Planning a Learning Way of Life
Are you tired? Does homeschooling feel like a burden? Maybe a new model of learning is needed: lifestyle learning.
Give Yourself a Gift Of Encouragement
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure statement.) The time between New Year’s Day and Easter is the longest of the school year. My student teaching advisor told us this before sending us out to classrooms. (She also told us not to smile until Thanksgiving. But that’s another tale.) Sure enough. No matter
Thankful for a Learning Way of LIfe
“I hate school!” Only a couple months into our first year of homeschooling and the negative comments had started. These weren’t really much different than what I heard when my kids were in a traditional school. We struggled through that first year, dragging ourselves to summer break. I don’t tell you this to discourage you,
Learning in the Dirt
Summertime is here. Yet many of us still want our children to continue learning. What better way to learn than getting our hands dirty? Dirty in the garden. A garden is full of many lessons from how a plant grows to cooking the harvest. Like so many good things, gardening can sound like one more thing
Let’s Get Dirty
Last night we were at a neighborhood bar-b-que and the children were running around enjoying being outdoors without adult intervention. As we were watching the joy of these children, maybe even wishing we could join in, a woman pointed and said, “Look at those boys. They’re are throwing dirt in the air. Why do boys
Play: Key to College Success
The other day my cat was stuck in a tree. He had no idea how to get out. How does that happen? He didn’t get to play in trees when he was a kitten. We lived in coyote country. Not just a few howls at night, I mean where coyotes wandered through the property during
Character Training: Get an Early Start
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure statement for more details. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of a true education.” Character does not consist of a single statement or a random act, it is those qualities and dispositions that we practice consistently—both good and bad.
Homeschool – Why Am I Doing This?
Someone once said, “If you’re not sure where you’re going, any train will get you there.” Recently I took a train trip to New York City. I knew where I was going and what train to use to get there. I had a specific destination. I even had a specific destination, my hotel, once I
Preschool Curriculum? Not!
(This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosures for more information.) It amazes me that preschool has come to dominate much of the education conversation. The media has become a PR outlet for those who advocate formal, away-from-home preschool experiences. Based on vague notions and buzzword, such as “ready to learn,” parents are clamoring for
Keep Christ in Christmas … Cookies
It’s baking time. It’s gift-giving time. Many of us combine the two traditional activities by baking cookies and giving them as gifts. How often, though, do we bake ourselves into a frenzy on one day? Not enjoying the experience with our children. How often do we put those cookies on a pretty plate then rush