I had a cool homeschooling moment yesterday, a shining example of interest-based learning! Lucy and Ben, coming a little late to the party, (because their dear 'ol mom is always about 6-12 months behind) love to watch the music video, "What does the fox say?" Lucy asked me to pull it up on our Apple TV. Since I had my hands full holding Virginia, I asked her to type it in by herself, using sound spelling with some reassurance from me that she was hearing/choosing the right sounds for the key words that we agreed might work: "fox say." (By the way, teaching a kiddo how to use search engines has …
Archives for April 2014
Who’s Up for an Ugly Dinner?
If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you certainly know of our proclivity for Ugly Treats. We wholeheartedly encourage people to make disgusting-looking cookies, cakes, and other desserts...just for fun. Well, an astute reader recently reminded me that dessert doesn’t have to be the only food group up for an ugly makeover. She pointed me to an article highlighting 21 Truly Upsetting Vintage Recipes. Below are a few of my favorites: Liver Sausage Pineapple Imagine mixing together liver sausage, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, mayonnaise and gelatin into the shape of a …
Saturday Morning Sprinkles: Up With People Edition
• We're playing Show & Tell, and you could win this limited edition "Up with People" mug or a Lemonade Stand gift certificate. All you need to do is email a photo of you with something you still have from your childhood to share@escapeadulthood.com. More details here. • Love this idea for immortalizing your favorite tweet by laser etching it into wood or metal. • Where does all your time go? You think you know, but I bet you'd be surprised. Here's a neat tool by Erin Greenawald to help you get to the bottom of things and find more time for the stuff that's most important to you. Maybe …
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12 Big Ideas About Homeschooling from Penelope Trunk
By some standards, Kim and I are at the beginning stages of homeschooling. On the other hand, if you subscribe to the belief that homeschooling begins at birth, then we've been at it for over five years. Either way, we are still in the stage of learning as much about it as we can. There are so many different styles of homeschooling, so many misconceptions about it, so much philosophy of how human beings actually learn, and so much history that led us to the educational system we have today. It's endlessly fascinating to us both. We regularly find ourselves deep down rabbit holes, …
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What If Money Were No Object?
"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way." --Alan Watts It's overly simplistic to say that all you need to do to be successful is to "follow your passion." It's and important factor, but not the only one. However. Money is a powerful force. Our view of it and need for it impacts our decision making in many -- often subconscious -- ways. One good way to make sure you're on track for living a great story is to ask yourself, "What would you be doing if money were no object?" How would you spend your time? What would be …
Remember Stanley
The other day I missed out on a good story. I was in Toronto dropping off a rental car at the airport. In the parking garage I saw two people getting their picture taken with the Stanley Cup. It was such a weird scene. A guy had pulled it out of a big trunk that was on the ground next to a white Suburban. A young couple grinned excitedly as the guy snapped their photo on a smartphone as I walked by. For a brief second, my inner child excitedly suggested that I ask to have my picture taken with it too. Unfortunately, Adultitis took over from there as questions flooded my mind. Is that …
Saturday Morning Sprinkles: Happiest Photo Ever Edition
• Time magazine wants to know if the photo above by Alfred Eisenstaedt is the happiest photo ever made. I'm not sure, but I know I love it. Here's the backstory: “It was early in the morning,” Eisenstaedt himself recalled of the fall day in 1950 when he took the photo. On assignment for LIFE, covering the University of Michigan’s nationally famous marching band, he spotted the school’s drum major practicing his craft. Then, Eisenstaedt said, “I saw a little boy running after him, and all the faculty children on the playing field ran after the boy. And I ran after them. This is a completely …
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Homeschooling Lesson: Gravity!
Ben was a bit too quiet. I found him dropping stuff out of the front window. That's what I get for sneaking fresh air on this beautiful day (no screens on yet). …
Life Is Bandwidth
From Hugh: There are only so many hours in the day. There’s only so much one tiny, 3-pound collection of human neurons can handle. There’s only so much outside world you can afford to cram down your pipes. So don’t overload your system. Choose carefully. It’s only after you stop trying to do everything, that you really start getting anything done. Exactly. Life balance is a really tricky concept, because everybody seems to have a different definition of what it means. I do know one thing: you might be able have anything you want, but you certainly can't have everything you want. If …
Adultitis Antidote #2: Spatula City
About once a month, the parents would pull out a bunch of unusual kitchen utensils and pile them on the table. Things like spatulas, spaghetti forks, soup ladles, whisks, potato mashers and giant serving spoons were on display. Each child was instructed to select one item from the pile. And then they would have to eat their entire dinner using just that utensil. To make things even more interesting, the mother kept the dinner menu a secret. This is an idea that I got from an elderly couple in Virginia several years back. Their kids loved it so much, that now that they're older, they …