Designing a home-centered life: learning, exploring, and creating with our five littles
"Over the past three decades I have spent homeschooling and working with homeschooling families, I have recognized the power of a confident parent." This quote from Leigh Bortins in The Conversation, has me saying, "yes, yes, YES!" In only five years time, I have found the same to be true. With standardized testing, re-enrollment, and … [Read more...]
Thanks to Abby from Louisiana for sending along these great pictures of the Flat Littles visiting two places with their family: the Chalmette Battlefield during the Bicentennial Celebration of the Battle of New Orleans and the replicas of the Nina and Santa Maria in Houma, LA. The Chalmette Battlefield is in the Jean Lafitte National Historical … [Read more...]
Hey friends! For this trip, the Flat Littles joined Joey and his parents from Florida as they hiked the trails around the site of this restored lime kiln near Ogden, Utah. I love that they took pictures of the scenery and the history for us to read and enjoy. This definitely could just be me, but I tend to appreciate what I'm learning … [Read more...]
The Ahrens family from Northern Virginia is back with more travels with the Flat Littles, this time from three key spots in the Washington, D.C. area. I grew up just outside D.C., so this area holds a special place in my heart and obviously, a lot of our national history also. Their first stop is the Washington Monument. Growingup we … [Read more...]
As you know, the blog is now Pockets Full of Rocks (and no longer Classical Conversations at Home). I'm very excited about this. You can read here to see what the new name is all about! But, before I tell you what's different, let me tell you what's stayed the same. We are still happily homeschoolers. And we still love and … [Read more...]
Have you tried listening to audiobooks with your family? When I first considered audiobooks, I wasn't sure if my littles would be interested or when we'd find the time to listen to them. My concerns were wasted! They're such a part of our family routine now that I can't imagine us without them. I'll share 3 tips for success with … [Read more...]
As a mom of five exploring types, I'm often being asked to carry my littles' collected rocks in my pockets. We've had days at the park where my pockets were full of rocks. Sometimes they'd forget about the rocks and I'd drop them back to the ground. Other times, the rocks would make it all the way home with us. In more recent years, I've started to … [Read more...]
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who name drops? Well, Leigh Bortins is kinda like that, but with books. In a totally innocuous kind of way, of course. This year I totally lucked out with Leigh Bortins as the featured speaker at the practicum I attended. Throughout her talks, Leigh shared with us books she has read, … [Read more...]
I recently posted the above photo on Instagram and got a few questions about how it works, so I thought I would share it here with y'all. But before writing this post I did a quick google search to see if this solution is already out there. I didn't see it. What I did see were a bunch of solutions that require either too much effort or aren't … [Read more...]
Our family listens to a lot of audiobooks for 2 main reasons: 1. My littles love them and 2. They learn so much. I couldn't even begin to count the times my littles have quoted a line, asked a question, or made a connection based on a story they've heard. We borrow from the library or buy favorites. When we buy, we usually get the CDs, burn them … [Read more...]