do not make but pennies on the dollar. But I believe in it. I was introduced to Handwriting Without Tears by our occupational therapist back in 2000. And it has been the program for my children ever since. It works, and it works well. I have even had older children use the Can-Do Print and Can-Do Cursive books even without using the previous books. They are designed to fine tune handwriting in children in grade 5 and up.
That's my two cent's worth on the whole handwriting scope and sequence.
Any thoughts?
If you have any questions or comments, I welcome them at orders@dhss.com.
We are going to tackle this topic this fall. I hope to get us started next week, as a matter of fact. We studied it 4 years ago, but my boys were younger then, so it is time for a review. It also works as part of a high school student's government and civics credit.
You are probably aware that I use the unit study KONOS to tie my school day together. The election unit is no different. I am going to be using the book, "Electing America's Leaders." And this year I am able to offer this book on my website. (I love being able to sell products that I believe in!) And I am going to go a step further and sign up for the online tutorial at www.homeschoolmentor.com. For $30, Jessica Hulcywill give me the training and background I need to do a bang up job this year! I am a lillte short on time to research and dig deep, so why don't I pay Jessica to tell me what I need to know! So for a paltry $45.00, I will be able to teach my children about the electoral process. Sounds like a GREAT deal to me!
I am also going to use a resource I found from Time Magazine for Kids to have a brief biography and picture of each of our Presidents. It's aptly named, Presidents of the United States. Another cool resource is a Fandex of the United States Presidents. I got one at Barnes and Noble during the last election, so I am going to use it as well.
How many times have you heard that said? We are literally having a very rainy day in NC. And I am so busy with my business that I feel like God is just raining His blessings down on me.
And there are always those little "things" that happen all at one time. For me, I was expecting an order to come in today, so I could fill some orders. Somehow my order ended up in another state. So, that means I will be playing catch up when those books arrive!
And I am also having good things happen and not-so-good things, too. And it is just a part of my life right now.
For now, I am praising God for the rain showers and showers of blessings. How about you?
Would you like to know how well I know that little tidbit about the calendar? I have been quite busy sending materials out to homeschool families across the country and across the world. The past two weeks have been a blur for me.
And if you read my last post from past week, you know that I was not happy about an editorial in a local newspaper. That led to a letter to the editor from me, and that led to some backlash online.
Then, I got another dose of reality from family over the week-end. It seems that some of our family has not accepted our decision to homeschool. It is been 8 years since we started homeschooling. It breaks my heart that they view us in such a negative way. But God keeps showing me through this adversity that He is in control, and I am praying by name for those who seek to persecute me and my family.
Something positive did come from my letter to the editor. Homeschool Buzz picked up on it, and they linked to it from their homepage. I am quite in awe of that.
The rest of my week will be busy as I work hard on sending out orders. I want everyone to have their books as soon as possible.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, how do I start this post? For starters, I am livid that this was printed by my local newspaper.
I was a bit behind last week, so I did not read our daily, local newspaper until Sunday. I went through the whole week's worth of articles, and I saw a great article about our local homeschool conference that was held this last Saturday. (http://www.lovetolearnconference.com/)
However, in another edition of the newspaper, there was a terrible guest column that originated from McDowell County (Marion). I have a link for it online, and I think you all might want to comment and blog about it.
I sent a letter to the regular columnist and the editor of the newspaper. I was so unhappy to read such a negative piece. And the only comment online was from the regular columnist who liked the article. UGH!! Of course, I left a comment this evening.
Tomorrow is the Love to Learn Conference in Hickory, NC. If you happen to be in the area, stop by and see what all the great speakers are speaking about. LOL I am speaking about the various methods of homeschooling and large family homeschooling. Imagine that! This is a very laid back conference, so if you didn't pre-register, don't worry about it! You can register at the door.
I thought I would share with you some great websites that can help you save money in your homeschool journey. These websites enable me to add some different things to my homeschool throughout the year without breaking the budget. A few of these site have paid features. I will give you my opinion with each.I hope this helps you on your homeschool journey!
The first website that I have really found useful for planning is Homeschool Tracker. You can find it at www.homeschooltracker.com/. This is a software planning package that has a free version and paid version. I have used the free version, but I would like to upgrade to the paid version when we have the funds. The main difference for me is that the paid version allows you to share assignments between students. I would suggest dowloading the free version and using it for a while. Then you can decide if the paid version is something that would be a bigger benefit. For me, I look for time-savers.
Next, is the website that was formerly Homeschool eStore. It is now called CurrClick. Their website can be found at http://www.currclick.com/. They offer a weekly freebie. You need to sign up for their newsletter, and each week, they will send you the information about the weekly freebie. I have personally used this service a lot.
