Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay & Sally Clarkson is probably the book I recommend the most to new-to-homeschooling parents. So when I had the chance to review the brand-new-3rd-edition of this wonderful treasure-trove, I was thrilled!
This is not one of those books that you can just sit down and read cover-to-cover. This book, all 376 pages of it, must be perused thoughtfully, in sections and digested in small increments. It is like a handbook for the homeschooling parent, chock-full of Scripture, personal examples, wonderful quotes, page-after-page of amazing biblical principles and don't forget the awesome resources lists and copy-able pages in the back of the book. This is the kind of book to keep handy on your desk so that you can quickly refer to in as needed.
The first section of this many-faceted book deals with what the Clarksons call the Three Priorities of a Christian Home. 1.) Home Nurture: Shepherding your child's spirit to long for God 2.) Home Discipleship: Shaping your child's heart to live for God and 3.) Home Education: Strengthening your child's mind to learn for God.
"When you decide to keep or bring your children home for good, you are saying two things: 1.) that your home is where they should be and 2.) that your home is a source of goodness in their lives."
Section Two deals with the various schools of thought in homeschool educational choices and The Wholehearted Learning Model of the Clarksons'. It digs deep into how to choose your studies, creating a learning environment in your home, how to build a home library, the different learning styles of your children and much more.
Section Three dives into the study methods the Clarksons call Discipleship, Disciplined, Discussion, Discovery and Discretionary studies. This part is rich with learning methods for just about any subject imaginable!
Section Four is aptly titled *Living*. It really gets down to the nitty-gritty of home life talking about specific rolls of the family, structuring and planning, ordering your home and the importance of support in the life of a homeschool family.
This new and 3rd edition of Educating the Wholehearted Child is by far the best book on homeschooling that I have ever read. There are other books out there that are excellent in certain areas, but this book encompasses those areas and brings such a wonderful biblical worldview to them all.
It is a challenging book to me--and not because it's so huge! The principles in this book challenge me to be a better mother, a better homeschool mom/teacher, a better Christian. I have read several of Sally Clarkson's books and also enjoy her blog and I have never failed to be inspired and spurred on as a Christian woman and mother to reach for the higher goals that God has for me.
I highly recommend this book to all Christian homeschooling parents! Read it with a highlighter in hand!
This book is published by Apologia, who puts out amazingly quality products. You can purchase it from their website for just $22--and that is a total bargain considering the size of this book!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew and Apologia in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
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