Homeschooling Article in SLJ

Check out the article on homeschooling in the August 1 issue of SLJ. My friend Cathy Henderson from the Greece Public Library is mentioned. Woo to Cathy! Her homeschooling programs have been innovative and popular.

Interview with Carol Barnier

I first became aware of homeschooling mother, author, and speaker Carol Barnier when I attended a presentation she gave on a game she developed to teach children how to read at the 2006 LEAH Convention at the NYS Fairgrounds in Syracuse. I was struck by her commonsense, easygoing, and humorous approach to speaking and educating [...]

Interview with Valerie Moon, Part 4

Adrienne: That sounds like a social studies curriculum I would have enjoyed. I was an avid reader when I was a kid, but I hated (and flatly refused) to read social studies textbooks in school, which led me to the mistaken impression that I wasn’t interested in history. It turns out that I just didn’t [...]

Interview with Valerie Moon, Part 3

Adrienne: You said that you used a boxed curriculum when you first started homeschooling and that things evolved from there.
Valerie: Yes. I liked the idea of unschooling, but it seemed too radical for me. I looked at the materials available at the time, and went with a mainstream provider.
Adrienne: What grades were your children in [...]

Interview with Valerie Moon, Part 2

Adrienne: Wow — an interesting story that prompts a few questions. Were your children in a DoDEA school?
Valerie: Yes.
Adrienne: What kind of legal requirements were there when you pulled the kids out of school?
Valerie: None. DoDEA has no “jurisdiction over all military kids.” The schools are a benefit, not a requirement.
Adrienne: My understanding is that [...]

Interview with Valerie Moon, Part 1

I first became aware of homeschooling mother Valerie Moon via her excellent website, The Military Homeschooler. Homeschooling families in which a parent is an active member of the military face particular challenges as they deal with homeschooling laws in different states and even different countries as the family moves from station to station. Even though [...]

Interview with Kristin Madden, Part 5

Adrienne: Last questions for you: How did you come to write Pagan Homeschooling? I know you’ve written other books on Pagan topics, but have you done other professional writing on homeschooling?
Kristin: As I did my own research and developed a curriculum for my son, I needed to pull together so many different things. I realized [...]

Interview with Kristin Madden, Part 4

Adrienne: I have a close friend who became a Pagan many years ago now. Since I’ve become more aware of Paganism, I’m continually shocked at how much people misunderstand it and how much my friend has to worry about how people are going to react to her faith. Your Peace Kids group sounds like a [...]

Interview with Kristin Madden, Part 3

Adrienne: As you know, I contacted you after finding and reading your book Pagan Homeschooling. There is so much attention focused on conservative Protestant homeschoolers, but there are sizable groups of homeschoolers of any number of faiths – and there are probably more Pagan homeschoolers out there than many would guess. What kind of role [...]

Interview with Kristin Madden, Part 2

Adrienne: How would you describe your homeschooling philosophy/methods? Have they changed at all as you’ve gone along?
Kristin: My methods have not changed but my comfort level and trust in the process have increased quite a bit as I have seen the learning happen naturally and those Ah-Ha moments occur. 
I do a combination of school-at-home and [...]