Category Archives: Unschooling

‘Life of Fred’ easily allows kids to pass standardized tests, if they really want to!

Posted on June 6, 2013 by homeschoolingpenny

Whilst the weather is so hot (and we have months of this ahead of us), I can only term ourselves ‘eclectic’ homeschoolers rather than ‘unschoolers’ because I am directing so much of my kids’ learning and so much is being … Continue reading →

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Educate for Problem-Solving, Not Factories

Posted on December 31, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

This is the title of a fascinating article that popped up on my FB page. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2012/12/14/educate-for-problem-solving-not-factories/ It concludes, and I concur, “Education must create value by teaching people to make a living as problem-solvers and purposeful entrepreneurs…Let’s stop stifling creativity and innovation. … Continue reading →

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Homeschooling in Dubai, the Early Days – Month 9 of Learning at Home

Posted on November 24, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

Thank goodness for Percy Jackson books on CD! In the guise of trying to homeschool whilst driving hours a day shopping for new-home furniture, I bought a few books/stories on CD. One of them was ‘The Lightening Thief’. I had … Continue reading →

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Homeschooling in Dubai Update – Month 8 of Learning at Home

Posted on November 16, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

I got an email from a friend today who said that it looked like I was living in a ‘Blade Runner’ world. In 1982, the world in that great movie looked extremely futuristic and very overwhelming. I thought this was … Continue reading →

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Homeschooling in Dubai Update – Month 8 of Learning at Home

Posted on November 9, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

So, an update…It’s been two and a half weeks since we landed in Dubai. I was in denial and then full of sadness about leaving Bahrain. I was terribly worried about finding an equivalent home. The intensity of some of … Continue reading →

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Homeschooling in Dubai

Posted on November 1, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

I haven’t abandoned this blog. Not at all. I write posts in my head all the time. I just don’t get to write them down since we’ve moved to Dubai.  I am always thinking about homeschooling, about education, about parenting. … Continue reading →

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ED Hirsch and the Boring World He Plans For Us – Month 8 of Learning at Home

Posted on October 16, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

Today I read about the philosophy of an American education ‘guru’ called ED Hirsch (not sure why he spells his name like this. Is it E.D. or Ed short for Edward (I hope not!) or something else?) Apparently his philosophy … Continue reading →

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Thinking about Maths and Homeschooling – Month 8 of Learning at Home

Posted on October 11, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

I have been thinking about Maths quite a bit lately – should my kids be taught Maths in some kind of formal way? If so, how? Edward covered a lot of Maths basics before he left school at age 7 … Continue reading →

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Keeping Children Safe by Treating Them With Respect

Posted on October 9, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/07/april-jones-myths-risks-listen ‘The Guardian’ is a UK newspaper, the online version of which I try to dip into every day and it had another really interesting article about the importance of respecting and valuing children. The ghastly case of, probably, a … Continue reading →

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Nobel prize winner was written off by his science teacher!

Posted on October 9, 2012 by homeschoolingpenny

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/oct/08/nobel-prize-briton-science-teacher ‘The Guardian’ is a UK newspaper, the online version of which I try to dip into every day. This headline, unsurprisingly, really caught my attention, about the UK joint-winner of the Nobel prize for medicine, “Nobel prize won by … Continue reading →

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