Long Time Minnesota Homeschoolers

Global learning

Great article! Got the heads up about this article from HEM Editor's Blog ; Helen Hegener's weblog. My favorite parts:

But, though there were difficulties and she was once brought to court, Jean held fast to the concept of homeschooling.

The concept or the spirit or the life (freedom) of homeschooling is a treasure.

"I always thought their character development was way more important than anything else," she said.

What happened to that simple and basic revelation that families are the integral part (not partner) of children's developing characters?

There was limited information and curriculum in the 80s, so Jean worked with what the local library could provide.

The library solves many an educational resource problem

"Every moment is a teaching moment. You let your children do everything with you," Jean said, including work such as cooking and mowing the lawn. "Everything can be a learning experience."
The children also had real world experiences, such as a thrift store Sarah and her sister Katie Troe operated when they were teenagers.

And community service work at shelters or food pantries or museums or libraries or zoos.....

make a point to allow their children to explore the world.
If a child made a discovery of, say, an earthworm and is curious about its purpose, their parent will tell them everything they know and then do additional reserach if they can't fill in all the blanks.

Hands On Science. You can literally fall right into it if you wade around with your kids in the pond or lake or ocean.

Usually if we have a problem at home it's because we've been socializing too much," Sarah said.

Exactly. We have progressed into CarSchooling of sorts and listened to many, many books keeping up with our social calendar. Killing 2 birds with one stone, but sometimes I just want to stay home and curl up with a good book and hot tea and bon bons.

"The best part is I get to snuggle with my kids any time of the day," Sarah said.

That's the best!