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Life Without School | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/life-without-school
Living and Learning Off the Grid. Working on the Omelet: Thoughts on Cooking and Unschooling. My mother was also an incredibly chaotic cook. A far cry from the clean as you go type, her creativity left the kitchen a daunting path of destruction for whoever had dish duty that night. As an adult, I share both her passion for food and her penchant for a messy kitchen. I clearly remember two things she used to say to me and my brother and sister:. And, If the kitchen’s a mess, that means you made a great meal.
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What Did You Learn Today? | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/2015/06/14/what-did-you-learn-today
Living and Learning Off the Grid. What Did You Learn Today? June 14, 2015. June 15, 2015. I’m amazed at how many well-meaning parents and other adults ask children this heavily loaded question, which is really a quiz in the guise of “how was your day? 8221; What is really being asked (perhaps with genuine interest) is, “what facts and formulas did you memorize, what topics were covered, and how much of it did you retain? 8221; is collective by nature. What mystery did you unravel? After finding an online...
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Taboos vs. Trust: Answering the Uncomfortable Questions | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/2015/02/24/taboos-vs-trust-answering-the-uncomfortable-questions
Living and Learning Off the Grid. Taboos vs. Trust: Answering the Uncomfortable Questions. February 24, 2015. Photo credit: favim.com. I don’t blame my parents for this. They were raised according to a lingering post-Victorian authoritative parenting. Style And while the more child-centered writings of Dr. Spock. 8221; and “how are babies made? 8217; with equanimity. Having their questions answered in a safe environment by people they trust gives children the foundation to explore the world with confiden...
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Little Kids, Big Rules: Thoughts on the Criminalization of Childhood, Part I | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/2015/03/12/little-kids-big-rules-thoughts-on-the-criminalization-of-childhood-part-i
Living and Learning Off the Grid. Little Kids, Big Rules: Thoughts on the Criminalization of Childhood, Part I. March 12, 2015. March 18, 2015. Photo credit: stomp.com.sg. When I was growing up, I was well aware of our family rules and those of our neighborhood, which were intended to ensure safety and foster kindness, integrity and good manners:. Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Children and Nature Network, writes in his proposal to create a Forum on Children, Nature and the Law. This is an excel...
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The Learning Vacation | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/2015/05/08/the-learning-vacation
Living and Learning Off the Grid. May 8, 2015. May 8, 2015. Walking among the acropolis ruins on the island of Kos. I was telling another mom a few days ago that we just got back from a two week vacation on a small island in Greece. I explained that the trip had been part business and part pleasure, but that mostly, it had been a learning vacation for our children. She smiled knowingly and said, “Yeah, I guess every kid needs a vacation from learning sometimes, huh? We visited an organic farm and vineyard.
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Humor | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/category/humor
Living and Learning Off the Grid. C is for Curriculum. June 25, 2015. When we pulled our two children out of school a few years ago and decided to homeschool, I was filled with giddy optimism. “. Now THIS was going to be fun,”. I told myself, as I rolled up my sleeves and began to set up a school in our home. (Yes, I took it that literally.) Blackboard? Alphabet on a string? Pencils, paper, paint, posters, rulers, maps, stickies, smilies, markers, doilies? What time were they supposed to learn math?
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Our Story | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/our-story
Living and Learning Off the Grid. Over a particularly good bottle of red wine, on a balmy summer evening in 2008, my husband and I made a decision that would forever change our lives: to put our belongings in storage and move to Senegal, W. Africa with our two children, then three and four. Who the hell DOES that kind of thing? I found myself answering these questions (or trying to) a lot over the months leading up to our departure. I’d love to hear from you. You can either send me an email thr...You are...
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A Work in Progress: Dealing With Unschooling Doubts | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/2014/12/30/a-work-in-progress-dealing-with-unschooling-doubts
Living and Learning Off the Grid. A Work in Progress: Dealing With Unschooling Doubts. December 30, 2014. October 8, 2015. Line drawing, “face of a Woman” by Henri Matisse. Those days, when I resemble more the mom I used to be, are not proud days, but they are nonetheless important. They are days that whisper, “hey, you, Ellen, yeah you, what’s the deal? What’s going on with you? Am I just having a bad writing day? Weeds and the Myth of the “Real World” →. December 30, 2014 at 10:05 pm. Liked by 1 person.
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C is for Curriculum | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/2015/06/25/c-is-for-curriculum
Living and Learning Off the Grid. C is for Curriculum. June 25, 2015. When we pulled our two children out of school a few years ago and decided to homeschool, I was filled with giddy optimism. “. Now THIS was going to be fun,”. I told myself, as I rolled up my sleeves and began to set up a school in our home. (Yes, I took it that literally.) Blackboard? Alphabet on a string? Pencils, paper, paint, posters, rulers, maps, stickies, smilies, markers, doilies? What time were they supposed to learn math?
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ellenrowland | A Muddy Life
https://amuddylife.com/author/ellenrowland
Living and Learning Off the Grid. My Kids Don’t Go to School. Get Over it. October 17, 2016. We are educated at home. Yes, we learn in both french and English. No, we don’t follow a curriculum. As the trip went on, however, and the questions kept coming, I noticed that my children’s answers became tinged with justification. We use a lot of internet learning resources. We may go to school someday, who knows? Well, we travel a lot, so homeschooling is really our only choice. June 1, 2016. July 18, 2016.
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