Simon Paul Harrison sent me a copy of his new book way back in February for a review and giveaway and it’s been sitting on my nightstand just waiting patiently since then. I’ve finally been able to read The Truly Alive Child and enjoyed it. I’m really excited to give a copy away to one lucky reader!
I don’t blog that much about our homeschooling philosophy so you might not know where I really stand on this issue. However, if you take a look through my homeschooling posts, you might quickly see that I like Waldorf ideas, play, and nature. We’re big hands-on-learners and you might say my homeschooling style is currently pretty relaxed. We certainly have not recreated the traditional school scene at my house.
On any given you day, you might find my children playing the piano, digging in the dirt, riding bikes, helping me cook, cleaning, and in general, living – with an occasional formal lesson thrown in. I do require my oldest to work on her handwriting and math, for instance. And we read. We read a lot. And we take trips and play.
So Harrison’s book is right up my alley. He wants adults to TRUST children to become independent learners and lovers of life. He wants everyone to realize that we are all connected to the Earth and to honor the uniqueness that abounds everywhere.
Harrison weaves in personal stories from his own childhood as well as stories from Native American folklore to show how children can connect to the Earth. Overall, I really like his ideas that we are all connected and that each child’s uniqueness should be honored, celebrated, and honed. If we could find a way to achieve those two big goals on a big scale, I really believe we would live in a better place. I’m left wondering, though, how to make it happen in the “real world” – ie, public school setting. I’m happy we’re able to homeschool right now and I really enjoy watching my children learn about their interests, on their own time, at their own pace. Harrison’s book is just another resource to convince me to keep on trucking!
For more information about Simon Paul Harrison and his book, check out his website. And follow him on twitter!
Harrison has graciously provided one lucky winner with a copy of The Truly Alive Child, too! I’m certain you will enjoy this book! To get your own copy, you can purchase it on his website for $16.95 + shipping, or you can win one here!
For your chance to win, just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below!
About Michelle
Welcome! I'm Michelle and I'm glad you're here. Simplify, Live, Love is a blog about simple life in rural Iowa. We are a self-employed, frugal, green, mostly homeschooling family of 6 working to go off the grid on a modern day homestead in Eastern Iowa. Please subscribe for gardening tips, green living hints, recipes, fun giveaways, and frugal ideas. Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog for a few months now. This book sounds right up my alley, but I don’t have a blog to enter your give away. If you can find away to add my entry I’d really appreciate it. We homeschool, and live directly across the street from an elementary school. People (sometimes including my family) don’t always understand our non traditional schooling. Rarely do we use formal lessons, and yet most people comment how intelligent my son is. I’d love to have some written validation that I’m not completely crazy, LOL.
You’re entered, Jennifer! I’m sorry if the directions are unclear – you just need to leave a comment on MY blog post!
Thanks for your comment! Good luck!
Let me clarify. You now need to log on to the rafflecopter form which you can do by entering your email address. Then click you’ve done the required blog post comment, and THEN you’re entered. Make sense?
Hi Michelle, I wonder if you follow the blog FIMBY (Fun in My Back Yard): http://fimby.tougas.net/
Sounds like your family and the FIMBY author’s might be compatible!
I have not seen her blog before. It’s beautiful! Thanks for recommending it.
Sounds like a perfect book to fit my philosophy. I would look forward to reading it!
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(Glad I’m not the only who takes a few months to read a book–usually I have to endlessly renew them
I’ve been homeschooling my son for five years. When we first started we committed to go “year by year” but with each year I become more convicted that he will never return to public school. I see many faults in the public education system but even more importantly, I see SO MANY benefits to teaching my child. We’re tying strings, building a great relationship and following God’s leading.
My *personal* experience with the educational system in the U.S.,is that it’s pretty crummy.:/ Way too many kids packed into classrooms,no one on one attention,lots of kids slipping through the cracks…There was a remedial reading class in my high school,for kids that could barely read. In HIGH SCHOOL.
That book sounds like a really good affirmation for my own homeschool philosophy.
My comment: How wonderful it is that we life in a free country where people can choose the educational system for their children: public, private, church school, home school! We are a fortunate nation indeed!
