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.
In the mid-Atlantic region, we’re battening down the hatches in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. Preparations include drawing water, gathering candles and oil lamps, and trying to get everything washable washed in case the power goes out. Once the basics are...
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.
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?
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.
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...
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,...
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...
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.
High School, College, and Alternatives / Home School / Inspiration and encouragement / Language Arts and Literature / Organization
The Blog Carnival offers inspiration and encouragement as summer winds down and school begins. Enjoy!
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...
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.
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.
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.
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...
Create traditions that work within your family, greet gifts with love and gratitude, and whatever you give, give in a spirit of love and grace, releasing the recipient from any assumed obligation for a specific type of response or reciprocation. True gifts come without strings!
Here’s our new grandbaby, Imogen Violet!
We live in a society that worships “average” and fears anything different, but we can teach our children to appreciate the infinite variety in creation, and to be compassionate to those who have difficulties. Here’s one small place to start.
Today is Labor Day in this part of the world, and I wanted to share this song from a prayer by St. Francis of Assisi as a meditation on the attitudes that can make labor beautiful. Whether you work in...
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!
Homeschool families are notoriously family-centered, but I’ve recently been hearing questions and concerns about caregiving while homeschooling, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts here. Most of the people who have asked questions have been thinking about their parents...
Remember to let your sons be who they are so that they will become the people they were meant to be. This takes time, space, and the freedom to explore varied interests. As a bonus, it’s fun!
Your sons will teach themselves amazing things if you give the time and space to learn what they can do. It takes a boy with a boy’s interests to find the thread of an idea and follow it through to the creation of a project he really enjoys. The key ingredient is free time and the liberty to explore, try new things, and yes– get hurt occasionally. It takes trusting that if you provide time, tools, and skills, they will use them. It also takes understanding that education is about a whole lot more than doing school.
It was a beautiful spring day, and we spent most of it with doors open, happily going in and out with various tasks and projects. It was mid-afternoon when my youngest son came in. “Momma, do you want to see...
Do you remember what it’s like to be a child? Do you remember struggling with something and being told, “Come on, it’s easy! You’re just not trying.” Or worse, “You could do better if you weren’t so lazy/careless.” Do you...
I'm not doing an email newsletter at the moment, so here's a printable newsletter with articles and booklists. We hope you enjoy the Everyday Educator!
More
