Pressing On

I had the privilege of writing a few magazine articles for a homeschool publication (which subsequently went out of business, but I digress) so I thought I'd post a couple that weren't published here, as they relate to the general theme of my blog.  This one is from May 2013 Staging Our Learning The other day I sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by my school of four, reading aloud our latest book* as my students munched carrots, soup, crackers, sandwiches, apples and whatever else I could find to make the meal - and the reading - last as long as possible.   As I read I marveled at how they could all sit together gripped by this same story.   The oldest was technically too old, the youngest two, too young; only one was the target age of the publisher of this book and I can't say she was enjoying it any more than the others.   Each was taking from the story what they were ready to hear, processing it at their own level and storing it a...