Fostering a new renaissance through creativity, authenticity, spirituality, and art
So I’ve just returned home after two days at the MassHOPE homeschooling conference. Above is what I bought – more than nothing, but so much less than usual! All of it is for my youngest daughter, except the phenomenally large Chinese brushes which are for me! At the top left are new and used copies … Read more
I am writing this post in anticipation of going to the MassHOPE homeschooling convention (see here) this coming Friday and Saturday. 10732
At our recent homeshooling presentation meeting, my son talked about how a bill becomes a law using this flow chart he created.
Our homeschooling group held an art show yesterday. These events are always fun. I am touched and impressed by the variety and quality of the work. The photo above is my 12 year old daughter’s presentation, with the first 8 photos below showing close-ups of her work. After that you can see my 15 year … Read more
I brought my two homeschooling kids (12 and 15) for a weekend of classes at MIT Splash which is a wonderful program we would highly recommend. It is held at MIT every year on the weekend before Thanksgiving and this is our seventh year coming, as their older sister started coming in sixth grade. It … Read more
This morning I delivered my twelve year old homeschooled daughter to a special music composition class at Caramoor (see here). For three Wednesdays in a row, she’ll be treated to a first class concert, followed by several hours of instruction in musical composition. Today my daughter heard Leva Jokubaviciute (see here) play Schubert on the … Read more
Well, we finally pulled out of the driveway and drove to Annapolis. My daughter burned CD selections on the way for us to listen to, which included everything from tango music to Techno. My favorite choice was Julie Andrews singing “Confidence” from the Sound of Music where she has “confidence in confidence alone” as she … Read more
I have been contemplating rainbows recently, spurred by something I read in the Sentinel magazine (see here). As a physicist, I know that a rainbow does not exist “out there” but actually exists on the retina of the eye. You can never get to it or touch it, because that remarkable beauty you see is … Read more
You may already know we have a lot of books in our small house. We stopped counting at 10,000. At that point my professional organizer friend insisted that for every book that entered the house one must also leave. I used to patronize library sales frequently but two years ago quit cold turkey; I was … Read more
My Twelve Year Old Brave Writer She’s hovering, constantly balancing dichotomies: Vigorous movement with deep stillness (literally jumping, with profound perception) Beautiful and serene with persistent agitation (like a magnificent landscape with mosquitoes buzzing) Warm and tenderly vulnerable but with defensively cynical walls up Fiercely glad she’s unique and different meanwhile feeling lonely and peerless … Read more
My husband and I are alone in our home with our children scattered around the globe. As I mentioned before, our oldest is in London as a graduation present from her aunt that lives there. My son, our middle child (14 years old), just flew yesterday to Alaska for a sea kayaking and glacier camping … Read more
The house is scrubbed clean For the big graduation All the books are shelved. A tent in the rain to honor my dear daughter with ceremony. Not done this before Uncharted territory Won’t be here again. She’s continuing ongoing life long learning without stop or start. All requirements self imposed and rigorous are unfolding still. … Read more
We had forty special people to our house today for my oldest daughter’s homeschool graduation ceremony. After homeschooling for ten years without the typical school milestones, this event was something she wanted – to just once have all her multifaceted community together and to express gratitude for all they have meant to her. It indeed … Read more
There are those in my local homeschooling network here that call me “the book maven.” I earned the title scouting out the best homeschooling books at the cheapest prices, frequenting library book sales and used curriculum sales as well as homeschooling conference trade shows. We now have over 10,000 books in our small house, mostly … Read more
I’ve kicked myself all day that I didn’t take my camera. I could have had such great photos to share. I’ve spent the day with my teenage son in the Robotics department of MIT, with the John’s Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Program (see here). It even occurred to me to bring my camera, but … Read more
I promise I won’t be doing this that often. I’m equally proud of all of my wonderful children. It has taken self control not to ramble on here about my son’s recent robotic successes or how great my oldest daughter was the other day as Lady Macbeth. The difference here is that while those accomplishments … Read more
My twelve year old daughter is doing something called “Brave Writer” as part of her homeschooling curriculum which includes “Tuesday Teatime.”