Do you have your very own subscription to TOS?  If you don't, now is definitely the time to subscribe.  It truly is a great way to invest in your homeschooling.  You can show it off to your skeptical friends and family to show them that homeschooling is not stuck in the dark ages.  They'll be impressed when they see the resources available to homeschoolers these days, as well as the success stories of homeschool graduates. 

Besides that you'll get plenty of encouragement and inspiration.  I love TOS because they don't try to make all homeschool families look alike.  They respect that we have different lifestyles and interests, but that we share the same conviction to educate our children. 

I can remember when I first started homeschooling.  The only homeschool magazines that I saw featured very large families, wearing dresses and color coordinating outfits.  I struggled with feeling like I would never fit in or measure up to those families.  But when I look in TOS, I see families of all different sizes, wearing all different styles of clothes, etc... 

There was one time when I read "that other" magazine, that I nearly threw it across the room.  It had one of those large families and they were truly doing the 15 minute intervals.  Everything was just too perfect.

7:00 - 7:05 Children dressed, beds made & seated at table

7:05 - 7:20 Father leads devotions while I serve nutritious homemade breakfast

7:20 - 7:25 Breakfast clean up. Children begin studies

BLECH!  I couldn't stand it and honestly I couldn't even believe it.  We can't get our beds made, dressed and to the table in 5 minutes.  Much less if there were 10 children in the house.  And cleaning up in 5 minutes - that's an admirable goal, but not happening at this house.

But with TOS, the families featured seem more real, more approachable.  I find myself so often wishing that I was in a support group with some of these folks.  I think they would be great fun!

And I love how they not only tell you what they are doing, but why and how.  That's such a big part of things for me.  I want to know why people choose their educational approach and how they work it into their family life. 

So, take a look at our current promo. You get the 19 free gifts whether you are subscribing for the first time or whether you're renewing.  And we want you to subscribe.(Oh and if you subscribe by clicking through that link in my sidebar - the picture of the woman reading the magazine, I get credit for the sale!) 

Hey what better way to celebrate TOS's 5th birthday than by getting your own subscription. Gena & Jen will love that a lot more than a dancing carrot.