Nobody Told Me That I’d Get the Independent Kids I Wanted, and I Wouldn’t Always Like It!

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Barbara Frank

I first learned about homeschooling from reading Home-Grown Kids by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore. That was when I was a new parent, so I had time to do some research before making the decision to homeschool. I did a lot of reading; one of my prime influences was John Holt.

Holt was a teacher whose school experiences taught him that when given freedom to make choices and explore their world, children learn on their own. Reading his books was an eye-opening experience for me. It helped me assess my own childhood school years and why I’d been so dissatisfied with them.

For many years, John Holt published a wonderful newsletter called “Growing Without Schooling” that was a great encouragement to homeschooling parents. I inhaled each issue, and decided that encouraging my children’s desire for independent learning would be part of their home education.

This was fine in theory. Continue reading →

Seems Obvious, Right?

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Barbara Frank

A school district in Georgia that was having financial difficulties decided to cut the school week to four days in order to save money. The result, according to the school superintendent?

Test scores went up.

So did attendance — for both students and teachers. The district is spending one-third of what it once did on substitute teachers, Clark said.

And the graduation rate likely will be more than 80 percent for the first time in years, Clark said.

Hmmm….if doing less of something results in more success, why not get rid of it all together and see what happens? 🙂

New! Bible Study for Mothers and Daughters

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Barbara Frank

(UPDATE 10/17/18 SEE BELOW)

Woohoo! My newest book is out 🙂

There’s nothing like the feel of a fresh new book, right fellow book lovers? And I’ve got to tell you that seeing my name on it and knowing that it’s the result of a couple of years’ worth of work is a good feeling!

Hot off the press: Women of the Old Testament: 14 In-Depth Bible Studies for Teens with Mother-Daughter Discussion Starters, a book I wrote six years ago for our daughter Mary, who was 13 at the time. Continue reading →

Nobody Told Me That Homeschooling Would Create So Much Clutter!

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Barbara Frank

I first heard about homeschooling when our eldest was a newborn and our child-related clutter was limited to a diaper bag, a playpen and a few baby toys and stuffed animals.

Fast-forward 26 years…..after two moves in two years, we continue to fight the paring- down battle of stuff even though two children have left home and two remain. In one box I find old bottles of tempera paints that are easy to pitch because they’re all dried up. In another I find a set of rubber stamps that bring back memories of my children stamping out their names in ink and coloring in the letters. Still perfectly good and made much sturdier than what can be found in stores today, they’re not so easy to give up because of their condition and the fact that they bring back so many memories. Multiply that by many boxes’ worth of art supplies, books, drawings, book reports, educational games, hobby supplies and small craft projects (at least I didn’t keep the big ones!), and you can understand why it’s taking us so long to go through everything. Continue reading →