Unschooling Philosophy

Recently I wrote a post about how difficult it can be for us moms to make time to care for ourselves. It’s something I’ve struggled with since the moment I became a mother. And apparently, I’m not alone. So many of you wrote back to say that you share this same challenge. A few of […]

For two years now my daughter Katy has wanted a cat. No, wanted isn’t really the right word. Passionately desired with every fiber of her being is more like it. At first, I kind of figured it was a passing phase. After all, she was barely five years old. Her tastes changed as often as […]

Today it was my turn to come down with the mild cold that my kids had last week – only for me, it was clearly shaping up to be not so mild. I got up, gave the kids breakfast, and got Katy ready for her play date with my mom. After her departure, I surveyed […]

Because I’ve yet to entirely vanquish the schoolteacher in my head, every once in a while I find myself perusing the school system’s scope and sequence.  This is a weighty document that spells out everything a child in a particular grade is supposed to have covered, and – with any luck – mastered. Eight years […]

Being a teacher, I was kind of amazed at how naturally our family made the transition from school-at-home to unschooling. Maybe the fact that I am a teacher helped. It was pretty easy for me to find the learning in most of my kids’ activities, which was reassuring – especially at first. But I’m going […]

I’m going to be honest with you. Unschooling has been an awesome experience for our family. But not every minute. Sometimes things go south. Sometimes they go even further downhill than that. And yes, there are moments that truly suck. Now, I’m not telling you this to bring you down – really! I’m telling you […]

I love when a seemingly ordinary activity takes a serendipitous turn. Last week, it turned out to be tie-dye. I’ve had a tie-dye kit in our bin of activities for over a year. Now and again we toss around the idea of trying it out, but have never actually gotten to it. That’s partly my […]

Remember the movie Dirty Dancing?  It’s one of my favorites.  There’s a line in it that has often popped into my mind since having my twins.  Near the beginning of the movie, Baby’s father says of her, “Our Baby here is going to save the world, ” after which Baby snidely remarks about her sister, […]