As you seek to make wise choices for your children’s education, you must evaluate yourself, your family as a whole, your children as individuals, and the curricula available to you. There is so much material available for homeschoolers today that you may feel overwhelmed and wonder how you will ever decide. Before you buy anything, I would recommend some serious thinking, preferably as a couple, about your long term goals for your family. Why are you homescooling? What is it you want to have achieved when you are through?

The goals will be as diverse as our families are. Some of us are in this for the "long haul", some for a year for remedial purposes. Some of us homeschool for religious reasons, some for academics, and some because we move a lot.

Once you have set your goals, you’ll have to decide how you want to teach and what materials you want to use. Do you want to follow the methods most of us grew up with, but do so at home? Do you want to integrate learning into your daily life in a new way? Do you want to use textbooks and workbooks, or "real" books and a more hands-on approach?

The following is a description of one curriculum choice available, the one we have chosen for our family, KONOS.

The authors’ goals, which matched those we had set for our family, are:

1. We want our children to be lifelong lovers of learning.

2. We want them to think and reason clearly.

3. We want them to be equipped to handle life, practically and academically.

4. We want our children to grow in Godly character.

KONOS is a unit studies curriculum, based on Christian character traits. Unit studies is a method of teaching in which you integrate all your subjects under one topic of study. For example, we are now focusing on the character trait of cooperation as we study the unit, Systems of the Body. Obviously, this unit covers much science and health (we are reading, making models, and dissecting), but we are also learning the history of medical progress (social studies), studying Renaissance artists and the human body in art (art), listening to symphonies (in which the instruments work together) (music), exercising together (PE), cooking nutritious meals (practical living), and reading the book of Romans to study Paul’s comparison of the church body to the human body (Bible). Much of our language arts is covered as we read and discuss biographies, historical fiction, and other "real" books to learn about our unit. Grammar and composition are incorporated by relating writing assignments to the topic. Our girls are cooperatively writing a story about a journey through the body. We even throw in some math application occasionally - just how long is your small intestine and how does it fit in there?!

A great advantage to us of this approach is that it is multi-level; the whole family studies the same thing, each member working at his or her ability level. It really does help build strong families. The children love to share their latest project with their father, and we frequently find ourselves going some bizarre place on our vacations because we all want to know more about something we studied recently.

KONOS emphasizes hands-on learning. The volumes are full of suggestions for learning by doing. (You don’t just read about the ear; you build one and crawl through it like you’re a sound wave.) There is also an emphasis on discovery learning, in which the children figure things out for themselves, which builds reasoning skills. The activities are designed so the children will learn by doing (to learn), discovering (to think) , dramatizing (to remember), dialoguing (to internalize truths and build relationships with each other), and drill (to crystallize it all.)

There are 3 volumes for grades K-8. Each covers about 3 years, but you can use them in any order. The volumes can be looked at as large cookbooks, full of resources and activities from which you choose the menus for your family. The resource lists contain many classics and great "living" books. You don’t have to be creative to use it . Plenty of ideas are in the activities section. If you need help with structure, each volume includes lesson guides. Because most people using KONOS study history "out of order", there is a timeline available to provide a visual framework for history.

KONOS does not include subjects that must be taught sequentially: phonics, grammar, and mathematics. We love this approach so think any disadvantages are worth the results, but here are a few things that you might want to think about:

Planning is different than with textbooks. You are in charge of the direction of your studies much more.

Record keeping is different. Take pictures and throw out your projects unless you have lots of storage space.

It can be very messy!

We initially chose KONOS for the academics. We had seen a family use it and obviously learn and have fun using it. We have found the spiritual benefits to be great as well. We all work on the character traits and are growing together. I read something Lincoln wrote that I can't quote, but the gist of it was that you can't raise up a child in the way he should go unless you have first walked the path. With KONOS, learning becomes a lifestyle for the whole family.

Two years of a high school curriculum, History of the World (HOW), are also available, and two more are planned. HOW Year 1 covers ancient history; Year 2 covers medieval times. These continue the KONOS approach of real books, hand-on learning, and discovery learning, but are designed to teach and promote independent learning.

There are also 2 units now available of the Konos-in-a-Box series: Obedience and Orderliness. These user-friendly sets provide a great introduction to how a unit studies day works, or a helping hand for busy times in your life. They contain the great books and activities Konos is known for in a scripted format, plus Bible lessons, composition lessons tied to the unit, and a literature study. You can buy just the curricula, the curricula and a mini-timeline, or a complete set with curricula, timeline, resource books, and craft materials.

If you have any questions or want to purchase KONOS, please contact me.

Sue Bogdan

1210 Greenmont Circle

Vienna, WV 26105

304-295-4052

e-mail: BogdanJE@prodigy.net