This article was originally published March 31, 2006

As someone who has an interest in the writing profession, I have read a lot of books about the craft of writing. Along the way, I’ve made a startling and somewhat disturbing discovery. Almost everything I was taught about creative writing in school was either wrong or woefully inadequate. Furthermore, as a homeschooler, I’ve discovered that many of those concepts I was taught are still standard elements in many writing courses.

Last year, I was devouring everything I could get my hands on concerning writing. At the same time, in our homeschool, we were working through a popular and highly respected writing course. About halfway through the course, I started running into things that were in direct conflict with the information I was getting from editors, best-selling authors, literary agents and university writing professors.

For example: In many creative writing curricula, it is standard practice to pad out sentences with extra adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases. The sentence “The frog jumped.” becomes “The smooth, emerald, Amazonian tree frog jumped lazily, but gracefully, into the cool, deep, lily-pad-covered pond in the throbbing heart of the
verdant, steamy, vine-laden rain forest.” Yuck! That might earn you an A in your English class but it would be sliced to ribbons by any editor worth his or her salt. I also haven’t found very much in these programs that addresses style issues. In adult-level writing books, you find much about the writer’s voice and style, and things like controlling tempo and internal cliffhangers and character development. I don’t ever remember learning about any of those things in school.

Don’t get me wrong. There is still much to commend in some writing courses. I thoroughly enjoyed the one we were working on before we ran into these issues. In fact, we skipped that section and replaced it with information I read my kids from one of my writing books. I’ve decided that I’m going a different direction this year. I have a couple of my favorite writing books pulled out and they are going to be the basis of my writing curriculum. I’m building my lessons around them. While I certainly don’t believe every one of my children will end up a published author, I do have a few that have a serious interest in writing and I hope to help them as best I can.

8V9NEH4D5A89

I wanted to give you a glimpse of the ideas and background of this blog. The purpose of  TeachableSpirit is news, information, and encouragement for your homeschool journey from a homeschooling mother of 10.

I’m an eclectic homeschooler, heavily influenced by Charlotte Mason, but over the years, I’ve tried many different materials and methodologies, looking for the right fit. My hope is that I can equip you with the information you need to make the right decisions to find the perfect fit for your family, hopefully without all the trial and error.

It’s that time of year again. Those who school year-round are asking themselves “What time of year is that?”. I was once one of those people, but having kids going to summer camp and serving in summer internships that last June through July has pretty much put a stop to that. But I digress.

This is the time of year when I sit back and really analyze the plan for the coming year. All the research and decision-making done up to now is thought over and questioned to make sure I picked the right things for the right reasons. Does the plan fit our family, our worldview, our educational philosophy? Does it work with our household dynamic and our personalities? This year was especially challenging for me in this respect.

Earlier this spring, I fell in love with a certain curriculum. I researched it thoroughly, even downloading samples and support documents. I subscribed to blogs that were talking about this curriculum. I raved about it to my children and husband, extolling all the positives. And yet, there was still a tiny lingering doubt I couldn’t quite shake.

You see, I was a laid-back eclectic homeschooler in love with a highly structured classical curriculum. I can see now it never would have lasted.

It was a reactionary decision, to be sure. Since my mother died unexpectedly in 2009, things just been a little off. The latter part of one school year was consumed by grief and shock and  funeral arrangements. The summer was spent dealing with her house and her belongings and helping my step-father deal with his sudden widower status.

I entered the fall totally unprepared, both physically and mentally, and felt like I was winging it all year. We alternated between much-too-aid-back and frantically-trying-to-catch-up in cycles throughout the year. It was exhausting and I didn’t want to repeat the experience, so I went in search of some structure. Only instead of adding a little structure, I was dazzled by a well-known classical curriculum with its neat charts with every assignment for the year laid out for almost every subject

I shudder now to think what chaos would have ensued in my home if I had made the purchase and started using it. But an unexpected blessing occurred. I didn’t’ have the money to buy it. I know that sounds strange but it really was a blessing, because it gave me time to look harder before leaping and really put my finger on the reason for my choice.

In the meantime, I started sorting schoolbooks that had been in storage. I began marveling at the wonderful resources I already had. I pulled up information saved on my computer and read through it. I researched new curricula. I even read some older blog posts I wrote before the above chaos occurred. And the light came on.

I didn’t need to try to fit us in a mold that doesn’t work for us. I didn’t need to scrap everything and start over again. I just needed to fix what wasn’t working. I’m now more excited about starting school than I have been in years. I’m still scrambling a bit because I am making changes at the zero hour, but I feel good about the decisions I’m making. And there are no little nagging voices of doubt. Peace is a wonderful thing.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while you know that it has been dormant and neglected. I’m back with a fresh vision for this blog, so I’m doing a complete reset. All the old posts have been deleted, but the best ones may reappear in my new “From the Archives” feature. The blog has been completely redesigned and revamped. The new blog has the best of the past and new features that I hope will bless you and help you.

If you are new to this blog, welcome to TeachableSpirit! I hope you will come back to visit often. Be sure to check back as new content is added.

Whether you’re a long-time reader or brand new to TeachableSpirit, here’s what you can expect to find here:

encouragement for the daily adventure of homeschooling your children

information on methods and materials for homeschooling

news related to homeschooling

fun activities and links to add to your homeschooling enjoyment

quotes about education, school, or other related topics

In short, this blog is all about learning and teaching and growing in your homeschool family. I hope this will be a blessing to you and aid you on your journey.