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Right Brained Learners

Why I Embraced “Twaddle” for My Creative, Right-Brained Child

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The explosion of the Charlotte Mason phenomenon in homeschooling brought about the widespread use of the word "twaddle" when referring to less-than-desirable literature for children. There was (and continues to be) much discussion about what Charlotte Mason meant when she wrote about twaddle and how that translates into reading and homeschooling today.The campaign against twaddle has been so continual and effective that some parents now live in mortal fear of ruining their child for life if they aren't careful to keep things "twaddle free" … [Read more...] about Why I Embraced “Twaddle” for My Creative, Right-Brained Child

Can Minecraft Be Educational? Yes, But Not in Our Home

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Minecraft is a powerful learning tool. Although I was highly skeptical of it when my daughter first expressed an interest, our family's experience with Minecraft completely changed my mind. So can Minecraft be educational? Absolutely. But not in our home. I have, in fact, purposely resisted the temptation to turn Minecraft into an educational activity.But wait. I just said it was a powerful learning tool and now I'm saying it's not an educational activity in our home. What do I mean by that? Educational Tool versus Learning Tool If you … [Read more...] about Can Minecraft Be Educational? Yes, But Not in Our Home

Alternatives to College After High School

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I originally discovered Praxis when a blogger I follow on Facebook shared a Praxis post. I started following Praxis for the thought-provoking information and articles that they share. I found the idea of Praxis as an alternative to college after high school an interesting one. So when I was presented with the opportunity to share a bit about Praxis with my readers, I was all in!I was compensated for my time to write this post and share this information. All opinions are my own and I was not required to provide a positive review. … [Read more...] about Alternatives to College After High School

Daily Life and Priorities in a Creative Family

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One of my homeschool parenting aha moments came when I realized we had the freedom (and responsibility) to fully embrace that we are a creative family. Prior to that moment I had always felt that I needed to structure life and homeschooling responsibilities in such a way as to allow time to be creative as much as we could fit it in. Instead I realized that above all else we are a creative family and the rest of life needed to be structured around that fact. Being a Creative Family It might not sound like a big deal, but the shift in my mind … [Read more...] about Daily Life and Priorities in a Creative Family

Wholesome Reading for Visual Learners

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Caroline is a visual learner and she is not an avid chapter book reader (yet!). Like most visual learners, she enjoys color, engaging comics, photos, and strong graphics.Those of us who parent children like this often find it challenging to keep them supplied with reading material that is age appropriate, contains quality content, and also supports the values of our family. When I learned about Fun for Kidz magazines I thought they might be something to meet her needs as a child as well as my need as a parent!I received these magazines … [Read more...] about Wholesome Reading for Visual Learners

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling a Right-Brained Child

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Congratulations! You have a right-brained child! You have one of those wonderfully creative children who learns differently and looks at the world differently. If you are a right-brained person, then you already have some idea of what life is like for your child.If you are left-brained, you may feel completely bewildered about what to do with this little person who doesn't want to do anything the way you think it should be done!My own Caroline is right-brained. After making it through the high-need baby stage and realizing she is a … [Read more...] about The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling a Right-Brained Child

Are You Choosing the Wrong Learning Materials for Your Child?

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One of the things I'm passionate about as an educator and curriculum developer is that learning materials for young children should be visually engaging, colorful, well-designed and simple.  Reaching this balance is a challenge, but it can be done. I'm really picky about the aesthetics of any materials I use with Caroline whether it is a worksheet, a book, a lapbook or a game.Caroline is very particular about the way things look. If she doesn't like the look of a picture book, she has zero interest in the content. (She totally gets that … [Read more...] about Are You Choosing the Wrong Learning Materials for Your Child?

How We Ended Up Relaxed Homeschoolers and What It Looks Like

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I realized we were relaxed homeschoolers somewhere along the beginning of Caroline's second grade year (this year). I had kind of wandered in the wilderness of trying to figure out how to answer the question when people would ask what kind of a homeschooler I was. This was mostly due to trying to figure out how to best teach Caroline rather than any specific philosophy I might have held before I had her. Unschoolers? For quite a bit of kindergarten and first grade I wondered if we were unschoolers. I think because I had to be so unstructured … [Read more...] about How We Ended Up Relaxed Homeschoolers and What It Looks Like

Caroline’s First Stop Animation Movie

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Caroline (who is seven) has been fascinated by stop animation movies, especially since she found the Basilmentos channel on YouTube.So today she used the camera she received from Grandpa and Grandma S. for Christmas to make her first stop animation movie (with some help from Daddy!).She spent several hours working on this and I was very impressed by her diligence. She was thoroughly committed to learning how to do this and it showed.David helped her with some of the process as well as getting it uploaded to YouTube.She was very … [Read more...] about Caroline’s First Stop Animation Movie

How I Teach History – Relaxed Homeschooling in Early Elementary

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So how do I teach relaxed homeschooling history?I don't.Honestly.It's rather ironic since my Elementary Education degree came with a Social Studies major and I love history. But so far I've done almost no history teaching because Caroline has been taking those classes at our homeschool co-op.We're blessed with a really good Christian co-op. Caroline has been taking two classes there a semester since Kindergarten and she loves it. The vast majority of her classes have been history and geography related. She had a class about … [Read more...] about How I Teach History – Relaxed Homeschooling in Early Elementary

How I Teach Science – Relaxed Homeschooling in Early Elementary

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My approach to science in our relaxed homeschooling family has been very relaxed. My philosophy is that all children really need in early elementary is exposure to science topics and to develop a healthy curiosity about the world around them. If a child is curious, she will learn plenty even in an unstructured way. Relaxed Homeschooling Science Materials I don't use a textbook to teach science. Most of the early elementary textbooks are either so simplistic or are so poorly designed that they would not appeal to Caroline at all.We don't … [Read more...] about How I Teach Science – Relaxed Homeschooling in Early Elementary

How I Teach Math – Relaxed Homeschooling in Early Elementary

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Since I've already written at length about how we ended up as relaxed homeschoolers in my series intro and language arts post, I'm going to jump right into explaining our relaxed homeschooling math approach in the early elementary grades. Mathematics versus Arithmetic In The Right Side of Normal: Understanding and Honoring the Natural Learning Path for Right-Brained Children, Cindy Gaddis differentiates between arithmetic and mathematics. She describes arithmetic as "the act of manipulating quantities (facts)." Mathematics, on the other hand, … [Read more...] about How I Teach Math – Relaxed Homeschooling in Early Elementary

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