Photo by Jon SullivanI plan a lot of field trips for various homeschool groups. I do this because I want my children to have opportunities to experience, see, explore, and learn. Planning field trips and tours allows me to give them these experiences at a more affordable price or with greater depth. Over the years,... Continue Reading →
When we were pendulum painting, some of the paint went off of the paper onto the driveway. After looking at it for a few days, I decided there was really only one thing taht made any sense - paint the driveway! My kids loved the suggestion, and we set to work watering down some more... Continue Reading →
Lovely weather at the end of Septmeber had us spending a lot of time outside. We decided to improvise with a couple of saw horses, an extra board, some string, a water bottle out of the recycling bin, and watered down tempera paint. Walla! Pendulum painting!
Tsuchi dango (Earth dumplings) were invented in the 1950s by a Japanese farmer named Masanobu Fukuoka as a way to store seeds for next season's crops. These seed balls could be planted without tilling and resulted in stronger plants, as the seeds were protected by the balls during germination. Today seed bombs are used to... Continue Reading →
Though our unschooling family doesn't go back to school, we do hit up the back to school sales in order to stock up on various supplies. Composition books, surprisingly, have been one of the most sought after supplies. My children do all sorts of things in their composition books and go through numerous ones each... Continue Reading →
If I could only recommend one book about homeschooling to someone, it would be Laura Grace Weldon's Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything. There is something for everyone in this book, whether a homeschooling veteran or someone who is contemplating whether or not to homeschool their children. While the book is unschooling-lite, families of all styles will... Continue Reading →
Crayons can be recycled into almost any shape. I used the LEGO Minifigure Ice Cube Tray to make these little recycled crayons for my LEGO loving children. I have a lot more put away for when we need a gift for a little friend. While working with melted wax may be something for aparent to do,... Continue Reading →
The school bus comes early. At 6:30 AM, my children and I waved to the kids as they rode away on the bus. The buses began driving past our house again last week, and while we usually aren't up to watch the early buses, we were today because we wanted to watch the sunrise and... Continue Reading →
You've heard about those people who homeschool their children...the ones who keep their children locked up in the basement at all hours of the day, removed from the dangers of other people and radical thoughts. You can tell these kids from the normal ones, the ones who attend public school, be their great lack of social... Continue Reading →
Jennifer Hallisy, a pediatric occupational therapist, has written a wonderful resource for parents and early childhood educators entitled The Write Start. In an age of e-mail and texting, the focus on writing has shifted. However, encouraging our children to write gives them a freedom of expression not found elsewhere. I wasn't certain what to expect... Continue Reading →
living peacefully with children 