April 2010

the wall beside the bed

April 29, 2010

Do not underestimate the power of the wall beside your child’s bed. I didn’t really think much about it last summer, when I thumb-tacked that map of the world above Mr. T’s bed. He’d been interested in maps lately, and this one was colorful, with cute pictures of animals. I thought he’d like it. I [...]

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over the fence, out of the norm

April 22, 2010

If you’re here via the kind link from heather at Beauty That Moves, welcome! This little blog has never seen such a full house, but there’s plenty of room, so come on in! Since I left you dangling, or more precisely left myself dangling a few weeks back, on that chain-link fence, I figured that I’d [...]

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darned homeschooling

April 15, 2010

If we hadn’t homeschooled, he probably wouldn’t have developed his passion for filmmaking. He might have, but probably not to this extent. He wouldn’t have had the time to make all those films with his buddy when he was fourteen and fifteen; he wouldn’t have studied Hitchock’s films for months as a homeschooling project; he [...]

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chapter-a-month challenge: march

April 6, 2010

Another post on writing?  I know, I know, it’s a shame. Especially since so many exciting things are happening around here, like college-choosing, and climbing chain-link fences to capture swarms with intrepid beekeeping friends. But I promised to get back to you each month on my book project, so I’ll try to make this quick. [...]

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“but if I write for them, how will they ever learn to write themselves?”

April 2, 2010

This is a question that often comes up, when I talk to parents about taking dictation from their kids. I understand the concern. I’ve had the same worry myself. But remember this: if you’re taking dictation from kids, you’re helping them see the value of expressing themselves in writing. The usefulness of having a written [...]

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