Thoughts on Creativity
Posted by admin2 in American, The Way Home on May 11, 2012
By Andrew Pudewa, Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) Today, as perhaps never before, our society purports to value creativity in education. Touted as the solution to economic, social, and environmental problems, creative thinking has become a primary objective for many educational institutions and homeschool families. Especially in the area of writing, creativity seems to be both the key and the goal. “Be unique! Be creative! Be original! Just make it up!” That which appears to engender creativity is considered good; that which fails to do so is bad. Therefore, activities which promote basic skills (such as copywork, memorization, rote learning, drill) are often put aside in favor of activities which appear more spontaneous (story starters, free writing, journaling, etc.). [...]
A CHILD’S GARDEN
Posted by admin2 in American, Green Living, The Way Home on May 11, 2012
by Laurisa White Reyes Each year as leaves begin to bud on barren branches and the color green subdues the muted grays of winter, my kids and I pick ourselves up off the sofa and head outdoors. An activity that has managed to wind its way up to the top of our “Favorite Things To Do” list is planting a vegetable garden. We live in the high desert of Southern California, about an hour north of Los Angeles. Here the winters are mild but the summer heat can often be unbearable. As a result, we are able to plant early in the season without too much fear of frost, and we can enjoy harvesting the fruit of our labors well [...]
The Collective Sound – Summer Camp for Young Musicians
Posted by admin in Music, The Way Home on May 3, 2012
www.thecollectivesound.com 283 Viejo St. Laguna Beach, CA 92651 E-mail: info@thecollectivesound.com By Jennifer Nairne Most music lessons teach a child to read music, but there are not a lot of resources to teach children how to create music. There is value in learning how to play classical pieces and kids love imitating their favorite pop stars – all of which can be learned through traditional music education. Traditional music education for homeschoolers often means learning music theory from books and parent-teachers look to private instruction for improving technique. Unfortunately, this rarely encourages those students who look to music as a form for self-expression. Even the most dedicated instructors seldom have access to the latest composition software or incorporate the latest technological [...]
Institute for Excellence in Writing – Creative Writing from K-12
Posted by admin in The Way Home, Writing on May 3, 2012
Webinars for School Administrators – Monthly Webinars are on Wednesday and Thursday of each month during the school year. Visit http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/schools_and_teachers for scheduling information. http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/ Andrew Pudewa, the creator and director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing, is one of the most popular conference speakers and experts on the teaching of creative writing in America. Mr. Pudewa gives seminars, workshops and lectures to teacher groups all over the country and his complete writing program is easy and enjoyable to use for both teachers and students. The father of seven, Andrew brings a youthful joie de vive but serious intelligence to the field of creative writing and his bright approach is irresistible to virtually any student. The IEW school line [...]
Homeschoolers Are Like Small Towns
Posted by admin2 in American, The Way Home on May 3, 2012
by Michael Leppert Go to any small town in America and you may see a proliferation of locally-owned businesses. “Mom and pop” restaurants, drycleaners, gas stations, stationers . . . corporate America hasn’t completely wreaked its damage on Main Street, yet. Sole proprietor businesses are just like the people who own them – they have a unique, individual quality that often reflects the owner’s personality. In a sole-prop restaurant, when you sit down at a table for a meal, the person waiting on you might the boss – or is doing the cooking. In some rural areas of the country, such businesses may seem quirky or eccentric, but to many of us, that is the very quality that makes such [...]
HISTORY 101: Learning History Through Your Own Family Tree
Posted by admin2 in American, history, The Way Home on May 3, 2012
By C.B. Ball History. . . How much broader a topic could there possibly be? Even if you break it down to smaller components, you would still have endless amounts of information to cover. So, to say you are studying “history” is a vague statement at best. In public schools, what subjects are taught when, and which specific details are presented, are decided for us. Someone else chooses what in our past is worthy of studying and what is not. As homeschoolers, however, the choice is ours. The key, then, is to narrow the choices down to bite-sized topics. One of my biggest complaints about public education is the tendency to skim through history in order to fit it into [...]
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