As homeschoolers, the favorite go-to question of critics is often "What about socialization?" Right. Because public schooled kids are the epitome of empathetic, well-adjusted, can-talk-to-anyone socialites of polite society. Ahem. As a wise man once told me "The only thing I learned from other third graders was how to make farting sounds with my armpit."…
Three words – Know Your Vision I know, I know, you don't have time to create a vision statement for high school, you have too many practical decisions to make and hours of research before you can make them wisely. But please, just stop for a moment. Without a clear vision of what you want…
As summer begins kids get obnoxious pretty quickly. I know, it sucks. But it is a necessary phase of decompression from our over-paced lives. Yes, even us homeschoolers are hyperpaced, cramming in all the goodness we can in fear that if we just sit and rest our kids will miss out on some amazing experience…
I do not think it necessary to expound on why we want to avoid overwhelm in our homeschools. Overwhelm equals stress, chaos, and uncertainty, none of which complement a healthy lifestyle. Overwhelm can be a rather quiet beast, creeping in gradually until one day you just CAN'T. I find keeping overwhelm at bay starts with…
The teaching brain has a lot in common with the learning brain. They both need space in working memory and to support that space they need background knowledge so they can take advantage of long-term memory and automaticity. Teaching is a cognitive skill. One of the main differences between a teacher's brain and a student's…
"Children do differ in intelligence, but intelligence can be changed through sustained hard work." – Willingham I believe very strongly in the malleability of intelligence. The old idea that intelligence was fixed mostly by genetics has been largely disproven. This doesn't mean genes have no role to play, it just means their role is much…
We all know kids are different. Yet we all have brains made out of the same stuff. So do the differences in our kids mean we should teach them differently? This is how learning style is usually presented. If your kids remembers pictures better than things he hears, then you should teach just with pictures….
Can You Homeschool For Free?Source file: Can_You_Homeschool_for_Free.docxAuthor: Marla SzwastCreated: 2018-05-08 00:52:00Modified: 2018-08-02 21:58:00 Can You Homeschool For Free? There are three main ways you can homeschool for free. Use online free resources. Use a public school funded online program. Use the library.
There has been a push in modern education to shift away from teaching kids about stuff (like facts & concepts & patterns) to attempting to teach them how to think like experts. Is such a thing possible? Can you think like an expert before you are one? Do experts become experts because they think differently…
We are all familiar with the term "drill and kill", yet we also know that practice makes perfect. "It is virtually impossible to become proficient at a mental task without extended practice" WillinghamIf we must practice to become proficient, how do we keep that practice from killing our children's love of learning? Often, when we…