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Homeschool Info Line Transcript
(This is my actual script for the Homeschool Info Line, which will explain why I mention certain things. However, if you call and listen to it, a few things may be different or in a different order as I'm constantly editing my stuff! . . . After reading this script, you are welcome to call this line (360-577-1245),press the * key on your phone pad, and leave your message just the same as if you had listened to the message. Or you are welcome to email me instead at:
[Transcript:] "Hello, you have reached the homeschool information line produced by Barb and Dave Shelton, re-recorded on October 9, 1999. Let me first explain how this info line works... Because of the high volume of contacts we receive and how limited our time and availability are, I have put the information and answers that most people call about into this message which is about 8 or 9 minutes long. We know that most of you don’t need all the info contained here, but we do not have the staff that would be needed to do it any other way. If you don’t have time right now to listen to all of this message, we’d be happy to mail you the transcript for free. What you’d need to do is press the star key or the number 1 on your phone pad at any time during this message, and then immediately start talking, telling us your name and address, and that you’d like us to send "HILT" - for Homeschool Info Line Transcript." Be sure to speak slowly and clearly, and include your zip code.
Many people call hoping to get a return call from me personally to answer a wide range of questions about homeschooling. While I would love to be able to do that, I need to explain to you where we're at... We receive an average of 500 homeschool contacts a month. Many people contact us thinking that we’re a homeschool organization with a staff waiting by the phone to handle these inquiries, but that’s not the case with us. I’m a homeschooling mom myself, also handling a home business with my husband, so answering all these requests personally is impossible if I’m to stay sane and fulfill my roles as mom, wife, and homemaker. If you’re needing to know how to get started at homeschooling, or restarted if you are burning out, I have put my own personal advice, forms, and encouragement for doing so into book form. Which I’ll share more on in a moment. Because we need to guard our home life or we’ll end up without one, I am generally not able to return calls though I do make exceptions as I sense the Lord leading. My books are the avenue we have provided to answer most questions homeschoolers have. (And no, this is not what our "In Box" looks like; I just think this is a cute graphic!)
We
need to have you purchase these through the mail, even if you live
locally as we are unable to have people come to our home to purchase or
The basic foundation of my ministry is that education is more than just selecting curriculum. Before attempting to educate our children, we parents must know what true education is ourselves; we must first become homeschooled ourselves in order to homeschool our children, though you can certainly start home- schooling before you complete this process. My books are designed expressly to help you do this. I believe our culture has strayed far from God’s idea of and purpose for education, lifting up "academics" far higher than what I believe constitutes a balanced focus on them, to the total omission of the most important elements of education. The world lays a burden on us that is heavy; a yoke that is anything but "easy", as Jesus said His yoke would be. So I believe we need to "de-brief" from the world's concept of education. This necessitates what I call a "season of re-education and renewing of the mind." This will save you much heartache and stress, much conflict within your homeschooling experience, much frustration with your children, and hundreds of dollars in unused, mis-used, or over-used curriculum. God says: "My ways are not the world's ways." If we are to get to the place He wants to take us in educating our children, it is vital that we do it His way for our family, and begin by seeking Him on how.
The books I have written and the ones I recommend for this season help you, the parent, re-educate yourself, re-focus on what’s really important, and lighten your load...
They contain many practical helps and reproducible masters for making a transition to true home education. They help in a variety of areas, including just starting out, or RE-starting after having burned out; high school, Wash. State History, lab science , phonics, many organizational helps for younger children, and field trips. I wrote Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+la, Lab Science: The How, Why, What, Who ‘n’ Where Book, the Homeschool Jumpstart Navigator, the Make-My-Own Phonics Book, and The Booklet Building Book. I can send you a Sampler Catalog that briefly describes all my books and tapes, plus several others if you ask for SC, for Sampler Catalog. However everything in that and more is included here in my online catalog. If you are getting the Homeschool Guide-a-log, which I’ll explain in just a moment, you do not need the Sample Catalog, however, as everything in the Sampler Catalog and much more is contained in the Guide-a-log. Hope I'm not confusing you more than is absolutely necessary!