My girls have not yet reached school-age and tbh I am kind of dreading it. My husband and I both work though, so we will make the most of it. I believe that schools could do a 360 if they would treat teachers as valuable as they are! As an adult I have seen firsthand how teachers are treated and it saddens me. They are molding our future… we should treat them better!
I think as a parent (which I’m not) is responsible for making sure their children attend the right schools for them. My folks specifically picked areas with award winning schools to live in, even though my dad sometimes ended up commuting more than an hour to work.
I hate how children seem to be somewhat forced into certain ideas or beliefs at public schools. My oldest is only 4, but my husband and I are eagerly looking into homeschooling options!
This sounds wonderful, and we’ve never even heard of this author. Would really like to read this book!
Thanks for entering our family.
About the public school system in this country: I’ve worked in several, and would NEVER put someone I care about into that setting!
Thank you for a second entry.
I think the school that my son goes to is ok. However I don’t rely on the school to teach him everything he needs to know. We work on academic and non-academic on our own to fill in the gaps!
I remember when I was in Kindergarten, our teacher did an assignment where we had to color a deer. I used a green crayon. She called a conference with my parents to discuss my excess creativity. When asked why I colored a deer green, I explained, “There were no more brown crayons left, so I chose another color.” Why have a conference over that? Majoring on minors even then and that was over 30 years ago.
I don’t think the box is big enough, lol. I think that the educational system in the US wouldn’t be as bad as it is, if it weren’t for today’s overwhelming amount of busy and uninvolved parents, who feel it is solely the teacher’s responsibility to teach their children.
I home school my children because the educational system in this country is abysmal. My children were constantly bringing home work that wasn’t looked at. It seems the teacher to child ratio is inadequate to be able to give each child the attention they deserve and need to learn.
My son will be in kindergarten this fall, and I don’t like theschool systems around here, so I’ve been considering homeschool. I’m just unsure how to start.
Hi Samantha, do you have any local homeschool groups? They’re usually very helpful. My son was in K this past year, and we really just read a lot of books, went the library a lot, and did bunches of fun trips! No stress!
Not that I’m aware of. But I have been looking into the K12 program online.
I think our educational system could use a complete overhaul….not happy with the new test Staar and hated the TAKS test…
The US educational system in my experience, needs improvement. Public school felt like a prison to me a lot of the time. I didn’t like taking classes that I had no interest in and following a strict schedule. And all those bullies made it a pain and took a toll on me self-esteem wise…But I learned a thing or two and had some good teachers amongst it all. And I had a supportive family so glory to God I got through it.
I think that education is dumbing us down (see book by John Gatto). I know two teachers who decided to homeschool their children. To me, that says it all. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.
I’m sending my daughter to public school next year for Kindergarten. The whole prospect worries me, so we’ll see how it goes.
I think the school system in this country leaves a lot to be desired which is why I will be home schooling my little ones
I think the US educational system is a sham. I am a homeschool and will be that way with all three of my kids from Preschool through High School.
My daughter’s school teaches kids using a variety of styles which is really nice since my daughter learns best visually while others may learn better other ways.
I am happy with my kids’ schools academically speaking. They are doing a good job of teaching, but I feel that my kids are not getting enough activity during the day. Also, I feel that they spend too much time preparing the kids to take standardized tests.
The public school sustem scares me.
I think our school systems in need of some major help; class sizes are to large, test scores continue to drop and teachers are expected to teach more sooner, and lets keep cutting out funding, need I go on? These are some of the many reasons I will be homeschooling my son.
I think the school system is a mess. With all the cut backs, it’s just ruining the kids’ education. I took my daughter out of public school when she was in 7th grade and put her in independant study. It was the best thing I ever did. She did 4 yrs of high school in 2 yrs. She had the best grades in the whole school and graduated at the top of her class. She was 16 and went straight to learn a trade and graduated with honors there. I don’t have anything good to say about public schools. The bullying is horrible. I think homeschooling is great for people who can do it. Thanks for the giveaway!
more often than not teachers dont care enough about their students! However the few that do don’t get paid nearly enough!!!