Lifestyle Design

Adventures in Homeschooling

by Jenny Lind Schmitt

Bipolar Dad

But even in the pockmarked moonscape of recovery, there are remnants of beautiful things, and it would be remiss to ignore them. Read More

Standardized Testing - A Cross Cultural Take

My gripe is with a system that makes a lot of key life decisions for you and then makes it very, very hard to alter them. Read More

Kindling the Flame of Learning

When we think of education in children, we should think not of a vessel to be filled but of a flame to be kindled. Read More

A public school system has an assembly line approach, with the end goal of a predictable and similar-looking product. With this approach comes the loss of the ability to discover and train the unique interests and capabilities of individual students. Read More

Osama bin Laden's Death: What It Means to Kids

The kids were waking up by then, so I told them there was Big News. They could tell by my tone that this was important, but they couldn't quite place him. "The leader of Al Quaeda. Remember the Towers in New York? Him." Oh. Yes. Read More

Worthless Baby Girls?

Imagine the entire young male American population growing up with no prospect for marriage and children and the stability they bring. Do you know what that spells? TROUBLE. Read More

One Way to Better Eating

Americans are slowly catching on to the concept that every time we shop for groceries, we can vote with our wallets for our ideals. Opportunities for improved health, sustainable food sources and better conditions for farm workers are as close as the next trip to the supermarket. Read More

Belonging vs. Fitting In

Eventually, people must get over the curiosity that an unusual person provides and accept that they are now part of the fabric of their place and their lives. Read More

The Perils of Swiss Timing

I've always been a believer in a healthy cushion of about 10 minutes either way. Which makes me often late, but hey, if you are 10 minutes late to my house, that's fine too! Hope you feel the same way! 10 minutes doesn't really show up on my radar! Until now. Read More

School Fear a la Francaise

The things with the most fear attached are usually those with the biggest payoff. Read More

Purging in Earnest

Maybe I don't anymore want to be the kind of person who keeps an ravioli maker in the cupboard for years just because I got it once for free. When it came up for review again recently, I had on my William Morris-y glasses on - Is it useful? Do I think it's beautiful? But all I heard in answer was the voice of Garth from Wayne's World, "Dude, it's never gonna happen! Live in the now!" Read More

How to Design Your Lifestyle

Lifestyle Design can be considered the sum of all the conscious choices we make as a family to create a community life that reflects our priorities and end goals. Sometimes those choices make me feel confident, sometimes I just feel weird, and sometimes, I feel like I am headed way out of my comfort zone. Read More

Unplanned Pregnancy - The Baby Shower

For the first few insecure weeks, I continued waiting for the responsible people to show up. As tiny as she was, Artemis knew I was a total poser. There was a look in her eyes that told me she knew that I didn't have a clue how to be a parent. Read More

Daylight Savings Frustration

For those of us who seem to be more closely tied to light for their circadian rhythms, suddenly jumping an hour one direction or another just upsets the whole sleep pattern thing again, and it takes about a week to adjust. Read More

Science as Homeschool Culture

We have diligently learned the five questions to ask to determine whether something is a living organism. My friend made up a catchy chant to remember these questions, and I put it to a tune, so we sang it at the beginning of our co-op meeting. This was fun, not least because that was the one time in our home that you are allowed to use "poop" in a song. Read More

Hail, January!

Once upon a time, I hated January. The festivities over, January was bleak and cold and damp and drudgery. But somewhere along the way to being a grownup, my attitude changed. I've come to appreciate January and its quiet joys. Read More

Why I'll Be Wishing You Merry Christmas

"Happy Holidays" carries about the same meaning and weight as wishing you "Happy Tax Day." It's the smiley face without a smile, saying "Have a Day." I turned forty this year, and I am learning that life is too short for stuff that is pointless. Read More

Growing the Habit of Gratitude

"Fostering gratitude" is easy to say and harder to do. How do we practice on the little things, so that our mindset is one of thankfulness even when the stakes are higher? Is it possible to develop a habit of gratitude strong enough to endure even when there's no longer the money for cell phones and delivery pizza or when the medical procedure didn't go as planned? Read More

History Class: Berlin, 20 Years Ago

One week ago at dinner we were discussing the news headline of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The children wondered what that was and why they should care. Zeus and I began explaining about the end of World War II and communism and the Cold War, and quickly we could see that it was a hefty topic for taco night and kind of tricky to explain while passing the cheese and salsa around the table. So I opted for telling a story instead. Read More

It's Time to Be SAD

In my struggle with depression over the years, I’ve learned that this time of year is particularly tricky. I can’t waste time mourning the departure of the sunlight like some neo-pagan druid person, but I also can’t give the gloom any quarter or its tentacles will sneak up on me and pull me down to a place it may take months to get out of. And so, it’s time to review the tools with which to fight back. Read More

Blogging the Wild Thing

I've been thinking a lot lately about why we read blogs. And why we write them. I have to admit it, several years ago when I first heard about the concept of blogs and blogging I thought it was terribly narcissistic. Why would someone write something by, to, for, and about themselves? Read More

My Own Private Olympus

I feel that I should like to be Goddess of Afternoon Naps or Goddess of Dinner Effortlessly on the Table. But apparently these are not qualities that the Ancient Greeks exalted to the Olympian level. Read More

Columbus Day for Beginners

What we were doing for Columbus Day? Would I teach my kids about Columbus as courageous explorer or obnoxious conqueror? Should he be celebrated or despised? What about immigration? Manifest destiny? Read More