Okay, this is one of the best articles I’ve ever read about homeschooling–ever! For those of you who have never heard of the Onion, I should probably explain that the incredible, hilarious article about homeschool that I’m about to post here is a comic piece–meant to be funny–but one that hits so close to home [...]
Posts Tagged ‘children’
15 Feb
A Week in the Life of a Homeschooler
I’ve got to confess how much I LOVE reading Cellista’s homeschool blog! Her weekly reports always illustrate the wholesome, balanced nature of home school life, including not just school work, books, and academic projects, but family time, boy scouts, even cozy, Olympics-watching pajama parties! To see a recent example, click here: http://cellista.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/weekly-report-20-2/
14 Feb
More Science Fun
For those of you who missed my posting about science, click HERE to learn my secrets for helping children learn to love science! In that vein, I thought I’d share some pictures from our most recent expedition to our local science museum, where they hosted a lab that taught my children to design and build [...]
14 Feb
Art Lessons for Kids–From the Masters
My daughter Prima is the artist of the family. She’s always sketching, painting, and even constructing 3D projects, like the time she crafted this 3-D elephant out of twist ties and painter’s tape: I used to bemoan the fact that we couldn’t find an art teacher to help guide Prima’s talents, but now she’s learning [...]
13 Jan
Teaching Poetry
Do your children know the difference between a quatrain and a couplet? Between Haiku and Limericks? If not, head on over to the most helpful Small World blog, where she is hosting an excellent WordSmithery for kids. Her fun exercises will have your kids composing poetry in various forms in a way that will help [...]
11 Jan
Benefit of Natural Learning #10: Book-Loving Kids!
I discovered yet another benefit of natural, home-based learning last month: My daughter asked for BOOKS for Christmas! (I couldn’t get her to keep her eyes open for the camera flash. That’s okay–we’ll save those peepers for reading, I guess, LOL!) That’s right–while everyone else was rushing to the toy stores, looking for animatronic hamsters [...]
4 Jan
Raising Readers
You might say that my kids like to read. Check out these pictures! Hanging out at home: Alone in their rooms: Reading with siblings: Even reading with friends who come over to “play” So people often ask me–”How do you get your kids to read so much?” Here’s my secret: 1) Parenting Trelease’s Read Aloud [...]
2 Jan
Kids, Computers, and Entertainment
“Are computers good for learning?” “Isn’t educational television okay?” “What about those free online homeschool programs?” Education guru Susan Wise Bauer said it best: Television and computer learning are PASSIVE LEARNING (your brain goes slack, letting the screen do all the mind-filling), whereas reading is ACTIVE LEARNING (brain is intellectually stimulated as it decodes words [...]
20 Dec
Eco-Friendly and Organized
I’ve always wanted an organized school room like this or this. But let’s face it–all those plastic bins and synthetic materials are NOT earth-friendly, and definitely NOT conducive to the cozy, organic learning atmosphere that I’m trying to build. Here’s a snapshot of the two spaces we use most in our homeschool. First, the homeschool [...]
2 Dec
An Art Historian Writes About Natural (Home) Schooling
Julie at Mental Tesserae, the ever-eloquent art historian/blogger, wrote a very insightful (and art-related) post about the difference between organic, home education and its synthetic public counterpart in the life of her gifted son. Very thought-provoking and neutral (doesn’t bash on public schools), I consider this article a must-read for parents who are looking for [...]
This book has changed our lives forever. My children all overcome their attention disorders and obstacles to learning once I utilized the "nature therapy" described in this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