If you have a special needs child you are wanting to homeschool, there is a wonderful organization that can be of help to you called NATHHAN, National Challenged Homeschoolers. The phone number is 208-267-6246, and that’s in Idaho so please consider the time difference. Their email address is nathanews@aol.com.
As for my home-based education course, we have completely revamped it, so it is now very different – and much improved – over the other one that you may have heard of as being the video-correspondence course, which I offered for many years, but discontinued at the end of 1997. The new course I designed is called a "Season of Re-education and Renewing of the Mind." If you want just a very brief write-up on it, that’s included in the Sampler Catalog that I just mentioned. If you want an extensive description of it as well as the list of recommended resources for my course, then you’ll need to purchase my 170-page book called the Homeschool Guide-a-log. Besides a thorough description of the course, it additionally has the complete line of homeschool resources that we offer, many articles that I and several of my favorite authors have written, and an intro to the younger Jumpstarter. It’s everything I want to say to those considering homeschooling, to new homeschoolers, and even to experienced homeschoolers who are burning out, or who have not yet considered the many issues that I feel are vital for every homeschooler to deal with if they want to be free to walk in all God has for them. In fact, this Guide-a-log is actually the starting point of the new course, though you will get just as much out of it even if you do not take my whole course. In fact, in that case, I believe you’d need it even more. This 170-page, full-size book is only $7, plus $3 s/h, plus .52 tax only if you live in WA state. It is the best place I can suggest you start, and is available only through us. To order a copy of this book, the Homeschool Guide-a-log, just send your check or money order for $10, or $10.52 for WA residents, U.S. funds only please, to: Dave & Barb Shelton, 182 No. Columbia Hts. Rd. / Longview, WA 98632. If you missed that address, I’ll give it again in a moment. And we are almost done!
If you live locally and would like to see the books I have written, you can either go to Lighthouse Christian Bookstore which is located at 901 No. 7th Ave in Kelso, WA, (open M-F 9am to 1pm) or you can come to the next local Homeschool meeting. Upon request we will bring samples of all the books I have written so that you can see them before purchasing. These meetings are held once a month (except during the summer months), but at this point we are in transition regarding location and day. Email me at beshelton@aol.com to find out where it will be next month. Dave and I lead that meeting now, so we are there every month. We’re also very happy to meet homeschoolers at that time.
If you are looking into homeschooling due to problems or dissatisfaction with a school or teacher, I wrote an article called "Help! I Need to Homeschool and Have No Idea Where to Start!" which I'd be glad to send you for free if you ask for "H.A." for "Help Article." (If you can get it here online, please just print it out from here, for yourself or a friend.) However, if you are going to be ordering the Homeschool Guide-a-log, no need to order this separately as this article is contained in the Guide-a-log. (And all of the articles in the Article Chart are now online at my website's Article Chart.)
If all you are wanting at this point is my free Sampler Catalog or the free article, or if you have a question that’s not answered here, please leave your name and address, speaking very clearly and spelling any unusual words that you want me to spell correctly. If you have an email address, that’s actually the most efficient way for us to contact you. From there we will let you know how you can best be helped.
Again, our address is: Dave and Barb Shelton / 182 No. Columbia Heights Rd. / Longview, WA 98632.
We know that finding the information you need can be a frustrating endeavor, and hope that this message has been of help to you in this process. Thank you for calling.
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look over them. We discovered many years ago that this is just too
disruptive to our home life. You'll have an opportunity later in this
message to let us know exactly what you are in need of, and we’ll
either let you know what we have to offer that will help, or try
to connect you with someone else who can help. Or, in a few
cases, if I feel I am the one to help you, I will get back with you, but
I need to ask that you please not expect that.