We are the Wolf family of West Milton, Ohio … Ty, Kim, Jasper, & Jenna. This is our 11th year of homeschooling and we can't imagine living life any other way! And having homeschooled for so long, we have tried nearly every approach to homeschool...

When we began, we used Weaver unit studies for the first two or three years. After that we tried the Prairie Primer unit study by Margie Gray. Let me tell you; we LOVED it! At that time, my daughters were in Kindergarten and third grade and we had a glorious year! Even with the extra books we had to purchase to go with the actual unit study, we saved so much money, the girls loved it and the year just flew by. We also repeated the Primer when they were in grades 7 and 4. With so much time having passed it was like doing a completely different study and they learned even more and in completely different ways.

May I also recommend another unit study by Margie Gray? When my oldest daughter was in eighth grade she spent the year in the Victorian era with Anne of Green Gables while thoroughly enjoying Margie's Where the Brook and River Meet. What an incredible unit study! Jasper and I would sit together and read the week's chapter on Monday morning, then she would be completely responsible for completing her weekly assignments from there. Of course, I would be available for dictation, clarification of assignments, etc. She loved the study and loved being so independent. She really blossomed.

In the years between we have used a combination of ABeka textbooks (math, science, history, computer, art), Alpha Omega workbooks (Bible, Language Arts) and various resource books such as Usborne, Millikin, DK, CBD, etc. With science and history textbooks, I usually type out the comprehension questions at the end of each lesson for the student to answer and use the questions at the end of the unit for the unit test. This saves money on test books. With the AO workbooks, there are tests already included with each workbook. Frankly, I'm not a big test person, but assessors love them! A word to the wise: workbooks can be great and the kids feel a real sense of accomplishment when each one is completed, but they cannot be re-sold; textbooks are a little more pricey, but you can re-sell them. Using strictly workbooks/textbooks can get very old and dull. To break up the year and to ease back into the school rhythm after Christmas break, I will write out a unit study of our own that will last two weeks to a month.

Now, having said all that, I want to let you know what we've been doing since we were blessed to have listened to Clay and Sally Clarkson, of Whole Heart Ministries, at the 2001 Christian Home Educators of Ohio convention. After listening to their philosophy of home education, I had to get their book Educating the WholeHearted Child. Starting with the very first section (It's the Right Thing to Do!), in the very first chapter, I was completely taken. They were expressing exactly what I felt home education should be! THIS was exactly what I had been experimenting all these years to find! These folks were saying the same thing that I had been saying to myself … "There must be a better, less schoolish way!"

The WholeHearted approach is a touch of Charlotte Mason, a lot of living books, real life and a whole lot of love and family. I feel as though our homeschool has been renewed and we are all enjoying education once again. We are learning together, reading bags full of great books on subjects by authors who have poured part of themselves into their writing. When someone invests themselves in a subject you can learn so much more from their book than from a paragraph or a page in a textbook! This type of education has sparked the ol' "research gene" in my children…and myself as well! Instead of giving tests, we now follow the method of narration … Once a chapter has been read the children write out in their own words, in a subject notebook, what was taught or read (a younger child may draw a picture and tell you). This immediately indicates what they have actually learned, what they have taken away from the lesson, and the act of writing it down re-enforces this into their memory. It's amazing what they remember; each one picks up a little something different.

Our educational goal for our girls was expressed in Educating the WholeHearted Child this way: "The goal of education is not to raise a child who does well on the tests of secular educators; rather it is to raise a child who does well on the tests of real life. When they need to research an issue, they will have the discipline and ability to find and analyze relevant information. When they need to present an argument, they will know how to use language persuasively. When mediating a problem at church, they will know how to apply wisdom and find a creative solution." I couldn't have said it better myself.

A truly educated child is one who knows how to find out what he/she needs to know!

Kim and Ty have been married for 19 years and have homeschooled for 11. They are members of their church's praise team;Ty sings and Kim trades off between singing, flute and hammered dulcimer. Kim is a Miami County homeschool coordinator and especially enjoys helping new families begin their homeschool journey.