Regardless of whether your kids go to school or if you've always homeschooled, all of us are entering a season that is unprecedented due to COVID-19. Most likely you have been bombarded by lists of resources, digital learning platforms, Instagram live sessions, etc. that you can fill your time with while your children are home … Continue reading How to thrive when you are stuck at home
A Story Without Shape is a Story Without Life
Once your children have a good idea of how stories work (the concept of plot), they can begin to play around with the shape of their main character’s journey, which is the real meat of the story. When using Story Mountain, we might be tempted to assume, since the mountain leads to greater heights, that … Continue reading A Story Without Shape is a Story Without Life
The Magic of a Good Story
There is nothing like a good story. Stories are powerful because, in each of them, there is an echo of the person we are, or the person we hope to become, or of the hurt we experience, or that thing we are longing for. Stories are for bedtime, for passing down history and tradition, for … Continue reading The Magic of a Good Story
What are your favorite New Year’s traditions?
Over Christmas, my family and I watched It's a Wonderful Life. Me, for the millionth time, my youngest for the first (at least the first that she could understand a tiny bit of). How can I be watching something and simultaneously have so many other pictures and memories of other Christmases flashing through my mind? … Continue reading What are your favorite New Year’s traditions?
3 Reasons why kids hate writing
I grew up a huge baseball fan. I watched it on tv, listened to games on the radio until way past my bedtime (because I was convinced that if I turned it off, I would jinx my Yankees), I visited the ballpark multiple times a year. I grew up hearing stories of my dad’s baseball … Continue reading 3 Reasons why kids hate writing
Reaping a harvest of delighted readers
Think of something your parents taught you as a child that you have felt (or would feel) confident teaching your own children. Maybe how to do the laundry or to cook an egg; how to knit; how to brush your teeth; how to throw a baseball; how to ride a bike; how to drive a … Continue reading Reaping a harvest of delighted readers
How do branding and marketing impact our everyday decisions?
[This post is part of our "Curriculum of Questions" series]. Are we really free to choose which products we buy? Which medicines we take? What clothes we wear? What technology we invest in? Which products we clean our homes with? This big picture question is intended to get us thinking about the daily choices we … Continue reading How do branding and marketing impact our everyday decisions?
Is Fashion Important to Society?
[This post is part of our "Curriculum of Questions" series] This week we are heading to the Victoria and Albert Museum to take a look at the world of fashion! When I asked the kids if they thought fashion was important to society, the answers ranged from one extreme to the other. “Yes, of course! … Continue reading Is Fashion Important to Society?
A Curriculum That Will Ensure Life-Long Learning
In the US, one of the first questions asked in a homeschool conversation is, “What curriculum do you use?” In the UK, I think I’ve maybe been asked twice if I use a curriculum at all. A curriculum is essentially a course of study that prescribes specific learning outcomes for a specific-aged child. But is … Continue reading A Curriculum That Will Ensure Life-Long Learning
16 reasons home education might be the best alternative for your child
(Click here to read part 1 of this article.) Educational experts agree that our current educational system is simply not preparing our children for living in a 21st century world. With institutional reform being tied up in money, politics, standards, testing, and school boards, it is time to take our children’s education into our own … Continue reading 16 reasons home education might be the best alternative for your child
