This is my first attempt at blogging. I don't know why it seems like such a big deal to me. As if this is some kind of debutante ball I'm meticulously preparing for. I write all the time. I spend countless hours writing emails to my friends, letters to editors, and chatting on line. But suddenly blogging feels like I have arrived. I have somehow ...
Homeschooling
Amazing Grace
In our many years of homeschooling we have had the most excellent good fortune to meet some wonderful families along the way. The very best part is that many of our friendships had their start in our homeschool years and continue now as those kids are graduating college and making their way in life. Let me introduce you today to our friends, Lizz ...
We’re Off To See the Wizard
I'm glad I have a forced rest right now. (See the post about the whole stupid foot-in-an-inflatable-cast thing.) I'm happy to be able to catch up on some photo organization and scrapbooking. In going over my stuff I realized I had never printed the photos from the Spring Musical that my son, Jonathan was in. (Working on the scrapbook ...
How to Make Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz
I've been up to my eyeballs in costumes, props, and set painting for my son, Jonathan's high school production of The Wizard of Oz. Unlike some of the other shows he's been in, this one has a lot of moving parts to it. (Which, I'd like to just say right here that the original creators of the old-school 1939 Wizard of Oz were genius. *bows ...
NaNoWriMo is ON!
For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month.(Pronounced "Naa-No-Rye-Moe.") It's basically Creative Writing on Steroids. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. And so, both amateur and professional writers take to their keyboards and write. My people have been using the book, No Plot? ...
Where in the world is Marta today?
I realize I haven't been posting as often as I like and I apologize, but that doesn't mean I'm not around. In fact, I seem to be all over the web today. I'm guest posting in a couple of places: I have an essay about Mother's Day over at the Tiki Tiki. I tell you a lot about Luza. It's titled "My Mother. My ...
“What About Prom?”
I have homeschooled my kids for over ten years now. I am still constantly surprised that one of the greatest concerns (right after the ignorant "socialization" question) is "What about prom?" I sigh a little bit and carefully explain how we do high school: He actually attends a high school that offers Independent Study. His ...
Teaching Generosity?
As you know if you've been reading this blog for a while, we have homeschooled our kids. I often say that one of the reasons we have chosen to homeschool is that we're not as concerned about their academics as we are concerned about their character. We have attempted to teach them kindness, thoughtfulness, hospitality, and generosity - ...
Back-to-(Home)School
Jonathan started his sophomore year of high school today. The beauty of homeschooling is that we can "do school" anywhere that has WI-FI, amazing food....and tiny dinosaurs. ;-) Happy First Day of School! ...
Exact change.
I've homeschooled my kids for years now. Ever since Lucy and Jonathan were both in elementary school. Last semester they both went to the Cooler-Than-Thou Local Art School. But the days there were way too long for people who were used to having lots of time to do their own creative stuff and they both independently decided they wanted to come ...
Gleeks in Training
Lucy is a senior in high school this year. We've been talking about college options for a while now. But our conversations began in earnest at the beginning of this year. She's already taken a few courses at the community college level, but what did she want to do? Where would she be interested in going? What schools best provided what ...