Tag: homeschooling
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Homeschooling in the media – again
This morning, as we often do, my husband and I were discussing stuff. “I read an article yesterday in the Washington Post about homeschooling,” I said. “Same old, same old.” I proceeded to describe one of the details. “The daughter, whose parents were homeschooled by their Christian parents, is in second grade in public school,…
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Back to Homeschool
I wrote this about a dozen years ago, when my youngest kids were just becoming teenagers. While “edupreneurs” and the like looking to tap into homeschoolers as a market have created huge changes in the homeschooling landscape, the slow homeschooling our family and so many others enjoyed is still an available option. Slow homeschooling prioritizes…
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The inspirational return of Youthquake Theater
It’s been a while since I’ve written here. The homeschooling times have left me feeling like I don’t have much to contribute. Discussions and posts in the homeschooling groups I’ve been a part of for years are overrun with questions about what curriculum to use while staying home during COVID, arguments about masks and vaccines,…
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Are homeschoolers prepared for life?
Are homeschoolers prepared for life? That was the sweeping question addressed at the May 20 installment of “Post-Pandemic Future of Homeschooling,” a web conference presented by Harvard Kennedy School’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government. I have a standing appointment on Thursdays when sessions are held, so I only tuned in for the second…
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Homeschooling: A Question of Definition
It’s been several weeks since I’ve written here. Finding something meaningful to say about the current “explosion” of homeschooling has eluded me. I’ve never seen more homeschooling-related articles, social media posts, and interest on a daily basis than I have during the past year. I’ve never seen more confusion, either. We all know why, of…
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Review: Tara Westover’s “Educated”
I’m definitely late to the party, but I’ve finally read Tara Westover’s memoir “Educated.” I’d been avoiding it for a few reasons. One, the tiresome narrative of extreme-homeschooling-experience-with-autocratic-father seems to dominate most popular mainstream books and movies about homeschooling. Two, friends who know me well warned me that the story contained a sadistic, abusive older…
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Evolving into slow homeschooling
It was inevitable. Now that families have been holed up for weeks at home, some parents are finding that doing school at home is a slog. As a result, we’re beginning to see stories about parents deciding to ditch the curriculum, and the stress that goes with it, in favor of a more relaxed approach.…
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No, everyone is not homeschooling now
I always peruse the news for stories about homeschooling and unschooling, but in the past two weeks I’ve given up that practice. Never before has there been such an explosion of articles. Except they’re not about homeschooling, or unschooling, at all. What do parents do with their kids now that they’re home all day? How…
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Homeschooling: choice or sacrifice?
Recently I read an article that addressed sacrifices homeschooling parents must make. I appreciated the author’s thoughts and the honestly conveyed experiences she described, but I found that many of the sacrifices she wrote about are things I would not have thought to describe that way. That, in turn, got me thinking about the whole…
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Making kids welcome in the world
The other night I went to a fantastic concert by a jazz orchestra and an Ethiopian vocalist. I, along with hundreds of audience members, enjoyed every moment of it. As I looked around the mass of concertgoers I noticed, as I often do, the dearth of children in attendance. I counted at least three under…
A Potluck Life 