Tagged: Observations

Autumn Carnival: Looking Forward, Looking Back

This 463rd Carnival of Homeschooling offers a smorgasbord of creative ideas, inspiration, and practical tips for homeschooling. As you read each post, I hope you’ll find kindred spirits among the bloggers, and lots of good things to read as you sit by the fire and sip tea.

The Madness of Multiple Choice, A Guest Post by Andrew Pudewa

If you’ve ever wondered whether Excellence in Literature needed a few multiple choice questions to make it “better,” this delightful essay by my friend and publisher Andrew Pudewa will make our position clear. Like comprehension questions, another pernicious evil, multiple-choice...

What Happens When Teachers Aren’t Allowed to Teach

In a video that reminds me of some of John Taylor Gatto‘s work, Stephen Round, a dedicated second-grade teacher reads his letter of resignation from the Rhode Island school system. Here are a few points Mr. Round makes in the...

Things to Know About Public Libraries

If you have a local library, support it through regular visits, volunteering, and other ways. As a homeschooler, you can help to shape your library’s collections and programs through strategic requests (nicely conveyed, of course!). And finally, an infographic on “Why Support Your Local Library?”

Patriot Day 2012: A Page From our Family Album

A remembrance of a trip to the World Trade Center, the 9-11 Day Movement, free America prints, and quotes on freedom and liberty, plus two announcements.

Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers helps you teach literature in context.

Why Study Literature in Context?

Why study literature in the context of art, music, history, and worldview? Context — the history, art, and music related to a particular piece of literature — helps to bring a book to life and make it more understandable, especially...

Blog Carnival: Summer Isn’t Over Yet

The Blog Carnival offers inspiration and encouragement as summer winds down and school begins. Enjoy!

What Does Education Look Like? Part III: Immune to Elephants

The contrast between a true, living education and the stale, dead imitation that often replaces it continues to niggle at my thoughts. Here’s another scene that illustrates the contrast, plus a thought for the day.

Read for Fun; Learning Happens Along the Way

As parents, we can’t begin to teach our children everything they need to know, but we can teach them to read, and make sure they have plenty of good books. Truths carried to the heart through the power of story wil linger far longer than anything that comes through a lecture or a worksheet. As you begin the new school year, make time for reading, and I promise, learning will happen.

Carnival of Homeschooling: The Beach Reading Edition

The Beach Reading Edition of Carnival of Homeschooling is up, and there are great posts on why to homeschool through high school, how to motivate your children, how to teach boys, and much, much more. Enjoy!

Caregiving for Homeschool Families: Some Questions to Consider

Homeschool families are notoriously family-centered, but I’ve recently been hearing questions and concerns about caregiving while homeschooling, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts here. Most of the people who have asked questions have been thinking about their parents...

Thankful thoughts on freedom, homeschooling, and writing in England.

Thankful Thoughts on Freedom, Homeschool, and Writing in England

Dear Readers, I sometimes come upon a thought so well expressed that I just have to share it! Today’s guest post on freedom, homeschool, and writing was the editor’s letter from a Writing-World.com newsletter, and it’s reprinted here with the kind...

Carnival of Homeschooling- The NaNoWriMo Edition

Preface Welcome to this hundred-and-umpteenth Carnival of Homeschooling! Because November is National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo or nano), and I’m over 10,000 words into the writing process (and can’t think of anything but writing, writing, and more...

Motivation: What Gets People Moving?

Before you start school this year, you may want to consider motivation. What is the most effective way to encourage your children to study and learn? Some of us (ahem–me, anyway) respond well to doing things I find intrinsically interesting,...

College Choices – Homeschoolers Have Options!

Visit the convention season sale through July 12! Now that homeschoolers have proven to be high achievers in both academic and social realms, they are being actively courted by many colleges. However, just as many homeschool parents paused before placing...

