Interview with Alison Treat: Homeschool Graduate and Homeschool Mother

Hi, Alison, welcome to back to my blog. 

Thanks, Sandy. It’s great to be here again.

Could you tell me if you think having been homeschooled made it easier for you to decide to homeschool your own children?

Making the decision may have actually been more difficult for me. Initially, I felt that if I started out homeschooling my kids, I would be stuck and never be able to send them to school. I also knew the homeschool “culture” a bit and didn’t feel that I fit into it. I overcame these fears by Read More

Interview with Karen Lange: Homeschool Mother

How many years of experience do you have as a homeschool mother?

My husband and I homeschooled our two sons and daughter for grades K-12 for a total of sixteen years. During that time, I was the coordinator of our local support group, and we were actively involved in several co-ops.

Why did you start to homeschool?

We felt led to homeschool after doing some research and talking to friends who homeschooled. One of the main reasons we chose homeschooling was because we felt that the home was the best place for our children to learn. We’d also decided that the local public and private schools were not good options for                                                                                us.

What was your favorite part of being a homeschool mother? Read More

Pennsylvania Birds: Great Blue Heron

"Smooth-neck's" Habitat

This past summer where I walk regularly, I have been observing some resident great blue heron. They each have their own territory. “Rough-neck” likes to hang out in an open part of the stream. “Smooth-neck” always could be found right next to a bushy area. For a week now, I have intended to bring my camera on my walk to take a picture of them. The last three days they weren't there. Now I know why. read more

Greenwood Furnace: The Collier

Ben Ranney, Park Naturalist
  at Little Buffalo State Park
 dressed as a collier

What is a collier?

A man who made charcoal to fuel the furnaces that produced iron in the 1800s and early 1900s.

How was he taught?

A collier was trained by working under a master collier.

Where did he live?

The collier’s families lived in the company’s town, but the collier lived in a hut or cabin near where he built the pits to make charcoal from April through November.

How much did he get paid? Read More

Interview with Matthew Sieber: Homeschool Graduate

What did you like best about being homeschooled?

There is a lot I could say like freedom, efficiency, time with family, free time, and lots more. To pick just one thing, I would say the fact that I wasn’t stuck in a classroom throughout the day.

I don’t know if I want to hear your answer to this, but what didn’t you like? Read More

Pennsylvania Animals: Black Bear

Of all the animals that I talk about with other people, this one gets the most excitement, mostly because in my area so many people have seen a black bear up close and personal. My few sightings have been dramatic, also. Once Read More

Greenwood Furnace: The Woodcutter

Piles and piles of wood. Does it sound like our yard now that my husband is ready for the wood burning season? No, I’m referring to the piles and piles of wood prepared by long ago employees of Greenwood Furnace, woodcutters.

First, woodcutters visited the company office in the fall to get their contracts. Since the furnace shut down in winter, iron workers sometimes turned into woodcutters. Greenwood Furnace paid for 5,000 cords of wood each year to be made into charcoal to fuel each of its furnace stacks. That much wood came from approximately 150 acres of woodland. The best cutter from the previous season Read More

Interview with Joanna Wert, Homeschool Mother

When we decided to homeschool, we knew only one person already doing it, Joanna Wert. She welcomed me into the Snyder County Homeschoolers, encouraged me about our choice to homeschool, and shared many bits of practical advice about how to do it. I love this dear godly woman. She has been an inspiration, as well as a dear friend.  

How many years of experience do you have as a homeschool mother?

I am currently in my 27th year of homeschooling with just one year remaining after this one.

Why did you decide to homeschool?

I started homeschooling because God led me to do it.

What do you like about being a homeschool mother? Read More

PA Insects: The Praying Mantis

 Walking across the road of the Shamokin Dam Giant Store, I encountered a praying mantis also walking on the road. I put my hand down to him, knowing what he would do. He climbed up and continued up my arm, and then my shoulder. Eww, I couldn’t quite manage when he reached my neck. Gently, I brushed at him. He landed in the island between the parking spaces and the road.

How did I know he would climb up? That’s what they do. In fact, our family Read More

Greenwood Furnace – The Village

View of the 1800s blast furnace  in the
Greenwood Furnace State Park Museum

Imagine again going up Big Valley through Belleville over the mountain down into the valley but this time in a horse and wagon. On entering Greenwood Furnace State Park area instead of nicely printed signs, a museum, and campsites, you see rows of wooden houses, a company store, and a huge building with the top belching smoke and heat. The year? 1880.

You enter the company store which looks like the social center of the operation and talk to some residents. You find out that the town Read More

Interview with Amber Schamel, Homeschool Graduate

 One of the delights that I have encountered while working with Helping Hands Press is the people I’ve met. Amber Schamel is one of them. She garnered my attention first when I learned that her parents homeschooled her. Next, I enjoyed reading her books, The Swaddling Clothes and The Healer’s Touch. And in addition, she writes a terrific blog!
amberschamel.blogspot.com

Amber, did you like anything in particular about being homeschooled? Read More