Thank you so much for great year! My resolution for next year is to be able to write on this blog about how I get better at taking care of myself while I am homeschooling. And running a startup. This coming year I want to tell you about weight loss. And marital bliss. And no more yelling at my kids. Read more
I woke up at 4am today to write. I’ve been doing that as a way to get time alone. It was great for a while, until my youngest son started waking up at 5am.
I said, “Can you think of something to do by yourself?” Read more
I went to New York to pitch to investors, and I took my oldest son with me so that I didn’t feel like a bad mom.
I’d like to tell you that my boys love going to NY, but they don’t. They do like Broadway shows, so I took my son to see Annie. I saw it as a kid and remembered most of it, but one thing I didn’t remember is the moment when Daddy Warbucks puts the orphanage keeper in jail and then, of course, is responsible for all the orphans. Read more
It’s much easier to homeschool a kid who is like you than a kid who is different than you. But then, that’s true in all of parenting. We are best at guiding kids who want to go where we want to go. Read more
The Aspen Institute is well-known as a place where the richest of the rich intelligentsia gather to hear each other talk about ground-breaking ideas. You can’t go, but you can read about it in newspapers. Read more
I never meant for homeschooling to be a political decision. I never even thought about education reform when my kids were young. I had an autistic son with forty hours a week of state-funded therapy and I had a newborn with a facial disorder that would require three surgeries. I had no time for education reform. Read more
There are a lot of kids who are doomed to perform poorly in school. You know some of the types: creative artists types who will never understand algebra. Insanely self-directed types who become obsessed with one topic and forget to do all their other homework. All the time. But here’s another type you might not know: kids who are behind in reading by third grade. Read more
My older son went on a trip with Melissa. It was so exciting to watch them leave because they always do amazing things while they’re together. But I couldn’t help thinking, while I was dropping them off at the airport, that my kids are growing up like rich kids. It’s the last thing I expected after moving to rural Wisconsin. Read more
I am certain that you cannot teach via test and that all people are teachers, not just Teachers. But I am constantly refining this thinking by asking myself, “Why don’t tests work? Why is the practice of teachers and schools inherently limiting?”
I think I’ve found the answer in the idea of stories. Read more
I woke up early today and told myself I had to do all the stuff on my to do list that I don’t want to do. One of the things was a written interview about personal development. Read more