Carnival of Homeschooling- The Spring Fever Edition

Is anyone else ready for spring? The daffodils are up, forsythia is glowing at the edges of the woods, and from my cozy spot by the woodstove, the bright sunlight offers the illusion of warmth. It’s quickly dispelled by the...

Do what you can with what you have, right where you are. It's all you can do.

Decision-Making: The “Anti-Supposed To” Manifesto

Learning to make good decisions is a lot like learning to walk. Babies do a lot of creeping, crawling, and falling before they are walking well. If you tried to keep them safe by never letting them out of the crib, you’d end up with a disabled adult. If you never allow your children the freedom to make small decisions and fall when necessary, they may be safe, but they’ll be crippled.

Tips for homeschooling in challenging times.

Homeschooling in Challenging Times

Current events present homeschoolers with useful opportunities for teaching and learning throughout the year, but some seasons just seem to be overachievers! In the fall, there are elections, which can spark a unit study on American government. In some years,...

Limiting negative media helps create a healthier learning atmosphere.

How to Create a More Positive Learning Atmosphere

There are many good reasons for living a quiet and peaceable life, but it’s particularly important for homeschooling families. Fear and stress short-circuit the learning process, and noise, all by itself, has been proven to increase stress and reduce the ability to think clearly. Here are some thoughts on news and noise in your home.

115th Carnival of Homeschooling: Oh, The Things That You’ll Do!

Welcome to the 115th Carnival of Homeschooling! The theme for this carnival is adapted from Dr. Seuss’s beloved Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Homeschoolers are a diverse bunch, and I thought it would be interesting to read about some of...

Light affects color in ways you might not expect.

A Science Mystery Solved: Color and Light

We had an unexpected lesson in the science of color and light this past week. Donald graciously used most of his vacation week to paint our kitchen and dining room, and it was one of those snowball projects. We were...

Homework Insanity- This Emperor has No Clothes

Did you see Jeff Opdyke’s column on homework in Sunday’s Wall Street Journal (How Homework Is Hurting Our Family, September 30, 2007)? It was thought-provoking. He vividly described how their family life is “a constant, stress laden stream of homework...

What Does Education Look Like? Part II- Socialization

I came across an article that fit perfectly with this series, as well as with the thoughts I shared on socialization a few weeks ago. I got permission to reprint it for this installment of “What Does (Institutional) Education Look Like?”...

What Does Education Look Like? Part I

What does learning look like? Consider…. Scene 1: Child A sits in a classroom full of children who are just his age. “Today, students,” his teacher announces, “We’re going to learn about chickens.” She unrolls a poster of a giant...

Socialization for Homeschoolers . . . Again

Although homeschooling has become far more mainstream than it was when we first began in the 1980’s, the question of socialization occasionally still pops up. A recent article, “Get Out Much?” by Rachel Barlow, on the Nashoba Publishing website details...

In the Garden- An 1899 Excerpt

This time of year I am besotted by the garden, and have great difficulty staying indoors for any length of time at all. In fact, anything on my horizon that doesn’t need to be fed or planted seems dim and...

In Memory of Old Yeller- 199?-2007

He was old and his sweet muzzle was white, but we weren’t really ready to say good-bye. But as we prepared to tuck in for the night last evening, I realized that I hadn’t seen Old Yeller for a good...

In One Ear…

…and out the other. Remember that saying? Unfortunately, that’s almost completely true for visual learners. Auditory learners, on the other hand, could probably say “In one eye and out the other” with as much accuracy. I hadn’t thought of it...

TV Turn-Off Week- Why Not Just Toss It?

Turning off the television is always a fabulous idea. I don’t have one to turn off, but if I did, I’d certainly be happy to celebrate TV Turnoff Week. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to sit and stare...

I wandered lonely as a Cloud…

Spring just isn’t spring until I can share Wordsworth’s delight in daffodils. Poetry is experience distilled to its essence. Once you’ve enjoyed an experience through poetry, you’ll find that both experience and poem are enriched. The daffodils are in full...