“Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” – Charlotte Mason
The 2018/19 school year has been our first foray into the world of homeschooling. Not that its an unfamiliar world- Ben and I were both homeschooled from K-12, and I think we’ve always assumed that homeschooling was a foregone conclusion that would come naturally to us. The older Samuel got and the closer we came to the reality of actually “schooling” I was surprised at how uncertain I felt. Not only was I homeschooled my entire life, but I took an education class in college for the sheer fun of it. I’ve always dreamt about teaching my own children, yet once I felt that responsibility of educating Samuel’s young mind settle onto my shoulders, I was pretty terrified! Well, I still am to be honest. But I’ve put my fears to the side for, and I decided to just go for it. To start somewhere.
After a bit of research, I discovered Winter Promise. Charlotte Mason inspired, Classical Educational principles. Wow. Exactly what I was looking for! I remember the first time I read the ‘about me” page, and this list of things the owner of the company wanted for her own family, which ultimately inspired her to write the curriculum:
- I want a curriculum that supports my family life, not one that takes away from it.
- The curriculum I choose should allow me to enjoy the journey along with my kids, rather than spending time prepping.
- I’d like for us all to discover new things together, so we have common memories, a family culture.
- It’s important that whatever we do sparks great discussions and allows for natural narration.
- I really want to connect with my kids about the important things, and I should have time in my day to do that.
- My kids deserve to learn to love learning and relish the joy of new discoveries, and immerse themselves in educationally rich experiences.
- If they could learn by doing, trying new and real-life experiences, I know they’ll remember it.
- Plus, if we could create homeschool scrapbooks, they’d have a lifetime of memories stored away in an easy-to-take-with-them format. They’ll keep it their whole lives.
- I deeply desire that each of my kids should learn according to their own learning style, so they’ll grow into being the best version of the person they were created to be.
- And of course, most of all, I want to share with them curriculum that leads them toward making Christ the most important thing in their lives. Period.
In a word: YES. With that, I placed my order for “Animals and Their Worlds” and “Letters to Little Words“.
First, I think that one of the most important things to note about WPP’s curriculum is that when you are ordering a package set, you might not realize how MUCH they are going to send you! Its incredible! They have truly thought of ever little detail of what you might need, and its included. To keep things simple, I store all of our “everyday” books in an old green file holder, and the rest goes into a basket in the closet.
Second, the lessons plans are unreal. Everything is laid out in great detail, so that every day, you just follow the schedule, and very little preparation is required. If you follow me on Instagram, you will see more about how this looks and how we implement it on my stories!
Last of all, I just want to say that if you are teaching multiple children, spanning a range of grade levels, then this is the curriculum for you. The lessons plans are fantastic at allowing you to adapt a single subject to multiple age levels. Basically a homeschool mom’s dream come true. Because of that, and because I am really only teaching Samuel right now, I know that this is a curriculum we will visit time and time again in the years ahead.
If you are following me on Instagram, and are interested in Winter Promise Publishing, keep an eye out for a discount code and maybe even a giveaway in the weeks ahead! As always, thanks for being here in my little corner of the internet, and following along with our life <3
Now try to look at these pictures and not smile. I DARE YOU.
*All photos from the amazing and lovely Hilary Hyland
