Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I thought you might find a reminder about this post from over the summer helpful. In it, my friend Lainie discusses how she uses a Sticky Note Wall to help involve her kids in preparing for a big gathering or celebration.
You can find the post HERE.
This is a great suggestion for families, especially once your kids can read.… Continue reading
Before my children move out of the house, there are a wide variety of skills that I want them to master. Basic self-care, home care (HERE and HERE), basic repair skills, cooking (see HERE), financial literacy, and many other things along these lines. One of these skills is doing laundry.
My 7-year-old, who has watched me do laundry from the time I wore him as a newborn, recently expressed an interest in doing the laundry himself. … Continue reading
Election season is upon us. No matter where you sit on the political spectrum, I hope that you agree that voicing your opinion by casting a vote is vital to protecting our freedoms and shaping our government.
Voting is the chief right and duty of all citizens. Our founding fathers granted a vote to white landowners at the founding of our nation. … Continue reading
Homeschooling, and parenting in general, doesn’t happen in a vacuum. One of the ways we expand beyond the personal resources my husband and I possess as parents is to search out resources within our community (like THIS and THIS and THIS). Sometimes this comes in the form of knowledgeable friends, and other times it comes in the form of institutions and teachers who become part of our learning community (and often become friends in the process).… Continue reading
My dear friend Lainie is back with another household tip. This time, she discusses how she gets her kids involved with preparations for a special occasion. Her tip about Teaching Kids to Clean with Lines (HERE) has made a huge difference in our house. I can see her suggestion about a Post It Note Wall being equally effective (especially once both of my boys can read!).… 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
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
This post comes from my long-time dear friend, Lainie. Her ideas about practical ways to help a household run smoothly even with small children underfoot (as well as so many other things) have encouraged me over the years. I hope you find the idea she writes about here helpful as well. I certainly plan to give Lines a try with my boys.… 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
There are many things that I want to teach my children before they leave the house. While the most important of these have to do with character, perspective, and attitude, there are quite a few academic skills and also a good number of life skills that I want to be sure they master. I want my boys to grow into self-sufficient adults.… Continue reading