Welcome!

A little over 12 years ago, my husband and I married and created a blended family. I "inherited" his daughter and son, then 11 and 8 years old, and he adopted my son, a few months shy of two years old. They have been growing up quickly, and two of them have already flown from the nest, and are attending college. I have to credit my husband for suggesting that I homeschool when we lived on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. We later found out that Texas is one of the best states in which to homeschool, so we skedaddled down here and have been homeschooling ever since.

I am currently homeschooing my 13-year-old son. He attends classes in cooperatives, and also learns at home. We educate him using an eclectic mix of methods, including Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, and Enki, with a little Classical mixed in. Hunter was diagnosed with severe dyslexia and auditory processing disorder. So, this web site has some special, hopefully creative, insight for challenged students, particularly those who are gifted (and aren't they all?), but can't learn in the "usual" manner.

We believe that learning is a process and a way of life, not a specific event that occurs in a building during a certain time of day. To that end, we try to create an environment at home that encourages learning at all times. I don't have a classroom. Instead, we consider the world our classroom. For the most part, however, we learn at the kitchen table!

With this site, I hope to introduce and compare various teaching methods used in the homeschooling community. Since there are other sites that deal with more traditional materials, I plan to focus on holistic and living methods of homeschooling. In some ways, these methods aren't very similar. And, while it is true that they often contradict each other, in other ways, they often complement one other.

Purists of each method might argue that their way is the One True Path, and any deviation would be considered a break from that path. I see education as more of a river than a road, with tributaries flowing into one river, leading to a very deep ocean.

With that vision, I created this site, and a living science site entitled Cosmic Education, to help you swim through the muddy waters of confusion until they are crystal clear. Hopefully, the guidance you find on this web site will enable you to create your own unique method of holistic homeschooling unlike any other, using existing materials. Welcome to Cosmic Education! I chose the name Cosmic Education because it is a term used in Montessori education symbolizing the whole child in relation to the world and the universe. Montessori also called the lessons learned in Cosmic Education her Great Lessons. From this perspective, every topic of education can fall under one of the Great Lessons - The Beginning, Timeline of Life, Coming of Humans, History of Numbers, or History of Language.

Maria Montessori once said, "Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world." Homeschoolers do that task naturally, but they often become perplexed over the question - which curriculum is right, and which one is wrong? How can I help my child find his potential, his giftedness? Hopefully this site will help guide you along the path, particularly when it comes to choosing science materials.

There was a song I once heard that had the lyrics, "I'm not lost, I'm exploring." It is still a theme song for our family when we go on road trips and take a wrong turn. Sometimes the wrong turn is also the most creative one! We have ended up in places we never saw on a map. So remember that when you feel lost, a better way to look at all the confusion is that you are exploring. With that being said ... have fun exploring!