I think the year you study geology and environmental science, you should spend time outside looking at the subject of your studies, so we did. I did not keep a daily journal, because I had […]
This blog will have musings about writing, homeschooling, secular science, and of course our travels!
Tag: homeschooling
Handcrafting High School: Year 2, Month 1: The Service Project
I’m going to depart a bit and tell you about what we learned. I think it is the best way for you to get a feel for the profound benefits of exposing young people to this […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 2: Month 1 (Post 1 of 3 – On the Way to the Service Project)
The first month of tenth grade might have been the best month we ever spent homeschooling. You might be thinking, “Well, Yeah! You were traveling and hanging out. How could that not be great?” 🙂 […]
Science and the Secular Homeschooler
I live in Southern California. I taught science at community college, and now I write about it. Those two sentences convey a lot of information about how easy it is for me to negotiate my […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, Month 9 through the Year’s End
We school year round with lots of breaks. That doesn’t matter to a planner like me though. Every year I have a start date and an end date. The year-end date for this year was […]
Sitges, Spain, Let’s Ride, June 14, 2015 but First the Antipope of Peniscola
The present castle in Peniscola was built by the Knights Templar from 1294 to 1307. It looks like a prime piece of real estate that would be easy to defend. From 1415 to 1423 it […]
There Were Mammooths in Andalusia?!? Going to Where the Mammoths and People Were, Orce, Spain and then to Peniscola Where the People Are, June 13, 2015
Sean woke me up early. “Mom, I have broken out in a bad rash, or bites, or something all over!” Well, that will get a mother up and going! We could not figure it out. […]
The Alhambra in Daylight and The Somalis and the Woman Who Seemed to be in Charge (we hope not), June 12, 2015
When you buy tickets for the Alhambra you have to choose between the morning or afternoon. We chose afternoon because the morning session started at 8 a.m. We had yet to even be awake once […]
Granada a Town that Must Have some Homeschoolers In It, June 11, 2015
The kids were ready to get to Granada. The house we were staying at there had a pool, and they wanted to swim in it. It had been warm and sunny for the past three […]
Seeing Seville on an Electric Bike, Flamenco, the Chinese Wedding Photo Fad, June 10, 2015
The Flying Dutchmen told us what a blast they had riding around Seville on a Segway. We called every Segway rental company we could find on the Internet and they were all booked. I looked […]
Our Man of La Menthe, Seville, and the Flying Dutchmen, June 9, 2015
We woke up in the hostel after a very good night’s sleep. The woman we met last night was at the front desk. She was wonderfully friendly. She did not speak English, so it was […]
Canyoning before Driving South, June 8, 2015
With 10 days left in Spain, the vagabonds hit the road again. We decided to head south to see Seville and Granada for 4 days total with one day on the road to Seville. The […]
The Geology of the Pyrenees, Kayaking for 2, and Rainwater versus Snow Melt, Ainsa, Spain, June 7, 2015
We want to go white water kayaking in hard kayaks! At least that is what 2 of us said. The other two did not. That was okay, clothes must be washed when you are on […]
Leaving Girona for the Abbaye de Capservy in the South of France, June 3, 2015
Before we left Girona we had to take one more walk on the wall. Again there was no one on it. I am sitting on an old fashioned […]
The Dali Museum, The Mediterranean, Vegan Tapas, a Nighttime Walk on the wall!!! June 2, 2015
The town of Figueres, Spain is about a 35 minute drive from Girona. There is a lot of history there, but we only went for the Dali Museum. We did not want to spend the […]
Why they Chose Girona to Film the Game of Thrones, Girona, Spain, June 1, 2015
I will not actually bore you with a written answer to that. The photos speak for themselves. Girona is magical. It is now one of my favorite towns I have visited of all time. […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, Month 8
What a crazy month April was. We moved for the third time since the summer of 2012, and we aren’t in the military. First we moved from the mountains to San Diego where there is […]
Cusco, Peru, Day 4 of our trip, April, 2012
When my husband Jim told me he had booked a trip for us where we would hike into Machu Picchu over several days, I was not pleased. In fact, I was irritated about it. It […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, Month 7
Some months a handcrafted education looks like a carefully detailed pattern has been followed as if I bought something from Butterwick, cut it out carefully, pinned everything meticulously, and sewed all the pieces exactly to […]
Practicing Science: Where’s the Starch?
