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 [...]

That’s What She Said

I can’t say I’m a regular viewer of the show “The Office.”  I’ve probably seen maybe four or five full episodes, and maybe snippets of at least five more.  But the characters and the catch phrases have become part of the current culture, so that even if you have never viewed a single episode, you [...]

Looking for a Tour Guide?

The Topsies have company!  In what is an absolutely appropriate turn of events for a tech-geek, Uber developed a relationship with one of his classmates at the virtual reality school he has attended the last couple of years.  He and she became really close over this school year and began “dating” online sometime after the [...]

Friday’s Hardwired Homeschool Hints – Summer Brain Boosters

Today is our last official day of homeschool for the year, and we are  ready to celebrate by vegging out for three months.  Only problem?  Our brains turn to mush when we aren’t exercising them. Mine is probably much worse than the boys – – I can practically watch my brain cells slough off and [...]

Friday’s Hardwired Homeschool Hints: Online Curriculum Choices

I’m a member of several homeschool Yahoo groups, and someone posted a question today that really surprised me.  Her daughter was obsessed with the computer, and she was wondering whether there were any homeschool curricula out there that were computer based.  After reading the question, I did one of those classic Scooby-Doo double takes.   [...]

Romans and Tire Pressure and Zombies…Oh My!

One thing I nearly never do on my blog is regale you with details about what we are studying in homeschool.  Mostly, that’s because when other homeschool bloggers do it, I tend to nod off for a minute.  Not that it isn’t important – – because it IS!  But somehow the excitement of a homeschool [...]

You Weren’t Using That Were You?

We are a four computer family.  I know.  Shameful.  Wasteful.  Over the top.  But the truth is we really do use four computers.  At least most of the time.  The boys each cyberschool, so they need to have individual access to a computer during school days.  I work at home from my laptop, so it [...]

The Downsides of Cyberschooling Geeklings

Image by Brave Heart via Flickr
Yes, of course, everything normally goes picture perfect in Topsy-Techieland.  Our bandwidth speeds remain constant, our ideas come to us in Hi-Def, and little birds and mice dress us and feed us.
But once in a long while there is a cog in the wheel that doesn’t quite get oiled, and [...]

King Midas and the Disappearing Avatars

Uber was in a play yesterday.  It was his first school play, and he did really well.  I was so proud!  Of course, there were problems, as all school plays are apt to face. 
First off, Uber and a couple other classmates were invisible at the beginning of the play.  Then, one of the cast members [...]

Jet Lag + First Day of School = OMG squared

Look who’s back!  After an overnight flight on which I got about one hour of sleep, I got back home yesterday at a little after 10 a.m.  I would not be exaggerating to say that I spent the rest of the day and night in bed, and no, R-T doesn’t have an extra spring [...]