The Old Schoolhouse Magazine - A Review

Old Schoolhouse Magazine is a magazine devoted to Christian homeschooling. I checked out the digital copy of  The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's November 2012 issue and enjoyed reading it a lot.  I read the digital issue both on my computer and on my i-phone, and here is the best part: every issue of TOS is free. It is also available through our free apps at www.TOSApps.com .I really liked the app. Often times, on my phone, digital publications are teeny - tiny, this app gave the option of seeing the text of the article in a size and format that was very comfortable to read, but it still gave a good sense of the magazine as a whole.

At a hefty 152 pages there is a little something for everyone.   I got the assignment to write this review a week ago as part of the application to the Schoolhouse Review Crew (check out their blog at SchoolhouseReviewCrew.com). I fully intended to get it done by Tuesday.  The problem was there was so much great information and so many well written articles I just had to keep reading and thinking and reading some more.  It took me the week to get through the whole publication.  Honestly, I think it would take a whole month to appreciate all the information in this magazine. 

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is written by a diverse group of homeschooling experts.  Several themes ran through the November issue; poetry, music education, and teaching Godly character, with a special feature on the Amish, as well as articles devoted to the "how to" of homeschooling.  I was a little confused about the organization of the magazine.  There were feature articles from experts from a wide variety of viewpoints, such as, The Classical Homeschooler and the Struggling Homeschooler.  There was also several sections with multiple articles devoted to one topic such as Poetry, Music and Heroes of Faith. However, the confusing organization of the magazine as a whole will not keep me from reading other issues.  The information presented, article by article, and, of course, the price - did I mention it was free - is enough to make me want to pick up the next issue.

There is a lot of information in this magazine.  Several articles spoke to me personally because of where we are in life right now with a 3 year old and a 12 year old.  The article "Old Fashioned Curtsey" by Karen Andreola, the article "Guidelines for Success" by Kay Camenish and the editorial "It's Time to Wake Up" all talked about teaching character to children as well as tackling some adult attitudes. 

I liked several articles that gave practical advice to those in the trenches, working and walking out the conviction to homeschool every day.  My favorite of these articles was "Toys that Teach, Playing to Learn" by Lindy Abbot.  She talks about how toys work to teach children. She provides lots of fabulous resources, all nicely linked to websites in the digital copy and she has a fantastic chart on page 94 (you can quick click over there) of classic and modern toys and what types of things, like creative thinking or time management, the children learn from playing with those toys.

All in all I enjoyed the magazine which is wonderful resource for homeschooling parents.  I know that I learned lots from this issue, will continue to read future issue and delve into the back issues, which are available on the app.

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.