All Recent Articles

Why I am Home-Schooling

I have a 5-year-old daughter and I am home-schooling her, much to the shock and horror of my family, who are almost all public school teachers. I used to teach outside the home and at first, I was completely overwhelmed at teaching my own child. The first month or so of formally home-schooling, I told myself that I was just doing this because she has a late birthday and could not begin kindergarten this year because she missed the September first cutoff. I was worried that she would be bored because she absorbs information quickly and she is very social.

Early Intervention of Cerebral Palsy with the Anat Baniel Method for Children

"I have long been intrigued by this subtle form of retraining the nervous system, which I recommend to patients whose movement has been restricted by injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, fibromyalgia, or chronic pain. I find it [The Feldenkrais Method] to be much more useful than standard physical therapy."

Andrew Weil, MD, Author of Spontaneous Healing and Natural Health, Natural Medicine

Math is a disaster step-by-step?

Math. It is a scary word for many. It does not have to be. But it is. Math is a very unusual subject in that every step forward requires a mastery of the previous step. This is not a revelation. But for some reason the current public school system does not seem to understand this.

Making Learning Fun Again: A Critical Element in Deschooling

Do you remember how much fun it was to watch your child learn to walk and learn to talk? Or how eager your child was to learn the names of everything she saw during a walk through the neighborhood? Many children, after several years of institutionalized, one-method-for-everyone schooling, regard learning as anything but fun. Even those same children, though, will eagerly learn about something that interests them, whether it be learning everything there is know about their favorite celebrity or memorizing the lyrics to their favorite songs.

It’s a Question of Questioning: Creating Logical Thinkers

"Do fish ever sleep?" "Can snakes hear?" "Why do some trees stay green all year?" "When does a plant become a weed?" "Why do we have eyebrows?" Such questions as these often prompt some deep thinking, and quite a bit of conjecture among students. Almost everyone has an opinion. Some even have a plausible answer. Higher-order thinking involves processes that can not be settled with a simple statement of fact.

A Magnet to Learning

Within our school system several years ago, many students were dropping behind on credits or quitting school due to lack of motivation and overwhelming odds of advancing with their classmates. In an innovative move, a Magnet School was created for the county in which failing students could attend to try and get caught up with their classmates. This safety net has rescued hundreds of students who otherwise would not have graduated.

The Calculator Crutch

Technology is a wonderful tool in today's schools. It opens up a whole new world of investigation and exploration. It gives industrious teachers multiple avenues for getting the lesson across. It connects classrooms with the world of international resources. Used properly, technology enhances learning and reinforces knowledge. Used improperly, that same technology becomes a two-edged sword that weakens the cognitive process and fosters push-button addicted students.

Who is Raising our Children?

When the first settlers to North America began to educate their children in the 1600s, the primary goal was to pass on religious values and the rudiments of practical knowledge that would make students contributing, productive members of society. Education was seen as necessary for survival and was the responsibility of the family. But these early schools were open only during a few winter months, when harvest was over and planting was yet to come. One-room schoolhouses suffered through few resources, untrained staff, and limited subjects.

Organized From Day One

Much of my after-school time is spent creating and planning ways to be more organized in the classroom. Beyond the normal lesson planning that is essential to classroom learning and control, there are other ways to remain one step ahead of even the most clever student. Let me share a few of these ways.

Dressed to Teach

Have you ever been shocked by other people’s clothes or the lack thereof that you observe when at school? Do you wonder what has become of decent dress standards? Even while sitting in the teachers’ lounge?