Ok, I really, really try to stay off the internet over the weekends, but we are having a relaxing day and everybody is sorta doing their thing, so I've come over to HSB to do my thing!

In the mail today was my long-awaited first issue of The Home Educator's Tutor - "Educational Tools based on Classical and Charlotte Mason Ideals." It is absolutely AWESOME! This resource is published quarterly and EVERTHING inside is laid out for you week by week. The articles inside are for students of ALL ages, K-12, with some more appropriate for younger kids and others for older students. Here is what is inside:

 Music
Music appreciation will be included as a biography of composer, 3-6 selections of the composers work on CD, and singing instruction ideas through folks songs. 
Art
The art appreciation section will include six full color plates from an artist as well as a biography. Art instruction ideas will accompany the artist's techniques. 
Handcraft
A new handcraft focus will be explored each term. Detailed instructions as well as ideas for further study in the aea will be included. 
Poetry
A selection of poems from two poets will be explored each term, one for the elementary ages and another for the older ages. 
Tales and Myths
Fairy tales and myths will be reprinted in full each term to enjoy. 
Literature
Selections from Lamb's Shakespeare Stories, Pilgrim's Progress, speeches, essays, and history stories will be included each term.
 Fun Games
What could be more fun than learning a few old fashioned games to promote more outside time?
 Fascinating Nature Studies
Let your kids enjoy nature while gaining basic information and trying small experiments. 
Enthralling Stories of Nature
Kids love stories, so use them to teach your kids about nature. Plus, we've tied nature stories in with the nature study. 
Character Building
Develop strong character in your children with character traits. Each issue will have one character trait which will be the foundation for this section. 
Bible
Bible memory verses,daily readings from the Old and new Testaments as well as a Psalm to focus on each month. Three hymns will be included on the CD for singing. 
Studies in Citizenship
Students will learn good citizenship from sections of Charlotte Mason's book, Ourselves. In addition, older students will read one Plutarch life and there will be stories of heros or saints geared for younger students.

This first issue of The Home Educator's Tutor was 116 pages, but the Editors state that the next issue will have more in it! I cannot tell you how much this publication will add to my homeschool. I had just blogged about how I want to add more Fine Arts study into our homeschool and I'm always looking for a way to bring some of the more interesting "extras" in ... The Home Educator's Tutor is going to make that happen. All I have to do each week is go through it and look for the weekly Readings and GO! No planning on my part is required ... what a Godsend!

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A BIT MORE INFO (added later to answer ejoyce,ink's question!):

Ok, the publication is black and white with the exception of the color art plates. Most of the articles/pieces of literature are broken down into 1-12 weekly Readings. Here are some examples (randomly chosen):

There is an article on Saint Benedict and there are 9 readings for this article, each probably only being about 3-5 minutes worth of reading at the most.

There is another article on Poplicola that consists of 12 readings of a longer length. Now, first of all, I have NO idea who Poplicola is and so I will have to do a little research on this to give the kids some background. One poster on TWTM board said that she wished that some of the articles had more background or guidelines for teaching. I, however, see it another way - sometimes, I don't like other people telling me HOW to teach the material. I'm more than happy to do some of the legwork myself. The "Poplicola" article is most likely meant for the upper grade levels.

In the Poetry section, first there are 13 poems ... I would probably just study one weekly with the kids by reading it aloud and asking them what they think about it. Then, following this section, the next focus is on the poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with 13 of his shorter poems included. This is then followed by the ENTIRE text of Evangeline by Longfellow. The way I see it is that this is THREE levels of poetry to be studied and the parent can decide which poetry selection to study with their children based on grade level and/or ability. Some of the other articles have only 1-4 readings.

I guess this is to day that not ALL of the resources have 12 distinct readings. However, because the editors have already broken down the readings for me, I can just pull out the calendar and schedule them any way that I want.

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If you are looking for a way to bring some of the above subjects into YOUR home, you should definitely check out the link to The Home Educator's Tutor TODAY! It is worth every penny! To read Part Two of this entry, click here!

... Kris ...