“‘May God thy gold refine.’ That must be from the Bible.” “Shakespeare,” Turtle replied. “All quotations are either from the Bible or Shakespeare.” ~ The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin For a couple of years, I’ve had this grand idea to do a Shakespeare unit with my girls over the summer. This year, we’re finally […]
A real buried treasure lies hidden somewhere under a fruit tree. The first student to solve the riddles and click the map within a two-mile radius of the actual burial spot will win it all. Simple, right? But since this treasure hunt spans the entire globe, it can also seem quite daunting. Before you […]
Most kids I know like to cook. There’s something about taking food in one form, then chopping, smashing, stirring, scooping, pouring, tossing, sprinkling, or blending it, and making it into something new, something delicious to eat and share. Plus, cooking is very grown-up. From the time they could stand on a step stool, my girls […]
Spring is short but sweet in Virginia. A few precious weeks, maybe a month, of pleasant weather between the chill of winter and the oppressive heat and humidity of summer. I also get the road trip bug in the spring; the last two years, I loaded the girls in the van and drove across the […]
Children do not need to slouch on the couch during the summer and lose months of hard-won academic progress. In fact, summer is a great time to awaken kids to the love of learning and help them discover that learning can be joyful—even if they think that school itself is not. Here are three ideas […]
Guest post by Asha Dornfest, founder of ParentHacks.com My family lives in Portland, Oregon. My 15 year-old son and 11 year-old daughter go to local public schools, and we’re thrilled with the education they’re getting there. But the fact remains that the curriculum is standardized — as it should and must be for a diverse student […]