This is another previously unpublished lab. I thought of this lab too late for it to go into RSO Biology 2. The content reviewer for Biology 2 is a high school biology teacher who also helps […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, Month 6
Oh my goodness! What a busy month February was for both Sean and me. There were times this month when I felt like I barely had time to breathe. I actually realized TWICE! that I […]
Secular Academics for Homeschoolers
I was so busy moderating the session, I did not really listen to it until just now. What a great talk! What an amazing group of homeschooling parents! WOW! You can click on this link […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, The First Four Months: Crew
P.E.: Once There Were Vikings, and that Is the Last Time Any of Sean’s Relatives Rowed! Rowing, or crew as I am just beginning to call it, has been the surprise favorite this year. My […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, The First Four Months: Language Arts
Language Arts: How We Came to Be Homeschoolers My son Sean was an early reader; I was an early reader; my father was an early reader; my paternal grandfather was an early reader. We all […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, The First Four Months: History
History: A Repeat of a Favorite Class and Volunteering The Course: A Brief History of Humankind: This is a Coursera course, https://class.coursera.org/humankind-002, that repeats regularly. It is the best history course I have ever taken. The instructor, […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, The First Four Months: Science
Science: A Parent’s Passion I LOVE science‼ My son likes science. This is the main area of handcrafting Sean’s education that has focused on the passions of someone in his family besides him. (My […]
Handcrafting High School: Year 1, The First Four Months: Computer Science
Computer Science: A Student’s Passion I have been very thoughtful handcrafting this academic area. I will go through the process of how I did it, so you can see what I mean when I […]
A Handcrafted Education: The High School Years
Oh No! The dreaded “H” word (and I don’t mean handcrafted)! If there is one thing that causes homeschooling parents to panic it is the thought of homeschooling through high school. What if we get […]
Learning Science
Homeschooling and Science A Winning Combination I am reposting this article in response to an article in the New York Times. There is a link to that article at the bottom of this post. The […]
What happens to scientific theories when definitions change or new information comes to light? A question in the Co-op
I love this exchange, and I thought many of you would too. There has been quite a bit of interest about homeschooling science co-ops based on the number of hits the co-op blog posts on this […]
The Secular Alliances Committee of the National Alliance of Secular Homeschoolers (NASH)
What a weekend! It is difficult to capture in words the energy, passion, and level of commitment to secular academic homeschooling I found at the National Alliance of Secular Homeschoolers (NASH) Conference. This is the fourth […]
A Handcrafted Education, a Brief Video Interview
Of course I was early to my talk at HSC. I am always early for those sorts of things. I was curious about what was going on in other rooms around me. I began talking […]
Homeschooling and Science Talk
This is a talk I gave on August 7, 2014 for the Homeschool+ Conference. In this talk I discuss the best and most effective way of learning science. I also discuss the reasons for getting a […]
How Two Homeschooling Moms Used REAL Science Odyssey Biology 2 in Their Co-op
An Introduction from Blair: One day while figuring out what it meant when someone Pinged a blog post I had written, I came across a discussion about R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Biology 2. One of the […]
Materials List for a REAL Science Odyssey Chemistry 1 Co-op Class
My goal with this series of posts is to make it easier for anyone who wants to teach a science co-op. Teaching is a LOT of work. I respect the time and energy you as […]
Using REAL Science Odyssey Chemistry 1 for a Science Co-op, the Weekly Plan
REAL Science Odyssey Chemistry 1 was designed to be done 2 days a week. It presents some scheduling challenges when conducting the labs in 1 day. You might want to teach this class 2 days […]
Teaching a homeschool science co-op: General Notes
In September, 2013 my family moved from the Mammoth Lakes area in California to the San Diego area. One of the reasons for moving was that my then 13-year-old homeschooled son wanted a community of […]
I had to share! It is a GREAT review of my RSO Biology 2 text!
You can check out the review here: http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/real-science-odyssey-biology-2-review/ I have been working hard on REAL Science Odyssey Earth and Space 2, this makes it all feel worth it!
Confessions of a Classical Unschooler
Classical Unschooler, there is an accommodationist phrase for you! If you are wondering what it means to be a classical unschooler in terms of teaching methodology, it means the method I use to homeschool my […]
The second part of my interview with Savvy Homeschool Moms is up on their website.
http://savvyhomeschoolmoms.com/interview-blair-lee-part-2-ep-42/ They used a photo of me at the Taj Mahal, but I am using a monkey photo. I am wearing the same skirt in both photos though 🙂 I really loved India. I miss […]
Two homeschooling articles
If you are surprised to learn I am a feminist, LOL, it means you have never met me. Let’s just say I can be kind of intense and have a strong personality. My 14-year-old son […]
Interview with Blair Lee, Part 1 (Ep 41, 3/29/14)
This is part 1 of 2 of an interview I did for the Savvy Homeschool Mom’s podcast. Interview with Blair Lee, Part 1 (Ep 41, 3/29/14).
Delhi Day 5, 12/12/13, post 1 of 2
Here we are dressed and ready for our placements. Delhi is a place full of color similar to our outfits. Now, Sean was not feeling well, but decided to go and sit with the kids. He […]
A Handcrafted Education
I love coffee. My favorite coffee drink right now is a salted caramel soy white chocolate latte extra salt with just a little whipped cream to hold the salt. My favorite coffee drink has changed […]
