This is a good week for me to review this book as Robin Sampson is sponsoring this book for the weekly Featured Blogger giveaway. I've been meaning to sit down and review the book for several weeks now, but haven't made the time. When I had to type up the info about the giveaway on Sunday, I made a promise to myself that I would review this book by Friday!

 From the website, "This book is for all homeschoolers that want to make the Bible the center of their school day. This giant 500+ page book provides you with the methods, program, and resources for a course of study where students spend half the school day studying God's Word and the other half studying God's world (academics). Students study history chronologically and science in the order of the days of creation. This book will encourage, motivate you and instruct you, step by step, how to give your child a Bible focused, comprehensive education from preschool through high school; one that will train him or her to read, to study, to understand, to love to learn and most importantly to desire and seek true wisdom. This approach can be used for all grade levels."

The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach is like no other book that I have read. It talks about a totally different approach to homeschooling. Ms. Sampson's main premise is that "the Bible is the center of Christian education ... students spend a large portion of the school day studying God's Word, and the other half studying God's world in light of His Word." (quote taken from the back cover of the book). Her approach uses the Charlotte Mason method of teaching - using living books, delight-directed learning, copywork, narration, etc. Unit Studies are the main vehicle that Ms. Sampson uses to homeschool her children and she explains the value of unit studies in this book. Writing to Learn and Notebooking are also considered important methods for children to use in their studies so that they can remember the material they are studying.

This book is over 500 pages long and so will take you some time to get through it. Heidi Shaw of TOS reviewed this book and here is what she has to say,

Robin Sampson has put together a jewel of a package. This approach is written to appeal to many different learning methods, using Charlotte Mason's philosophy of learning, her own Bible-first philosophy, and the biblical Hebraic method of education. Her creative way of melding Charlotte Mason and the four basic learning styles has produced an approach that is truly a conduit to life-long learning. Robin gently leads us to this place of light yet highly encourages delight-directed learning at the same time. When you ignite a spark of interest in your child, lay aside the schedule/timetable and watch them fly! Children who are learning by choice will retain and enjoy so much more than those who are forced to study topics of no interest to them. There are comprehensive helps on making timeline books and portfolios, all with lots of illustrations and examples. Robin has obviously spent time in prayer and more prayer while she prepared these studies. Her writings are thoughtful, insightful and joyful and have been a labor of love from her whole family, I'm quite sure! Enjoy the four steps—Excite, Examine, Expand, and Excel! You may never go back to any other way of learning.

Heidi Shaw, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

For a complete listing of the Table of Contents, more reviews, and a link to obtain a FREE 70-page excerpt, click here!

Now for what I think of The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach. First off, I was drawn to it because I love Unit Studies and the Charlotte Mason method of learning. I've been wanting to explore the "delight-directed" approaching to teaching/learning and I found this chapter most useful. I will be re-reading it over our Christmas break as I prepare for the 2nd semester. I tried having the children create notebooks this semester, but they were set aside and so I'll be re-reading the chapter on Notebooks again, too. We were having a good time with them, but we were involved in so much other stuff, that we just lacked the time to continue putting them together.

One of the best sections of the book is Section Five: Resources. This is almost 150 pages of AWESOME information on how to create a unit study, how to choose and use resources as well as lists of History and Science resources by year, Life Skill Resources and Classics to read listed by Grade Level. This 150 page section is worth the price of the book - so much here for me to consider working into our studies (i.e. substituting for other books that I don't like or adding as extra reading, summer reading, etc.).

Now, for the part that I had a hard time with. I really, truly struggled with the first two sections of the book. The subtitle for The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach is "Bible-based Homeschooling" and that just does not describe my homeschool. I do not filter everything through the Bible and my children do not study God's world "in the light of His Word." I mean, we do talk about God's plans for us and the teachings of the Bible, but my homeschool is not Bible-based in the way that Ms. Sampson discusses in her book. It's not that I think it's NOT important, but I was not brought up that way and so do not find myself teaching that way. However, this did not detract from the rest of the book and just gave me some things to ponder as we continue homeschooling.

I think this book is very practical and worth purchasing. Ms. Sampson even talks about the different learning styles and how the parent can use this knowledge to adapt their lessons to each individual child. That's the beauty of homeschooling for me - that one-on-one approach that I can take with my two children. I can individualize their studies to suit their needs. The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach shows me how to do this step-by-step!

If you want the Bible to be the center of your homeschool, then this is the book for you! I honestly do not believe you'll be disappointed. If you are a "veteran" homeschooler who is looking for a way to inject some fun and "delight-directed" methods back into your homeschool, then seriously consider this book. Unit study families will also gain some good information. Be sure and visit the website and click on all of the links - there are several pages of good information here! The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach retails for $34.95 for the paperback or $24.95 for the e-book. It would make a great Christmas present for yourself!

... Kris ...