Why ask for donations?

Isn’t it amazing how many people ask for your donations! There are so many worthy causes out there. We have hesitated, even agonized over, taking this step, but have hope that some people who are able to may help us.

When we started Hillside Education we were naïve about the ins and outs of the publishing world. We just had an idea that sounded good, and it seemed like other people liked it. And then, the more things we published, the more we wanted to publish. Hopefully our products have filled a gap for Catholic home educators. It has been an incredibly creative and adventurous time.

We are at a point where the reality of the publishing world is slamming us. It takes a lot of capital to have enough stock on hand to fill orders and create products. But we are a one-income homeschooling family. So, in hopes of keeping the projects alive, we are asking for donations. We are not a tax exempt operation and can only promise that the money will be used for the projects we have in the works and to keep our current titles in print. If we don’t have enough to pursue the projects in the hopper, we are still committed to keeping our current titles in print.

Here are the projects we have in the works that are in danger of never seeing the light of day:

• Lingua Mater, Language Lessons from Literature Americana
  This is the sequel to Lingua Mater 7 for 8th or 9th grade. It features American poetry, artwork, and literature and includes original pieces by Suchi Myjak (Behold and See) and Elaine Woodfield (Stories of the Saints)
  


• Intermediate Language Lessons by Emma Serl
  We finally have a lead on finding the text that we can use to update this classic in the same way we updated Primary Language Lessons. We are waiting today to hear from an archivist at the Teacher’s College where Emma Serl taught in the early 1900s.
  


• Exercises in the Paragraph by R.L. Hale
  This is a short writing course by the author of the study questions in Word to Caesar. It is intended for 9th grade.
  


• Lingua Mater, Language Lessons from Literature 6th grade
  This fills the gap between Intermediate Language Lessons and Lingua Mater 7 for those who intend to use LM7 in 7th or 8th grade.
  

Here are some projects that we are working on now that will be completed before the end of the summer:

• Study guide by Nancy Carpentier Brown for St. Francis (a biography) by G. K. Chesterton.
  


• Reprint of the novel Sword of Clontarf by Charles Brady (this is one of the Clarion books from the 1950-60s. It is the story of Brian Boru and the final battle at Clontarf which rid Ireland of the pagan Norse invaders. This battle took place just a few decades before the Battle of Hastings.)
  


• Nancy Carpentier Brown’s adaptations of four of the Chesterton Father Brown stories for 8-10 year olds illustrated by Ted Schluenderfritz.
  

My greatest pipedream is to find a benefactor who will pay my salary so that I may continue to develop these works without having to go outside the home for work. (Might as well dream big if dreaming at all!) So if you know of anyone who might be interested in this work, please pass along this.

We have prayed a wonderful novena to the Infant of Prague through which we were able to get some relief for the current titles. (Please see the Thanksgiving prayer in the previous message.) This has emboldened us to ask for help when we might otherwise have been too proud to do so. We do have a great line of products of which we are proud, but not one of them was completed without Divine aid. There were so many human hurdles through which we persevered. We feel that we can persevere now . . . we continue to trust in God’s bounty.

Through this work and the trials we have come through to make it happen, the richness of our life here with the children has come sharply into focus. We enjoy the great bounty—and the bliss—He provides to those who make sacrifices in His name.

For the greater Glory of God!
Margot
Hillside

P.S. The donation button is on the website! J Prayer donations gladly accepted!!