Sunday Surf

Everyone is talking about back to school now, which is not a big surprise. Moira had her very first co-op, at home, preschool experience this week, which I mostly did because she has been asking and asking to go to school for almost a year. Any homeschoolers have experience with little kids who pick up how exciting school is from books and media? Did that wear off as they got older? I've been conducting some minor brainwashing on the subject, but it doesn't seem to be working very well. I'm pretty sure that she would not enjoy a traditional school experience, but if she is persistent in this idea, I'll have to respect her decision and send her to school which, honestly, will be SO much more work it makes me tired just to think of it.

Back to the Wrong School, why are we trying to make a system designed to churn out factory workers work for our current job market?

What Should a 4 Year old Know? I'm not worried that Moira has 'stalled' at the same level of reading readyness for a year and a half. Or that 13 appears twice between 1 and 20 when she counts. This is a helpful list of the social and personal skills that children are usually developing at this age.

In Which I am a Woman, not a Girl, there is no universe in which I would want to be a teenager or young adult forever. Every year older I get, the happier, more confident, and more competent I am.

Study Says Confronting men About Sexism Makes Them Nicer, this study is actually about workplace relations, and I wonder if it translates to personal relations well.

I will not Obey, why does our society put so much emphasis on teaching children to be obedient? Not only does it rarely work, but it can be harmful in healthy sexual development. (That is not a point Teacher Tom makes, just my own personal soapbox.)

Backroad Learning, this is related to the first link, at least in my mind. Much of our current schooling emphasis strips everything 'extra' out of our kids lives. Kids need to be creative, move, explore, and have the room to develop tangents.

You're not Homeschooling Because... I've been enjoying this series from Jazzy Mama. Not that I need convincing, but I love her take on all the different obstacles people have to homeschooling.

Homeschooling With Babies and Toddlers, are you bored with homeschooling links now? Too bad! This talks about how it works to homeschool with multiple age kids.