Category: family life
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Why I’m Cut Out for Homeschooling
For reasons I still fail to understand, every so often some clever mommy blogger decides to write about why she doesn’t homeschool. This time the culprit is Sarah Bregel, whose latest contribution to Babble, Disney’s online parenting magazine, is titled “10 Reasons I’m Probably Not Cut Out for Homeschooling.” The listicle is supposed to be…
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Happy home birth day
Today my baby turns 17. Where did the time go, hard to believe, seems like just yesterday she was learning to walk, wearing the same yellow tutu every day, small enough to nestle comfortably on my hip and cling to me as I held her. I don’t think I’m the only mom who, on her…
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The mouths of babes
This week, a little girl named Tiana talked to her mother about relationships, self-control, and love. Her mother took a video of her daughter’s remarkable speech, and now millions of people around the world have watched it, too. It’s a heartfelt plea, full of love and wisdom. To me, it shows that kids, even very young…
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Out of the kitchen, into the living room
The other day I was talking to a fellow homeschooling parent about the Boston Magazine article. She pointed out that the homeschooling families profiled were depicted in the living room, not the kitchen. That’s true. The photo of my family was taken in our living room, as was the picture of Robert Holzbach and his…
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Back to homeschool
It’s the middle of August, and summer is winding down. September looms, and with it the beginning of the school year. Just what does “back to school” mean for homeschoolers? There isn’t one answer to that question. All homeschooling families are different. And one of the great benefits of homeschooling is that we’re not bound…
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Homeschooling as salvation
Lately my life has consisted of lazy days, sweltering heat, a zucchini bonanza, and Shakespeare in the park. Oh, and lots of discussions about homeschooling. I’m a county contact for Advocates for Home Education in Massachusetts, so people call me with all manner of questions and concerns. During this time of year, they’re busy with gearing up (already)…
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Life without television
Did you know that Screen-Free Week is coming right up? It’s May 4-10. During that time, people are encouraged to “rediscover life beyond the screen.” These days, screens are everywhere, but once upon a time there was just the television. My husband and I decided to live without one many years ago. The old clunker we had…
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Flex time
Maybe you’ve read about grit, which education researcher Angela Lee Duckworth defines as “the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals.” Duckworth delivered a very popular TED talk revealing grit as the key to success in life. On the surface, it sounds good, but one of my favorite contrarians, Alfie Kohn, points…
A Potluck Life 