Simple Gifts

Simple Gifts is a teaching guide for anyone who works with children and especially helpful for home schooling as a checklist-driven method for organizing and simplifying the daily effort. The guide could be called "a crash course in home schooling" or "an executive summary for busy teachers" or "a way to make home schooling simple and organized." The author took the overwhelming body of research and advice about education and distilled that down to essential principles and activities, thus giving the home schooling parent peace of mind that all fundamental skills are being developed. It is written in a conversational style but is succinct, respecting the valuable time of its busy readers. Its main purpose is to help parents and other teachers re-evaluate their goals, organize, simplify their lives, and gain peace of mind that they are working efficiently. The guide provides three key checklists for the teacher that address not only academic instruction, but also character education and the fostering of healthy habits. These checklists can serve as a daily organizer/planner for the teacher and student, no matter which curriculum is being studied, no matter which books are being read. The checklists help everyone rest assured that they are covering "all the bases." The guide also addresses the personal qualities and habits of the teacher that lead to success.

This guide covers all learning styles, is adaptable for all ages, abilities, and subjects, can be used in any educational setting, incorporates learning theory, and serves as a reminder to teach with variety. The guide also provides a set of graphic organizers, sample transcripts, grade records, progress charts, a history timeline, a vocabulary card template, a phonics phoneme chart for review or remedial work, a list of recommended materials, and lists of questions for problem solving, writing, and taking tests, all of which may be photocopied by the purchaser for instructional use. ~ Caryl Schlicher/Author