A Year in Posts

Tonight, we say goodbye to the old year, and welcome in a new one (that link will only make sense if you like Doctor Who)!  And because I like making lists, and all the cool kids are doing it anyway, I decided to do a year end roundup of posts from the past 12 months: one post from each month that I especially liked, or that was especially popular, or whatever other reason I come up with.  It's really interesting going through old posts on this blog, to me, as I'm reminded of good days and bad, and see how my writing has grown and improved.  I hope you enjoy this selection (which, let me tell you, was VERY hard for me to pick)! 

 January
The Worth of Mud
"The act of playing in mud is every bit as beautiful, in it's own way, as taking joy in a beautifully constructed story, or the flowing lines of a poem."

February
How I Learned to Read and Write (linked in Peter Gray's article Children Teach Themselves to Read)
"From the time I was tiny, the people around me, my parents, were regular readers.  And from the time I was tiny, they read aloud to me.  Poetry, the newspaper, picture books, you name it.  Words were something I appreciated from a young age."

March
My 19th Birthday...
"On my birthday, the 16th of March, I woke up to a truly glorious day!  Bright sunshine, and record breaking warm temperatures!  How could I not be cheerful?  I danced around the house with the sunlight streaming through the windows, and even when I woke my sister and we had a bit of a disagreement, it passed quickly and the day continued in it's joyous flow..."

April
Unschooling Gets Publicity...In a BIG way!
"Unschooling has been moving steadily into the mainstream awareness in the last few years.  I've seen a marked increase in people talking about unschooling since I started paying attention to that type of thing a few years ago.  But never have I seen this level of attention."

May
A Trip to Gaspe (One of my absolute favorite posts of the whole year, actually)

remembering a day
when the sky landed on the beach
to play in the waves
that stretched long fingers
over the sand

  
June
 Bare Feet and Learning Connections (published on Enjoy Life Unschooling, not this blog)
"Unschoolers are the barefooted folk of the educational world. We’re the ones removing the barriers between our minds and the incredible array of experiences around us, kicking off constraints so we can feel the world as it truly is, in all its varied glory!"

July
Rain: A Poem

August
Cheap, Non-Chemically, DIY Body Care (aka, Baking Soda is Magic)
"There are many reasons I don't like store-bought shampoos, deodorants, soaps, creams, and other bodycare products.  Even the "natural" ones, though mostly better than your average pharmacy brands, have chemicals I'd really rather not use, and also tend to be really pricey!  I decided a while ago that there must be better options, and I'm slowly but surely going DIY for all of the products I used to buy from the store."

September
Misconceptions About Unschooling
"There are so, so many misconceptions out there, and most of the time I just let it all slide, but today I felt inspired to address a few of them..."

October
The Need For Schooling
"There are so many children in our world that need love, and food and shelter, and acceptance, and support, and trust.  No one *needs* schooling!"

November
Storytelling: An Art With Many Forms, or Why TV Shows Are Cool
"There's a big difference between passive absorption and active engagement.  The first is what I think most people against television picture when they think of TV: blank faced zombies sitting in absolute stillness in front of a flickering screen, their brains passively absorbing whatever passes over said screen.  Yet in my house, that's not how watching TV works."

December
Unschooling is Not Relaxed Homeschooling (the only original post in December, actually, and also my most commented on post ever!)
"You cannot unschool part time: for two hours a day or every Friday or one week out of every month.  Unschooling is a whole lifestyle and radically different way of looking at learning and life.  It's not something you can just turn on and off!"

So there you have it!  A year in posts.  There is much more about the past year that could be said, but instead of continuing to sit in my room typing away on the computer, I'm going to go celebrate the beginning of a new year with my family.

So all that's really left for me to say is:

Happy New Year!!

A virtual toast to the health, happiness, and wellbeing of you and yours.