Veterans Day: What It Is, How to Celebrate
Here’s a tribute to veterans everywhere, with links to teaching resources, quotes, and patriotic music. Thanks to those who have served, and to their families who wait.
Author: Janice Campbell
Why You Need Your Own Business Domain (And How to Get It)
How will your clients find you? Where will they go to get more information about your business? Hint: It’s not likely to be the phone book or the phone. Chances are that many of your customers will find your business...
Biographical Approach Paper Format
Here is a biographical approach paper format you may use to write about authors or other significant people. Approach papers help students think through the things they study in a deeper way, so this can be useful not only for Excellence in Literature, but also for any subject.
Organize Essays with the Keyhole Essay Organizer
The Keyhole Essay Organizer appears in many forms across the Web. It can be a very helpful visual reminder of what goes into a basic essay–introduction, body, conclusion, plus some helpful tips.
Avoiding The Road to Serfdom
One reason to create multiple streams of income is to slow personal movement down the “road to serfdom.” When you diversify your streams of income, creating streams that aren’t dependent on traditional employment, you are taking a quiet step toward...
What is Affiliate Income?
Affiliate income is another term for referral fee, commission, or revenue sharing. It can be a supplementary or substantial stream of income, and once a link is installed, it can provide passive income for as long as it remains current....
Gatto’s 7 Lessons of Compulsory Schooling
Here are seven horrifying lessons John Taylor Gatto wrote about teaching during his 26 years as a schoolteacher. Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling is adapted from a speech given at a ceremony in which Gatto was named the New York State Teacher of the Year for 1991.
Beware of the “Chicken Little” Mindset
It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Today is Mindset Monday. I’ll be talking about attitudes that can make it easier or harder to succeed as an entrepreneur. I recently came across a sentence that...
Spin Straw into Gold in a Microbusiness
Remember the story of Rumplestilskin and the ambitious miller who told a king that his daughter could spin straw into gold? Many people dream of finding or creating more income, but they sometimes overlook what they already have, such as...
5 Reasons Entrepreneurship Should Be Part of Every Education
I believe that entrepreneurship should be part of every education. Creating a small business does more than just provide a bit of extra money– it provides memorable learning opportunities.
Blog Carnival: Summer Isn’t Over Yet
The Blog Carnival offers inspiration and encouragement as summer winds down and school begins. Enjoy!
Back on the GTD Wagon
I hadn’t planned to read David Allen’s splendid Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity this summer, but when I found myself going in panicky circles after a recent business trip, trying to unpack, uncover my desk, plan means,...
Why It’s Important to Work with What You Love
As you try to decide what to do for your first microbusiness, you may be tempted to research trends in order to find the most profitable niche. Research has it’s place, of course, but it’s not the only tool for...
The Stages of Learning Language Arts
There are five stages in learning language arts, and each stage has a different focus. This graphic will help you remember what to do when.
How to Find Your Heart-Based Business
I spoke at a conference this weekend about creating multiple streams of income, and had a lot of great conversations with people who were inspired by the idea. The first thing that many people asked was “How do I figure...
Quotes About Liberty and Entrepreneurship
In the month of July, I always stop to give thanks for the amount of liberty we enjoy as citizens of the USA. Liberty isn’t license — it’s the freedom to make moral choices and do what we believe to...
How to Hold a Pen or Pencil
Writing fatigue and writers cramp are the inevitable result of holding the pen too tightly or in an awkward grip, and often students don’t even realize why writing is so hard. The physical act of penmanship is such a necessary part of school, it just seems wise to make it as painless as possible. Here’s help.
Charlotte Mason on Copywork
Charlotte Mason recommended copywork, which she called “transcription,” as an early step in teaching language arts. In Home Education, she wrote about the value of copywork, as well as what and how to copy. I have provided her instructions and added a few notes of my own.
Summer Poem: A Boy and His Dad by Edgar Guest
It’s time for our annual summer poem. This year, I chose a warm, evocative poem by Edgar A. Guest as well as a brief poem by William Carlos Williams.
NAIWE’s Summer Challenge: Here is What I’m Doing
Every year, the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) sponsors a Summer Challenge to help writers, editors, and other entrepreneurs get a bit extra done during the slower months of summer. It’s not meant to ruin the summer...
How to Fit Art and Music into Your Homeschool
Instead of despairing when you run out of classroom time for art and music, just have things available so that you can allow both subjects to flow into the leftover spaces in your day.
Don’t Let Anyone Tell You that You Can’t
It seems that whenever I’m in a group of writers or entrepreneurs, there are always a few battle stories stories swapped. No matter what you want to do, there will be someone (or sometimes a lot of someones) who feel...
Imogen Violet Meets GarageBand
Imogen Violet tests the effectiveness of GarageBand and the iPad2 as a teething aid.
What Does Education Look Like? Part III: Immune to Elephants
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.
Multi-Purposing: How to Make Your Articles Work Extra Hard
Long, long ago, freelance writers used to write an article for publication, get paid, and file away the article and move on to the next topic. One article = one use. That’s not bad if the paycheck for each article...
Without Focus, You’ll Get Nowhere
Or maybe you’ll get somewhere, but it won’t be anywhere you were hoping to be. It takes focus to keep your eye on a distant goal while juggling present responsibilities. It also takes a bit of pruning– cutting out all...
Of Daffodils and Diesels, Revisited
Do you have a child who doesn’t seem to be college material? Don’t let fear keep you from encouraging him to explore the trades and other college alternatives. The “Daffodils and Diesels” essay will show you why.
Writing Programs I Like
I’ve seen good results from students who have used these writing programs. Choose based on the student’s learning style for best results.
Learn to Write While Using Excellence in Literature
By using classics and models and learning by doing, it’s natural and possible to learn to write well while using Excellence in Literature.
![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)
Should You Teach Literature and History in Chronological Order?
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.