Next, I love, love, love the Homeschool Freebie of the Day. This website is run by a publisher friend of mine, and it is just fantastic. The link to the website is found at FREEBIE of the Day. (The link was too long for my newsletter.)
Next, is Dover Publications. They have a weekly newsletter and freebie. Just sign up for the newsletter, and you will get the information. Their website is http://store.doverpublications.com/.
The next website is a hybrid. You can choose between a free or paid option. I personally have the paid option this year, because I have found a lot of worksheets for our unit studies on it. It's found at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html.
And, finally, for those of you who like to read old books. You will love http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page. You will go back to this website over and over again.
Since I posted earlier this week about our choices in curriculum, I thought you might like to know how it played out for us. Our typical school week is Monday through Thursday. We use Friday as our appointment or errand day, and it gives us some flexibility if we have something come up earlier in the week.
We had a very successful school week, in my opinion. We completed everything I had planned as far as book work. And we also figured out what class at the community college would work in our daughter's schedule. Getting things set up for dual enrollment for her turned out to be a little time-consuming. But I think we got all of our paperwork taken care of.
Are you in the process of getting ready to start back to school for the year? I have a lot of variables to consider when I am picking out our curriculum. I have 5 children who are school age this year, the youngest of whom is kindergarten age and the oldest is a senior in high school. I also have 5 boys, so I need something that will keep wiggly boys engaged in their work. I also do not have all day long to do school with my children, since I spend my afternoons at my bookstore.
I thought you might like a peek into what I have picked out for our school year. I do not have a particular Bible program that we use. We feel it is best for our family to just read the Bible together and discuss it, so you will notice that I do not have any Bible curriculum items listed.
I'll start with the kindergartener and work my way up. He is actually on the young side, since he will not be 5 until the end of this month. He is using Math-U-See Primer, because he wanted a math book to work in. He is also using Explode the Code Onlineand Teach Your Child to Read in 100 EZ Lessons for phonics. And he is finishing up Handwriting Without Tears Get Set for School. I am also reading to him daily from Five in a Rowselections or other classic books.
Our 12th grader is doing things a bit differently this year. We are currently in the process of setting up dual enrollment with a community college. So her class schedule at home is going to be lighter this year. She is going to be working on History of the World by KONOS, which covers history, language arts, art, and Bible. She is also using Apologia's Chemistrybook. If we are able to get her in the classes she wants at the community college, that will be all that she takes at home. She is in good shape on her credits for high school. I worked on her transcript this week, and it looks very well-rounded.
Let's talk a bit about foreign language. I have a special interest in foreign language. I have a parent and step-parent who live outside of the US. So it behooves me to teach my children some words in their language.
I have tried many foreign language programs, and one that my boys enjoyed with me was thePower-Glide program. It has been revised, and I really like the new version that is now available. With the new version, they also redid the pricing structure, and I think it is a better value now than it was a few years ago.
I am offering the one-year programs for $109.95. This is $20.00 off the retail price, and the two-year programs are $199.95. This is $30.00 off the retail price. You can see the full offerings of Power-Glide products on my website.
In honor of my 3rd anniversary, I am holding a microscope giveaway. You have a choice between 3 of my most popular microscopes: the MSK-01, the MFL-06, and the SMD-04. The only thing you need to do is copy the following paragraph and post it on your blog or send an email to some of your friends. Then leave a comment on this post or the original post about the contest with a link to your blog or a note that you sent out an email. Here's the paragraph:
There are only a few people entered as of Friday, July 18. It would be a lot more fun with some more entrants!
I will draw a winner's name on July 23, 2008. Thank you!
As of July 23, 2008, I will take no more comments for entering the contest. I am trying to turn off the comment feature, but I am not finding it easy in Blogger. Any tips?
You have until midnight to place your order! You will receive 20% off the retail price, plus FREE SHIPPING!!! You can see the product listing at Discount Home School Supplies (www.dhss.com). But you have to email me at orders@dhss.com for the discount code!!!!!!!!!!
And, please go down a few entries on this blogand enter my microscope giveaway!!! I only have one entrant right now.
In celebration of my 3rd year anniversary with Discount Home School Supplies, I am holding an Anniversary Sale and giving away a microscope! Isn't that exciting????
You can find my anniversary sale by clicking on the link. I have worked most of the day on the sale page, and I have things all nice and tidy, I think. (smile)
The best incentive I thought of to give you is free shipping on any order over $25.00 for one week only! This is a pretty big deal for me to offer, since I just had to increase my shipping rates. So take advantage of my generosity this week!!!
There are also some free digital products that will be available to anyone who makes a purchase during the sale. I will email you a link to the download page within 24 hours of your order being processed.You can see the SALE PAGE HERE.
