The Huffington Post – Mandy Jackson-Beverly 
My husband and I chose to homeschool our two sons during their elementary school years. This was partly due to my observations regarding the amount of knowledge children absorb when they are read stories. Regarding our own sons, I found that long after the fictional stories turned to non-fiction, and kitchen science morphed into lab work, their love of learning grew brighter within and continues to do so. Reading to children is the gift that keeps on giving. The genre of fantasy taught me, from a young age, that the call to adventure awaits us all. Do we accept the opportunity knowing dark shadows lurk in the path ahead? Or do we shake our heads, step back, and linger in the safety of familiarity? The choice is ours to make.(more)