Recently I had the opportunity to see a bunch of moms from my old homeschooling days. We talked about our adult children, how and what they’re doing, and we engaged in some reminiscing. One mom and I discussed how we feel now that our kids are grown and we have more time on our hands.… Read More Homeschooling, feminism, & the third way
Last week my daughter graduated from Harvard. It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since we dropped her off in the yard, right after her picture was plastered on the cover of Boston Magazine, something we certainly didn’t expect to happen after I was one of several parents interviewed for the article. The graduation… Read More The fallacy of the best and the brightest
This week I read yet another really dumb article about homeschooling. Sherene Buffa, on a website called Momtastic, declares “I cannot imagine not sending my children to school.” The double negative in that sentence is indicative of the negativity in the larger piece, in which Buffa pretends to “top my hat off” to all us… Read More Busting homeschooling stereotypes
Three years ago, I wrote a blog post about summer. As a spate of articles and advertisements for “self-directed” summer programs has recently found its way into my orbit, I got to thinking about it again. More and more institutions, centers, and structured environments that promote “self-directed learning” are seeing the light of day. The… Read More How to spend your summer vacation
A few weeks ago, I went to see some friends perform in a musical. Four of them, ranging in age from 8 to 14, were giving their all as Mrs. Darling, Captain Hook, and ensemble members in “Peter Pan.” As I sat in the theater waiting for the curtain to rise, I thought about how… Read More The inter-generational beauty of homeschooling
One of the most disheartening things I came across during my years of homeschooling was the notion that children are helpless, incompetent, and will not learn unless they are instructed in a school-like manner. A recent post by Idzie Desmarais pointed out the folly of this viewpoint, and got me thinking. I was not unschooled… Read More To trust children, learn to trust yourself
An excellent article by Wendy Priesnitz has gotten me thinking about success. Most homeschooling parents, like Wendy, have experienced questions about whether their chosen path was “successful.” Many new homeschooling parents I meet look for “success stories” in order to reassure themselves that their choice isn’t doomed or foolish or crazy. Larger societal forces seek… Read More Homeschooling and the pursuit of success
boredom the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest For as long as I’ve been a parent the issue of how to deal with kids uttering the dreaded “I’m bored” has been a topic of discussion, articles, commentaries, and books. The conventional wisdom goes through phases. Bored kids are a sign of… Read More Boredom — it’s not all it’s cracked up to be
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” — Mahatma Ghandi They say mistakes are hard. You know what’s harder? Trying to think of a single thing you’ve ever learned without making one. Which, of course, makes thinking mistakes are bad patently ludicrous. If humans can’t learn,… Read More The freedom to make mistakes
Even though semantic bleaching, the evolution of a word’s meaning over time, is a natural process in language, it can sometimes create confusion, annoyance, and even protest (think of the ongoing media lament over the word “literally”). In homeschooling circles, the current buzz is all about the word “unschooling.” Weeks ago I wrote about it… Read More The semantic bleaching of ‘unschooling’
A Potluck Life 