Pinterest is one of the most dynamic of the social networking sites. It’s not just fun and engaging; it can also be a very powerful tool for sharing what you do in your microbusiness and networking in a positive way....
Three poems for August: A bird came down the walk (Dickinson), August (Swineburne), and Summer Stars (Sandburg).
When you begin conducting business online, it’s critical to use strong passwords for the online services you use. As your online presence grows, you’ll find yourself with many different types of passwords and with the accompanying challenge of remembering them....
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.
Consider the education of America’s founding fathers: What kind of study produced a group of men capable of conceiving a constitutional republic, bringing it to life, and guiding it through its formative years?
Summer reading is essential. Here’s why, and a partial list of what I’m reading.
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.
How does your small business compare with these businesses in the use of the Internet? Are you happy with the return from your online investment of time, money, or energy? For most successful one-person micro-businesses, the ability to use free...
Long before anyone thought of warehousing children for the bulk of their young lives, parents were teaching their children. Somehow, despite a lack of official certification, the world muddled along. Here is an infographic on the history of homeschooling, plus a recommendation for three great books.
Owning a business, even a microbusiness, is not a task for the faint-hearted or the spoon-fed. In order to succeed, an entrepreneur must be willing to focus, learn something new every day, and take the initiative to act when something needs...
For many years, an MBA was seen as a ticket to success. Non-traditional degree programs sprouted like toadstools after a warm rain, and billboards, ads, and postcards extolled the benefits of the executive MBA, the online MBA, and other alternative...
Here are two spring poems by two of my favorite poets: Spring by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Lilacs by Amy Lowell. Both are suitable for copywork and recitation. Enjoy!
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.
There are many ways to structure a one-person business (sometimes called a micro-business), but I’d like to share a profitable business model that can be started debt-free. I discovered this path while developing my own business, and have further refined...
At a recent conference, I met a fellow entrepreneurial writer I’ve known online for many years. She and her husband attended the microbusiness workshop I did, then stopped by the booth to talk about current projects, managing a business, and...
We enjoy many educational freedoms in the United States, but others aren’t as fortunate. A fellow writer has shared news of the actions of the government in Iran to dismantle the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education in Iran and asked that I pass it on.
“Education Under Fire” is a 30 minute documentary about
I receive e-mail through a Google apps interface that provides a calendar and docs, and handles mail in Gmail style. Every time I’ve logged in recently, a banner over my inbox has invited me to receive desktop notifications of new e-mail as...
Here is the Wintery Mix Carnival of Homeschooling, with a healthy variety of posts on topics as varied as reading aloud, being on the bottom of the gymnastics stack, and visiting the optometrist. Enjoy!
You might think that as a creator of intellectual property, I’d be cheering on the SOPA/PIPA bills, but I’m not. Handing unfettered power to government or to any big business to shut off access to another business’s website on the...
Contests can be a great motivator and learning tool because they provide homeschool students with an outside-the-routine assignment, a firm deadline, an audience that’s bigger than mom, sometimes objective feedback or a prize. Plus, contests are often fun!
Remember the schoolyard taunt, “What you say is what you are!”? It usually followed a mature exchange of insults, often beginning with “cooties,” and progressing through booger-possession to “You’re just dumb!” Thankfully, the recess bell usually intervened in time to...
Today’s guest post is from Celia Blue Johnson, the author of Dancing with Mrs. Dalloway: Stories of the Inspiration Behind Great Works of Literature. It’s a book I thoroughly enjoyed.
Self-reliance means looking ahead, anticipating potential dangers, and setting aside resources to care for your family in the event of an emergency. Come to the Self-Reliance Expo to find resources and learn how.
Many writers and entrepreneurs feel awkward about marketing. But what if you have something good to offer? How will people find it if you don’t let them know about it? If you think of marketing as communication– sharing something special...
Sometimes a poem evokes the mood of a season more than anything else could. “Picture-books in Winter” by Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Snow Storm” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and “The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy are three of my favorites.
So . . . exactly how many things are you doing at this very moment? How many programs are open on your computer, and how many windows in your browser? If you’re anything like me, I’m guessing there are too...
The fourth Thursday of November is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. While I believe in the power of giving thanks daily, if not hourly, this day offers an additional opportunity to reflect on things I’m grateful for. After family,...
Why study literature in the context of art, music, history, and worldview? Context — the history, art, and music related to a particular piece of literature — helps to bring a book to life and make it more understandable, especially...
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.
Here’s our annual conference newsletter handout with booklists and articles. We’d rather be sharing it in person, but for now, you can download the Everyday Educator here.
We in the northern hemisphere may be melting in the July heat, but there are compensations. July poems from poets such as Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Amy Lowell, and Lewis Carroll remind us...
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA (1547-1616), Spanish novelist (Don Quixote and others), playwright, and poet was born at Alcalá de Henares in 1547. The attempts of biographers to provide him with an illustrious genealogy are...
In this brief article, scholar, editor, and translator Luis Sundkvist explores the life of noted Russian author Ivan Turgenev and considers ways in which his life and work intersected with the Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Biography...
Marianne Moore (1887 – 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. She won several awards for her poetry in her lifetime, and her poems are frequently anthologized. Poetry (1919) by Marianne...
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926) was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist. He is seen as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets. His works include several collections of poetry, one novel, and...
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