Each issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine focuses on two themes, one historical and one academic, although published articles may include additional topics or themes. We appreciate queries that demonstrate an understanding of our magazine and our target audience and strongly suggest that interested writers familiarize themselves with our content, subject matter, and style. For instance, our Storytime column is geared toward both children and stay-at-home mothers and should be interesting and informative to both audiences. Storytime articles are generally original works of fiction with a junior or adult focus. Storytime tales specifically written for children should contain a maximum of 900—1,000 words, preferably accompanied by original color art or graphics. Storytime pieces for moms should have "goose bumps appeal" and a maximum of 2,000 words.

Articles exploring the history, current status, and character of the homeschool movement always get our attention, as do works offering insight into higher education, such as interviews with university representatives and homeschool graduates or pieces that offer new ways to approach colleges and gain college credits while finishing high school. We also consider academic unit studies on appropriate educational topics. Unit studies normally contain 2,000—2,500 words plus sidebars and graphics.

Please query us with a well-structured article proposal that includes a catchy lead, a summary of the article (including approximate length and sidebar ideas,) and appropriate details. Users of HomeschoolBlogger.com should note their usernames on their query. Links to clips and portfolios are of assistance as well.

All query and other submissions are subject to the Terms of Submission posted on our website. Query letters should be submitted electronically using the forms provided on our website. We strongly discourage multiple submissions of query letters (sending the same query to several publications at once). Queries to TOS should be written specifically for our publication.

We will acknowledge receipt of your query and attempt to make a decision to accept or decline the proposed article as quickly as possible. The review process normally takes between four and six weeks, but may be longer at times. Our editors will contact you if we decide to accept a queried article. Publication of accepted materials may take from three months to more than a year based on our needs and publication schedule. Terms of publication vary based on article length and content.