[Nameplate] Fair ~ 61°F  
High: 67°F ~ Low: 57°F
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Family Vacation to Texas
Posted Monday, January 14, at 10:28 AM
What's the best way to promote family togetherness and harmony? A family vacation, of course! Sometimes even homeschool families don't get enough time to spend together, so whenever we can afford it, we pack our kiddos tightly into our van and head for the hills. This time it worked out to take our vacation in January, so we decided to drive south in search of warmth and sunshine. Besides, I have two aunts in Texas that we could stay with to cut down on hotel stays...

Read more   Post comment


Another Christmas
Posted Monday, December 31, at 5:23 PM

So Christmas has come and gone yet again. We didn't even try to top last year's gifts when we splurged and bought iPods for everyone, but since our family vacation to Texas is right around the corner everyone was okay with less expensive presents this time around...

Read more   Post comment


Teenagers and classic literature
Posted Friday, December 14, at 3:20 PM

One thing I've been doing this year is assigning classics for my high schoolers to read. We have some friends in New York that started an online discussion board, and so we are using it for a long distance book club. They have two weeks to read the book, a week to discuss it, and then another week to write an essay about it...

Read more   Post comment


This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my Wal-Mart job.
Posted Wednesday, November 21, at 2:30 PM

Lately, I've seen quite a bit of complaining about how awful it is to work at Wal-Mart. Several stores are planning to strike on Black Friday, and quite a few anti-Wal-Mart memes have crawled down my news feed on Facebook over the past few days. One of the loudest complaints is that people have to work on Thanksgiving...

Read more   Browse comments (4)  Post comment


Generation Joshua
Posted Monday, November 12, at 7:39 AM

It's so nice to have all of my kids home again. They were gone for a week campaigning with Generation Joshua and just came home a few days ago. Generation Joshua is like a political club for homeschooled teens. It's actually a part of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). ...

Read more   Post comment


State Superintendent Race Important for Indiana Homeschoolers
Posted Friday, November 2, at 11:01 AM

Election day is just a few days away, and homeschoolers are closely watching the race for State Superintendent. Tony Bennett has protected the rights of Indiana homeschoolers, but challenger Glenda Ritz wants to enact regulations on us. The State Superintendent has the power to set policy for homeschoolers outside of the legislative process that would go into effect immediately. ...

Read more   Browse comments (9)  Post comment


Kale leaves and other things homeschoolers eat
Posted Friday, October 19, at 2:51 PM

Yesterday at co-op while I was eating my loaded baked potato, I noticed that the lady sitting next to me was eating dried leaves out of a baggie and drinking a bottle of brown liquid. A little girl at our table asked what it was and she jokingly told her it was pond water. I would have believed it. She went on to explain that the leaves were dried kale, and the drink was her own special brew of algae and other organic ingredients...

Read more   Post comment


Gotta be smarter than the box?
Posted Sunday, September 30, at 3:06 PM

The instructions for the "easy open" spout on the box of Coco Wheats says to (1.) Press gently on red dot to break perforation along blue line, and (2.) Insert fingertip behind blue line and pull down to form spout. Right. Like my fingertip is going to fit behind the blue line without pushing the entire cardboard flap back inside the box. By the time I'm done wrestling with it, I'll have nearly destroyed the whole box. If this is the easy open spout, I'd hate to see the hard open one...

Read more   Post comment


Anything is possible if you just believe...or is it?
Posted Friday, September 14, at 4:08 PM

During our opening session at co-op yesterday, one of the moms told an inspirational story of a Paralympic athlete Matt Stutzman, born with no arms. Not only did he win the gold, competing against other athletes with arms, but he holds a world record for the longest accurate shot even among non-disabled archers. The point of this story was clear: if he can overcome his disadvantage, then the rest of us can do anything if we set our minds to it...

Read more   Browse comments (1)  Post comment


Being a good sport about P.E.
Posted Friday, August 24, at 11:36 AM

Every now and then I've had people ask me what homeschoolers do for sports. That's one of those questions I usually have to refer to someone else, because we just aren't really a sports family. I know that homeschoolers can and are involved in sports. ...