How can you enter the contest to win a microscope? Well, it's pretty easy! You just copy the following paragraph with active links and paste it on your blog or send it to your email groups or friends. Then come back here and leave a comment. You can link to your blog, or if you sent emails, you can just ask me to enter you in the contest. Be sure to fill in the block that asks for your email address. I will need a way to contact you!
One winner will be chosen at random sometime on July 23, 2008. This will give me time to complete order processing from my sale. I will announce the winner here on my blog sometime on July 23, 2008, Lord willing!
Update - July 23, 2008 - No more new comments will be accepted for the contest! Thank you!
Does the thought of homeschooling your child/ren through high school strike fear into your heart? Do you have a child that does not fit the "high achiever" profile, or one who would rather do anything but school work? Karen Davis will address these issues at the Second Annual Love to Learn Conference* in August, with the topic "A Relaxed Approach to High School at Home." Join us to hear Karen speak and explore a way to approach high school that puts you and your teen/s on the same team, on August 16, 2008, at Catawba Valley Community College, in Hickory.
Karen Davis has one homeschooled graduate, and three more children at home, ages 17, 11and 7. If you would like to hear Karen and other wonderful speakers, visit http://www.LoveToLearnConference.com* for information on how to register for the second annual Love to Learn Conference*!*
The Love to Learn Conference was created to fill the need for up to date, accurate, unbiased, information concerning issues that affect the climate of homeschooling in North Carolina. We want to provide a variety of speakers and sessions on a wide array of homeschooling topics. There will be something for everyone from the beginning homeschool family to those more experienced. We are pleased to create an inviting environment for the sharing of homeschool information. We are inclusive, and open to all homeschoolers. We hope you come to enjoy and share this homeschool journey. Please join our grass roots effort to get the word out by sharing this post with other homeschool lists!
I have had trouble posting to my blog through Blogger. I am not sure where the problem is, so I thought I would try another new post and see what happens.
I am launching big news tonight in conjunction with my aniversary sale for Discount Home School Supplies. You will definitely want to check back!
I was recently asked about organizing homeschool stuff. I don't have pictures right now, but I can tell you a bit about how I organize our homeschool supplies.
In the kitchen, I have an armoir. It holds everyone's current books in the top. And I am able to store craft supplies, paper, coloring books, stickers, etc. in the drawers below. It is so handy to have our books right beside the table, and it looks nice, too. You can see it in the background in the picture above. (Sorry about the grainy quality of the picture.)
I have a bookshelf in my living room that holds our Five in a Row books, KONOS manuals, dictionaries, and other reference books. It's handy to have the unit study books in the living room. I have a separate bookshelf with the encyclopedias and Bible dictionaries and commentaries.
Upstairs, I have three bookshelves in the hallway. I keep one bookshelf full of classic fiction books, such as the Boxcar children and Little House books. The other two bookshelves hold books I have collected for various unit studies that we have completed and completed curriculum books that I am not ready to get rid of.
In my bedroom, I have a craft closet that I keep all of our messy craft items put far, far away from the little ones. I also keep some science supplies in there that are hazardous to the little ones.
That pretty much covers how I organize. Please ask and questions or post comments. We are in the midst of redoing flooring in two rooms this week, and I can't take good pictures right now.
In Conjunction with Biltmore's Field to Table Festival Culinary Arts Biltmore's 6th Annual Fall Homeschool Festival Celebrate harvest, Autumn and all the traditions of the season. Learn about Biltmore's culinary heritage and explore the connection between the farmer and the kitchen. This Year's Festival will include a self-guided visit in the House, Conservatory and Winery. Homeschool Activities will take place at River Bend Farm and include:
Touring the Kitchen Garden
Pizza Garden
Herbs
Set a table About Bees
Napkin Folding
Cooking Demonstrations and more!
Date: September 24, 25 & 26, 2008 Cost: $20.00 per person 5 years old and up Dining Options: Picnic, Box Lunches, 3 Restaurants
Accommodation Packages Include:
Room
Tickets
Breakfast Some starting as low as $168 for family of 4 Payment: Due at time of reservation
Ticket includes all Homeschool activities at River Bend Farm as well as a self-guided visit in Biltmore House, Gardens, Conservatory and Winery. Contact Group Sales for additional information and reservations: Phone: 866-851-4661 Fax: 828-225-6219 groupsales@biltmore.com
A Review of Experiencing Bible Science by Louise Barrett Derr
Saturday, June 14, 2008
In March, I had the opportunity to meet Louise Barrett Derr. She wrote an activity book for children called, Experiencing Bible Science. Since I have 5 active boys who love science, I was excited to see how her book incorporated simple science experiments with the Bible. Each experiment uses items you would commonly find around the home, and each one is made for the student to do on his or her own, except for the last experiment. Of course, you would make the decision yourself whether to let your student complete the experiments autonomously or not.
