With the school year just beginning, people seem to be especially curious about how and why our family homeschools. Questions regarding our motives, our practices, our most- and least-favorite parts of homeschooling, and more seem to come daily.
In an effort to answer some of these questions, I decided to put up periodic pieces that give a peek into our homeschooling lives. … Continue reading
My boys and I have watched several different types of insects move through their life cycles. In past years, we’ve watched ants make amazing tunnels. We’ve observed as tiny caterpillars grew large, secreted a chrysalis, and emerged as butterflies (see HERE). We’ve seen ladybugs transform from larvae, to pupa, and then into the adult ladybugs we all recognize.
This week, we watched over a hundred praying mantis nymphs emerge from a single egg. … Continue reading
Miss Rumphius is a sweet, gentle, heartwarming tale of a life well lived. The inspiring message at this story’s core is a wise perspective on what it means to live a meaningful life.
Narrated by Miss Rumphius’ young niece, this book begins by introducing us to the “little and old” Lupine Lady who lives by the sea, but reminds us that she was not always little and old. … Continue reading
Lightning, thunder, hail, and torrential rain: a beautiful afternoon to sit snuggled together inside our warm, dry house as we watch the storm pass by.
The lightning is beautiful as it arches and flashes through the sky. It’s also close enough that it’s making our house shake.
As we watched it from inside (this is not the weather for being outside), I reminded my boys how to calculate our distance from a lightning strike. … Continue reading
This week’s exciting learning experience: setting things on fire using a parabolic mirror.
While some parents might gasp – You’re encouraging your kids to set things on fire??!!” – I think it’s a good idea for children to learn about and experiment with fire.
After all, fire has been fundamental to the survival and development of humankind. … Continue reading
Spring is here, and with the rebirth of the world around us comes a reawakening of my boys’ desire to be up in the trees. It doesn’t matter whether we’re in our own yard, at a park, along a hiking trail, or in front of our local library (where I took this particular picture), if they see a tree that looks good for climbing, they are ready to go.… Continue reading
We are fortunate to have fantastic resources for learning within our local community. Not only do my boys (and I!) have opportunities to learn about all sorts of topics, we get to learn in fun, hands-on ways.
Last week we attended a workshop at our local library that allowed everyone to build and launch whatever type of object we could imagine (using the provided materials, of course). … Continue reading
Celebrating holidays from around the world is a fun and exciting way to learn about the various cultures, traditions, and special foods of the wide array people with whom we share our earth. It’s a painless way to introduce geography, and it makes multiculturalism pleasurable. Who doesn’t enjoy having another reason to celebrate? And if it involves delicious foods – and most celebrations do – that makes it even better.… Continue reading
Natural, found objects can make amazing art supplies. Not only is it fun for children to explore outside and find these objects, but being able to turn them into a work of art brings another level of perspective to the task.
When kids are looking at items with an eye for using the materials in an art project, it helps to develop careful observation skills by encouraging them to look closely at things and to picture them in an entirely different context.… Continue reading
I know that tree climbing can be a controversial practice. I know this mostly because of the dirty looks I receive when I’m sitting at the park and I allow my boys to climb the trees (well, my 6-year-old actually climbs high into trees; the 2-year-old generally hugs the trunk from the ground and yells, “Climb tree! Climb tree!”).
When I receive these looks, sometimes I smile and wave – pretending the other mothers are not giving me the evil eye, most of the time I ignore them, and every once in a rare while, I rehearse what I might say if they asked me about why I let my boys climb trees.… Continue reading