Pajama School is the autobiographical journey of Natalie Wickham, a homeschool graduate who chronicles her journey through honest, vivid, and candid stories.
While chronicling her journey, Wickham provides a strong message that God's plan for her family far surpassed what her parents could ever have planned for their children. As she willingly tells all, Wickham discloses the reality of her educational experience and its relationship to the many challenges she faced growing up.
She illustrates how God took her classmates (her sisters) and transformed their relationship into that of best friends. She expresses the highs and lows of switching churches, finding a curriculum, living with an ailing grandmother, living with a sister with a disability, mending relationships with family members (including her father), and surviving terrible tragedy.
And as she tells her stories of being homeschooled, she seems to be expressing thanks to her mother, father, and sisters who made her journey more complete.
One of my favorite passages in the book is this:
"That's what the world of homeschooling is like. It stretches far beyond the boundaries of a single family, a community, or one local church. It is comprised of all sorts of people, from varied backgrounds and different walks of life, but who are united in a common goal – to take seriously the upbringing of their children and provide them with the best education possible. That will mean different things for different people. But that's the beauty of homeschooling. Stereotyped as we may be, no two homeschool families are exactly alike. A peek into any homeschool will quickly reveal that. But still, there persists a familial bond of sorts as we are brought together as part of a bigger community for events such as these." (p.57)
Wickham's book is entertaining, but more importantly, it is a ministry. As she expresses in her own words, "Homeschooling has prepared me for a life of learning, because one of the most valuable things I've learned is that true education is not limited to the walls of a classroom. True education takes place every day as I learn from the expertise and experience of those whom God has placed in my life. This understanding is what has helped me learn and grow, even through the difficult life lessons that God has allowed me to experience." (p.204)
Pajama School is a delightful book that I would recommend to anyone, not just a homeschooler.
And I'm thrilled to announce that Blissfully Domestic has a copy of Pajama School to giveaway!
To enter:
- Leave a comment. That's it!
- For an additional entry, Tweet about this contest. Your tweet must link to this post and you must return here and leave a second comment that you tweeted.
- You must leave a valid email so that we can contact you if you win.
- A winner will be randomly selected on Friday, June 5th at Noon (EST).
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Sounds like a great read
We just got done homeschooling kindergarten with our oldest. I think this book would be great encouragement to me.
We are on the beginning end of homeschool and are surrounded by a great homeschool community and have seen the fruit of homeschooling all around us. This book sounds wonderful!
This book sounds awesome. i would love to read it as a family! Thanks for the review.
We're just starting to homeschool. I need all the encouragement I can get, so this sounds like a great book to read.
Hugs,
Melinda
This sounds like a great book!
Sounds like a great book.
What a great book–I hope I win!
I would love to read this book and share with my friend who homeschools her 4 children.
I love the title! The quote was also so very true. Loved that.
lisaanne29@hotmail.com
Would love a copy! I am very interested in homeschool grad's thoughts since I homeschool.
I have a friend who really, REALLY struggles with those who are negative about homeschooling. She has 4 children and has homeschooled them all at one point or another. To hear from the other side – from the grown child's point of view – would be just another reinforcement to her that she's doing and has done the right thing. I applaud every family who makes that choice – what they sacrifice to do it and what they go through takes more strength and ability than I could possibly imagine. God did not grant me that place with my own son (I was a single mom) but knowing what I know about the public school system, if the opportunity had presented itself, I would have homeschooled him in a heartbeat. I'd love to read this book, too. What an awesome giveaway!
pajama school is a super cute title
Looks to be an encouraging (and fun!) read. Thanks for the great giveaway!
Sounds interesting. I am always interested in reading new authors. And getting a book for free is a great way to do it. Thanks for the contest.
I've been following Natalie's wonderful blog Music Matters for years and would love a copy of the book! Incidentally, there's another giveaway that might be interesting to homeschoolers at my blog – I'm giving away a Composers Activity Pak created by Homeschool in the Woods. Stop by to enter!
Okay, just tweeted this! @lylowe
Sounds like a great book! I would love to read it
Oh, I love that quote. Would love to read this!
I am always up for a nice read!! It is a magical world!
And… there you have it.. I also tweet about it!
Good luck everyone.
2nd year homeschooling and love it…would love to get a different perspective from veteran!
What a great idea for a book. How lovely to hear from a veteran!!!
This sounds like a wonderful read. Thanks for sharing it with us.
sounds like a great read thanks
This looks great, thanks!
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Sounds like a great read. I would love to win!! Pick me!!!
As a mom of three wonderful boys, I am very interested in reading more!
I would love to be entered! The title and cover are very enticing!
Thank you for the giveaway.
lovejessicamarie [@] gmail [.] com
This looks like a fun read!
Sounds like a good book.
I'd love to enter the giveaway!
Sounds like a great read……
Would love this for my daughter she is homeschooling her kids
Looks like a great book. Thanks for the chance
jason(at)allworldautomotive(dot)com
would love to read it:)
How cool it that? I'd love to hear from the perspective of a graduate…this homeschooling thing needs some encouragement from the other side of things every now and then…and again..=]
Agree with Victoria, I think this would be a great book to read on days when wondering if we made the right choice. Looking forward to reading it.
What a neat sounding book! We are just getting started, and to hear the thoughts of a grad would be really neat. Thanks for the giveaway!
Tweeted it, too!
I would love to read this.
Thanks,
darkfyre1(at)gmail(dot)Com
This sounds like a really interesting book! I would LOVE to read it!!