The Homeschooler's Summer: Planning and Relaxing

Just as homeschoolers are breathing a sigh of relief because a year of hard work is almost over and summer vacation is about to begin, it’s time to make plans for the next school year. Thankfully, most of us regard this as an exciting time because we are happy to be able to educate our own children, and we are grateful for the abundance of curricula choices due to the popularity of homeschooling.

After doing this for more than 20 years, I’ve got planning down to a science. I know exactly what we’re doing and when, and I already have my favorite publishers and books. When we were just beginning, however, we relied on product reviews from a few trusted sources: Cathy Duffy’s reviews (visit http://cathyduffyreviews.com/), Dean and Karen Andreola’s (visit http://www.homeschoolhighlights.com/) and Rainbow Resource (visit www.rainbowresource.com). We buy most of our materials from Rainbow Resource because they sell almost everything you could ever need, at a discount, and offer free shipping for purchases totaling $50 or more.

Fiction Book Review: The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club By Gil McNeil

My kids rolled their eyes, but completely got it, when I couldn’t resist buying The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil. I first spotted a book by this author at the Brighton Library, but it was the second or third in the trilogy. After reading a sample and loving it, I jotted down the author’s name and went home. Since I so badly wanted a book that would hit me just the right way after having had an especially trying spring and summer, I didn’t want to wait for the library to borrow a copy from another location, so I bought the above-mentioned title from Amazon. In case anyone noticed the author’s name, I should mention that I did check Gil’s gender before buying and was relieved to discover that she is a she. I’m sorry if this offends anyone, but I am not interested in reading a book about knitting and women’s friendships written by a man.