As millions of children return to school (in person!) this week, I have pondered a little about the idea of attendance, or the importance of “showing up” as it applies to us all in our everyday lives. Even to those of us, ahem… well past school age.
Continue readingBy “it” I mean tranquil domesticity. What’s grace got to do with tranquil domesticity? If you’re here reading this blog, I’ll go ahead and assume you’re “for” tranquil domesticity (the concept—not the blog… I mean… I hope you’re also for the blog…).
We’ve all heard the saying about how the grass isn’t really greener on the other side. We usually think of it in terms of what we have versus what someone else has. But it’s also good to remember when comparing our current stage of life with that of the past or future. I want to encourage you to think about how to love the “green grass” that’s right in front of you. In your home. Right now.
For many of us, marriage is an essential element of our tranquil or not-so-tranquil homelife. Since it’s the season of hearts, candies, flowers, and love, my Valentine’s gift to you is to share four principles that I pray may be an encouragement to you in your marriage.
This timeless marriage speech was of course from the movie the Princess Bride for a marriage (between Prince Humperdinck and Buttercup) that was never to be. The speech-impeded clergyman made a couple of good points, however. Marriage is a blessed arrangement, and one to be treasured.
Continue reading
I started writing some thoughts on homeschooling for parents who are considering it as an option and discovered that I had much more to say than even weird homeschool types would like to read in one sitting. So I’ve divided it into a two-parter. Read PART 1 here.
In this second installment, I’ll cover the following points: 6) the learning gap in public education, 7) why you ARE qualified to teach your children, 8) why homeschooling encourages higher order thinking, 9) assessment in homeschooling, and the one you’ve been waiting for… 10) the answers to all your burning questions about SOCIALIZATION.
Continue reading
I started writing this blog post and discovered that I had much more to say than even weird homeschool types would like to read in one sitting, so I’ve divided it into a two-parter. In this one, I’ll cover 1) the difference in doing school at home and actually homeschooling, 2) freedoms afforded to homeschoolers, 3) the importance of treasuring those freedoms, 4) the fact that it’s NOT easy…and 5) after 14 years, I still believe it’s worth it.
Continue reading
My daughters are nearing adulthood, and even though they have been homeschooled, which by design allows us to cover life-skills, character lessons, and spiritual training simultaneously with academic subjects, deficiencies happen, seemingly particularly in life skills: the stuff that is necessary, but often gets brushed aside as unimportant.
Continue readingBut for parents of teens, maybe not so much.
Adolescence is full of paradox, not the least of which is the phenomenon of great swaths of silence, punctuated by rare and unpredictable outbursts of sometimes lengthy conversation.
Continue reading