So, here's what you get...

This is the issue that was originally going to be the All Darwin All The Time issue. Then it was going to be the Darwin/Critical Thinking issue, because I had some articles in a critical-thinking vein and figured they were thematically appropriate. I mean, Darwin was all about critical thinking, right?

And then, when the great divide came down and we went bimonthly, this issue went back to being a Largely Darwin With Some Other Stuff issue.

So here's what's in it.

"Books About Darwin" is just that. It's a very long review section of books about Darwin for all ages. Most of the books reviewed came out this year, in honor of the double anniversary. A few were published previously, but were just too valuable not to talk about. Kristan Lawson's Darwin and Evolution for Kids gets a huge review, because I wanted to give a lot of information about how the book could be utilized, what kind of information it offers, and just how excellent it is.

In the section about books for teenaged and adult readers, I express my love for Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution is True, which is so amazingly wonderful that I just can't say enough about it. It's solid science that's utterly accessible even to a science bonehead like me. Please, for the love of heaven, read this book.

"Teaching Darwin" gives details about a class I'm teaching to some young homeschooled friends. It's anecdotal, but I hope it offers some worthwhile information about teaching about Darwin himself and the theory of evolution to fairly young children.

"Reading Darwin" is about my misadventures in reading Darwin's own writing. The other Darwin articles are written in serious, straightforward prose, but this one's a little goofier. I wanted readers to be able to laugh at me for having such a hard time -- you'd think the guy wasn't writing in English, for Pete's sake -- and maybe feel a little better if they've had a tough time getting through The Origin of Species, too. I also talk about the various editions of Darwin's autobiography and how they differ from one another.

"The Barbed-Wire Fence" is an article I sought out. A man on my statewide support group's email loop, Paul Adem, posted a wonderful analogy from his own life about homeschooling and why some people are against it. I wrote to him off-loop and shamelessly begged him to consider expanding what he'd posted into an article. He graciously agreed.

"A Day in the Life of a New Homeschooler" is a funny, heartwarming piece by Nancy Gauvreau about -- well, exactly what it sounds like. Not only is it deeply reassuring (hey, I guess we are doing okay!), but it offers some great resource ideas.

"The Badman Report" is my own report on how and why the British government is trying to make life difficult for homeschoolers. The Bitter Homeschooler loses her sense of humor for this piece.

"The Threat to Homeschooling in Sweden" -- pretty self-explanatory. I felt a lot of pressure writing this one, because I'll be sending some copies to the Swedish national support group. They said that being able to show their government that the eyes of the world are upon them might help. Here's hoping.

"Starting a Homeschool Co-op" by Brandy Bergenstock is an excellent how-to article. Bergenstock shares her expertise on this subject, offering valuable advice on how to work with other homeschoolers in a "class" setting. This article was of personal interest to me, since I once taught some homeschooling classes through our local YWCA. I felt rather guilty about not being able to continue teaching for reasons of my own, and reading Bergenstock's article made me realize what had been missing in the structure in which I'd been working. Now I feel inspired to try again, implementing her suggestions.

"Baseline" is by Sue Landsman, whose humor writing has been a regular feature in SHM for some time now. This piece is a lovely meditation on how important it is for homeschoolers to hit "pause" now and then.

The rest of the articles are regular columns. I will add that anyone who read last issue's "Home Scholars" and was concerned about how the Ninja Reindeer would fare against the evil Dr. Bratwurst will not be disappointed.

More about "Home Scholars" soon, since there is one change I made that I'd like to talk about here. For now, I have to go address some more envelopes.