Today is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. It also kicks off Wear Orange weekend, a movement to honor the millions of lives taken or forever changed by gun violence. In recognition of this day, I’m sharing a book recommendation for teens that brings this issue to light in one incredible read: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. Long Way Down tackles teenage gun violence in short[...]
She graduates, again. This time there is no ceremony, no little-kid wooden chairs to sit in, no speeches to be heard. It is just these simple moments: sitting at the table with her, completing last tasks, telling her how proud I am. We are here again, at the next ending-beginning: standing in tender recognition of this thing called time and growth, of transitions and of[...]
Our homeschool writing class recently finished two important historical novels: How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle and 40 Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet. Both are middle grade (ages 10 and up), and are short, easy reads, but substantial in content, shining a spotlight on particular moments in U.S. history: Indian Removals in 1830, and the early months of Reconstruction[...]
“Indeed, how well we do—whether in the classroom or the boardroom—depends more than ever on how well we forge and navigate relationships. In this way, empathy is the new literacy: essential for us to communicate, collaborate and lead.” (From the Start Empathy website) So much depends on our ability to consider the perspective of another—from our ability to foster health[...]
“To find new ways of transmitting knowledge, we must first find a new knowledge. To find a better medium we must find a better message.” Parker palmer, To know as we are Known Parents, teachers and school administrators are in the middle of reimagining school. It’s a difficult time, as all transitions tend to be. And the time is ripe . . . to find a new knowledge, a[...]
“My life feels so small,” I said. “Calling your life small is the trick of the ego. Anything that takes you out of the present moment is a trick of the ego,” came the reply. It was during a weekly appointment with Bobbie Jo, a life transitions coach, and I sat there, uncomfortable. I didn’t think it was my ego urging me toward more. I knew there was a wildness, deep[...]
As schools start to announce their re-opening plans for Fall 2020, parents have so much to consider! How much time have you spent trying to make this decision—send the kids back to school or take the stay-at-home option? This is a hard place to be: On the one hand, this, on the other hand, that. Being on the fence can quickly become an intolerable situation. What if our minds are m[...]
I’ve been preparing for our 8th grade homeschool, a large portion of which will be US History and modern day revolutions. I’m looking forward to diving deep into our country’s history. As for my own education, I remember receiving only trivial bits and pieces of America’s roots: a worksheet on Martin Luther King Jr., a paragraph here on the Pilgrims and Indians, a Weekly[...]
I am walking on fifth street, the road that intersects the street where I live. Down a block, back a block. Elle is one year old and she is in the Ergo pack, attached to my chest. Each step I take is a bounce. I am trying desperately to lull her to sleep. I have not slept in a couple of nights, since the ear infection began. I am bone tired but I am singing. I am enslaved to this[...]
The history, the landscape and outdoor adventure, the people and food: all of these came together to make Belize one of our favorite family travel destinations. For families in the US that are new to international travel, Belize is an easy place to start . . . English is spoken, the American dollar is accepted, and it’s conveniently accessible from the States. We took a nine da[...]
0