LEAH Annual Conference in Rochester, NY this May

For those of you in New York State, this year’s upstate LEAH Home Education Conference will be held May 29-31 right here in Rochester. LEAH (Loving Education at Home) is an organization that supports conservative Protestant homeschoolers in New York State through education, information, conferences, and the formation of local support groups. In the past, [...]

For the Love of Literature by Maureen Wittmann

Wittmann, Maureen. For the Love of Literature: Teaching Core Subjects with Literature. La Grange, KY: Ecce Homo Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-9797609-9-7. (Available from Ecce Homo Press and Amazon.)
I know Maureen through cyberspace. I put her on my blogroll early in the process of researching and writing Helping Homeschoolers in the Library. I interviewed her here, [...]

Jesus Camp

I finally watched the Academy Award nominated documentary Jesus Camp a couple weeks ago. Aside from the fact that the film was up for an Oscar, I was interested in it because I’d heard that a couple of the children featured are homeschooled. Overall, the film was a touch overlong and doesn’t say much about [...]

The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Raymond and Dorothy Moore

Moore, Raymond, and Dorothy Moore. The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook: A Creative and Stress-Free Approach to Homeschooling. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994.
Researchers and educators Raymond and Dorothy Moore played an important part in popularizing homeschooling in the 1970s and ‘80s, particularly among conservative Protestants. Their star has faded in the homeschooling world, but their contribution [...]

Creative Communications by Sandra Garant

“Most of us should be able to find enough reasonable motivation to write or use other communication skills every day. We all have responsibilities we need to remember, relationships we want to keep, problems we ought to resolve, interests we would like to explore, and celebrations in which we enjoy participating. These are meaningful and [...]

Interview with Maureen Wittmann, Part 7

Adrienne: One last question for you. How did you get into writing about homeschooling?
Maureen: It just kind of happened.
As a kid, I wanted to be an investigative reporter. However, I was told by more than one school counselor to get my head out of the clouds and get real. They never read anything I’d [...]

Interview with Maureen Wittmann, Part 6

Adrienne: To bounce to another topic, it seems to me that homeschoolers who are Catholic have been the biggest growing segment of the homeschooling population over the last five years or so and have become a more visible/vocal group. Is that your perception as well?
Maureen: It’s interesting to look at the origins of contemporary [...]

Interview with Maureen Wittmann, Part 5

Adrienne: It’s interesting, too, to be at the point where you have kids right through the range of ages. Is your oldest starting to think about things like college and career ideas? Will this be his last year of official homeschooling? (Of course, we all know that one can never *really* stop learning at home….)
Maureen: [...]

Interview with Maureen Wittmann, Part 4

Adrienne: Now for nitty-gritty questions. What does a typical day for your family look like? Do you follow a schedule? Do you have planned “school” time? Do the kids follow different schedules?
Maureen: Again, this is something that changes and evolves over time. Our schedule today is so different from our schedule eleven years ago. Then [...]

Interview with Maureen Wittmann, Part 3

Adrienne: How would you describe your homeschooling philosophy? I know, for instance, that faith is an important part of your family’s life, but I know, too, that you have strong feelings about academics and the use of literature.
Maureen: Oh gosh, where to start. You know, it’s something that evolves over time and I’m not sure [...]