Renaissance life in a post-modern world
Posted in Decorating, Education on May 21st, 2009
Some things in life are just best left to luck. Or providence. Or something besides careful and meticulous planning. But the SAT is not one of those things. A little prep can help mediocre or low scores tremendously. Additionally, a few hours of test prep can pay huge dividends in college scholarships.
High scores on standardized [...]
Posted in Education on Apr 20th, 2009
Mom’s obsession with drills of every shape and size stretches far into my distant memory. Images of hours spent on MathBlaster hover in my subconscious. Little pieces of floating space garbage still haunt my dreams. Our version of the program was rendered obsolete years ago and stories of geeky space aliens are now only legendary [...]
Posted in Education on Dec 10th, 2008
This school year, I was introduced to an educational resource that has proven invaluable: The Homeschool Buyer’s Coop. This is a purchasing cooperative for homeschooling families. One family started this co-op so that individual homeschooling families could gain the purchasing power of a larger group. Similar to a school district, their size allows this coop to [...]
Posted in Education on Nov 19th, 2008
I stumbled across a fabulous online source for a variety of educational helps catering to all grade levels. It is Ed Helper. This online subscription service offers reproducible and customizable material covering math, language arts, reading, and social studies (to name a few).
They even provide thematic materials for each month. Once you subscribe to this terrific group, you will have access to [...]
Posted in Education on Oct 22nd, 2008
We have been home-educating our children for over 15 years. I am fairly traditional and somewhat boring in my curriculum choices. Early on I found myself overwhelmed with options and alternatives. Frankly, it was paralyzing. I waded through the available curriculum, found what works for our family and now I rarely change our methods. (The exception to this is [...]
Posted in Education on Oct 10th, 2008
The Heart of the Matter’s Friday Meme posed the following question: “What great educational freebie sites do you frequently visit?”
Well, I must admit, I am one who helps fuel the economy and I struggled to come up with even ONE freebie site that I visit regularly. And then it hit me . . . I am [...]
Posted in Education on Oct 3rd, 2008
Heart of the Matter Online hosts a Friday meme. Today they posed the question “What is the one thing you learned that you did not expect from homeschooling?”
Three points come immediately come to mind.
First and probably the most profound misconception that I held was that homeschooling is homogeneous. The belief systems, the educational philosophies, the [...]
Posted in Education on Oct 1st, 2008
Encourage your children to incorporate note taking into their reading activities. Novels, short stories, and even poetry will take on new meaning as they record profound quotes, funny quips and new vocabulary.
Note-taking should not become a tedious, overwhelming task. It should not impede, but enhance your child’s reading experience. Initiate the process with manageable goals. [...]
Posted in Education on Sep 4th, 2008
You are your child’s best advocate - I have heard this often, particularly as the parent of a child with special needs. in fact, I have heard it repeated so often that it has come to sound almost trite.
On the other hand, I have, over the years, come to an understanding of what I think [...]
Posted in Education on Aug 20th, 2008
The following is a list of my favorite illustrated books for young children.
The Biggest Bear
Floss
The Story of Ping
Goodnight Moon
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Prayer for a Child (the original is beautifully illustrated)
Caps For Sale
The Story of Babar
Crictor
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel
The Little Engine That Could
Blueberries For Sal
One Morning in Maine
Make [...]
