Tag Archives: writing

Learning by Copying . . .

I recently read a fascinating article in World Magazine's June 2nd publication (ok, so I'm a little behind on my reading). Titled the same as my blog entry, it talks about how professional artists gain valuable training by minicking the masters … Continue reading

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Spontaneous Vocabulary Practice

I'm not sure how it began. Suddenly we were spouting every word we could think of that started with the letter b: brains, bed, brix, blunderbuss, backwards, ballerina, bellicose, buffoon, bin, bobbin, birch... Yes, we're nerds. But we were having … Continue reading

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The Three most important things to teach...

I don't know how many times, when I am talking to homeschool parents, we get on the subject of what are THE most important things to teach our children. Besides transferring your core beliefs--such as your faith, and character traits … Continue reading

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Praising Practice

My dad has often reminded me that an essay is literally a "try" or attempt. Paul Graham's essay on Essays makes much the same point. Writing, then, should often be viewed more as an attempt at getting better, rather than … Continue reading

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Families Writing

My mother saved a few of my school papers, as all mothers do, I suppose. It's interesting to see my little-girl handwriting, but to be perfectly honest, spelling lists and mimeographed worksheets are kind of boring to look it. My … Continue reading

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Practical Pointers: Combining with a single Core

I must admit, one of most favorite memories of using Sonlight when my kids were younger was the ability to combine them all using the same Core materials. With five years separating our youngest and oldest, it wasn't always feasible, … Continue reading

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Become a Great Writer

One of my high school English teachers asked, "Who taught Shakespeare to write?" How did someone teach the greatest writer to write so well? I don't recall the rest of discussion, but I think I have an answer now. This … Continue reading

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