Do you have any thoughts on a structuring a Core Phase playgroup for homeschoolers? ~AH Hi, A----. This is such a great question! The families most inclined to be attracted to a playgroup are often particularly vulnerable to “conveyor belt hangover”; and while informal "play [...]
I'm just sitting here at my computer thinking how simple it is, sometimes, to get it right. As I sit here, my frothy little bubble of a three-year-old named Abi sits at a desk a few feet from me and sings to herself with her [...]
From the Desk of Rachel DeMille... The times, they are a-changin'. Ten years ago, most of our effort was spent helping parents to recapture their own Core and Love of Learning. Back then the Big Prize was Adult Scholar Phase, and everyone was talking about [...]
Q: A new friend asked me one day how he could be sure that his little kids would grow up to be scholars. His question got me thinking, and I crafted this response... A: We have four youth between the ages of 12 and [...]
Body sculpting, surgical/chemical alterations, therapy . . . our culture is obsessed with hiding, cutting out or otherwise purging its flaws. We want to be persons with no weaknesses. Even our college entrance exams, job interviews, courtships and business dealings all seem to hinge on [...]
Some time ago I read an article in the NY Times about a man who defrauded investors of billions of dollars. Not really news these days, I guess. Seems like there's a lot of creative bookkeeping going on out there. It's an inventive way to [...]
*I’ve made no secret about the fact that we have a large family. I have a kid in every conceivable phase. No matter what you've heard to the contrary, this can get complicated. I’m as guilty as anybody for romanticizing it, as my cheerful approach [...]
First and foremost, even among "dyed in the wool" homeschoolers, there is widespread neglect of the Core Phase. I believe this is because of our tendency to identify so strongly with our label of "homeschoolers" that our family culture becomes defined by academic achievement. I [...]
I love poetry! It is so amazing to me the way that art so seemingly effortlessly communicates on so many levels, with precision, economy and beauty! When my family and I learn poetry together, several things take place...
I am a sort of “seat-of-the-pants” educator, who relies very heavily on subtle, sometimes unconsciously detected, cues to inform my approach in the classroom I just feel when they’re “getting it”, who’s not, and why not. I sometimes learn more from evaluating what I did—and why I must have felt it should be that way—then I ever do from trying to anticipate the need and plan for it. So, over time, I have collected a mass of data of “what I did”, and am starting to see some truly amazing patterns.
