That’s why it’s cobwebs and crickets here.

So, if you are inclined, you can read me at Paper Bridges. I guess eventually I’ll more this content to the other blog, but for now, I’ll just leave it.

Ok, I admit this was a bad idea is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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No girls were hurt in the making of this video.

The real action starts at 1:25 is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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How do you make unschooling illegal? Do you write a statute into each state saying “unschooling” is illegal. Well what is unschooling? Is it those who don’t use textbooks but are guided by the family’s interests and the parents’ principles? Or is those who don’t use textbooks and the children select all the activities based on their interests alone? Or what if it’s a combination of the two would that be acceptable and legal? Who decides?

It’s a slippery slope, folks. Attempt to undermine the parents – even those wacky confident enough to take on radical unschooling – and who knows who is next. Maybe those wacky confident born again Christians who dare teach their children the Lord created man.

Watch this space. There’s more to come, I’m sure.

Exactly! is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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Lovely, no?

Whether or not you are a radical unschooler, you should find this piece of “news” presented to a national audience worthy of your outrage.

A small clip of only two radical unschooling families to measure all of unschooling? Lame, shoddy reporting. Shame on you, ABC News.

If the talking heads were fair to unschoolers, they would have shown the public a few now-grown radical unschoolers succeeding in life. Trust me, they aren’t hard to find with an Internet search bringing many to your browser.

Here’s the problem I see for the rest of the homeschooling community: Do we need ABC News, or anyone else, undermining our family culture and lifestyle choices? Classical, eclectic, Charlotte Mason or whatever you take as your homeschooling label – a biased, critical eye at unschooling is a step closer to all the rest of us being attacked for the way we teach, and live, with our children.

Our freedom to educate at home: will we someday lose it?

Watch the follow-up video the news network produced here, after the “overwhelming response” from viewers.

Why all homeschoolers should be miffed with the way ABC News treated unschoolers is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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Just so you know (No. 4) is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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I know! I can’t figure myself out either.

Two invitations to two separate Usborne book parties on the same day. One during the day, many kids converging in my friend’s backyard. Much conversation for me with the other moms. At the last minute, I went to the other party at night. Kids stayed home with hubs.

Yup. I am an Usborne book groupie.

Homeschooler’s support group meeting (doesn’t that sound like a recovery group?)

And our typical Wednesday craziness. I see the end coming – later May – and I’m holding on best I can. CBS. Boy’s “engineering class” (which turned out to be not the winner I thought it would be due to the homework assignments), girl’s cooking with friends. I’m leaning toward not signing up for CBS in the fall. The topic is the book of Genesis, and we all feel tired of those well-known Bible stories. Or if we do CBS again, I won’t make the mistake of signing up for activities that same day.

Decisions, decisions.

Anyway. I’m down one kiddo today. Yesterday was the landmark Year Five for my youngest, so in celebration we shipped her off to my mother and dad. An overnight with a trip to the toy store and fast food dinner. Ask me how excited she was this morning? I miss her already. I don’t miss her at all. She’s having fun.

I know. I can figure myself out either.

Comings and goings is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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Remind me later to write a post as to WHY.

Just so you know (No. 3) is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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Dance, paint, draw, cook, sing. Her days dedicated to creating, many moments committed to expression. The other day, a roll of masking tape became a way to decorate walls, mirror, desk and door. A read-aloud book is acted out, a Bible story re-told in detail. My girl loves to create.

I try to give her lots of opportunity when she asks to do something like painting. Having an assortment of colors, lots of paper, markers, glitter, maybe how-to books to inspire – it’s important to have those items at home when you have creative children. Most of all, I let her do without telling her how. And I follow behind, ready to peel the tape off the wall.

She’ll be five on Sunday. I pray she never loses her love, or confidence, in what she creates.

What’s your girl’s favorite way to express her creativity?

The girl creative is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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What I liked:

1. The pie making tutorial. I say tutorial, because this is more than a recipe, it’s a step-by-step teaching with lots of text, pictures, tips and quips; excellent for us kitchen dunderheads (er. . . like me) who need extra help. Molly calls it a “mentor lesson,” I agree.

2. The menu planning section with dinner suggestions for a week. (The list of all the ingredigints you need to cook all the meals is a bonus. Great idea.)

3. The Kid’s Corner craft. How to make a piggy bank. My kids will love this craft.

4. The explanation on how to open a checking account. Basic, good to teach a young person.

And because I always give an honest review:

What I didn’t like:

1. The HUGE paragraphs. Oh, Molly! Your content is wonderful, but it’s difficult to read when you let your paragraphs get the size of Texas. Just sayin’.

2. Nine pages of blank lists (clothing inventory, to-do list, calendar, etc.) Is this really necessary in an e-zine? Molly, rescue this space to use for your awesome cooking tutorial or for more craft ideas.

3. A tiny quibble: I’d like to be able to jump from the Table of Contents to the article that interests me with only one click of the mouse. Maybe I’m lazy, but the scrolling gets tiresome.

Molly’s Money Saving Digest is an e-zine packed full of info to help you cook, craft, with encouragement on ways to save money in your homemaking.

And now for the legal disclaimer: The author (blogger) of this post received a free copy of the above e-zine from the publisher in exchange of a written review. The review is the honest opinion of the blogger. The blogger received no monetary compensation for this review.

Product review: an e-zine to help you save is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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Saturday we had Laura at Hoffman Park. She came packing too: binoculars for birding. Yay.

I love birds. I always have. One of my favorite memories – in fact, my only memory of learning anything at all in 3rd grade – has to do with bird watching.

As I sat in my desk, with the teacher prattling on in the front of the classroom, I looked out the window (I suspect I did a LOT of looking out the window in the third grade.) There on a tree branch:  a bird. Black with a hard-to-miss patch of red on the wing. I’d never seen one. You would’ve thought I would’ve raised my hand to ask teacher to name this mystery bird, and maybe I did, can’t remember now. I bet I didn’t because I certainly remember my mom and I looking the bird up in our bird book when I was home. Mom was always talking about birds to us.

The Red-winged Blackbird and I have been friends ever since.

We didn’t see any Red-winged Blackbirds yesterday, but we saw plenty of Turkey Vultures, Canada Geese, Blue Jays, a Cormorant feeding in the pond (my favorite) and several others.

Here we are spying on the vultures:

And one of my eldest boy. May I brag on my boy for a moment? This boy knows his birds, probably because he’s one of those kids who likes being outdoors, combined with having an unquenchable curiosity.

Squint hard, maybe turn your binoculars  to the screen, and you can see the Cormorant sunning itself.

It’s Canada Goose, not Canadian. Even mom learned something new. is a post from: Educating Magpies: Life Without School

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