A few years ago I wrote a "Show and Tell" article for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  Needless to say, as the years have gone by and the kids have gotten older, things have changed.  I highly recommend that you read the article linked to above when you have a moment...I listed a lot of fun and helpful resources there too!

I'm still a huge proponent of Saxon Math, and plan to use it with my Kidling in about a year.  My investment in Math K, however, was not a necessary one.  (Anybody wanna buy a mint condition Math K homeschool set?  Email me!)  It turned out my daughter much prefers what I call the "tornado" method of learning over the "sponge" version I was accustomed to with my step-daughter.  One of them soaks up knowledge as you give it to her, and you can squeeze it back out whenever you like...but fill her too full and she starts to leak a bit.  The other spins through life like a twister, sucking up everything in her path and spewing it back out when you're least expecting it.  I count my blessings every day that when she was a baby I chose to simply fill her environment with educational resources and opportunities rather than gobs of flashcards (they'd have been thrown at me) and "seat-work" (ummmm, not happening).  This one, she watches me cut things, asks for the scissors, and DOES it.  She watches me write words, grabs her pencil and paper, and DOES it.  No structured mirroring, no pre-planned lessons (as far as she's aware of *grin*), no classroom. 

My inspiration and suggested syllabi now come from Home Learning Year by Year (Rupp, 2000) and The Well-Trained Mind (Wise/Wise Bauer, 1999, first edition).  I consider her to be working at the first grade level in TWTM, with plans to begin more focused work on it next year.  I choose to school year-round, so we can change "grades" whenever I please, based on her abilities and mastery of concepts...and the educational opportunities that arise.  During 2005 I picked up the Get Ready for the Code books at a local teacher store and we work in them when she feels like doing "homework" like my neighbor's son, who is a public-schooled third grader.  Otherwise, reading, writing and math are done on a daily basis through general efforts like writing letters to friends and family, counting while cooking and playing, etc.  I still consider myself to be an eclectic homeschooler, though the Charlotte Mason and Classical education methods remain my primary models.

I gather inspiration and encouragement from subscriptions to magazines like Home Education Magazine, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, Homeschooling Today and Home School Enrichment.  I also re-read Karen Andreola's Pocketful of Pinecones at least once a year because I enjoy it so very much.  There are also other publications, such as Green Teacher and Practical Homeschooling, that I pick up from time to time if they look interesting enough.

I love perusing the catalogs from Rainbow Resource Center, Insect Lore, Montessori Services, Rosie Hippo and Vision Forum for great books, toys and other resources to save up for or to ask Gramma for.  We have continued our studies of American Sign Language (ASL) using the Signing Time series and are learning Japanese bit by bit from two of my best friends, Miyuki and Asuka.  (Both of whom are native language speakers, as you may have guessed.)  I've maintained our annual membership to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Northwest Trek, and hope to have the funds available some day to purchase memberships to the Seattle Aquarium, Wolf Haven and Woodland Park Zoo.  We still love to visit the Boeing Museum of Flight and other museums and wildlife parks when they offer discounted or free entry days.

Other resources abound, but that's a story for another day...I could fill this blog talking about our "resources" alone!  Suffice it to say that with these options and opportunities, and other catalogs, local teacher and toy stores, there's plenty to use for the HOW of our homeschool!