Overwhelmed by Homeschooling? I Was Too.
You are not the only one who is overwhelmed by homeschooling. I wrote these words on January 24, 2005, shortly after we pulled our oldest son, Nathan, out of first grade at semester: I’m a state of shock. It’s our first day homeschooling, and I have no rhythm, no flow, no sense of managing my […]
Learning at Home
Learning at home can be fun. Right now, a lot of parents are freaking out at the prospect of schooling their kids while also working from home. And wondering if it’s even possible to do both without going crazy. It’s possible. In fact, it can be be downright wonderful. I homeschooled our boys for 7 […]
Higher Education At Home: What Are The Benefits?
At 18-years-old, most children will graduate from high school and head off to college a few months later. Most kids are excited about college and all the change that comes with it, but what if you have homeschooled your child for his entire school life and the only place that he has ever learned is at home? […]
Join My Community!
This past weekend, I had the honor of speaking at the InHome conference in St. Charles, Illinois. I presented 3 sessions: Single Parent Homeschooling, Homeschooling Boys, and Boundless Energy: Understanding (and Respecting) Boys’ Need for Movement. It was an inspiring experience, to say the least! At times over the past year, I have felt like […]
Homeschooling Boys
Do you homeschool your boys? If so, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite books, games, resources and activities. Leave me a comment with some of your favs. I’ll do a round-up post of your favorite resources. (And if you have a lot of say, feel free to drop me an email at […]
Characteristics of Homeschooling Families
Have I mentioned the fact that I’m blogging for The Homeschool Classroom this year? My first post, 7 Characteristics of Homeschooling Families, went live yesterday. Check it out and let me know what you think.
What Kids Need to Learn
On March 30, 2011, in response to a Boston Globe article about kids and learning, I wrote, “What kids need to learn is 1. Time, 2. Space, 3. Access to Materials and 4. Support. They also need Freedom to Explore.” I dubbed this the “time-space-access-support-freedom framework for learning.” I wrote that blog post based entirely […]
"Teaching Too Much Can Stifle Exploration"
Have you seen the Boston Globe article about how babies learn? The 2011 article, “A Squeeze, a Squeak, a Glimpse of Learning,” provides fascinating insight into how young children learn — and why, perhaps, our schools aren’t as effective as they could be. In one interesting study, researchers handed preschoolers a complex cause-and-effect toy. Researchers […]
Homeschooling Boys
When I agreed to present a session on Homeschooling Boys at the Wisconsin Parents Association’s annual conference, I had no idea I’d be speaking to a room of almost 100 people. And yet there they were, bright-faced at 8:30 AM on a Saturday morning, ready to share their concerns, insights and comments. Ostensibly, I was […]
Homeschooling and Evolution
The headline was enough to make me cringe: “Top home-school texts dismiss Darwin, evolution.” The accompanying graphic, a line graph showing the growth of homeschooling over the last 20 years, is enough to incite yet another wave of anti-homeschooling sentiment — because really, who wouldn’t be against homeschooling if homeschooling means that over 1.5 million […]