A friend called herself lazy in telling me she replaced her laptop with her mobile because her phone finishes her word for her as she types. I’d say that’s being efficient. But it is a fuzzy line between efficiency and laziness, isn’t it? We are today surrounded by machines dedicated to saving us time because… Read More Technology: The Dark Side of Efficiency, Part 2
We have in The Little House on the Prairie series a rich American heritage of hard work, an ethos of industry and endurance. I am concerned that the abuse of technology today threatens to cut our kids loose from such a work ethic and is hampering their learning and productive capacity. First, the merits of mechanized… Read More Technology: The Dark Side of Efficiency, Part 1
Here’s a glimpse of the wonderful ways you can use Cuisenaire Rods to enhance comprehension of number concepts while fostering creativity. There is just no end to what you can do with the rods across the grade levels (up to the age kids are no longer enthralled by colorful miniblocks). Sorting, counting, crunching all the… Read More Architecting Numbers – at the Lower Grades
I’m going to borrow from Clinton. Because I can. Working out is a grateful reminder that all my body parts are intact. It is the opportunity to keep whole. This one body I’ve been given carries my day, helps carry my family. This frame is my tomorrow, and I want to be around for my… Read More Women’s Self-Defense: Why I Sweat [Videos]
I learned this game in a class I took after earning my Master’s in Elementary Education. The instructor handed out this sheet of rules. It’s a simple thinking game.
When her middle-grade daughter doesn’t look as though she’ll ever master elementary math, Quinn pulls the trigger on herself and succumbs to the homeschooling she had half-toyed with in earlier years. Mom chronicles the series of expeditions she sets out on in pursuit of first-hand insight into the different provinces of approach in homeschooling. Apart… Read More The Year of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings
Dad got him on checkers last month, planning to hold off on the chess he was eager to teach. Checkers would lay the foundation. But, enchanted by the glass knight, Tennyson started asking and asking to learn chess. “Mom, let’s play chess,” he’s asked numerous times, hooked. I managed to provide plausible reasons why it wasn’t… Read More Checkmate
Last week, I was trying to fit in a few minutes of the math we hadn’t gotten to that day. I normally don’t let lessons run into the evening, wanting Tennyson to rest his mind with the rhythm of the closing day. “Pay attention. Show me two other groups you can make from these 5… Read More Brainwork
The past year I have allowed myself less guilt leaving Tennyson to play alone while I’m in the kitchen. And I have seen played out what homeschoolers say: he is enjoying the space and time for his imagination to breathe, to create. He has had limited experience with digital games, and watches DVDs on a… Read More Imagination
A Holistic Journey 