The Wreck Report for the SS Slavonia concludes that: "The Court having carefully inquired into the circumstances attending the above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds for the reasons stated in the Annex hereto, that the stranding and loss of the 'Slavonia' was due to the default and error of judgment of the master in setting too fine a course and navigating at too high a rate of speed in such weather as prevailed when nearing land, and in placing too much reliance on two admittedly poor bearings for compass error, which were not taken by himself." After over 16 months of uneventful...

Plan for Convergent and Divergent ThinkingAs you begin making plans for next school year, you’ll want to keep in mind the necessity of incorporating both convergent and divergent thinking into your curriculum selection. Experts recognize these as the two major types of brain challenges we all encounter. What is Convergent Thinking?Convergent thinking generally involves finding a single best answer, and is important in the study of math and science. Convergent thinking is the backbone of the majority of curriculum, and is crucial for future engineers, doctors, and even parenting. Much of daily life is a series of determining right and wrong answers,...

It's So Much More! Bible Isn’t CurriculumEvery year we are asked why we don’t include Bible courses as part of our curriculum kits. The answer? Bible is much bigger than a box on your school checklist. It should happen whether it’s a school day or not, whether you feel like it or don’t, and even whether you homeschool or *gasp* opt to send your children to school. On top of that, it desperately needs to be tailored to your family’s interests, time-frame, and perhaps even what you’re studying at church. A Terrible TragedyDuring our conference tours, we visited with a...

We had an email asking for tips for homeschooling a gifted daughter which prompted us to compile all our very best tips and tricks learned over the past decades. What would you add? 1. Disdain Busy-WorkYour child wants to learn, so don’t slow her down! If she has mastered multiplication, why are you still spending an hour a day reviewing it? Yes, she does need some review, but we’ve seen way too many families focus on completing every problem rather than mastering the material. One way to test this is to have her try doing only every other review problem...

There’s been a lot of buzz, discussion, and anxiety in the homeschool community for the last few years about the Common Core State Standards. Many of you have asked us what our stance is on the standards, and whether our curriculum is designed to comply with them. What is the Common Core?According to the CCSS website, “The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English language arts and mathematics that states voluntarily adopt.” Why Homeschoolers are ConcernedThere is some real concern in the...