Why I DON'T Want My Kids to be Happy

Recently, I had the opportunity to watch a highly talked-about TEDx video, Hackschooling Makes Me Happy in which 13-year-old Logan LaPlante details his experiences with a form of education designed to make him HAPPY and HEALTHY. He passionately shares how his rather untraditional homeschooling methods have set him on a path to achieving his long-term goal of being HAPPY.

And while most homeschool moms have passed this video around social media like pink eye at the McDonald's Playland, proclaiming this HAPPY-AND-HEALTHY theme to be the new mantra of home education, it actually caused me to pause and evaluate my thoughts on "happy" children.

Is it my goal...or even my job...to help my children grow into "happy" adults? I pondered.

Geography Club: Italy Unit

Ciao!  

We recently took a "trip" to Italy in our Co-operative Geography Club. With its rich, historic culture, Italy captivated us.

Here's a look at our travel log...

Creative Writing Family-Style: an "Add-on Story" with a Twist

The other day in a moment of PLAN B, I tossed out my original pre-scheduled plan for our creative writing activity and decided, instead, to do a little family-style story writing.  This is a great school day activity to help build sibling connections as well as encourage younger writers who may not yet have the skills to write a very engaging story all on their own.

Our Start-the-Day-Together Basket

With five little learners ranging from a fifth grader doing junior-high-level work to a tiny tot, stacking blocks and sorting colored pom-poms in muffin tins, my home is a daily frenzy of activity. Couple that activity with the INDEPENDENT spirit of nearly all of my kids, and you have the makings of a school day that could easily become disjointed.  

Olympic Party For Kids

It is the second Monday of the month which means it is time for the monthly Pinterest Flips & Flops, a chance to report on my latest triumphs and tragedies from my Pinterest boards.  

Here's how it works...I pick a Martha Stewart-esque pin that has been collecting dust on my Pinterest boards, follow the directions to the best of my ability, and report on whether it is a "YOU MUST TRY THIS" success or only a "LOOKS GOOD IN THE PICTURE ONLY" failure.  

It just so happens that in honor of Sweetie Pea's birthday this month, I was able to dust off several pins all at once.

We've always been Olympic enthusiasts.  Every two years has the entire family all parked on the sofa cheering on our favorite athletes from around the world.  

The BEST Emergent Readers for Phonics-Based Reading

Last week, when I confessed my opinions of those popular emergent readers that we all see gracing the shelves of the library and the bookstore, I think I hit a raw nerve with so many mommas. 

(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)

Emergent Readers???!  

...we've all been asking ourselves while scratching our heads in confusion.  

NOPE.  

What We're Reading in February

February started with a bang as we added one more reader to the house.  My four-year-old has been vigorously reading as many one-vowel readers that I can set in front of him.  His older brothers have each inched their way into the next level of books.  And their sister?  Well, in the first three days of the month, she's already checked three books off her TO READ list.