Reading Animal Farm George Orwell's dystopian classic, with a ten-year-old. Terrible idea, or great idea?
History Choosing a world history curriculum: Curiosity Chronicles A look at the reasons we chose the Curiosity Chronicles curriculum, and how we're using it.
History Videos for homeschooling history Some of our best history learning has come from watching videos. Mostly funny ones. Here's a long list of recommended videos!
History The ultimate history shortcut I've got a few posts about teaching history brewing in my head. It's a massive, messy, muddled subject, and I have massive, messy, muddled thoughts on it. While I wrestle with what I want to say and how I want to say it, enjoy Wanda'
Media recommendations Taste the Nation, Thanksgiving episode Wanda and I just watched the Thanksgiving episode of the new "holiday edition" of Padma Lakshmi's show Taste the Nation [https://www.hulu.com/series/taste-the-nation-with-padma-lakshmi-53d48a66-d254-4e4f-89a1-277ec6c57368] (available on Hulu), titled "Truth and the Turkey Tale." Each episode of Taste the Nation spotlights a culture
Curriculum Free homeschool curriculum There are outstanding free educational materials available to homeschoolers, including many aligned to common core standards. I've collected a list.
History If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving A new, outstanding, Native-authored book about what really happened at Plymouth in 1621 is a welcome shift in teaching about Thanksgiving.
Civics Stories for Veterans Day We spent the morning of Veterans Day discussing the meaning of the day, and hearing the stories of five American Veterans.
Art Art and history for kids: Vincent's Starry Night & 30,000 Years of Art When we have an open squishy slot [https://homeschool.humuhumu.com/our-daily-routine/] in an afternoon, and I want a little something to fill it, one of the things I'll reach for is the book Vincent's Starry Night and Other Stories: a Children's History of
Free printables The Writing Revolution downloadable lessons I'm sharing all of the The Writing Revolution-style lessons I've created, using content from our various curricula. Maybe you can use them, too!
History How I'm really handling history I recently posted that for history, I’m just having Wanda watch Blackadder [https://homeschool.humuhumu.com/how-im-handling-history/]. That was of course facetious (though she does love Blackadder). Here’s how I’m actually handling history: History is hard. From the time they’re babies, kids start figuring out language,
History How I'm handling history I just have her watch Blackadder. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 💬Join the discussion [https://www.facebook.com/humuhumu/posts/10160066959957699] of this post over on Facebook.
History The Long, Long Holiday I am heartily recommending this animated miniseries, "The Long, Long Holiday." This isn't (just) a homeschooling recommendation, this is an everybody recommendation. It's about two young Parisian children who find themselves sheltering with their grandparents in Normandy during World War II under German occupation.
Doing better "Enslaved people" vs "slaves" A few years ago I learned this seemingly-small tweak in language, and now that I’ve been using it for a while, I can tell the difference it has made. People are not property. It having been acceptable or legal in the past does not mean it has ever been
History She Made History One of our local San Francisco homeschool community families has this wonderful, years-long project to explore the stories and contributions of Black women in history. The Facebook page is She Made History [https://www.facebook.com/shemadehistory1/], and the full website of profiles is here: http://shemadehistory.com/ 💬Join the
History Sacagawea A quick post for Indigenous Peoples' Day: Recently, in the space of one week, Wanda and I encountered two instances (one in a kids' book, the other in a kids' movie) of Sacagawea being used as a joke about her name being hard to pronounce. We both
Civics The Pledge of Allegiance My very bright moment of sun during an otherwise deeply demoralizing week: > "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." This week, Wanda was
Doing better Talking to kids about race Lots of folks are asking how to talk to their kids about race. One of the simplest and most effective tools I use is to ask, “who is missing here?” It’s a simple question that I ask her often, mainly when we’re reading or watching shows or movies.
Curriculum Our curriculum By far, the number one question I get asked about homeschooling is what I use for curriculum. It’s not an easily answered question, so I’m writing it all up here. Given the current state of things, I thought some folks might find it relevant. This is what I
