Grasshopper New Media Presents...

The best stories are made up right as they’re being told, from whole cloth — and it’s not as hard as you’d think.
My grandmother used to tell “Jimmy, Johnny, and George” stories. These three boys, amazingly, were always doing just about exactly what my brother and I were. I remember “Jimmy, Johnny, and George Go […]

Last week I talked about summer reading. Yesterday we ventured back to our local library. I was on a quest to find some books to read with my almost first-grader that wouldn’t bore me to tears and that he would enjoy reading as well.
I am just so angry I could spit. Pffft. […]

I once had a student turn in an essay that I could tell wasn’t his.  I brought formal plagiarism charges against him, but they were dropped… because his mother wrote a note.
The entire incident was frustrating, but I also had a sense that it was very, very sad.  Here was a young man, away from […]

It’s *gulp* the end of July and we are finally getting into the swing of summer. One of the activities that we let slide for the first bit of summer was reading. It wasn’t intentional, but bedtimes were pushed back, company was plenty, and routines were discarded in favor of freedom. […]

They’re out there. Those “other” mothers. The ones with the perfectly pressed locks, bangs never out of place who just seem so, well, together. They are the moms that I imagine must have been those lucky creatures who glowed during pregnancy, who pushed twice and gave birth to a baby with a […]

I’ve never been one to bash public schools. My son attended public school for kindergarten and first grade and had great success. I have no complaints about the education he received while he was there and I only pulled him out of public school because I had quit my job and was able to teach […]

I’ve never smoked a cigarette or gotten a tattoo. I don’t even have my ears pierced. My closet sports no designer clothing or shoes. I’ve never even lived close enough to a major city to be in the know about the hottest nightspots or newest underground bands. My pregnancy, like most other things in my […]

I was really fortunate to speak with Jenifer Fox this week for the LD Podcast. Jenifer is the President of the Purnell School, an all-girl’s boarding school, and the author of Your Child’s Strengths- Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them. We talked about a range of subjects, but the most important one of […]

When I started out homeschooling I did quite a bit of research in to the state laws and the different curriculum types. I read a book or two about the benefits of homeschooling and I joined a couple of email groups with other homeschoolers. One thing that I did not do was sit down and […]

As a kid, I can remember long lazy summer days, filled with books. In reality, I don’t think that my summers were all that lazy, but it sure felt great to have a break from the school year routine. My mom, actually kept us pretty busy in the summers. We took […]