In December, NPR cited a Common Sense Media survey claiming that parents spend on average almost nine and a half hours in front of a screen every day. If that is even half true, it is shocking. Of course, I
Modeling Digital Habits
Econ for Everybody
Among the most sorely neglected subjects in public education, economics is a fascinating and practical discipline. Our understanding of econ has enormous ramifications for how we view the world, how we vote, and of course, how we manage our own
Keep It Real
When teaching your littles about money, you can buy plastic coins and paper dollars, but why waste your real money buying fake money? Any time you can use real-world objects for manipulatives, go for it! Today Daddy and our three-year-old
Counting to 100
We recently observed that sacred school holiday: the 100th day of school. My three-year-old is working on counting to 100, and he has been using a 10 x 10 matrix. Ours is just a print-out in a dry erase sheet, but
Going Green
When we consider the financial impact of home schooling, a lot of factors come into play. Obviously, losing my income is the most critical, but we’re also looking at savings — tuition, daycare, the gas from my substantial commute. The
In A Blink
It’s happening today: my baby is turning one. While many advantages draw me to home schooling — flexibility, individual pace, custom curriculum — none come close to the idea of spending more time with my boys. Childhood passes in a
Brothers
“Behold how pleasant and how good it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.” Psalm 133:1 One of my biggest draws to home schooling is these two besties getting to spend more of their time together. How has home
Third Party
The only thing better than the face people make when you say you’re libertarian is the face they make when you say you are Armenian Apostolic. The Eastern churches are the third party of Christianity. Whatever your positions — political
A Fierce Independence
A bit of wisdom from Maria Montessori today: “Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.” For our older son, that’s basically every task now. Last month he hit three and dove headfirst into
Legacy
Today my grandma, my boys’ only living great-grandparent, turns ninety. From building domino castles and hand-churning ice cream to her official turkey stuffing recipe (which bids the reader to “find a cat” to deal with the liver), this woman is