Links o' the Week, #9!
Working on a book proposal! Plus, gifted kids, muffins, upside-down boys, and more.
Good morning, friends!
If you have anything to do with school right now, you are probably feeling just as worn out as the year comes to a close as the Lane family is. Thankfully, our homeschooling semester will wrap up in a couple of weeks and our college teaching semester is winding down, as well. Having the chance to take a break from teaching means moving more fully into other work responsibilities — class prep, research, and writing!
My big push this summer will be to complete my book proposal and a chapter or two for a book based on my dissertation research and educational experience.
The tentative title is “The Homeschool Boom: Finding the Roots of Modern Homeschooling in the American Past,” but I’ll probably end up with something snappier, in the end. You can learn a little bit about my research and argument in my recent IFS piece, Is the Homeschooling Boom Here to Stay?
Send prayers, coffee, and dark chocolate. Also a write-my-proposal fairy, please.
But for now, I have some great links to share with you this week!
We talk about the social needs of gifted (and twice-exceptional) children more often than we talk about their actual academic needs. Matthew Archer’s piece at
magazine argues that gifted children do *not* do “just fine” wherever they are. They need challenges and support.Keelia Clarkson has some good ideas about how to create friendships when you are introverted. The problem is…somebody has to respond to your initiative. My friend Kate and I are currently writing a piece about this problem (a follow-up to this), hypothesizing that we lack friendship-building skills and social norms; please send me your thoughts and advice, starting with the poll below!
wrote a great piece for IFS recently about homeschooling boys while they are upside down. Definitely worth a read!My 8-year-old has been on a baking spree lately; his favorite is this customizable muffin recipe. They rise so high above the pan!! I myself am excited about trying this new basic scone recipe later this week.
It’s the time of year for outdoor classes, and my husband Chris has been taking advantage of the beautiful space in front of his college’s brand-new (and enormous) chapel. I took credit, of course. And yes, he is getting sunburned on the regular, but says it's worth it.
I think the polarization of seemingly every topic of conversation is a barrier to friendship right now. It’s tough to know what to discuss that will find common ground between you without alienating the potential friend in the event that you have differing world views. Then on the other hand, if you don’t discuss deeper or more meaningful things you may never find a friend who shares your world view, or be left with only superficial interactions.
That muffin recipe is great! I found it a few years ago, and tip for starting hot the first 5 minutes or so works with other recipes too.
One thing that makes making new friends difficult for me is rejection sensitivity. But I'm working on not letting that have as much power in my head. Also feeling like social norms don't allow for the kind of 'get to know you' questions I'd prefer - it seems jumping right to the deep stuff is frowned upon. Or maybe I just don't do casual friendship well...