When our kids were 7 and 9, we thought homeschooling might be a good fit for us. We started with a Calvert Homeschool boxed curriculum, a basic platform that allowed us to plan our days and supplied a vehicle for growth. Quickly realizing I could make the learning more fun, I added workbooks, reading time,…
Category: poetry
Summer Reading How-to Guide
Warm sunshine, cool breezes, gentle rains, sunrises, lazy mornings, beach afternoons, and late nights are all perfect times to read. Reading more (like drinking water or increasing activity!) is a powerful lifestyle change almost everyone aspires to make. Small changes in daily habits can greatly improve our well-being and enjoyment of life. I can’t help…
Are you a Seasonal Reader?
Seasonal eating has always resonated with me. We aim to prepare meals that contain fruits and vegetables in season—comforting stews in winter, grilled meats with vibrant, fresh salads in summer—with these choices, we can connect deeply with nature’s rhythms. We all do a version of that, right? But what about the natural rhythms of reading?…
2024 Reading List & Lynne’s Top 5+
2024 had all the things: great opportunities, abundant travel, adventure, quality time, many firsts, and a few lasts. We shared the year with new and old friends, lots of family, and great love. Generally, I felt distracted this year (empty nesting? politics? snuggling my cat?) and thought I read less than in prior years. However,…
Create Space for Writing
“What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children’s growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools, but that it isn’t a school at all.” — John Holt When learning is the goal, our environment is everything. Dedicating space for learning is critical…
April’s Poet
Is there a better time than Spring to appreciate the beauty of nature, the nature of our souls, the soul of our world, and our world of love and beauty? Definitely not. Spring brings with it a fountain of poetry that drops us wordies to our knees. poetry [ poh-i-tree ] noun the art of rhythmical…
Best Reads of 2022
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…
When Poetry Unites
Embracing current events in real-time is a hallmark of homeschools everywhere. When something happens, we can watch, research, discuss and learn from it as it develops. Today, the Inauguration of our 46th President of the United States is a prime example of just this type of learning. January 20, 2021: We began this slightly snowy…
A Little Christmas Library
Our Victorian-era house has a small 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,…
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…
T I M B A L E R O 