Seven Summers

We have braced for the flood of wedding vow promises - for better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health - and emerged from each deluge gasping and holding tight. We did not begin with any naive illusion of ease, but we did underestimate the possibility of growing such strength. Perhaps because, [...]

Living Things

Part One: I didn’t hear any wheezing or see breathing struggles. But I did see a strangely pale face and expressionless eyes. Like someone had flipped a switch to drain the color and energy from her vivacious self. I knew something was wrong. But when I left for the ER, I still expected to return [...]

Homeschool chat: What is Unschooling?

John Caldwell Holt is often referred to as the “Father of Unschooling”. He was an educator in the 1950s who documented the glaring issues he saw in the school system through a total of eleven books. His ideas led him to be a consultant for many schools. But he then became an early proponent of [...]

Homeschool Chat: What Is the Montessori Method?

The Montessori Method is used in both classroom settings (in Montessori schools, led by certified Montessori teachers) and home environments. It was developed by Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, at the end of the 19th century. Here are some of the main tenets of the philosophy: • Mixed age learning groups. In classrooms, it is [...]

Homeschool Chat: What is the Charlotte Mason method?

Charlotte Mason was a British educator. She lived at the turn of the twentieth century. She believed that children should be respected as people and taught the motto: “I am. I can. I ought. I will.” She also believed that children were natural born learners and that the desire to learn need only be facilitated. [...]

Homeschool Chat: What is Classical Education?

For the final transcript posts from our most recent homeschooling chat, I will be providing a breakdown of the most common homeschool methods. None will be a completely exhaustive explanation, but they will provide some historical context and a basic framework of the main tenets for each method. We are starting with the Classical method. [...]

Homeschool Chat: Balancing Lesson Plans and Life (Part 2)

You can find part one of this topic here. Question submitted to the homeschool chat: “How do you handle completing lessons that you have planned on days you have to actually live your life, go to appointments, run errands, etc?” My reply: We do some formal “sit down school” though we utilize unschooling as well. [...]

Homeschool Chat: Balancing Lesson Plans and Life (part 1)

Here we are with the first transcript of our August “Homeschool Chat”, a week long conversation that attempts to answer and discuss a wide range of questions submitted by parents. I give my thoughts and ask other homeschooling parents to contribute their feedback as well. It will likely take several posts for me to transfer [...]

Homeschool Chat: Extracurricular Activities, Socialization, and Thinking Outside of the Box.

Feedback from this chat included comments like: “I feel so relieved and encouraged!” “There is so much freedom in homeschooling.” “I learned that hobbies don’t necessarily have to be separate from extracurriculars.” “Homeschoolers are so well rounded!” When I asked the homeschoolers participating in the chat to list their kids extracurricular activities, several dozen different [...]

Homeschool Chat: the Reggio Emilia Approach

In the past year, I’ve discussed quite a few methods and styles of education (Charlotte Mason, Classical, Montessori, Unit Study, Waldorf, Unschooling, and more) through Instagram. Though we utilize a blend of styles; we certainly don’t incorporate all of them. Explaining them is not an endorsement of them or necessarily a lesson in how we [...]