Unschooling NYC

Day 2 of Irene Watch was a study in tedium and patience.   Most of the stores were closed, including all the Starbucks, Barnes & Nobles and virtually ever locally owned business apart from drugstores, grocery and hardware stores, which were open till noon.

No rain in the morning, and pretty much only intermittent light rain all day.   I got a coffee at Aroma Espresso Bar, which was the only place that was open.   They were packed and stayed open till they literally ran out of food (and maybe coffee) at around 2:30pm.   We know this because we showed up at … Read more

If current predictions turn out to be correct, this may be my last entry for a few days.   Of course, if current predictions are as accurate as they were the last time a hurricane threatened the city, we’ll be out picnicking in the park Sunday afternoon under sunny skies.

The reality will probably be somewhere in the middle, as it often is.

We are waiting under partly cloudy skies for the arrival of Irene.   You all know about Irene – there is no way you are breathing and living anywhere in North America and are still ignorant of this hurricane … Read more

Almost a year ago, I wrote an entry titled “Math Mania – A Study“, in which I talk about the fact that the hysteria over advanced math skills is misplaced, as hardly anyone ever needs Trigonometry or Calculus in their daily lives.   Unless their profession calls for it.  When was the last time you were asked to prove a theorem?   And show your work?    We would be better served learning how to balance our checkbooks, figure out mortgage interest or loan interest, etc.

Cut to today, when…

In the Op-Ed section of the Times there is an article … Read more

Maya read The Help by Kathryn Stockett last week.   I think she read it faster than I did.   She was motivated by the fact that the movie has come out and wanted to finish the book before seeing the film but also by the fact that it is an amazing book.  So well-written and clear that even at 11 years old, she got it.

My eleven year old is reading General Fiction.  (I’d say ‘adult fiction’ but somehow that sounds wrong.)   She just came out of her room and told me that since summer started on June 21st she’s read … Read more

8 years ago, Joshua and I went temporarily insane and moved out of the city to Stroudsburg PA.   I of course claim that since I was pregnant with Ben at the time, I was not wholly in my right mind.   Joshua’s excuse is that since he is from Israel he always thought that in America  he should live in a big house with a big yard and drive a big car.    And since he (we) never does anything by halves, we had to move to the biggest house we could possibly find at the farthest point from the city at … Read more

A lot of the strife and trouble in the world seems to stem from our disturbing ability to forget that the people we are fighting against have all the same emotions and feelings that we do.   This happens not just in major conflicts but in every day life.   The taxi driver, the train conductor or the toll booth attendant who drew the short straw and is required to man the “Cash Only” lane.   On a larger scale, our enemies are followers of a hated religion or school of political thought.     We can dismiss them, ignore them, fight them or belittle … Read more

You may notice something different about my blog tonight – yes, there are ads and a BlogHer logo!    BlogHer is a large network of female bloggers writing on a multitude of subjects, and about a month or so ago I submitted my blog to them, to see if they thought I might be a good addition to their network.

Happily, they did.

So from now on you will see their ads on my blog, as well as some links to other BlogHer members, and I will receive a small payment each month in return.      I encourage you to look around … Read more

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but each state has its’ own set of regulations regarding homeschoolers.   Some, like my home state of Indiana, require little to no reporting on the part of homeschooling parents regarding their chosen path of learning.

New York State is one of the more strict in the country, requiring quite a lot of  paperwork from families who choose to keep their children out of the school system.    The basic process, which I believe I mentioned in one of my earliest posts on this blog, goes like this:

Any family choosing to homeschool must first … Read more

According to my Mom, my Grandmother did not believe in making kids do chores.    She thought that kids should be allowed to be kids, since childhood is short enough as it is.   I find it amazing that my Grandmother, who grew up in the days of ‘children should be seen and not heard’, felt that way.   It was pretty radical thinking for someone of her generation.   But I think she was right.    Kids should be allowed to be kids.

My Grandmother’s views on this subject are in the minority.    Just today I was listening to a group of parents talking … Read more

Because Maya is so into video editing at the moment, I made arrangements with Apogee, the company that owns the Power Pilates studio where I work out, for Maya to come in on Monday and meet the guy who puts together all of their workout DVD videos for them.   His name is Wiley Abbas and he is truly an amazing guy.   We showed up mid-afternoon while he was working on a video for a new client of Apogee.   They’d shot the video in the studio a few days prior, and he was on deadline to have a rough cut available … Read more