child-led learning

in his hands: learning how to let their projects be truly theirs

dearest sarah: an open letter to parents who homeschooled during this pandemic year: in which I respond to a reader’s heartfelt comment

tenth_history_fair a history of history fairs: kid goes meta

batman_books“I don’t like reading”: my kid says he doesn’t like reading, but I don’t totally believe him

lulus_room in which she bashes traditional schooling: my daughter’s risky college application essay

infographic_boy writing ideas: infographics: how a kid’s love of information led to a cool project

super_human “want me to read it to you?”: in which my kid surprises me by offering to read aloud a book he loves

periodic_table_of_marvel the periodic table of marvel characters: thoughts on a long-term project: cool project, finally finished

 talking books: guest post on how kids’ interruptions during read-alouds teach them about literature

 how talking to your kids about their interests can make them better writers: yes, even if they simply want to go on                                                       and on about Magic, the Gathering

 these are all things i do just for fun: how my kid inspired the data artist from the new york times!

 connections: how one kid’s play is another person’s work

 don’t put this on your blog! how they keep taking us along for the ride, even when they’re in college

 love reading today! love writing today!: if you want them to become readers and writers, you have to help them love reading and writing–today!

  learning from thor and lego space marauders: charts and graphs inspired by a kid’s interests

am I an unschooler?: a kid’s big plans about what he wants to learn and how he wants to learn it

host yourself a history fair: everything you need to know!

learning in the new millennium: on learning and video games

why homeschool?

bricolage: what it means and what it has to do with learning

fired up: mother and son, worked up about personal projects, in parallel

oh, what can be learned from a timeline: it doesn’t have to be just the facts, ma’am

they don’t all want to tell a story: how to help them dictate what they’re really interested in

following the kid: on paying attention when their eyes light up and they want to write logic puzzles about little plastic creatures

darned homeschooling: where following your kid can lead you

“but if I write for them, how will they ever learn to write themselves?”: learning to write from the likes of Pokemon

100 years of food: big project; her idea

why you need a whole new mind: book to convince you that your kid’s interests might actually be valuable aptitudes in the future

norse myths, wii games and a whole lot of thinking: projects can come from the most unlikely places

on rice-a-roni and inspiration: you never know what will excite them

a zaballos brothers production: wrapping the talents of two brothers into one grand project

science and silliness: when your kid is a mad scientist, go with it

you spin me right round, baby, right round: yes, if your kid likes aliens, he will find a way to work them into math

how to set a house on fire: yet another post on where following their interests can lead

eric carle art: how my kids got all fired up by an art project–but didn’t follow it through as I hoped they would

highlights from a history fair: a history fair and how it  inspires

I’d like a thimbleful of channa masala, please: Lulu’s dollhouse-sized Indian kitchen

making space, literally and figuratively : in which I nearly muck up the child-led learning, once again

the duomo: sometimes even child-led learning requires a little parent intervention

10,000 hours: the story behind H’s filmmaking interests–and how he began racking up malcolm gladwell’s 10,000 hours

for the love of bon jovi: kids can learn from everything, yes they can

 pokemon revisited: don’t discount those banal passions

on homeschooling and teaching credentials: the many ways my teaching background has gotten in the way

digging (to) china: the kids brainstorm ways to learn about china

school: sometimes following their lead means letting them choose school

all my waldorf guilt: when their interests include gaming systems