Last year I sat down with my notebook and took several hours to plot out my goals for the coming year. I wrote down some big goals in major areas of my life, broke them down into sub-goals, and then made monthly goals. I was so proud of myself and felt that it was…
Tag: natural learning
Mindmeister: Brainstorming Connections to Your Child’s Interests
Have you ever used a mind map to outline a piece of writing? Maybe you’ve even used one to plan a trip or a party? What about using a mind map to help your children think about topics and subjects related to their current interests? Well, I’ve found a great free program at Mindmeister.com that…
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…
The Key to Your Child’s Heart
*Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Krista @ Redeeming the Love of Learning. As the New Year passed, I asked my 13-year-old what he’d like to focus on more this coming year, and he responded that he’d like to become more disciplined in his learning. That was sweet news to my ears as…
Creating a System for Adventure: Building a Master Calendar
In my last post, I talked about how to create a master list of places you might want to visit with your family this coming year. It’s really important to create a link for each place you list. This way as you go through the list, you can just click on each link and be…
50 Awesome Posts About Interest-Led Learning & Unschooling From 2011
Happy New Year’s Eve! Now is the time of year when lots of bloggers, newspapers, and magazines put out their top 10 or 50 or 100 lists. It’s the time when they highlight the best of the best from throughout the year. So, I thought, why not jump on the bandwagon? Here a…
My Top Ten Lists of our Favorite Unschooling Fun in 2011
Frequent readers of this site know that I love lists. I guess it’s just the way my mind works, but I love the way lists summarize things and present them in a simple, easy way to read. I’ve spent some time thinking about our past year. I feel blessed beyond anything I could have hoped…
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…
The Secrets of Expertise
I’m really excited to watch the Olympics on TV this summer. I’m always so amazed at how incredibly talented the athletes are, especially the athletes that are still so young. It’s impressive the amount of time and dedication they put into becoming an expert at something. To be an expert at something requires an amazing…
10 Non-Traditional Christmas Movies for Homeschoolers
What’s your favorite Christmas movie? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? It’s a Wonderful Life? A Christmas Carol? When it starts to get cold outside (at least where I live!), I love to snuggle up in a blanket on the couch with the kids on a Friday afternoon and watch a great movie. We love watching all…