If you have read this blog for any amount of time, you may have noticed that I go through cycles of worry and paranoia about how we teach our two sons, ages 7 and 11. Much of this is fed by the fact that the homeschool moms I spend the most time with are the type who buy curricula and are pretty darn disciplined about … Continue reading Learning by Osmosis
Not only is my 18 month old beautiful, smart and lots of fun to have around, but she’s got great taste – she hates Barney! No purple dinosaurs in this house! Woo-hoo! ; ) Continue reading The Girl’s Got Style
The New York Times today printed a truly chilling piece today about the psyche of pedophiles using the web. Now, I want you to understand that I am not the sort of person who is given to alarmist views or paranoia. I don’t pass on alarming e-mails about people who want to take away your religious freedoms or use your cell phones to target marketing … Continue reading Pedophile Identification . . . Please pass this on
This week’s carnival of homeschooling is up over at Patricia Ann’s Pollywog Creek Porch. It’s a trip to the swamp without the mosquito bites! My post from yesterday about the Washington Post columns on high school mediocrity is there as well as a bunch of other good stuff. So skip the Off! and head on over there. Continue reading Carnival Of Homeschooling’s Up!
Over the weekend my 7 year old caught a big black cricket and put it in a plastic water bottle on our counter. (This is a huge improvement of his previous practice of placing bugs under over-turned drinking glasses on the counter, BTW.) I told him that he should let it go. “But Mom, crickets bring good luck. The Chinese keep them for pets. I … Continue reading Unclear on the concept
There was a column in the Washington Post yesterday by a college professor outlining his student’s general lack of literacy. Today there was a column by the Post’s education writer about how uncommon overachieving high school students are. Any chance the two are related? In his column, Michael Skube shares everyday words his students don’t know. On the list are impetus, ramshackle, lucid, advocate, derelict, … Continue reading High School in America
I was off line when this started, but Slate.com’s David Plotz has a running series of posts about reading the bible which you may want to check out. Mr. Plotz is Jewish, but not particularly observant and like many people, Jewish and Christian, had never really read the bible beyond what was covered in religious education classes or referred to in pop culture, sermons and … Continue reading Blogging the bible on Slate.com
Recently, my 11 year old has been giving me fits. I don’t think it’s anything real unusual for a kid his age and it is particularly understandable considering the challenges and changes our family has had to face in the past year or so. Basically he’s been lazy, selfish and somewhat surly as of late. Of course we’re dealing with these things and I think … Continue reading I’ve got an itch I need to scratch
My friend Julie, a smart, resourceful homeschooling mom has just opened the homeschooldiner.com. It’s a website devoted to spreading the word about homeschooling, helping people find materials, methods and curriculum which will work best for them and their child(ren). In our circle, Julie is the queen of info and always knows the best websites, resources and activities out there. If you or someone you know … Continue reading The Homeschool Diner is Open!
In our house we take a pretty relaxed approach to schooling. Not quite strict unschooling, but much closer to that than to “school at home”. However, it has always been my plan that we would gradually ramp up to a more formalized approach as the kids got older so that they would be sure to cover math through calculus, world and American history, learn a … Continue reading Speaking of preparing for a new school year
The Upside Down World 