Summer Solstice

June 20-23 is Summer Solstice. I’ve always enjoyed celebrating the seasons and it’s something I love sharing with my children.Here are some links and ideas for activites and rituals that can be used with your own children. If you know of any others, feel free to share in the comment section. Go outside:Go outside and experience the summer. Watch some sunrises and sunsets together as a family. Make it a special...

Kennedy Space Center

We just got back from a three day mini-vacation to Cocoa Beach (in Florida) and the Kennedy Space Center. If you read this blog with any regularity, then you know that my youngest daughter Jacqueline has a passion for space and that passion was one of the reasons we went. My husband is also a space cadet (LOL) and the two of them enjoyed themseves very, very much.Some of the cool highlights was Jacqueline meeting and taking...

Day 117

If you’ve been planning on sending a submission to Unschooling Voices (the unschooling carnival), don’t forget to do it before July 1st, which is when it comes out. I’ve received some really great entries so far! Here’s the details if you’re interested in participating. Queana is working on distributing it via a podcast so that should be exciting! She’s going to be contacting those of you...

Day 116

We finally made the slime I blogged about last month. Billy did it with them last night. It came out so…slimey!! The kids loved it! I bought neon food coloring so the colors would be nice and bright. If you haven’t done it yet, please do and let us know how it went. A few blog carnivals, that we participated in, were posted in the last couple of days. First is the Carnival of Family Life, where I blogged about...

Day 115 (Giving back)

When it comes to giving back, I’ve always prefered helping in a personal way, rather than just writing a check. In the past, I’ve sponsored a child and donated food to homeless shelters. Here are some current ways we’re giving back and helping others. Cimion was having yogurt one day and read that 10 cents will be donated for each pink lid that is mailed in. He rinsed his lid and saved it in a baggie and...

Day 114

Some goings on in our home…. We hosted a pool party for Jacqueline’s Brownie troop last week as a year end party. Everyone had a great time. We had about half the troop here (which was good because there’s over 20 girls in the entire troop!) and they played in the pool and also on our playset and trampoline. Two of the moms stayed and the rest dropped off their kids and then came back a couple of hours...

Justifying Bad Educational Practices: pt 1

I came across this article and thought to share it here. Part two follows in the next post because it’s quite long. Getting Hit on the Head LessonsJustifying Bad Educational Practices as Preparation for More of the SameBy Alfie Kohn Suppose you have a negative reaction to a certain educational practice but you’re unable to come up with any good reasons to justify your opposition. All is not lost: You can always play...

Justifying Bad Educational Practices: pt 2

**continued from above** I realize, of course, that many readers regard these practices as desirable in their own right. They may believe that competitive struggle brings out the best in children, that grading students is a constructive form of evaluation, that standardized tests accurately assess the most important aspects of learning, or that, after a full day in school, kids ought to take home more assignments regardless...

links to Unschooling Voices

Now that the first Unschooling Voices carnival is planned for July 1, the next step is getting the word out. (A carnival, in the blogging world, is a collection of posts on a related topic, this topic being unschooling)Here’s the link with all the information. Thank you to:Cher at Adventures in Living,Lesa at Learning in Freedom Everyday,Andrea at atypicalhomeschool.net,Kate at The Amazing Adventures of UsDoc at...

Deschooling for parents: pt. 2

I wanted to add this to part one, but it was getting long. This is a discussion from an unschooling e-mail group I belong to. A member asked: How long does deschooling take?? I am trying so hard to be patient but my spirit is restless. I am trying to relax. Anne Ohman replied: What are you waiting for? *Your* spirit doesn’t have to be restless…DO something! Live!! Follow your passions!! See the world anew again...