how talking to your kids about their interests can make them better writers post image

“The Boros are kind of like the military, the peacekeepers, the law folk. Their founder was Razia, an angel…” This is the kind of thing my kid says these days, as he follows me around, talking. He’s smitten with the card game, Magic the Gathering, and his conversations are pretty much all Magic, all the time. [...]

homeschool writing

homeschool writing post image

Just another quirky example of homeschool writing. That title, and that caption, is an experiment. See, if you type the phrase homeschool writing into Google, you will quickly be given a page of hits that I do not much like. You’ll get a whole page–and then at least part of another–with nothing more than writing curriculum. [...]

keeping me busy

keeping me busy post image

1. your comments on wonderfarm’s birthday post. I didn’t want to add another post because it was a hoot to have so many of you show up and chat with me. Thank you, especially those of you who don’t usually leave comments. You made me smile at my computer screen. Many, many times. 2. house guests. [...]

i’d give you a cupcake if i could post image

Photo by Lulu. She and her friend made these this afternoon. Four kinds of cupcakes, four kinds of frosting. Because this is what 16-year-old girls do when they’re bored on a summer afternoon. Today is my blog’s birthday. Four years old. Time for a party. Last year on wonder farm’s birthday, I got all maudlin and retrospective about [...]

how to strike it rich in the california gold rush * post image

You might not want to bother taking your pan down to the river. You’d probably be smarter to do something more practical. The practical folks are the ones who get rich. Cook for hungry miners, say. Even if it means cooking beans over fire for eight hours in 95 degree heat. Even better, you could [...]

if you want to help your kids with writing, you need to write yourself post image

I give my kids lots of writing advice. Like this: * To get started on something new, sit down and write without stopping for ten minutes, and see what comes to you. Re-read what you’ve written and underline anything promising. Then freewrite on that. * Write your beginnings and endings last, because they’re the hardest parts [...]