I was delighted when I saw a recent New York Times article touting ‘Reading Aloud to Young Children Has Benefits for Behavior and Attention.’ Reading aloud was a huge part of our lives as our kids were growing up, and it still is. My husband and I read to each other every night, and we… Read More Reading for the joy of it
My youngest is in college now. Although she took several community college classes as a younger teenager, she was never in school full time and was able to self-select courses based on their content and professors. As a result, most of her experiences with teachers were positive. Now, she’s learning that not all teachers are… Read More Leaving kids alone to learn
This week the Harvard Gazette published a piece called Homeschooled en route to Harvard. It profiled three current Harvard students, including my daughter. I enjoyed reading what they had to say, and was particularly struck by one commonality. All three students spoke about the significance of being in charge of their own learning. “If I… Read More Unschooling in the now
Mirror, mirror on the wall, what’s the most common homeschooling criticism of them all? What about socialization? Hands down. I’ve heard it over and over again, I’ve read about it over and over again, I’ve addressed it over and over again, but sometimes I have to wonder: Is socialization overrated? Dictionary.com defines it as “a continuing process… Read More Is socialization overrated?
Recently I heard a parent casually remark that in her experience, homeschooling one child costs about eight grand a year. That certainly hasn’t been my experience. During the first ten years of my kids’ lives, the amount we spent was negligible. As teens the kids had interests they wanted to pursue but we still curbed… Read More Homeschooling on a shoestring
I recently read an essay by someone who temporarily homeschooled her kids. It didn’t work for her. While the author and I differ on our experiences with homeschooling, I do relate to her list of things that she wants for her kids. In her mind, homeschooling was an obstacle to those ends. In my experience,… Read More Perceived homeschooling pitfalls, and how to avoid them
“Jane,” The new documentary about Jane Goodall, is a beautiful film. The making of the movie was catalyzed by hours of gorgeous, compelling footage heretofore buried in the archives of National Geographic. In it, we see Goodall exploring the wilds of Gombe with instincts as razor sharp as those of a child allowed to roam… Read More Jane Goodall, the unschooled scientist
The other day I heard about a bill to mandate recess in my state. The proposed law would require elementary school students to have at least 20 minutes a day of “supervised, safe and unstructured free-play recess.” 20 minutes? That floored me. Elementary school kids are approximately 6-11 years old. When my kids were that age, their… Read More I homeschooled my kids and recess was our curriculum
As a mom who homeschooled four children to adulthood, I’m accustomed to naysayers who focus on socialization. Sadly, it’s been decades and the ridiculousness just keeps coming. This week in particular, I read more than one article on the subject, so I decided to make a listicle on some of the tools and techniques that… Read More What homeschooling gets right about socialization
Not to beat a dead horse, but last week I went to see the movie “Captain Fantastic” again. Readers of this blog know how I felt about it the first time. So why would I see it again? The movie was being shown in my community as part of a film and discussion series on issues… Read More Captain Fantastic’s kids don’t need school, and neither do yours
A Potluck Life 