Screen Time vs. Media Literacy

What contemporary parent hasn't agonized about screens at one time or another?

I don't want to discuss screen time here, though I've thought about and discusssed it plenty. In the past year, we've shifted from very limited and controlled iPad time; to almost complete freedom, inspired by unschooling ideas; to my reasserting my role as guide, encouraging my kids to think about how they want to spend their days.

But I've started to think that media literacy is a more important topic than screen time. Read more

Fragility and Freedom in Self-Directed Education

Recently, an acquaintance posted an article on Facebook titled “The Fragile Generation.” Her post, from the Libertarian journal Reason, quoted Peter Gray from the article. Gray is a psychologist, whose book Free to Learn, and articles on the importance of play and self-directed learning, influenced my decision to explore homeschooling with my children. My interest piqued, I saved the article to read later.

When I read the article, I was dismayed to find musings on freedom and fragility in childhood and young adulthood used to advance a different agenda altogether. Unfortunately, I’ve encountered these conflations before, and it motivated me to write this rather uncharacteristic blog post. Read more

Joy

Today, Netta is five! Her exuberance, resilience, and contagious laughter light up the world around her every day.

Netta has loved to draw since she was little. Her fine detail, especially the emotions of her characters, have drawn praise from many directions. I adore her free, expressive drawings. In the past six months, though, Netta has expressed frustration with her drawing skills. She stopped drawing. Thinking of the joy she gets from drawing - as well as the joy I get from her drawing, and from my own drawing - I've tried to entice her, with how-to drawing books, different art materials, and drawing games. Nothing really worked. Recently, I've been telling myself that if she never draws again, that's okay, too. In the past few days, though, she's started drawing. I hesitate to make any grand pronouncements, but I hope I'm giving her the time and space to explore what gives her joy on her own schedule.

Improv Baking

As a longtime recipe-follower, I love watching my kids invent cakes and cupcakes. I've been baking with them since they were little, so they have an idea of the ingredients in a baked good: flour, sugar, eggs, and so on. They experiment, adding milk or leaving out oil, using almond flour or mixing in strawberries. We have color-coded measuring cups and measuring spoons, and Daphne (age 7) likes me to record her recipes. Netta (age 5 tomorrow!) bakes with a splash of this and a dash of that. They're almost always happy to eat the results of their improvisations.

Self Care

Recently, when we come home from a long day or just a few hours out, Daphne says, "I want to take a relaxing bath."

Daphne is sensitive and easily over-stimulated. With the freedom to organize her own time, she's learning about self-care.