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 ‘parenting’
18 Feb
Universities Seeking out Homeschoolers
“Home-Schooled Students Rise in Supply and Demand” By PAULA WASLEY, The Chronicle of Higher Education For Katelin E. Dutill, high school began as soon as she woke up each day. During her senior year she would tackle her hardest courses first, while her 20-month-old sister was still asleep. That often meant taking a math or chemistry [...]
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
Improving a Child’s Memory
Children love to memorize things! Don’t believe me? Just observe how children beg for their favorite stories, songs, or movies over and over–because they want to memorize the passages, lyrics, or dialogue. As we get older, however, we lose our enthusiasm for the repetitive process of memorization (whereas kids love repetitive actions–like spinning around in [...]
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 [...]
28 Dec
Holiday Learning Fun
The idea that the holidays are a time to cease learning and take a vacation is detrimental to young minds. It teaches children to view learning as a chore from which one must escape in order to have fun. Instead, I teach my children that continued learning is not only good for the mind, but [...]
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!
