At the homeschool conference, I went to several sessions with Catherine Levinson, a Charlotte Mason speaker. She had a lot to say about cultivating habits in kids. Apparently Charlotte was a big believer in cultivating habit. The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days.—Charlotte [...]

even cheese-grating can be fun, when you do it with friends. a six-year-old can subsist on little more than quesadillas and marshmallows for three days. when a camping coordinator reads the “camping guidelines” aloud during dinner, including the guideline about adults modeling responsible alcohol use, she is bound to have a bottle of beer in [...]

That thing is mixing watercolor paints, Mr. T’s newest fascination. In the lid of the watercolor palette he blends paints, first one color and some water, then a bit of another color, then another. New shades develop with each step, and he studies them all. He quizzes us: “Do you think I made this color [...]

A few things that have me all worked up right now: Finished books. I finally got to this one. It’s the tale of Kingsolver’s family’s year-long experiment to grow as much of their own food as possible–and to eat locally-grown food when they couldn’t raise it themselves. Parts of the book preach to the choir if [...]

  When I told Lulu to smile, she said, “No, I’m Frida” (who never smiled in her self-portraits.) The other day, Lulu, Mr. T and I went to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the MOMA in San Francisco. If you’re local and you haven’t seen it, it closes on September 28, so vaya!  It’s a [...]

So Lulu and Mr. T want to learn about China. Here’s their brainstorming list: learn to write in Chinese symbols with ink read about Chinese goddesses and myths write a Chinese version of an American Fairy tale (Lon Po Po comes to my mind) learn the history of chopsticks research and prepare Chinese food (“Potstickers!” [...]