When she was a preschooler, the top ten tunes boomed in the car. She was bopping along in the back. When she figured out the words, they were flowing off her tongue, adult lyrics, not intended for baby ears. But she had the rhythm and the spunk. As a baby, she’d sit for hours on … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: May 2013
introducing Madelyn
She assumes she can do anything: If I asked her to build a rocket ship, she’d head to Google, willing to please. After an hour, she’d have a wrinkle above her nose and a tear in her eye, realizing that no matter how much she wants to please and how talented she is, she can’t … Continue reading
imagination
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world”. Albert Einstein I’ve seen her make mud pattied clay bricks in the backyard for days. She can spend hours painting and repainting her nails. She spent hours wandering the backyard with a picnic blanket, dragging her siblings from one end to the … Continue reading
second r: writing
Having read Susan Wise Bauer’s hefty volume, The Well Trained Mind (more than once), I have reaped many ideas for writing possibilities. I love her classically educated focus, everything from latin to sequential historical learning to logic. I defy someone to suggest she’s not got everything covered, except maybe home economics. Having said that, her … Continue reading
the 3 r’s: first, arithmetic
When I attempted true unschooling for a time, I discovered the unbelievable…there is no way to get away from arithmetic. You need to understand math…add, subtract, multiply and divide, estimate, and understand decimals and percentages. Consumerism requires it. You want to decide how much produce you can afford? Then you need to understand weights and measurements. You … Continue reading
stuff they actually do
And then comes the curriculum choosing… What is it you’re hoping the formal studies are going to accomplish in their grown-up lives? Teach them to communicate? Enable them to have math literacy? Be exposed to different places, historical figures, understand the worlds’ events? So many ways to answer those questions, if they’re important to you. You get … Continue reading