Frustrating The Educational Powers-That-Be Since August, 2009

Yep. Today was the day.
Our first official “not back to school day.”  Our introductory foray into the real, true world of interest-led learning. 
Thanks to Jena, over at Yarns of the Heart, I felt “called” all last year to move away from structured curriculum, and move toward releasing the learning into the hands of my [...]

SpellingCity.com Adds Student Record Keeping

If you already use SpellingCity in your homeschool, then I’m preaching to the choir, but if you don’t…you should definitely check it out!
SpellingCity is a free spelling practice program online that lets you input your own lists, or use ones already on the site.  Then your kids can practice their spelling words by playing [...]

Does Your Baby Prefer Frontline or Nova?

Sometimes I get totally fascinated by the most boring subjects.
Like learning styles, for instance.
I’m sure that reading about the way people learn would be lower than say – – watching an infomercial at 2 a.m. – – on some people’s priority scale, but I find it perfectly absorbing.
If you don’t know a lot about learning [...]

M.I.T. Calls Academia’s Bluff by Gary North

An article I think all unschoolers, interest-led learners, and just homeschoolers in general ought to read!  Excellent!
M.I.T. Calls Academia’s Bluff by Gary North
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They Like Me…They Really Like Me

Have I ever bemoaned the fact that I don’t have a good local homeschool support group here on T-T?  I seriously can’t remember. 
Maybe if I haven’t it’s because I gave up years ago even hoping for one.  I live in the Bible Belt.  Which means that most of the homeschooling support groups around here [...]

The Not-So-Great Outdoors

I’ve blogged many times that the Topsies offset their techie obsessions by heading off into nature on the weekends in search of the road less travelled.  Our adventures usually take us to a secluded waterfall or a hidden swimming hole.
We were pretty sure we hit pay-dirt a couple weekends ago when we headed to a [...]

Why Gmail Is The Only “Real” Email

I lead a youth group.  Most of these young men and women think  that having an email address is basically laughable.  But for a busy, work-at-home, homeschooling, 30-something mom, email is still an absolutely indispensable part of life.
And in the two years that I’ve had a Gmail account, I’ve basically abandoned all my other email [...]

The Hubster and I

Ever heard the story of the Amish farmer and the female airline pilot who fell in love?  No?  Well, the story of R-T and I wouldn’t be so very different, actually. 
If you’ve ever wanted the “behind the scenes” story on how a director of a homeless shelter and a tech-geek met and fell in [...]

I’m Not Talking To Myself…I’m Having A Parent/Teacher Conference!

Having been a homeschooling family for pretty much all of my sons’ educational careers has left me with a few nagging questions.
There are certain “quirks” my kids have that I never know whether to chalk up to their individual personalities or to the fact that they haven’t had the opportunity to have those idiosyncrasies teased, [...]

August Just Ain’t What It Used To Be

It’s August.
Not only does the calendar tell me so, but my “educationological” clock does too.
For the past nine years, August has basically been homeschool CURRICULUM month.  I’d pull out all the old stuff, and see what was still salvageable/saleable, and then pop into a couple local curriculum fairs – – just to check out the [...]