“Wisdom is a way of seeing and knowing the same old ten thousand things, but in a new way.” – Richard Rohr Homeschoolers all do this “homeschool” thing differently. While there is an inherent difference between homeschooling and school-at-home, it is the environment you set that will help your child most right now. Learning is…
Embracing the Inconvenient
In 2018, Sophia wrote a paper for her Grade 9 Writing class titled, “The Secret to Happiness is to Embrace the Odd Inconvenience.” I happened upon it this morning, looking forward to some tips. “Sometimes the greatest moments of our lives are fueled solely by an odd inconvenience. If we allow inconveniences to ruin our…
Distance Learning: Make the Choice to Thrive
We are all doing the right thing, by not catching or spreading a virus which puts our most susceptible at risk. We are all working together to do something BIG. Thank you to all of you who are taking on this bizarre new normal. My family appreciates you. “I imagine all the closures and cancellations…
Homeschool Pie!
If our school was a delicious home-made pie, literature-based learning would be one half of that pie, one-quarter pie would be hands-on learning (labs, art, music, travel), and the remaining one-quarter pie would be workbooks, textbooks, lectures, essays, tests and quizzes. “Homeschooling is a superpower, when it comes to your child’s reading life and learning…
2019 Reading List & Lynne’s Top 5
Give the gift of books this holiday season! So many titles, so little time! I love the modern fiction I read this year, like Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Both are well-written and full of literary magic. I could read them over again and each…
Saying No to the Dreaded Scroll
Phones are like air and comfort food. We need them and they make us feel good. Have a question about anything at all? The answer is at our finger-tips in seconds. Need to call home? The phone is already dialing. We are all, every one of us, connected and addicted to this new way of…
Risk-taking, Relationships, and Trust
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. –Paulo Coelho in the Alchemist Recently, I had the good fortune to sit down with long-time friends Bj and Jess Gumkowski (world renowned athletes, teachers, coaches, nutritionists and generally higher level humans) to chat about life a bit. As she gestures, open hands to the…
Calling all Cool 5th Graders (a reading list)
My 5th grade nephew goes to a great school in Brooklyn, NY. He called Tony and I last night (Hi Nicholas!), because he is raising money for a school camping trip via a class-wide “Read-a-Thon.” I love-love-love Read-a-Thons and any other “a-thon” that gets kids excited about reading enough to call their aunt and uncle…
Feed the Beasts
Are your kids always hungry? My kids are ALWAYS. HUNGRY. . I will fill the pantry and fridge to the brim and just because we are out of bananas, they complain to me there is ‘no food in the house.’ We need to buy stock in Dole Organic Bananas. I’m not sure we could exist…
Slow it Down: A “How-to” Guide
Living simply is hard to do in today’s rush-everywhere communities. We all talk about it and try to simplify, but the pace of our days is out of our control; ingrained our modern-world DNA… Or is it? I think it is possible to alter that pace. Travel School is the basis for how our family…