There is a saying, I’m not sure by who, that goes something like this “Life is what happens when you make plans.” I think learning is the same way. We make schedules, evaluate curriculum, find classes, and so many other things. All the while, learning hasn’t stopped. This year is a perfect example. My oldest [...]
People always ask me if we school through the summer. The answer is yes but differently. In the summer it’s a passion free for all. We use our time “off” to really dig deep into where the guys have the most interest. For us it’s art. My mother is an artist and instructor at a [...]
I was going to wait until Monday to write this but I found myself getting obsessed with it. This is something that I think about often but never say out loud. Curriculum is often purchaed by parents who love it, without thinking about how their kids need to learn. I am totally guilty of this myself, [...]
School reform, this is an issue that causes gasps or cheers. What do we mean by school reform? What results to we expect to get after these changes? Teachers, parents, administrators, and even presidents want schools to produce students that are literate in math, and English. The California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) is all over that. [...]
Should homeschooling and be separate? Tammy Takahashi asked this question in her blog Just Enough and Nothing More. What a fantastic query! AFterall there is the separation of Church ans State, but seriously, can they be separate? I don’t think so. Sure on a surface level we can say “We worked on U.S. History from [...]
I’ve been thinking a lot about education, and learning. We, the royal we, say we want to children to have a good education. That isn’t the same as wanting children to be life long learners. It seems to me that education is about content, while learning is about skill and ability. This fits into the [...]
In talking with my mother this week, I had a thought about how we learn. My mother teaches art at a state university. We were talking about how learning is such a natural process. One of use had talked with someone who was concerned that they couldn’t get all the information thought to be essential [...]
In her blog Just Enough and Nothing More, Tammy Takahashi discusses the question “Is homeschooling better than school?” You can read her post here. This is such a vital and topical issue and I think it is at the root of such red herrings as socialization and “real world” integration. I call these red herrings [...]
This is the presentation that I gave at the 2008 HomeSchool Association of California (HSC) conference at the Radisson in Sacramento. There was an audio recording made of this but I don’t have a copy. I think the recordings for all the recorded speakers are available from HSC. You can check them out at www.hsc.org. [...]
I am a public school teacher. I teach adults that have not finished high school. I can also help students prep for the GED. In the public school system, I am used to meeting standards, and state testing requirements. For my own boys, I integrate as much as possible. People ask me why my boys are so smart or [...]
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