For awhile I could not remember some word I was in need of. and then I was bereaved and said: where are you, beloved friend? Oliver, Mary. A Thousand Mornings. Penguin Books, 2012. p. 9. When I look back on my reading list for any given year, I am inspired by the authors who laid…
Category: Books
Playing the Brain Game
“Music is a universal language. It can transport us; help us relive special moments; make us healthier, happier and more connected as family, friends, and as part of a larger community.” – Concord Conservatory of Music The benefits of playing a musical instrument are well-documented and vast. All of our children are piano players. Playing…
Master Your Homeschool Mission
This may be redundant, but with the renewed attention to homeschools everywhere, I don’t mind repeating: Every family is unique, and each homeschool is different. If you are considering a switch to homeschool life, the best way to start is by establishing some ground rules. Think about your family’s core values, goals, and overall vision…
Home Sweet (Home) School
It’s a beautiful thing, sitting here, on the other side of fierce and giant and scary risk. I do like to dip my toes in things that scare me, but right now, I am happy to bask in my comfort zone for awhile. Ten years ago we had an idea to try homeschooling so we…
You Go, Girl!
Is Spring a good time to talk about equal rights for girls? One can argue it is always a good time to talk about equal rights. But spring is hopeful, energetic and fresh in a ‘new beginnings’ sort of way. “The standard of courage and intellect and kindness and heart.” – Gloria Steinem, on Ruth…
Favorite Books of 2021
Narrowing my annual reading list to just five or six favorites is an enjoyable self-directed task. Oddly, I love that I do this nerdly thing each year because the time spent in reflection is a gift I give myself. So much of what we read serves a purpose: to entertain, inform, learn or improve ourselves….
2020 Reading List and Lynne’s Top 5
Since the early pandemic months of 2020, I knew this would be a good year for reading. One of the gifts of being sequestered, quarantined, or otherwise detained at home is having plenty of quality reading time. I loaded myself up with online book orders this year and spent my grateful-for-everything days and nights tending…
A Little Christmas Library
Our Victorian-era house has a library, so collecting gorgeous and favorite books is not a new thing for us. Our library is ‘artfully curated’ – which means it is interesting, but not exactly organized. I have it laid out in sections by genre and again by the author but fall short of actual cataloging, and…
Poetry, the Easy Way
“Without poetry, we lose our way.” —Joy Harjo, current U.S. Poet Laureate & Academy of American Poets Chancellor A favorite children’s book with beautiful illustrations by Jean Pierre Siméon; paintings by Oliver Tallec. … Want to add in some easy poetry to your homeschool world? Start by checking out poets.org. Housing the works of over 3,000…
Road Trip Basics
Me and my adventurous sibs, Smokey Mountains, 1971. I remember family road trips when I was a kid with vivid detail. My parents, two siblings and I would jam into our dark cherry red Oldsmobile F85 (lovingly nicknamed, “the Bomb”) and drive the three-point-five hours from Indianapolis to grandma’s house in southern Indiana about once…
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