Escape Adulthood

Homeschooling

We are a homeschooling family. We never thought we would be. We just never thought much about it, frankly. But somehow, homeschooling found us, and it fits us. We love it. This is a scrapbook of our rule breaking, Adultitis fighting, homeschooling life.
We write under these disclaimers.

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The What the Hell Approach to Living a Great Story

The #Notarule Tour is well underway. We have already visited a bookstore, a zoo, an old bank, and the home of some Escape Adulthood Summit alumni. But now the certifiably insane part is upon us. We are embarking on a 10-day road trip in a Ford Edge with three kids under seven. And then we’re doing it again a month later. Most parents might think we're batsh#t crazy. Sometimes I do, too. Because it is a little bit crazy. And it might not work. But that’s exactly why it’s worth doing. I loved the message I once saw printed on a sign at a store that said, “Ever notice that what …

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Our Homeschool Disclaimer

We are a homeschooling family. We never thought we would be. We just never thought much about it, frankly. But somehow, homeschooling found us, and it fits us. We love it. Since we love it, and since it's such a big part of our life, it should come as no surprise that we enjoy writing about our adventures. Alas, the education of one's children is a personal decision, and we've hesitated to write much about our experiences for fear of offending people. Eventually we decided that was just dumb. And so we write, but under the following disclaimers: 1) We are not homeschooling experts. …

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This Is Genius

The reasons we homeschool are legion, but it has nothing to do with teachers. This video resonates big time. Reminds me of the Einstein quote: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." The way we do school in this country is one big #notarule. …

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Lucy’s First Day of School

The school buses are ready to roll. Students have their new shoes laced good and tight. New backpacks are filled with shiny new supplies. Butterflies are busy in the tummies of newbie teachers and students. The start of school in Wisconsin is here! This fall Lucy is five-years-old. Since she will not be attending a "school" in the next few days, I guess that means one thing...we are "officially" homeschoolers. Of course, our fellow homeschoolers (which in 2013 made up 3.4% of the U.S. student population) would agree that we've been homeschooling since she was a baby. Tru dat! What will …

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Thou Shalt Be Excited When School’s Out for Summer

What's a sadder reflection on our modern educational system: the fact that "School's Out" by Alice Cooper is the de facto theme for students everywhere this time of year, or the fact that almost no one stops to consider that maybe it's a problem that so many people feel this way about school? I wonder... is "Thou shalt be excited when school's out for the summer" a rule that doesn't need to exist? I'll admit, the first day of summer vacation for me was always gloriously delicious. It meant freedom. But freedom from what, exactly? Freedom from being told what to do all day …

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How Does The Fox Read?

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 …

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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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Why Homeschooling Is For Us

Kim and I attended our first homeschooling conference this past weekend. With a December birthday, Lucy wouldn't be entering kindergarten for another year and a half, but we wanted to get more information about this life-changing decision we'd been considering. To be honest, we each felt a little uncertain and overwhelmed at the prospect of going all-in. …

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Why We Homeschool, Part 1

I do a lot of speaking in the field of education. Most of the teachers I've met are amazingly good. Passionate. Caring. Kind. Dedicated. Knowledgable. And yet most of them feel hampered by a system that no longer works. School is broken. But the main question isn't, "How do we fix it?" No, the first -- and most important -- question is, "What is school for?" …

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