A headline caught my eye today. Even For Homeschoolers, There Is No Happily Ever After. The writer, Linda DeMers Hummel, had a job answering phones for a curriculum company whose clients were homeschoolers. Most of the questions were about math, but then she got a call from a mother who wouldn’t let her eighth grade… Read More Gimme shelter
Dear Readers, My co-author Sophia Sayigh and I have been working on Unschoolers for a while and I’m delighted to announce that it’s available now. Visit our website for various ways you can purchase the book in e-book and paperback formats. I hope you’ll consider spreading the word among your friends in conversation, on e-lists,… Read More ‘Unschoolers’ launch day
I’ve been a homeschooler with an unschooling philosophy for 26 years. I’ve read a lot of great books on the subject, but it’s rare to encounter homeschoolers and unschoolers in fiction. It’s even more rare to see our lives portrayed as anything other than extreme in one form or another. So, I, along with my… Read More ‘Unschoolers’ coming in March
This week I attended a screening of Clara Bellar’s film Being and Becoming. The movie portrays the filmmaker’s process of learning about unschooling in order to determine whether to choose it for her own family. It’s a personal journey that takes us to the United States, France, England, and Germany. One of the movie’s strengths is… Read More Unschooling: All you need is love
One of the great joys of being a longtime homeschooling parent is watching kids grow–not just one’s own kids, but so many others, too. Astaeria is 14 now, but I’ve known her since she was a wee one. When she was seven, she used to come with us to park day every week, which was… Read More Picture perfect
The nights are getting cooler, our first butternut squashes from the garden have been picked, apples are showing up at my local farmers’ market. Fall is coming, the season of mists and yellow fruitfulness, to quote John Keats. It’s the season of the bittersweet, harvests of plenty, and the last gasps of beauty and fullness… Read More Not back to school time, again
This was supposed to be a celebratory post. It’s been on my list to write about the Boston Area Homeschoolers’ Queer Straight Alliance (BAHS QSA), and the HEDA Project, the new venture they’ve just launched. The group is close to my heart for many reasons, including the fact that my own kids were among its founding… Read More Spreading love with the HEDA Project
We all have them, right? Summer memories of lazy days, popsicles, swimming, pick-up games of tag or kickball, and oodles of fun. Well, maybe we don’t all have them, especially since summer has become just another season for scheduling stuff. These days, when people ask What are your kids doing this summer? the answers generally include multiple… Read More What are you doing this summer?
Today I read one of the best articles about homeschooling I’ve encountered in a long time. In How to homeschool a 4-year-old, Amy Wright Glenn discusses why and how she and her spouse homeschool. Reading it was like taking a short walk down memory lane. When Wright Glenn talked about her son’s engagement in physical activity… Read More Why to homeschool a 4-year-old
Last week I read about Anthony Ruelas, a middle schooler in Texas who was suspended after he lifted a girl in the throes of a horrible asthma attack and carried her to the nurse’s office. Apparently the teacher had already e-mailed the nurse and was awaiting a response when Ruelas took matters into his own hands to… Read More Homeschooling and pushouts
A Potluck Life 