Leaping From The Box

International Homeschool Chat

Every Friday, LeapingFromTheBox.com hosts an International Homeschool Chat. We have been hosting this chat for close to a decade now! Many of the chatters have become good friends, even making trips to visit one another. We chat about our children, the weather, our plans, house repairs, job hunts, getting our children through [...]

Alabama Compulsory School Attendance Age

Alabama’s compulsory school attendance age was changed May 2009, raising the age limit for all students in Alabama from 16 to 17 years old. This was done via Senate Bill 334. Public school students who wish to leave school at age 17 (prior to graduation) must have (1) Written consent from parent or legal guardian [...]

Colleges the Change Lives Tour

The CTCL (Colleges that Change Lives) people have announced their 2009 tour dates. If they are coming near you, I urge you to take the time to visit them. We attended one of their sessions several years ago in Nashville and found it well worth our time. The tour is based upon the schools [...]

The Family Who Votes Together

My husband and I believe voting is something you just do as an American. I do not think we have missed a Presidential election since either of us was able to vote. I know I haven’t. I realized this year is the first Presidential election in which I have not had a [...]

Back from Burnout

Are you one of those lucky few who have never experienced homeschool burnout? I went through at least two sessions of homeschool burnout during the twelve years we actively homeschooled, probably more (time has a way of blurring those days/weeks you would like to forget). You would think an unschooler would have no [...]

The Harm of Kids Raising Kids

I am pleased to welcome Guest Blogger Roberta Gibson. Be sure to visit Roberta’s blog, Growing With Science. We have heard so much about the S-word (socialization) and homeschooling. People who send their children to public schools always bring it up, seeming to imply that homeschooled children sit at home in the dark all day like so [...]

The Future of Public Schools

Have you ever considered how important to the community the public school is? As a homeschooler, I would love to say that it is not important at all, but that is just not true. While living in rural Alabama, we discovered that the opportunities for getting to know your neighbors were pretty slim [...]

Independently Happy

My note from The Universe this morning: The greatest gift a parent can give a child, Karen, is the ability to become independently happy. And the greatest gift a child can give a parent is exercising that ability. This is a good note for me today. I think I have mentioned previously that our 2 year [...]

Homeschool Resources For Sale

Sorry for my absence the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago my granddaughter and I were the lucky ones in the family to share a stomach bug. Nasty stuff! And then last week I traveled north to Alabama to get our old home cleaned out and ready to list for sale. [...]

Today is Learn Nothing Day!

How are you celebrating Learn Nothing Day? So far we’ve mostly been cleaning up after a sick little toddler. Baths, showers, clothes … it’s been a long week and just when we think she’s on the mend, then she’s not. We’ve also done some decluttering, moving extra stuff to the garage and hanging some [...]