About the Authors

"Dr. Beechick's principles are the basis for this curriculum. During it's creation, I had the privilege of consulting with her. Teaching in a natural manner is important to her and we reflected her values by incorporating language skills and history as a unified part of the everyday routines. Thank you, Dr. Beechick." - Author, Debbie Strayer

Debbie Strayer

Debbie Strayer earned her bacherlor’s and master’s degrees in education and has many years of experience as an educator, consultant, and student evaluator. She is the former editor and co-founder of Homeschooling Today magazine, the author of Gaining Confidence to Teach, the editor of The Homeschool Answer Book by her mentor, Dr. Ruth Beechick, and co-author of the Learning Language Arts Through Literature series. Debbie feels that her most important accomplishments are that she has been the wife of Greg Strayer for over 30 years, the mother of homeschool graduates Nate and Ashley, and a homeschooling parent for 16 years. She speaks and writes about homeschooling topics with humor, honesty, and encouragement.

Linda Fowler

Linda received a BA degree in Visual Communications from the University of South Florida, where she also met her husband, Colclough. She subsequently spent 17 years homeschooling their four children, from 1st through 12th grades, and developing an unshakeable appreciation for the power of encouragement. The Fowlers reside in Tampa, Florida.

 

What People are Saying:

"Paths of Exploration has restored my joy and confidence in our homeschooling. My children have not only enjoyed school more but they have grown tremendously in their ability to think through and communicate ideas with clarity and depth. We have many thrilling stories of triumph that started in struggles as my children were challenged beyond their natural abilities to discuss, to write, to draw or present their work. I am eternally grateful for how my own views of what learning really is have been transformed so that we can be free to love learning together."

– Elyce

 

"I have been using Paths of Exploration this past school year and I am very happy with it. I am looking forward to Paths of Settlement. I am wondering if a list is available for the books that will be used so I can begin planning and preparing. Thanks so much for any information you might have and thank you for this wonderful, innovative curriculum!."

– Amy

 

"I ordered Trail Guide to Learning this past Tuesday and received it a mere two days later! Wow! Kudos to your customer service department! I am so happy with the curriculum thus far. It is extremely well-laid out and very easy to implement. I have [curriculum X] I've tried to use [curriculum Y] and ended up selling them after a few weeks. You have brought together the best elements of all of those and then some and put it together in a way that makes sense and is easy to use. The Handbook of Nature Study has been sitting on my bookshelf for years but I could never really incorporate it into the curriculum we were using, but now, with Trail Guide, I can! I know people will want to tweak and add things, especially grammar, but I'm with Dr Beechick and plan to wait until high school for formal grammar instruction. I also love the teaching notes. They provide handholding without being scripted. They help me to understand what my children should be taking away from each lesson and provide opportunities for discussion. Your curriculum is an answer to my prayers. Thank you!"

– Ann

 

"I am anxiously awaiting the release of the program. If and when you plan on taking preorders, please let me know. I have most of the books already and we are raring to go. My boys (yes, I do mean it) really want to start the program. We used the sample and by Friday, they were asking for it. Even the writing part, so PLEASE RELEASE IT EARLY IF POSSIBLE! God’s Blessings to you and all who worked so hard on this curriculum."

– K. Phillips

 

"I very much enjoyed the historical fiction books. They helped in making the history more real and come alive for my kids. The Reader's Digest N. American Wildlife is a great quick resource. I enjoyed watching my kids draw pictures from it. The work for the kids was just about right. It wasn't too much or too little. My son is not crazy about drawing. But, I have to say, his drawing seemed to get better and better each time. My daughter liked the drawing and we all enjoyed reading the historical fiction stories. My son is pretty independent with his school work and by using Paths of Exploration, it allowed us the opportunity to come together with the reading time, discussion, etc. which is something I really enjoyed."

– M. Lindsey

 

"My son is really getting into drawing the animals/plants from the Wildlife guide, is using colored pencils and starting to detail things. His confidence is starting to grow...I'm so happy because I can't draw a straight line!

 

"Here's a fun story. One school day I couldn't find Surviving Jamestown on the bookshelf. When I asked the children to help me find it, my daughter ran to her room and retrieved the book. After apologizing, she said she wanted to know what happened in the next chapter and ended up reading the entire book! Now, how could I be upset with that"?

"When we received our resource books for the program, we were a bit intimidated by the thickness of some of the books. In fact, the kids said "Whoa Mom, what have you gotten us into now!" It is amazing how I have found my son, more than once, reading the North American Wildlife Guide 'just for fun'. Thanks for the 'intimidation.'"

– R. Nelson