This political season has me thinking about the importance of teaching democratic skills to children. In fact, I’ve been thinking about it with the kind of starry-eyed civic hope that maybe only elementary school teachers can summon. It’s the kind of hope a person gets when they are in position to do something about something thatContinue reading “7 Ways to Strengthen Democracy Through Language Arts”
Category Archives: Ruminations
Food for an Eager Writer
My first year of my second stint of homeschooling, the year I was fourteen, I was given Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones for Christmas. I was also given a huge stack of Enviromints. If you aren’t versed on ’90’s health food store candy, Enviromints were squares of minty chocolate wrapped in gold foil. EachContinue reading “Food for an Eager Writer”
Writing as Witnessing: writing about the Snoqualmie River salmon run
All writing is about something. When you teach writing, the world just pours in. And in return, writing can influence the world. Experiencing the power of writing as a way of witnessing is very exciting to most of my students. Children are small but feel justice deeply, and writing gives them a powerful way to articulate things.Continue reading “Writing as Witnessing: writing about the Snoqualmie River salmon run”
8 Ways Homeschooling Creates Success
I can credit homeschooling — unschooling in particular — with developing many of the traits that support me being a successful adult, and I see the same things in other grown-up homeschoolers I know. Here are eight foundations for success that homeschooling fosters: 1. Homeschooling develops self-motivation and self-discipline. “I could never homeschool! I don’t have enoughContinue reading “8 Ways Homeschooling Creates Success”
Frog Hollow School 