* We’ve had a wonderful week in Acadia National Park. Today we’re driving down the coast, exploring some lighthouses along the way until we reach Portland, Maine. Then tomorrow we head for Boston! On Wednesday I brought you a powerful post by Elizabeth from Sattvic Family. Today, her husband Billy, who writes his own blog at…
Tag: parents
Using Your Gifts & Dreams to Jump Start Your Homeschooling Journey
*Today my family and I are leaving the beautiful city of Montreal, Canada (the second city on our 3 week road trip) and driving towards Franklin, Maine where we’ll be spending a week at the gorgeous Acadia National Park. So, I’m happy to share with you a guest post by a new friend, Tereza Crump of the…
Is Interest-Led Learning Really Child-Led Learning….or Something Else?
When I first heard the term child-led learning I thought it was wonderful. Letting children take the lead in their learning was a new and exciting concept for me 8 years ago. But in the past few years, that phrase started to bother me. I want my kids to be self-directed learners. I want their…
Saying Yes – A Poem
I’ve been struggling a bit with my health this past week. I guess I should say that my biggest struggle has been that I’ve had to say no a lot more this week to the kids than I would like. It breaks my heart not to have the energy to play most of the day…
Nuturing Relationships: The Essential Ingredient in Home Education
Someone asked on Twitter the other day what was the most essential tool I use in educating my kids at home. Several things came to mind: the library, the internet, free community events, games, cool iPhone apps, science kits and DVDs. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that all those…
How Interest-Led Learning is like Master Chef
I’m not a big cook. I like cooking and trying out new recipes, but I wouldn’t say I have a passion for making food. But I really like to watch cooking shows….a lot. In fact, I think I like to watch people cooking more than I like cooking myself! One of my favorite cooking shows…
A Simple Everyday Dreams List
Travel around Europe for a year. Sell a screenplay. Learn a new language. Write a novel. Those are some big dreams I have. Dreams that will take a lot of hard work and dedication. Big dreams are nice to have. They’re fun. It makes you feel good thinking about them. But the problem with big…
Creating a System for Adventure: Monthly & Weekly Planning
Over the past week I’ve written about how I plan for mini-adventures and trips throughout the year. I first talked about how I created a Master List. Then I talked about how I incorporate my master list into a dedicated Google Calendar. If you haven’t read those posts, I’d suggest going back and reading them…
A Short Guide to Effortless Learning
I’ve recently finished reading Leo Babauta’s The Effortless Life (not an affiliate link). For those of you who haven’t heard of Leo, he writes on his blog Zen Habits about living a simple, mindful life and by creating positive habits by taking small steps one at a time. The Effortless Life speaks about having a…
How Children Can Invite Opportunities into Their Lives
In my last post, The Secrets of Expertise, I discussed Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers: The Story of Success. In that book, he points to two main reasons why many people have become super successful – putting in an enormous amount of practice in their area of expertise- 10,000 hours- and being born into extraordinary circumstance….