Homeschool Happenings

My name is Belinda Guerette, and I am a homeschool mom in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I love to search for great material on the internet to supplement our studies and our homeschool experience in general. I look forward to sharing some of my treasures with you!

As for curriculum, I use anything and everything that fits my children's needs. At the moment, that includes:

The Phonics Game for my hands-on reader
Spelling Power
Easy Grammer
Daily Grams
Italic Handwriting
Handwriting Without Tears -for my slower writer
Math Rabbit games on the computer
How Science Works,
How Your Body Works,
How the Earth Works, and
How Nature Works -all by Reader's Digest
Dear America book series
American Girl book series
Beautiful Feet History
and the
New King James Bible -find one with large print that children can read!

I hope that my favorite link choices cover all ages, but if you need more for the older ones, be sure to check out Cafi Cohen's Homeschooling Teens-College page.

As for my style, I love Charlotte Mason's ideas. I love to read the Charlotte Mason newsletters at the Charlotte-Mason-Monthly Yahoo group, and I love the recommended books at Ambleside Online

I believe that our children have each been given a special purpose by God, and it is our job as parents to help them find that purpose and do their best to fulfill their place in this world. While we're figuring out what that purpose is, we're learning together constantly, the basic academics that they will need to continue learning throughout their life, as well as good character and appreciation of the wonderful world that we live in. Most of our learning is done through reading; we read about everything from how tornadoes work to how precious friendships are. My daughter has a fondness for history, so I spend much of my time looking for stories about history. My son has an appreciation for science, and since all I can remember from science in school is reading the chapters and answering the questions afterwards, I am learning a tremendous amount trying to find interesting ways for us to learn about science. I love homeschooling, and although we have our rough times just as anyone does who is trying something different, I know that this is right for us, and that we will all come out better for adding homeschooling to our lives.

As for my book list, I highly recommend Classical Christian Education Support's 1000 Good Books (1st-12th grades). Read their criteria, and see if it agrees with what you want for your child.