Wishing You A Joyous Thanksgiving- Here’s a Recipe and a Sale!

We wish you and your family a joyous Thanksgiving. Be sure to visit the big Thanksgiving Sale!

We wish you and your family a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving. Click on the postcard to visit the big Thanksgiving Sale!

I sent out the relish recipe in the newsletter and thought I’d post it here as well. One of our readers in Malaysia reminded me that they have no cranberries there. I sometimes forget that even small things such as cranberries can be a cause for giving thanks! There are doubtless some lovely tropical fruits in Malaysia with which to create a lovely salad or dessert. I hope to visit and find out some day! Read more

Everyday Education is Undergoing Maintenance-All Fine!

Update: The website is back up, and as far as I can tell, all the main nav links are functioning. If you find something odd, please leave a comment below, and we’ll fix it as quickly as possible. Enjoy!

If you wanted to visit Everyday-Education.com, and you see the page only briefly before it disappears, I apologize. The site is undergoing maintenance, and will be back up very soon (if all goes well). I’m sorry for the inconvenience!

Great Books Week- October 4-10, 2009

Join Excellence in Literature as we celebrate the beauty of great books with a blog tour!

If you’d like to participate, write a post on your own blog on the appropriate topic each day, then visit the appropriate post on the NAIWE NewsWire blog to leave your post title and link in the comment section so that others can enjoy what you’ve written. Be sure to share your posts in Facebook, Twitter, and other social media!

What are great books? First and foremost, literary classics are the standard for great literature. Few people would make a great books list that left out William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, or Mark Twain, and most of us probably have a list of special books that have touched our lives. Great books are the books that stay with us long after we’ve put them down. Read more

Andrew Pudewa’s Video on Excellence In Literature

I know that many of you still have a lot of questions about Excellence in Literature. Andrew Pudewa of the Institute for Excellence in Writing has just put together a little video (about two minutes long) to give you an overview of the EIL approach.

If you have enjoyed IEW’s materials, or if you have a teen who loves to read or write, I think you’ll find that Excellence in Literature is an ideal next step for your motivated teens. But I’ll let Andrew tell you all about it!

IEW co-published the American and British Literature levels with me, but there are three other levels (Introduction to Literature is a available now; Literature and Composition and World Literature will be available by late summer, Lord willing–if all goes as planned). All five levels have the same format and approach, and they don’t have to be used in order. You’ll find more about them at www.ExcellenceInLiterature.com.

One of our Convention Season Specials is Evaluate Writing the Easy Way for only $5 with the purchase of any level of Excellence in Literature. This offer is good through July 12, so don’t miss it!

Note: If the video doesn’t show up for you, try playing it at the original site.

Convention Coupons, Excellence in Literature, and other Good News

There are several interesting things happening this coming weekend. The CHAP convention will take place Friday and Saturday, May 8-9, in Harrisburg, PA. While I won’t be there personally, due to a very unfortunate conflict, I sent my able assistant Matt Wade to manage the Everyday Education booth (#1006, right by Tobin’s Lab).

Be sure to stop by and say hello and use the Convention Coupons I’ve made for you. There are three special offers you can use while you’re at the convention, but if you can’t make it to the convention, you will be able to use them on the website as well. Just visit the Coupon page between Friday and Sunday, and you’ll be able to enjoy the specials.

You’ll be able to see hot-off-the-press copies of Introduction to Literature, the first volume in the Excellence in Literature series at CHAP. Other than at the website (www.ExcellenceInLiterature.com), the four conventions listed below will be the only place you can get Intro to Lit for awhile. I’m trying to get the second and fifth levels (Literature and Composition; World Literature) out by summer, so that you can have them before school starts in the fall.

There’s another interesting sale happening this weekend. Lynda Coats, the author of Far Above Rubies and Blessed is the Man unit studies, is working to raise money to return in the fall as a missionary teacher to Native American children.

She’s offering 13 valuable bonuses with the purchase of the long-awaited FAR or BITM unit studies. These curricula have been very hard to find recently, so this is a wonderful opportunity! If you love unit studies and are looking for one for high school, be sure to check out this sale. It will run until May 15 only.

Finally, George Wythe College is running a beta version of online classes this summer. Tuition is heavily discounted: “For this summer only, undergraduates will be able to take up to 7 credits for only $550 in the part-time option, and up to 14 credits for $750 in the full-time option.”

This is a remarkable savings, and a good opportunity to take a few classes. According to the website, “Summer Semester will run on an accelerated schedule from May 18 to July 17. Full-time students will attend class online twice weekly, while part-time students will meet once a week.” Registration closes May 11.

2009 Convention Schedule

5/8-9/09- Booth #1006 CHAP- Harrisburg, PA: chaponline.com

5/23/09- Booth #R12 (NOTE CHANGE!) Virginia Homeschoolers Conference (VHS): vahomeschoolers.org

6/11-13/09- Booth #600- Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV): heav.org

7/10-11/09- Booth #203 Northern Virginia Home Education Conference (NoVA): novaconference.net

Don’t forget your Convention Coupons! Feel free to share them with your friends as well. If you make it to one of these conventions, please be sure to stop at our booth and say hello. I always enjoy meeting blog and e-zine readers.

World Digital Library: A Great Resource

I occasionally come across a resource that keeps me reading or browsing for much longer than I planned, and the new World Digital Library is one of those. Some of the earliest written works known to man have been digitized and are available for study on the site. Over 30 libraries and research institutions from many nations have participated in putting together the initial collection, and others are expected to contribute to keep the collection growing. Read more

Carnival of Homeschooling- The Spring Fever Edition

tulips

tulips

Is anyone else ready for spring? The daffodils are up, forsythia is glowing at the edges of the woods, and from my cozy spot by the woodstove, the bright sunlight offers the illusion of warmth. It’s quickly dispelled by the damp chill when I open the windows, but the boisterous bird song renews faith that spring is on its way.With spring almost here, I thought we all might enjoy a lovely floral journey for the March 31, 2009 edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. Our writers have submitted some excellent posts, so gather ’round and enjoy the Carnival!

We’ll begin with a bit of late breaking news: Better parenting leads to more competent children hosted at “Why Homeschool” Henry Cate reports that studies confirm that loving and firm parents have more competent children. Really? Read more

Newbery Awards- My favorite, Your Favorite, Nobody’s Favorite

The 2009 book award winners were revealed yesterday by the American Library Association. You may read about them at the NAIWE NewsWire blog.

As a counterpoint, I’d like to share a thoughtful piece from the School Library Journal, “Has the Newbery Lost its Way? ” by Anita Silvey. After you read it, please come back and leave a comment here, sharing what you think and answering the following questions:

  • Have you enjoyed the recent Newbery books?
  • What is your all-time favorite Newbery or Caldecott winner?

My all-around favorite book when I was child was Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” I loved the adorable monsters, and as a quiet child, I was enchanted by the idea of a “wild rumpus.” My boys enjoyed Sendak, but had other books for their ultimate “read it again, mommy” favorites.

SAT* Score Reporting, FAQ, Essay Workshops, & EIL 1 is HERE!

Beginning with the March 2009 administration of the SAT, the College Board has implemented a new policy that should make a lot of people very happy. According to the website, the new policy “will give students the option to choose the SAT scores by sitting (test date) and SAT Subject Test scores by individual test that they send to colleges, at no additional cost.” Read more

Drawspace: A Review

The Internet is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be happy as kings (with apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson). My son recently came across a website that offers detailed drawing instruction. Read more

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