What is education? Is it sitting in a classroom; watching video lessons; or reading stacks of books? Or is education the process of gaining knowledge through study and experience — learning through the freedom to adventure? For two boys in...
I picked up Professor Carol‘s new book, Why Freshmen Fail, at the Great Homeschool Convention in Fort Worth, thinking it might be a resource I could recommend to parents of high-school and almost-high-school age students. I didn’t expect to find...
I had the extraordinary privilege of traveling to China in May for the Chengdu Homeschool Conference plus a few days of sightseeing. I spent the first part of the trip in Chengdu, which is in the Sichuan province. After the...
Love it or hate it, it’s time for a new school year. It may seem absurd to think about simplifying now, just as you are faced with crisp new notebooks, sharp pencils, and delectable stacks of books, but the first month...
Want to know what homeschooling is really like? No matter what curriculum you use, homeschooling is a deeply personalized journey. What it looks like and how it feels will be based on each family’s unique blend of talents, interests, knowledge,...
Summer is coming soon, and although formal class time may end for some homeschoolers, it’s easy to keep minds active if you create a learning lifestyle. This is a wonderful season to tackle outdoor projects and learn practical skills, as...
Charlotte Mason said that “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life,” and she was right. A study published in 2010 on “Family Scholarly Culture and Educational Success” (PDF), reports that a family’s “scholarly culture – the way of life in homes where books are numerous, esteemed, read, and enjoyed” matters. Here’s how!
Common Core Standards are a cause for concern. The CCS promise to nationalize mediocrity and increase control over every aspect of K-12 education, and ultimately over every citizen. Here are articles and resources to help you learn more, including an alphabetical list of state groups opposing CCS.
In celebration of “Virginia Home Education Month,” I was invited to put up a homeschool display at the Cochrane-Rockville branch of the Pamunkey Regional Library. You can see photos below.
Here is a collection of favorite quotes on lifelong learning, learning and freedom, unschooling, institutional schooling, homeschooling and general truth about learning by speakers from C.S. Lewis and Charlotte Mason to Aristotle and Mark Twain.
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?”
Homeschooling can be challenging, but a good book can encourage and help to renew your mind. Here are three of my favorite books about family and learning.
Charlotte Mason’s Educational Manifesto declared that not only did children have a right to knowledge, but they also had an appetite for such knowledge, and that appetite, if not squelched, would motivate them to learn.
Have you been looking for a quick way to communicate the fact that homeschooling works? This well-designed infographic provides the statistical evidence you need to scare your neighbors support your decision to homeschool.
A veteran homeschooler, conference speaker, and vendor shares tips and strategies to make the home-school convention a highlight of your homeschool year.
One of the best ways you can teach writing is to share good models. I especially like working with excellent essays, as they tend to expand not only vocabulary and usage skills, but also because they expand thought. Here’s an example.
The Blog Carnival offers inspiration and encouragement as summer winds down and school begins. Enjoy!
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.
![Adams' Illustrated Panorama of History. By Sebastian C. Adams [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/doingwhatmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/1878_Adams_Monumental_Illustrated_Panorama_of_History_-_Geographicus_-_WorldHistory-adams-1871-sm-pd.jpeg?fit=520%2C220&ssl=1)
How important it is to study history and literature in chronological order? Here’s what we did, and why a timeline makes whatever you do work better.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed at homeschooling your students through high school, remember that you don’t have to teach them everything they’ll ever need to know.
Here’s how you can make your personal New Year a time of renewal and refreshment. Think through goals and routines, and create priorities that help you, like Mary, focus on “the better part.”
Are you ready for 2011? For the last Carnival of Homeschooling for 2010, we have a loose collection of posts under the general topic of Making Time for Things that Matter. I find that the beginning of a new year...
How do you socialize a homeschooler? It’s a common question, and one with a very simple answer.
Create a mission statement, goals, and a plan to help you make time for things that matter.
Helping your children learn to use their hands creatively can help develop imagination, creativity, and fine motor skills and will provide them with the means of giving unique and beautiful gifts to others, even on a very small budget.
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.
If you can align your expectations with reality, make adjustments that keep you sane, and focus on priorities and essentials, you’ll be able to homeschool while you’re a caregiver.
Caregivers face daily challenges, but friends who are understanding and kind can make the path easier.
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!
Choosing curriculum can be a challenge. Here are three things to think about to make it easier!
