The alluring scent of fresh popped corn wafted through our den as the little ones scampered to see who could put on their pj’s the fastest. A fire roared, the vanilla candles flickered and three art prints  of a lion were spread around the coffee table where the big bowl of popcorn was placed in the middle. In front each art print, was a cup filled with a variety of art quality colored pencils.

Soft, celtic instrumental music floated in the background amongst high chattering and giggling voices. Excitement and pleasure seemed to ooze from all of us as the children took their places around their very own art piece and Clay and I snuggled down into our overstuffed chairs.

“We’re all ready, Daddy,” Sarah proclaimed as the in charge oldest child.

And so began one more rousing chapter of a story book we had been reading each night before bedtime.

Our family experienced literally thousands upon thousands of such hours together, building invisible strings from one heart to another, discussing great ideas, engaging in discussions of Biblical ideas and crafting a very personal “Clarkson” culture that gave strong anchors to each of our lives.

When people ask me, “What was the real secret of all of your children becoming so articulate, committed to the Lord and passionate about life?”

I wish I had a formula to share, but the answer was that it was about the life we celebrated together in our home. As a mother, I knew that I was the conductor of beauty, light, color and creativity in our home. Reflecting the shadows of His love in the ways we lived, the rhythms we kept. This task became a challenge to me and a source of joy in my own life.  I sought every day to make our home a place that was a small reflection of the Garden that He had originally crafted for His own first children, Adam and Eve. God put such beauty, design, variety in the place he prepared for his own children and He became for me a model of what I wanted to recreate in my home.

Artistry of life is one of the most winsome ways a mom can display in each moment so that children’s hearts will be softened to the heart of God and the messages of God, as they sense His reality in their own home.

The past few months, Clay and I finalized all of our memories, thoughts  and convictions about just how we created this life in our home–from the books we read to the tea times we celebrated. Life was full and we hoped our home would always be, for our children, the best place to be. These memories are all stored and saved in our new version of Educating the Whole Hearted Child.

Originally, dear friends had told us, “You need to put all of these ideas into a book, so that you don’t have to answer so many letters and take so many phone calls”, as we were pioneers in the home education movement and many searched us out to find out just how to “manage” this life of education and home.

Now, over 14 years later, and after having sold 75,000 copies, we produced what we think will be our final version of Educating the Whole Hearted Child, now that all of our children have graduated from our own homeschool.

At 384 pages, with thousands of references, ideas, traditions, book lists, quotations, we hope that the story of our lives, through this book, will greatly encourage each of you.

PREFACE: A WholeHearted Journey for Home
INTRODUCTION: Christian Homeschooling — Taking a Step of Faith toward Home
SECTION 1: HOME
Chapter 1: The Christian Home — Learning to Be at Home with Christ
Chapter 2: The Christian Homeschool — Learning at Home to Be with Christ
Chapter 3: Home Nurture — Shepherding Your Child’s Spirit to Long for God
Chapter 4: Home Discipleship — Shaping Your Child’s Heart to Live for God
Chapter 5: Home Education — Strengthening Your Child’s Mind to Learn for God
SECTION 2: LEARNING
Chapter 6: The WholeHearted Learning Model — Living and Learning Together at Home
Chapter 7: The WholeHearted Learning Home — Creating a Home You Can Learn Within
Chapter 8: The WholeHearted Learning Child — Understanding Your Child
Chapter 9: The WholeHearted Learning Youth — Beyond the WholeHearted Child
SECTION 3: METHODS
Chapter 10: Discipleship Studies Methods — The Study of the Bible
Chapter 11: Disciplined Studies Methods — The Study of the Basics
Chapter 12: Discussion Studies Methods — The Study of Ideas
Chapter 13: Discovery Studies Methods — The Study of Learning
Chapter 14: Discretionary Studies Methods — The Study of Living
SECTION 4: LIVING
Chapter 15: Family — Keeping the Vision Alive
Chapter 16: Structure — Keeping the Homeschooling Together
Chapter 17: Order — Keeping the Home Together
Chapter 18: Support — Keeping the Spirit Strong
POSTSCRIPT: The Challenge — Keeping Faith in the Family
RESOURCES
A: Books for the WholeHearted Family
B: Books for WholeHearted Learning
C: Forms for WholeHearted Learning

You can buy the book here!

By Sally Clarkson, I Take Joy 

On Educating the WholeHearted Child…