Beauty in the Ordinary
Life as a homeschooler isn’t what I imagined it would be all those years ago. I suppose it takes a few years and enough failures to be humble enough to see the simplest lessons. If I were younger and reading my own words today, I’d still be filled with all the hope and joy of youth, and also the sometimes… Read More
featuring: the Erin Condren Teacher Planner I enjoy reviewing some of my favorite planner systems around this time of year! But I feel like reviewing a fresh new planner, while hopefully inspiring, can’t show you all of the potential and the usefulness I’ve found in its pages. And in showing you, it is NOT my hope that you’ll feel as… Read More
February is here. Any homeschooler knows what that means. Burnout season. I choose to view it differently, and after 18 years of homeschooling, this February time of reflection has come to be one of the most important times of our year for considering some of our habits, routines and spaces anew – and refreshing! By February, here’s what is usually… Read More
Several years ago I wrote a set of Physics based lesson plans for middle school students based on a course I built for my son (at the time he was 10 – he’s now 18 and about to graduate!) – if you’d like to wander down memory lane you can read that post here. Then, three years ago, I updated… Read More
Can you believe another year has flown by? It seems I was just here…just sitting down to consider 2018 – our goals, plans, hopes, and prayers. And now, I’m sitting down to consider 2019. So many wonderful things happened in 2018 – so many blessings to be thankful for. I find (and maybe you do, too) that the faster and… Read More
It’s conference time – and I’m getting excited about speaking! I’d love to see you in June if you’re in Kansas City, and in July if you’re in Grand Rapids for the Grace Gathering conference! This year I’m giving the following talks: Rebuilding Culture by Doing the Next Thing (KC) (GR) The Morning Basket: Ageless & Inspiring (KC) (GR) Planning: For the Home… Read More
If you’ve been a long time reader here, you may remember this post from six years ago – Boy Meets Machine. My then-10-year-old was enamored with a course I built around a fantastic book, The Way Things Work by David Macauley. The book naturally connected itself with some interesting hands-on Physics based explorations and some other fun reading that animated… Read More
I don’t know about you, but this time of year, it’s hard to get enthusiastic about nature study. And lately, I’m losing my own momentum in that area. So, when I started planning our Term 2 Morning Basket, I wanted to brainstorm a simple way to recharge wonder in this area! It had to be simple – I don’t have room… Read More
I’m back to continue my Morning Basket series and share with you about the lesson planner I use to record our actual Morning Basket work. I’ve recorded (and not recorded >>gasp<<) our Morning Basket in so many ways over the years. But the last two years, I’ve really enjoyed using a write-it-down-as-you-go lesson planner. I’ll tell you why… I’ve found I… Read More
I promised a look through my new Morning Basket binder when I shared our Term Plans and Printables with you, and here it is! I had hoped to get this posted last week…but alas the beach called louder! You understand, don’t you? I’ve always collected all my Morning Basket papers and resources in a few different files, but after years… Read More
This series is long overdue for a revival! I enjoyed posting these so much and I learn so much when I dig into the principles Miss Mason sets out for the teacher, so here I am this morning, adding another teaching gem for you to consider. I know we’re all wrapping up our years, and doing so always involves a certain… Read More
Do you cherish these board-book-filled days as much as I do? They’re sweet and tender aren’t they? We’re all preparing the soil in these delight-filled early years, and it is no less important that we do so with sweet and sturdy little books that are inviting and build the imagination with the good, true and beautiful. I’m often asked about our… Read More
Preparing the soil. It’s such an evocative expression, isn’t it? Most of us are tending our gardens, attempting to coax some semblance of life out of them while the heat and lack of rain seek to thwart our best efforts. We water, tend, weed – and if we are attentive and nurture, there is growth and fruit. Sometimes an abundance… Read More
Some time ago, the CiRCE Institute shared a 2003 conference talk by Dr. James Taylor on the topic of using the Good Books and the Great Books as part of teaching literature. It is an extraordinary talk and I took copious notes, just a few of which I’ll share with you below. As Dr. Taylor observes in this talk, The… Read More
How injurious then is our habit of depreciating children; we water their books down and drain them of literary flavor, because we wrongly suppose that children cannot understand what we understand ourselves; what is worse, we explain and we question. A few pedagogic maxims should help us, such as, “Do not explain.” “Do not question,” “Let one reading of… Read More
The teaching selection I chose for this week speaks to a key component of a Charlotte Mason education – Atmosphere – and an aid the teacher must make use of to ensure a fresh atmosphere. Our own current family circumstances allowed me an opportunity to reflect on atmosphere from a unique position that I’ve really come to appreciate. From: Towards a Philosophy of Education,… Read More
As we wrap up our year, I’m looking back at a few plans and books to review and chat about. Without a doubt, our Morning Basket time continues to serve our growing family. What began around 8 years ago as a common point in the day with shared reading time, has evolved and grown into something that is full, and… Read More
I’m continuing a series that I’m really enjoying and I’m (re)learning so much! Join me as we discuss Charlotte Mason and her thoughts on our role in teaching. Today’s lesson: Open Doors We wish to place before the child open doors to many avenues of instruction and delight, in each one of which he should find quickening thoughts. School Education,… Read More
I’m beginning a series of reflections on teaching and teachers based on Charlotte Mason’s writings. I decided to do this because in recent reading in Charlotte Mason’s volumes, I just kept coming across these little gems on the topic of teaching, and they really began to stand out to me….and sink in. I enjoyed visiting with these ideas over the… Read More
A few months ago we began a book discussion of The Living Page by Laurie Bestvater. It’s been delightful digging into some of these ideas with you. At the author’s request, the book discussion will not continue and past posts discussing the book’s content have not been retained on this blog. I am truly so grateful to those that joined the earlier… Read More
This journey into home education often causes hand wringing and angst right about now as parents consider what books, what curriculum, what plan to consider for next year. How to choose? And, unlike my mom, who home educated my brother and sister on a shoestring budget, and had minimal resources and tools to choose from, today we have a flotilla… Read More
I have been looking for so long for a program that allows me to customize our copywork. I used to have a friend in Startwrite, but that was several years ago. They’ve since been through a number of wonderful revisions, but none of them work on a mac. So, if you’re a PC user, I would definitely recommend Startwrite, but… Read More
Please visit — Notebooks – Acquiring Habits of Intellectual Effort — if you haven’t read it yet. It contains a distillation of my thoughts on the foundational ideas from Charlotte Mason on her notebooks. The following are simply resources and links that have been of use in our own home as we work in our notebooks – toward “acquiring habits of intellectual… Read More
NOTE BEFORE THE POST : This post originally began as a book discussion introduction. If you arrived here looking for the original book discussion it is no longer retained (at the book author’s express wish). What remains are my thoughts and the ideas that sprung from Charlotte Mason’s writing on her notebooks as found in her 6 volumes and also from PNEU Programmes… Read More
