Mish on February 8th, 2010

This essay, by John Taylor Gatto, has inspired me to no end. I hope it will inspire you too!
The 7-Lesson Schoolteacher
[...]

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Mish on April 5th, 2009

“It is almost a miracle that modern teaching methods have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of inquiry; for what this delicate little plant needs more than anything, besides stimulation, is freedom.” – Albert Einstein
I just love this quote. I have an interesting opportunity to compare my oldest, who is now 16, and my [...]

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Mish on March 25th, 2009

I recently read the book by the Duggar family and inside they share several tips, including how they make their own baby wipes. I really liked their idea and will probably use it at some point, however, I have been making my own baby wipes for quite sometime – and like mine because they are [...]

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Mish on March 21st, 2009

When we moved back to Vermont in 2003, I was terrified. Without a steady job, I didn’t know exactly from where our money would come. We were always on what I believed to be the edge of poverty. But then I started to think about it. Were we truly poor?
Everywhere I look “books, radio, television” [...]

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Mish on March 6th, 2009

An excellent funny from Martha at Yes! They’re All Ours
“In an effort to increase the public drumbeat for criminalizing
homeschooling, a memo has been distributed containing the top 10
reasons why public schooling is better than homeschooling. Here is an
excerpt from that memo:
1. Most parents were educated in the under funded public school system,
and so are not [...]

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Mish on October 29th, 2008

“Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health,
so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that
it takes in.”
-Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
‘Nuff said!
-Mish

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I love large families. That’s probably why I chose to have one – although my family isn’t nearly as large as the Duggars. Because I have six kids and I am considered pretty crunchy by my friends (and most everyone else), I often get harrassed questioned about the social responsibility of having a large family. [...]

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Mish on September 26th, 2008

I was reading a post at Natural Fatherhood about positive discipline and permissive – or non-permissive parenting, and it got me thinking. He cites this quote: “The world is full of followers, but you’re not one of them.”- JL Glass
I started thinking about this quote in a different way.
We are pretty unconventional people. We homeschool. [...]

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Mish on September 10th, 2008

I am a subscriber to several homeschooling magazines – among them The Old Schoolhouse.
I was reading through their email newsletter this morning and found this from their editor, Nancy Carter:
“It’s so easy for us to see the absurdity of focusing on teaching a duck to climb instead of encouraging it to swim. But many of [...]

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Mish on September 5th, 2008

Each year before the official first day of school, I have a few doubts. I wonder, yet again, if I am doing the right thing by keeping my boys home and educating them here. It’s not so much that I doubt my ability to do it – I just feel a little bad that they [...]

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