Have I ever told you guys the story about how I almost failed at writing my curriculum to teach your family about health and homeopathy? Yes, it’s true!
You know how anytime you do a big project—and you finally reach the point where you’re almost to the end of it—you feel sooo excited and satisfied. And it’s super exciting to think about getting to the next phase.
Well, right when I got to THAT phase in writing this curriculum, I had to completely stop what I was doing and I had to add another 3 years to the entire project! It was horribly discouraging.
So when I tell you that today we’re going to talk about a super important book, Evie and the Secret of Small Things, and how it’s going to propel your entire family to learn homeopathy together, I want you to know how serious I am. When it felt like this curriculum might never come to fruition, the knowledge of how vital this book would be in helping you teach your children is what pushed me to see it through. This book can act as a learning tool for anybody, nobody is left behind!
Doing it Right
I feel like a lot of the learning materials or products that go out into the world never hit a focus group, and that really annoys me. It annoys me because feedback can really take information from being basic or rudimentary to being life-changing. If you really listen to those around you, it can take information that is good and bring it to epic levels. This is why getting initial feedback from a variety of people is SUPER important, because without that feedback, it really prevents a product from becoming something amazing. While there is some really great high-quality stuff out there, I do feel like sometimes there is too much mediocre content. This is true even in the natural health world, including in homeopathy. I feel like this has only been exacerbated by AI.
So when I was preparing this curriculum, I gathered a variety of people to review my work. I wanted seasoned homeschooling moms, I wanted people whose kids went to public school, I wanted Christians and non-Christians, people who were with young kids and with teens. In short, I wanted feedback from everybody.
Interestingly, one of my group members was actually a professional Charlotte Mason trainer. If you’re not familiar with Charlotte Mason, it’s a literature-based style of teaching. It’s a method that I really like, but for whatever reason, I hadn’t thought about incorporating it very heavily in my curriculum.
She told me that all the lessons were amazing, but that the message about health and homeopathy was going to go in one ear and out the other when it came to kids. She said if I wanted my curriculum to be effective I had to go back and write a story that supported each of the lessons. And this feedback really resonated with me.
So that’s when I decided to broaden my curriculum to include a book of stories. Many of you may not know this, but I was an English major, and I actually do enjoy writing (or maybe you do know this because I do tend to be wordy!). But when it came to Evie and the Secret of Small Things, let me tell you, this was a huge test…and it took me a loooong time to finish it.
Luckily, living in Budapest at the time was kind of perfect because when I was up in the morning all of you were asleep, so I was able to have a lot of time during the day to write. I would also write on the weekends when my husband was home with the kids. I sometimes worked 12 hour days in the coolest little coffee shops all over the town.
Budapest is such a beautiful place so here are some pictures:
https://blog.goway.com/globetrotting/10-essential-things-to-do-on-a-budapest-vacation/
The best way I can describe Evie and the Secret of Small Things is that it is like a holistic remedy. It meets the listener where they are at. Kind of like a fable. When you’re a kid, you get the message of the story but as you get older the message tends to have a deeper meaning.
The Power of My Storybook
My curriculum is very organized and easy to follow. You have the teacher’s manual and it tells you when to read a chapter from the story book, when to do a lesson out of the manual, or when to use the workbook. It’s very open and go, but the story is the jewel of the program and it’s what makes it memorable.
One of the lessons I teach in my curriculum is the importance of asking questions to our doctors. I want to empower your kids to think critically and not to accept a medication or procedure just because it is prescribed. Just because something is commonly practiced right now doesn’t always mean it is the best thing for your health. Here are a few excerpts from Evie and the Secret of Small Things that help drive this lesson home.
Young Franz opened his glassy eyes wide when he saw what was in the jar. He looked at the doctor feebly and asked, “Do I have to eat those?”
Franz saw several little black lumps that were stuck to the side of the jar. They looked like snails, but without a shell.
“Oh, nein, my boy!” Dr. Armleuchter laughed confidently. “You shan’t have to
eat them!”
Franz breathed a sigh of relief. Dr. Armleuchter smiled and tapped the glass. “These little soldiers are actually blood-sucking leeches.” The doctor smiled gratefully at the critters. To Franz’s horror, the doctor picked off several leeches and pushed them against Franz’s chest and neck, where they latched on. (pg. 94)
“That Dr. Armleuchter, he’s really dumb,” said Marissa.
“Yeah, who would actually bleed you on purpose? Especially in the middle of a flu? That could kill you, probably,” Matt said in agreement.
“Now hang on,” Grandma interrupted. “Let’s think about this a minute.
“Back in those days, those doctors believed they were helping people. They felt that draining the blood would help remove the infection.”
Evie thought about this. That makes sense, she thought to herself.
Evie spoke up. “Dr. Armleuchter didn’t want to hurt Franz. He just was making a mess out of helping him.”
“Yeah, but bloodletting, Evie? Draining someone’s blood. Like Dracula. It just sounds so silly,” said Marissa.
“Yes it does,” Grandma said, “but Evie makes a really good point about Dr. Armleuchter. He was trying to help, but he couldn’t see past all his training.” (pg. 103-104)
“The practice of bloodletting and mercury is barbaric,” Dr. Hahnemann said to those gathered around the lunch table. “In homeopathy, we need not shed a single drop of blood—that precious, vital liquid. Traditional doctors recklessly draw it off in streams, thus requiring months for the restoration of health, if the person is not carried off by death in the process. It was for these reasons that I left the practice of medicine. I could not continue to injure my patients and kill them. (pg. 131)
These excerpts on blood letting are just one example of the many stories woven together and tailored to teach important true health and homeopathic principles. They have resonated with families and children across the world!
In the words of my friend—
WOW!!! Paola, I just read Evie and the SECRET of Small Things! SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD! I can not say enough good things about it, but to name a few… the info is accurate and spot-on, the illustrations are beautiful, and the story format makes it interesting and attention-holding! Great job Paola! I haven’t been able to explore much of what you offer just yet, but if it is this exemplary, then you can be very proud of your work.
—Tami M
I think it’s fun sometimes to learn the backstory about how something came about, especially if it’s something that can have such an impact on your home. I hope this little backstory helped, and I hope it inspires you to persevere as you tackle even the most daunting of projects!
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Evie and the Secret of Small Things 1-12 Curriculum
