As the refugee issue has heated to a boil in our country, my girls have formed their own opinions on the matter. They decided to do something to make refugees in our country feel more welcome. They, practically on their own, organized a holiday drive for the refugee center closest to us. After about…
It’s not other people’s concern and comments over socialization and “keeping up.” It’s not the worry that you’re doing it wrong. It’s not the moments when your kids are bored and trying to figure out what’s next. It’s not the constant work of making sure your kids have what they need to explore their various…
We can best help children learn, not by deciding what we think they should learn and thinking of ingenious ways to teach it to them, but by making the world, as far as we can, accessible to them, paying serious attention to what they do, answering their questions — if they have any — and…
— John Holt
It’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It’s our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.
— L.R. Knost
Quick post on why walking is wonderful. Worth a few minutes to read. :) I feel that my children (and myself!) are at our best, our most creative, our most curious, our most inspired, after we’ve spent time outside, moving, breathing, walking, working!
We make it into Yellowstone at least once a week right now. It requires a lot more effort than in the warmer months, but it is worth it. From the moment I enter those borders, I am home. (This is Richie, the girls’ hiking mascot. Every kid should have a mascot, don’t you think?) :)…
Since moving from the suburbs, I haven’t written as much about how to make unschooling work there, but it is still very important to me. I vividly remember the extra creativity required to make it work in an environment that wasn’t quite as “natural” as the woods we now live in. Here are a few random…
If there is anything that Yellowstone has taught us, it is patience. Quiet, pleasant patience. That things take time, and sometimes the time is long and that rushing does no good. Last week, it rained and rained. And rained. It was wonderful. I am grateful for ponchos and sweatshirts. The chilly weather gave us a…
“I feel that there is something in having passed one’s childhood beside the big river that is incommunicable to those who have not.” – T.S. Eliot What will your child’s “big river” be?
I don’t really know what to say in this post. I feel so frustrated that in this current society, we have to fight to let our children have a childhood. When did it become the norm to steal that from them? When did it stop becoming okay for a child to spend the day in…
You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. — Stephen R. Covey I’ve been thinking a lot about my life and my priorities lately…my life over the past few…
It happens all-too-often: I run into a homeschooling parent that thinks the way I once did, and I cringe for days afterward. Did I truly once rate my value as a parent and a facilitator of education by how “far ahead” my children were than others? Did I truly once worry so much about how…