Category

Home Education

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Best Gun Violence Awareness Book For Teens

Long-Way-Down-Study-Guide

Today is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. It also kicks off Wear Orange weekend, a movement to honor the millions of lives taken or forever changed by gun violence. In recognition of this day, I’m sharing a book recommendation for teens that brings this issue to light in one incredible read: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. Long Way Down tackles teenage gun violence in short, staccato verse. The entire plot takes place in 60 seconds—the time it takes for Will to decide if he is going to kill his brother's murderer—and it’s told through poetry.[...]

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She Graduates, Again

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She graduates, again.  This time there is no ceremony, no little-kid wooden chairs to sit in, no speeches to be heard. It is just these simple moments: sitting at the table with her, completing last tasks, telling her how proud I am.  We are here again, at the next ending-beginning: standing in tender recognition of this thing called time and growth, of transitions and of new era’s, of looking back and moving toward the new. My heart breaks open, again. I breathe, I love, I allow.  We take a picture. This time, she completes 8th g[...]

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Two Historical Fiction Books For Teaching US History

Historical-Fiction-US-History

Our homeschool writing class recently finished two important historical novels: How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle and 40 Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet. Both are middle grade (ages 10 and up), and are short, easy reads, but substantial in content, shining a spotlight on particular moments in U.S. history: Indian Removals in 1830, and the early months of Reconstruction (1865). 1. How I Became A Ghost by Tim Tingle Written by a Choctaw storyteller, Tim Tingle, How I Became a Ghost tells the story of a young boy and his family forced to le[...]

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Fostering Historical Empathy Through the Seeds Of America Trilogy

Homeschool-Resources-Seeds-of-America-Trilogy

“Indeed, how well we do—whether in the classroom or the boardroom—depends more than ever on how well we forge and navigate relationships. In this way, empathy is the new literacy: essential for us to communicate, collaborate and lead.”  (From the Start Empathy website) So much depends on our ability to consider the perspective of another—from our ability to foster healthy relationships to our success as a nation and equitable world. Empathy is commonly referred to as an essential leadership quality, and Brené Brown has talked extensively on[...]

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REnewing Education with Indigenous Wisdom

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“To find new ways of transmitting knowledge, we must first find a new knowledge. To find a better medium we must find a better message.” Parker palmer, To know as we are Known Parents, teachers and school administrators are in the middle of reimagining school. It’s a difficult time, as all transitions tend to be.  And the time is ripe . . . to find a new knowledge, a better message. To move toward an education based in relationship: between teacher and student and subject and world. It is time to raise up our young people in connection to th[...]

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To homeschool or not to homeschool?

how-to-decide-homeschool-or-not

As schools start to announce their re-opening plans for Fall 2020, parents have so much to consider! How much time have you spent trying to make this decision—send the kids back to school or take the stay-at-home option? This is a hard place to be: On the one hand, this, on the other hand, that. Being on the fence can quickly become an intolerable situation.  What if our minds are meant for researching and processing but not for making decisions?  After the mind has collected the data—in the other words, once you’ve researched your options and given[...]

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Teaching a multi-perspective United States History: A Homeschoolers resource

Homeschool-US-History

I’ve been preparing for our 8th grade homeschool, a large portion of which will be US History and modern day revolutions. I’m looking forward to diving deep into our country’s history.  As for my own education, I remember receiving only trivial bits and pieces of America’s roots: a worksheet on Martin Luther King Jr., a paragraph here on the Pilgrims and Indians, a Weekly Reader there on The Gold Rush. I recall a junior high school history class, but not much from the oversized textbook; never a critical look at Manifest Destiny, never a meaningfu[...]

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A Seventh Grade World/Homeschool

Homeschool-Resources-Middle-School-History-Language Arts

My daughter’s educational journey (outside of the home) began at a PreSchool/Kindergarten inspired by Waldorf. She spent her elementary school years at a small Montessori school.  I began dreaming about homeschool when Elle was around nine years old. I’d read Home Grown by Ben Hewitt and started envisioning a life of learning alongside Elle . . . a life of connection: to our world, to people and place. I had a strong desire to unschool myself. I wanted to feel the interconnectedness of everything, which I hadn’t experienced in my[...]

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what should families do this summer? Let literature take you on a trip!

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The school year is coming to an end. Travel plans are on hold. Summer camps are still in question. What should families do this summer?  While international travel may not be an option just yet, what about a road trip? What about good ‘ole fashioned playing outside? In the ocean, in the woods, on the mountain trail. Whatever nature you are near, it calls.  You can get the kids excited with a book about a great wilderness adventure! Read it out loud as a family or listen to the audio version together. You could choose a classic wilderness advent[...]

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raising global citizens

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Alexandra Tyson is a traveler, an elementary school teacher and the founder of the website TGC: Travel for the Global Citizen. Her husband, Chris, is the in the Navy and they have three grown children. In 2008, when their children were school age, the family was transferred to Atsugi, Japan. Alexandra and Chris thought about what skills their kids would need to be successful while living overseas. The five years spent in Japan and the decisions that came along with this experience led Alexandra down the road of global literacy. Alexandra and I met through[...]