Recently Mr. T took a circuitry class for homeschoolers. Although the class sounded interesting, T didn’t love it. For part of the class there were experiments that the teachers had set up, each with a diagram and a supply of parts. Kids were supposed to build the circuit on the card and to test it. [...]

Recently I got a new itty-bitty 11-inch macbook air. I pretty much ran my last laptop into the ground. I actually typed many of the letters right off the keys, and that spinning rainbow wheel and I spent far too much time together in the past year. I thought it might be nice to cloak [...]

Before reading, you must check out the disclaimer. And promise no pouncing or guilt. Ultimate guides are well-loved around here. Currently Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide has been found sprawled in various settings around the house, attesting to its popularity–with T, anyway. An ultimate guide is simply a rather cockily titled information [...]

I’m planning to start a new occasional series here on the wonderfarm, but like any modern endeavor, this one must be prefaced by a disclaimer. See, I’m hoping to share ideas for writing with kids. But I don’t always like ideas for writing with kids. Phrases start swirling in my mind, phrases like lesson plans, curriculum, [...]

A couple of links have come my way this week that got that old question bubbling in my brain. The first was a link to a trailer for the upcoming documentary Class Dismissed: Education and the Rise of Homeschooling in America. Watching it, I realized that much of it had been filmed at the summer [...]

I came upon this quote the other day from Jeffrey Wilhelm, a professor of English Education who has written several books on kids and writing: “Students now need more time to immerse themselves in curricular topics, more time to read, write, and reflect; they need more informal writing, they need more exploration, and they need [...]