I sell her book on my website and in my store for $13.99. The regular retail price is $16.95. This book would be a great addition to your science program for elementary-aged children or as a summer resource.
A Review of The Stout-Hearted Seven Orphaned on the Oregon Trail by Neta Lohnes Frazier
Friday, May 30, 2008
Sterling Point Books has repreinted many favorite, classic books. I wanted to read The Stout-Hearted Seven Orphaned on the Oregon Trail, because I remembered an old movie from my childhood called Seven Alone. This book beats what I remembered about the movie. It is also based on the actual writings of primary sources. The facts are presented from writings by two of the Sager children, as well as from letters from Marcus and Narcissa Whitman.
This story captured me so quickly that I ended up reading the entire book in one evening. I enjoyed it so much. I have not read it aloud to my children as yet, because I am not sure if I can read it without crying during some parts of the book.
I also want to point out what a fine job the publisher has done with this book. The paper that it is printed on is of the best quality. It is not newsprint paper. The font the publisher chose is also easy to read for size and clarity. I could have not been more pleased with the quality of this book, especially for the price.
Currently, there are 25 titles available from this pubsliher. Expect more! They are doing a wonderful job bring back some classic books and classic Landmark books.
You can purchase this book from my website or from many online retailers.
A Review of Sentinel: City of Discovery by Landel Bilbrey
As a mother of five sons, I am always looking for good fiction books for my boys to read. When I was offered the opportunity to read Sentinel: City of Discovery, I was excited to read it myself. This book is an allegory, and it shows what happens to two young men who are twins. One twin makes good decisions in his an dinto adulthood, and one twin does not make good decisions in his youth and into his adulthood. And the book ends with an epilogue that tells where each man ends up as an adult. There are few books that are good, quality literature for young men, and this is one that I would highly recommend. It has plenty of action to capture their attention, and it causes the reader to use his or her imagination in seeing this story untold in his or her mind. I hope Mr. Bilbrey has some more stories to tell. I am sure that my boys would enjoy them as much as this one.
A Review of A Biblical Home Education by Dr. Ruth Beechick
I have had the privilege of reading Dr. Ruth Beechick's newest book, A Biblical Home Education, and as a seasoned homeschool mom, I learned so much from her years of wisdom. She does not recommend a big, fancy curriculum to teach your children. She starts out by recommending that you use the Bible as your main curriculum. And later in the book she gives a few specific book suggestions. But her first goal is to let you know that it is okay to not depend on a curriculum to prepare your children for his or her future. She suggests that you allow your child to grow in the Lord, and your first responsibility is to train your child in the ways of the Lord.
I wish I would have had this book several years ago. It is so easy to hear what great things your friends are doing with their children, and then beat yourself up for not doing "the perfect" curriculum like your friend. All familes are different, and all children within a family are different. I have six children, and I see this in action every single day.
This book has practical ideas and suggestions for you to utilize as they suit your family. One of my favorite resources is found at the back of the book. She has included an Appendix with information on Cross-Dominance. If you have a child that easily confuses "b's" and "d's", you know that I am talking about. She has included some exercises to help your child with cross-dominance issues. I also enjoyed her chapter on nutrition for children with behavioral issues.
If you are looking for a good book to rechagre your homeschool this summer, I highly recommend A Biblical Home Education.
You can purchase it from my website for only $12.99 or from other sources of homeschool materials. If you like my blog and reviews, I would appreciate your support of my business, too. God has enabled me to minister to many homeschool families through my business, and I would like to continue blessing others as God has blessed me.
A Review of Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day by Jeannie Fulbright
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Jeannie Fulbright has once again written a book that my children love. She uses a conversational method to teach science in a fun and engaging way. I also love the pronunciation guides for the scientific terminology in this book. And the pictures throughout the book are top-quality pictures. I am thankful to have creation-based science books to use with my children. Thank you!
You can purchase, Exploring Creation Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day by Jeannie Fulbright HERE.
Are you thinking about starting a homeschool co-op? Are you involved a homeschool co-op that needs some re-structuring? Carol Topp, who is also a CPA, has written a how-to guide on how to start, run, and not burn out. As a homeschool group leader for many years, I would have benefitted from this book when our group went through a major reorganization. Growing pains are never fun, but our growing pains would have been easier with this resource. This books contains space for you to answer questions, and it gives you outlines of questions to ask when structuring your co-op. This book contains 11 chapters, and one chapter that ALL homeschool co-ops should read is the one about 501(c)(3) Tax-exempt Organizations. There is a handy checklist and list of resources. I highly recommend this book for any homeschool leader or member.