Read more   Browse comments (1)  Post comment


Catch of the Day
Posted Saturday, August 11, at 10:00 PM

It's amazing how mild a day with highs in the nineties feels after a summer of record-smashing heat and drought. Determined to wring every last bit of fun out of summer before school starts, we loaded up the fishing poles and tackle, a couple of bikes, and some Frisbees, picked up some root beer and oatmeal sandwich cookies from the store, and spent an afternoon at our favorite spot: Shakamak State Park...

Read more   Browse comments (2)  Post comment


Smart enough to homeschool?
Posted Thursday, August 2, at 7:26 AM

The signs are everywhere. Stores like Wal-Mart, Staples, and Best Buy boast colorful displays of binders, spiral-bound notebooks, glue sticks and crayons to herald the approaching school season. If you are a parent, you may be busy shopping for school supplies, registering your children for school, or (if you are a homeschool parent like me) ordering curriculum and making reading lists for your kids. ...

Read more   Browse comments (7)  Post comment


My Son's First Car
Posted Tuesday, July 24, at 5:00 PM

I've mentioned in other posts that my oldest son, Jay, spent the month of June at my parents' house learning the family business. My mom and dad run a small business called Leonard's Book Restoration Station (leonardsbooks.com). Leonard was actually my grandpa. ...

Read more   Post comment


Camping in Holland, Michigan
Posted Saturday, July 14, at 4:07 PM

There are three reasons I'm blogging this morning: (1) I accidentally left the book I've been reading in my locker at work; (2) I don't have to be anywhere until noon and (3) It's more fun than cleaning my room. I'm also blogging because I've been meaning to get around to telling you about our family mini-vacation over the 4th of July. ...

Read more   Post comment


4-H and Homeschooling
Posted Saturday, June 30, at 9:53 PM

Today I am finally finding time to sit and blog again. The last few weeks we've been crazy busy trying to finish up 4-H projects. Between my six kids, they took a total of fifteen projects. My oldest son is taking Photography, Creative Writing, and Basic Crafts. ...

Read more   Post comment


An Unforgettable Anniversary
Posted Wednesday, May 30, at 10:23 AM

This Tuesday my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary--and it was one we'll never forget. We had taken the kids up to my parent's house up north of Lafayette and then hopped on the motorcycle and driven to Kokomo to a bed-and-breakfast called "The Bavarian Inn." It's a beautiful old house tucked away behind the trees at the edge of town. ...

Read more   Browse comments (1)  Post comment


Compulsory Education: Should parents be allowed to choose not to educate their children?
Posted Friday, May 18, at 9:01 AM

In my last post, I argued that if homeschool parents don't want to lose the right to homeschool, they need to keep turning out well-educated children who are academically comparable or even superior to their public-schooled peers. I pointed out that if our scores start to slip, critics will gain a foothold and find ways to impose unwanted regulations on us. ...

Read more   Browse comments (2)  Post comment


An Open Letter to Lazy Homeschoolers
Posted Tuesday, May 8, at 7:44 AM

Today's post may come across as rather harsh, but this subject has been weighing on my heart for quite some time. I do not mean to hurt or discourage anyone, but I feel that this is important. I also want to make it clear that I support homeschooling and recognize that there is great flexibility within a legitimate homeschool experience. ...

Read more   Browse comments (26)  Post comment


Locked Out at the Zoo
Posted Sunday, April 29, at 4:18 PM

I would have thought it was a lot funnier if it had happened to someone else. I'm sure our family looked hilarious, gathered outside our green 12-passenger van in the parking lot at the Indianapolis Zoo, trying to find a way to break into it. I had made my oldest son take off his belt and was dangling it through the driver's side window which was opened just an inch. ...

Read more   Browse comments (4)  Post comment


Rachel and the Kings of the Bible
Posted Friday, April 20, at 8:10 AM

Rachel's 3rd grade reader from Rod and Staff' is based on the Bible. It started out with stories about King David and King Solomon, but we are starting to get into some of the lesser known stories of subsequent kings after Israel was split into two kingdoms. For a nine-year-old, it's some pretty heavy stuff, full of wicked kings who worshiped idols and practiced all sorts of evil. It's interesting to listen to her commentary as she reads through her lesson...

Read more   Post comment


View all blog posts (45)

Homeschooling -- The Next Generation
Lisa Luper
Archives
Blog RSS feed [Feed icon]
Comments RSS feed [Feed icon]
Send email to Lisa Luper
Login