‘NEW TO HOMESCHOOLING?’ Archives
How to Find a Homeschooling Support Group
How to Find a Homeschooling Support Group BY KATHARINE HOUK Independent, marching to a different drummer, following their hearts and minds, people who have chosen to educate their children at home and in the wider world tend toward self-sufficiency. Some people feel they don't need or want to get together with other homeschooling families on [...]
6 Reasons to Tell Your Straight-A Kid to Drop Out of School
6 Reasons to Tell Your Straight-A Kid to Drop Out of School BY SUKI WESSLING It was the 1980’s in a small town in in the Midwest. Educationally speaking, you had two options: the good public schools or the pretty awful Catholic school. My parents gave my sister one year with the nuns before they chose public school for her and the four [...]
John Taylor Gatto Answers: Can I Teach My Own Children If I Don’t Have Any Teacher Training?
John Taylor Gatto Answers: Can I Teach My Own Children If I Don't Have Any Teacher Training? BY JOHN TAYLOR GATTO Teacher training is not about assisting a mind and character to develop according to the principles of its own internal genius. Let me reverse that question. Can you teach your own children if you do have teacher training, [...]
Don’t Let Educationese Stop You from Homeschooling
Don't Let Educationese Stop You from Homeschooling BY LINDA DOBSON Educationese is the language of an institution concerned with management, efficiency, teachers' unions, and funding. The tool most frequently used to make parents think long and hard about removing their children from public schools is criticism of homeschooling children's [...]
In Praise of Messy
In Praise of Messy By Wendy Priesnitz I have begun work on a new book. It all started this past week with my pollen allergy, which seems worse this year than in the past. I remembered an article I wrote in 2002 about the fact that most people and cities plant just male clone trees because they are “litter-free,” meaning they do not drop [...]