I took a trip to the River Teeth Nonfiction Conference again this June. I thought about writing up a complete rundown, like I did last year, but I don’t know that I could bring back the magic of the original. This year’s conference was wonderful, all the same. If you’re a writer, don’t miss Steve Harvey [...]

A few weeks back I organized A Trip through Time for my homeschooling support group. The tenth annual history fair I’ve organized, and the last. I’m feeling a little sappy in the face of all that history. I have my own history of convincing my homeschooling group to adopt wild ideas. (Let’s form a Destination Imagination [...]

That’s a photo of my oldest two on our very first day of homeschooling. September 9, 1997. Look at my H with his gappy smile–he knocked out that tooth at three–all proud of his clay head creation. Look at my Lulu with that sweet fat cheek, cutting clay competent as anything though she isn’t yet two. The [...]

My friends, bless their hearts, have heard me yammer on about kids and writing for years. They know that once I get going, I won’t stop. I have so much enthusiasm for kids, and writing, and how to help kids get enthusiastic about writing, that I will gladly go on for as long as they’ll let [...]

I don’t like reading. This is what my 14-year-old says, just before he breaks my heart. But what he’s saying isn’t exactly accurate. For one, he’s saying it as a response to me bugging him about why he doesn’t read more. Which irritates him, and makes him want irritate me right back. And he knows [...]

I know I said I’d write about reading in January, but once January arrived I could think of no better way to oust that Christmas tree from this page than with a photo of a journal. Everyone loves journals in January. That one right there is where I’m working on my MFA. I ordered this journal last [...]