One of the requirements of the state of Ohio is that we notify our school district that we are educating at home. Another is to provide a general outline of our plans for the year. The list I sent superintendent Gene Harris was imbibed with eduspeak. Our real scope and sequence is more like this: Scope (the variety of what we teach practice together) Life: contribute to our family and the community by daily participation [...]

Article first posted as ‘Guiding Children Through Tragedy’ on Technorati, where it made the Thursday front page! News of the Japan earthquake and resulting tsunami and nuclear disasters is hard to stomach as an adult. Around the world, people are struggling with their feelings of helplessness, insecurity, and anxiety. In this information age, children are often witness to images from a disaster. Even if parents manage to keep them sheltered from media, kids can sense [...]

What do we believe? What do we celebrate? Why? This are important questions, and ones that contribute to winter holiday stress for many.  Some find strife when family members disagree on the reasons for the season.  Others lament a general lack of meaning, or the transfer of moral significance to commercial gain. Our Winter Holiday History For the first few years of our marriage, Alex and I celebrated whatever we wanted to, picking and choosing [...]

A friend recently asked, knowing that Alex and I slaughtered a pig this spring, “Should my preschooler see an animal being slaughtered?” My answer is yes, with four important caveats. Witnessing an animal slaughter is not only culturally normal in the very recent past but can teach children valuable lessons. But first the caveats. 1) A child must want to watch the animal being killed and butchered. It is not appropriate for a person of [...]

Last week, we received two dwarf sweet cherry (Prunus Besseyi)trees I ordered online from Sandusky Valley nursery.  They arrived quickly and were well packaged in reused newspaper and plastic. We planted them on Saturday.  Lil helped dig the holes and plant the trees.  Then she and Alex moved some mulch and we mulched overtop. Here we are after planting: Then Lil and Alex planted beans. We recognize that it could be faster to garden without [...]