specialization

What Drives You Crazy? I thought I would take a break from our usual serious fare and share a brief YouTube video we made back in 2009. The boys were back from college and we had our cousins over for a visit. We decided to have some fun and make a video of one of our family's funniest homeschool memories. It is a little drama (trauma?) we call "The Frantic Plumber Song." It shows me balancing cooking, cleaning,...

The Teen with Multiple Interests Let's suppose your child is the teen with multiple interests - FILLED with activities they just LOVE doing. Suppose your teen seems interested in EVERYTHING and engaged in learning a wide variety of subjects. Sounds like a dream, doesn't it? I know that some of you are thinking, "I WISH!" (if this is you, check out my How to Create an Extraordinary Activity List for Perfectly Ordinary Teens article). But the...

What does homeschooling look like? It looks like a child, a book, and a dog, at least in our home! Homeschooling provides a safe and secure learning environment, and a comfortable, relaxing education. Pets are welcome! There are so many benefits to homeschooling, it’s hard to list them all: rigorous academics, positive socialization, time for specialization ... the list is almost endless. Many families choose homeschooling because they believe the safety and comfort of home is the best learning...

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the opportunity it gives our children to learn more about the things they are passionate about, which is sometimes called delight directed learning. That kind of learning is sometimes a little foreign to people who are used to more ‘schoolish’ methods, and it leads to a lot of questions. “When did you start doing delight directed learning?  Did you find it hard to get through a year-long school...

Scholarship seekers become scholarship winners!  I love to hear about homeschoolers winning college scholarships, but it doesn't happen by accident. Paula shared the story of her daughter with a senior portrait. My husband and I are so proud of our daughter, Katelynn.  Katelynn has been homeschooled since the third grade.  We are so proud of all her accomplishments, and we can't believe she just graduated from high school.  Katelynn has been accepted to the University of...

I loved reading a news story about a local golfer playing in national tournaments.   It's just always fun to read about homeschoolers! Spencer, who is home schooled, admits he's got plenty of growing up to do. He has to fight the urge to slam a club into the turf when a shot doesn't follow the planned trajectory.  "He's a perfectionist," his father observed. Seattle Times "Local golfer, 10, is hitting it big" But it wasn't the...

When did you start the Delight directed Learning?  Did you find it hard to get through a year-long school course when doing it 4 days a week?  Did you just tell the kids they could do whatever they wanted on the non-school day, or did they have certain things they always did, like going to a class in a homeschool coop?  Did you allow them to watch TV or play video games during the free day?...

I wrote this in 2006: Our professor friend invited us to a lecture on economics at a downtown Seattle public policy Think Tank.  He said that Alex would love the lecture given by one of the architects of Reagonomics.   "I don't know why I never thought of it before, but Alex would just love Discovery Institute.  I guess I just didn't think of it until I saw the lecture on economics."  My husband took Alex to...

Feeling panicked?  Don't know where to start?  Not even sure what the questions are?  I can help! If you have a junior or senior, I suggest a telephone consultation so we can talk about your homeschool a bit.  Usually in 1-2 hours I can help you figure out exactly what to put on a transcript, including course titles, grades, and credit values.  You'll get information what to do next and how to plan your year. If...

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.  If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it...

My son has a life-threating allergy to peanuts.  He is one of "those" kids.  When he was 18 months old, I had to come to grips with the fact that he might, at random, simply stop breathing for no good reason.  Last Friday night was one of those times.  This photo was taken in the emergency room, with him glowing-tomato red and itching like crazy.  It was very scary, but we were prepared with an epi-pen,...

I heard the Olympics commentator mention that most of the USA gymnasts are homeschooled, because they practice for so many hours each day.  Wow!  I never thought about that before, but I'll bet it's true.  Imagine, each one of those kids has a gift.  Their parents found the gift, fed the flames, and encouraged specialization.  And they ended up in the Olympics!  How proud they must be! But I'll bet you work JUST as hard as...

About half of our homeschool classes were traditional, textbookish classes. The rest we were just Wild & Crazy Guys! For fun, my son Kevin studied chess like crazy. One year we called it "Critical Thinking." No kidding - if you have a kid who plays competitive chess, I'm sure you understand! The next year we called it "Public Speaking" because he was going to different classes around our area, teaching to various homeschool groups and public...