learning

lost and found

April 10, 2017

I had a beloved coffee cup. Tall and handle-free, white with tiny red flowers and a silicone sleeve. A small chip at the lip. If you know me in real life, you have surely seen it in my grip at one point or another, as I used it constantly and not just for coffee. If […]

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a history of history fairs

May 12, 2016

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 […]

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let’s talk about writing

February 24, 2016

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 […]

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“I don’t like reading”

February 16, 2016

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 […]

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i like making my own assignments

January 7, 2016

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 […]

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game boy

February 19, 2015

Desire is a powerful engine. As a homeschooling parent I harness it shamelessly. If my boy delighted in turning learning into games, I was game. Through T’s eyes, the Periodic Table was a glorious alternative Pokédex, each element a character with distinctive powers and potential to unleash chaos on other elements. Other areas of science, […]

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required + reading

October 8, 2014

“Reading time! Grab your book!” This is what I call out to Mr. T, who is in the backyard, walking circles around the trampoline, lost in thought. He gives me his usual just-a-minute and eventually comes in, pulls Hunter from the book basket and sprawls himself in every direction across the leather chair like an […]

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