teaching boys

Hope When You Feel Like a Homeschool Failure
Have you ever wanted to leave a homeschool magazine  unopened because it just reminded you of your failures? Or felt sad instead of excited when you saw a homeschool catalog? We've been homeschooling for nearly two decades. I've been that mom that was shirt-popping proud of my children and our homeschooling. I've also been that…
Teaching Languages
This weekend we were at the HINTS Conference in Charlotte and I happened to have the most interesting conversation with Caryn Hommel of Excelerate Language. I thought I'd come back over and interview her so you guys could hear from her, too. Hi Caryn, tell me again why you believe the way most language programs work…
When Boys Want to Be Scientists…
Most boys at some time or another think they want a career in science or technology. Sometimes that’s what God’s calling them to, but other times, it’s what they think that kind of career would bring. That’s the way we were. Hal majored in engineering and Melanie in the hard sciences, though it’s become clear…
Teaching the Manly Virtue of Controlling Your Mouth – and Heart
I just read a news article about a young newscaster on the air for the first - and last - time at his first job out of college. His first words on the air were a blast of profanity. Oh, he didn't know his microphone was on, but part of a reporter's training is to…
Teaching Geography Inexpensively – and Effectively!
Several of our sons have done well in state-level geography bees, including one who ranked no. 2 for the whole state. When a public school teacher turned to Melanie in amazement and asked “What curriculum do you use?” she had to admit a dark secret … we seldom use a geography curriculum at all! So…
Preschool and Thirty-Three Classic Picture Books
This series of articles is in response to the question, "What curriculum do you use?" which we're freqently asked. Read the first in the series here. Don't miss the freebie at the bottom of the post! Preschool is a time when you can really hardly fail. You have years and years and years to make up for…
So, What Curriculum Do You Use?
Folks ask us all the time, "So, what curriculum do you use?" Let me begin to answer by telling you a story. Many years ago, one of my dear friends asked me the same thing as she began homeschooling her children. I was happy to tell her because I believed I'd found the very best…
Internet Safety and Accountability: Visiting the Big City
If you wouldn't drop your son or daughter off in New York City or Shanghai to explore on their own, you need some kind of supervision for their internet use. The internet is just like a large city - there are fantastic museums, libraries, and churches, but there are also red light districts, gambling parlors,…
Bring Back Work Week: The Pleasure of Accomplishment
A few weeks ago, our son Matt came in and said, "Mom, you know it makes a guy feel good to take responsibility - to meet a need, to do something that matters. I had no idea how much fun it could be to be the one to take care of something." I think there…
Overcoming Shyness
This is Melanie. I am very shy. Okay, stop laughing! I'm serious! It's pretty hard to imagine, I'm sure, how someone who speaks every year to thousands of people, does radio interviews and web broadcasts and loves talking to people at our booth could possibly be shy, but it's true. I hate picking up the…