Hello, my name is Danielle and I am addicted to books. I love the sight, feel, and even sometimes smell of them. During our recent home purchase, it was the built-in bookcases in the living room that really sold me on our house. When we moved, we had over 150 boxes of books. As I unpacked them, I joyfulled reunited with friends who had been boxed up for the past 10 years while we were bookcase-impaired. Because I enjoy the sensations of reading, I will admit to being a little skeptical about the current e-book trend. I do not own a Kindle or other electronic reading device. It was with some trepidation that I recently downloaded three WeE-books from The Old Schoolhouse magazine. I chose "Writing Essays " by Ruth Beechick, "Just How Important are Communication Skills Anyway?" by JoJo Tabares, and "Missing in Action or Mentoring in Action" by Jeannie Fulbright.
Ruth Beechick is a familiar name to most homeschoolers. I appreciate her forthright style-both encouraging and convicting me to do better. As a writing teacher, I am always looking for different ways to approach the essay format. This simply titled "Writing Essays" gives the reasons for developing an essay-writer, describes four common types of essays, and wraps up with instruction on making your writing connected and fluid. While not giving any assignments or models, this little book does a good job explaining essays. I would have appreciated an example or additional instruction in helping a student write an essay.
When I entered college as fresh homeschool graduate, one of my first-semester courses was Speech. Looking back, I realize that I probably should have waited a semester before taking that class, allowing me to acclimate to the classroom setting and learn what topics would be of interest to my peers when I gave a speech. I emerged from that class with my lowest college grade and a confirmation that I didn't like speaking in front of groups. I never had a speech class. When I am asked now what homeschool students should take before college, speech and communications classes are at the top of my list. "Just How Important are Communication Skills, Anyway?" a new WEe-book by JoJo Tabares reinforces in my mind the importance of nurturing communicators in our homes. I enjoyed her light, breezy style of writing. Before reading this short book (under 20 pages including title page, credits, and appendix), I had not really considered including a lot of public speaking in my elementary curriculum. I am now considering how I can encourage my children to become competent communicators in our home. Toward the end of the book, she shares information about her curriculum, which is going on my "investigate" list for next year's curriculum. I may even look into it for myself. Why? Haven't I determined that speaking in front of groups is not for me? Interestingly enough, I now speak regularly at homeschool co-ops and conferences and love it! What changed? I discovered that I can speak about passionately and authoritatively when I have a topic that homeschool parents desire to learn and that I desire to share. Now I need someone like JoJo Taberes to show me how to communicate that passion even more effectively.
On a recent Sunday, I had the joy of encouraging two prospective homeschool moms at our not-always-homeschool-friendly-church. In the past 10 years of working with high school age homeschoolers, I have benefitted from the wisdom of experienced homeschool moms. I started teaching classes when my son was 2, allowing me three years of picking brains for ideas before I began homeschooling officially. Now that I've successfully brought three children through preschool in homeschool, and taught two of them to read, I'm surprised to find that younger moms are coming to me for advice. Thus, I realized that although I don't feel nearly experienced enough, I have become a mentor. Jeannie Fulbright encourages all of us to remember this role, even if we don't feel like we have much to offer. Her WeE-Book is a great reminder to be a Titus 2 woman. Sometimes being the older woman means older in experience, not only in years. I've actually encouraged women who are older than me in years but younger in homeschool experience. This little book provides guidance for how to help others in their homeschool adventure.
While I am not going to go all digital (my husband is too much of a Luddite for that!), I can say that I have enjoyed reading through these and have been encouraged by all of them. I love the short, to the point nature of each. They are longer than a magazine article, allowing each author to more fully develop her subject, but they are short enough to read while sipping my afternoon tea. The pages are formatted nicely, with quotes highlighting specific points. Although I admit I was tempted to click "Print" as soon as each one downloaded, I resisted the urge and realize now I don't have to find a place on my shelves for it. This could become a habit! As a life-long mover (20 times in 34 years), I can see the benefits to having books I don't have to pack! One of my favorite aspects of these particular WeE-books are the appendices, which provide guidance for those just considering the homeschool journey. I appreciate having that kind of information available to me to share with others. I won't forward the file, but I will probably print off a copy or two these sections to give to a couple friends who are considering homeschooling. The list of E-book and WeE-book titles at The Old Schoolhouse store is growing every day. Be careful--you just may become addicted.
