This is from the UK courtesy of The Telegraph. Selections are conveniently divided by age group. For my young teen there are the usual great choices like Call of the Wild and Great Expectations. But I’ve never heard of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase or The Road of Bones but I’m now very curious. (that’s […]

As I started a new reading list for 2008 I looked over last year’s list. There were some duds, books that were supposed to be wonderful when I started but couldn’t make myself finish . And there were some fun ones and great ones, books that changed the way I look at things. The best […]

Want to learn more about teaching? Need a little self-educating? This essential reading list was passed on to me by an Alaska State School Board member. It was compiled by Joe Beckford, Superintendent/Principal of the Aleutian Region School District. There are great and useful titles for both classroom teachers and homeschoolers.

How to Differentiate Instruction […]

One of my favorite history resources through the years has been Greenleaf Press. Rob and Cyndy Shearer provide great ‘twaddle-free’* books and study guides and other materials for those who homeschool in the Charlotte Mason tradition. I eagerly anticipated the annual print catalog with its listings and recommendations. Then it was the website with Rob’s […]

Linda Perlstein’s Tested is a chronicle of a year in the life of a Title I elementary school in Annapolis, Maryland. I’ve heard a lot of grumbling about No Child Left Behind (NCLB) from teacher friends. I admit it. I expected this book to be about grumpy teachers. But it isn’t. I came to […]

I think I’ll continue a toad theme today. When we visited Australia five years ago, I asked our new friends there to recommend some Aussie books. In the long list was a series by Morris Gleitzman on Limpy the cane toad. Ok, I admit these are supposed to be children’s books. All right, they are […]

Are you teaching a high-schooler 20th century American History or, even better, economics? Check out Amity Shlaes’ The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. As I’ve learned more about economics I wondered why this depression became Great. Why on earth did it last so long? Ms. Shlaes details the Hoover and Roosevelt […]

Here’s a radical proposal from Wesley Fryer at Infinite Thinking: A moratorium on text book purchases by schools.
The day of the paper-based textbook is over. The era of digital curriculum has dawned, and it is fiscally irresponsible for school district leaders to continue to purchase paper-based curriculum materials in light of the digital curriculum resources […]

I’m a confessed, incurable book nerd. I love books! I love to read them. I love the tactile aesthetics. I love to fall asleep reading a good book. I love collecting books as shelf space allows. I love to read book reviews. Loving books is a good thing for homeschooling. With that in mind here […]

It seems long ago and far away now that our oldest is 21 and in his 3rd year of college. But I do remember the process and paradigm shift that led us to teach the kids at home.
Samuel Blumenfeld came to Anchorage. I heard him speak and read his book, NEA: Trojan Horse in American […]