Tag: simplicity parenting
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Teaching Geometry
When we consider the best method for teaching geometry, we should consider how to compose such a curriculum. Like the movements in a symphony, teaching geometry should follow a natural and beautiful logic based on the developing human being. It should unfold in an arc that parallels the blossoming capacities of the adolescent and harmonizes…
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Middle School Science
Last week, we wrote a post where we outlined why we teach each of the school subjects. In a classical education, including the curriculum of Enkindle Academy, these topics each serve vital developmental purposes. (They don’t just serve bureaucrats’ inexperienced ideas about what students should be taught, even though such reasoning often guided mainstream education,…
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School Subjects
I’d like to explore why we teach the different school subjects and make a case for each. Although this post is applicable to all teachers, I usually talk to homeschoolers many of whom unschool. It’s becoming increasingly trendy to walk away from academics entirely, preferring instead to learn building, survival skills, gardening, navigation, tracking, etc.…
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Brain Hemispheres in Education
In this post, I’d like to explore the brain hemispheres and their relationship to education. Modern neuroscience and Waldorf pedagogical science are finally coming together in some exciting ways. We can use those insights to help us in our teaching and thereby bring more balance to our children. Are you right brained or left brained?…
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The Benefits of Homeschooling
The benefits of homeschooling have struck me again. I had the enchanting opportunity to meet one of my students and his family for a picnic at a beautiful botanical garden today. The whole family came along, including mom, dad, and his two siblings. Since much of my teaching is online I often don’t get to…
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Mentors for Teens
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by
Today, we will turn to the age old conundrum that has no doubt plagued parents for centuries. It goes something like this, “Why doesn’t my teen listen to me anymore?” We’ll unpack this all-too-common challenge and propose a solution that has to do with finding mentors for teens. The Need to Rebel It’s true. Adolescents…
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The Four Temperaments in Education, Part I
In this first of two posts, we will examine the four temperaments in education. For Part I, we will characterize each of the four temperaments. In Part II next week, we will look at how to work skillfully with them. To begin, what is a temperament and where does it come from? To answer that,…
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Teen Mental Health
The world has never experienced a mental dis-ease epidemic like the meaning crisis we currently face. There are many reasons for this, materialism being the most pernicious. Like a deeply rooted weed, it infests the garden of society’s soul. We have grown accustomed to looking at everything from the outside in and trying to remedy…
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Homeschool Vs. Public School
In this post, we will discuss the common question of homeschool vs. public school. A recent article reported a number of studies indicating that on average, homeschoolers outperform public schoolers on common assessments like the SAT and ACT. Critics suggested this was due to more favorable demographics like parents’ income, marriage status, and level of…
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The Anxious Generation
Go to any town or city today. Look around and observe the youth, and what do you see? No doubt, you see young ones struggling to fit in, wearing questionable clothing, and just generally appearing insecure. This is nothing new for teens an adolescents, but this one seems more chronic, more deeply disoriented. You are…