A few years ago, my son really didn’t want to go to bed and launched into full lights-out-postponement tactics, grasping at any thread of conversation that would keep me talking. So when I mentioned that he needed sleep so that we could do school tomorrow, he quickly asked, ‘Why?’ ‘Because it’s my responsibility to ensure…
After a conversation earlier this week, I’ve been thinking over Charlotte Mason’s principle, “Education is an atmosphere”. It seems appropriate given that our warm weather this week has led to a stuffy, hot atmosphere, particularly in the house. Like most British people, we don’t have air conditioning, and our houses were built with more attention to keeping…
At the first lecture for my masters in education, my professor told the class that research was clear: assessment dictates how and what students learn. If you want your students to achieve certain educational goals, you have to get your assessment in line with those goals. For an MA in education designed to prepare students…
Rooting out weeds from a garden has two parts: pulling up the weeds that are growing on one hand and establishing the plants that you do want on the other. If we only ever pull at the weeds, we’ll be at it forever. Once that lettuce or those pumpkins or the dahlias get going, however,…
A few years ago I picked up J. P. Moreland’s Love Your God with All Your Mind (referral link). It was published in 1997, and is a little bit dated in its lack of references to social media and smartphones. Otherwise, it’s been a helpful look at the role of intellectual growth in the life…
I have been on a slow and evolving mission to manage the way I use technology and social media for the past two or three years. I’ve had a number of moments of clear conviction that I was frittering my time away, basking in the shallows of other people’s lives and failing to live my…
This week I finished reading Rethinking Positive Thinking by Gabriele Oettingen (referral link). I relate to the premise so much. I love to imagine achieving big goals, whether it is related to homeschooling, my website, a health and fitness related challenge. In my mind, I can feel the sense of accomplishment and my sense of…
April was a turn-around month. We quickly wrapped up our winter term, took a fleeting week off from lessons, celebrated a birthday, and jumped right into our summer term. Here’s how the month went. For reference, I have three boys and we are using AmblesideOnline. At the end of the month I now have: Age…
Last week we considered the limitations of habits. When we talk about habits, I think it’s always good to begin with a few qualifications. Habits are not a form of lifehacking. They are not a quick fix to our problems. They can be hard work, and as we saw in the Parents’ Review article last…
Sometimes it seems that if we could just get the knack of habit training, that we would immediately be better parents, educators, and human beings. Imagine doing the right things on autopilot! No power struggles, no internal arguments, just the “smooth and easy days” that Charlotte Mason mentions in Home Education. I do agree that…